README.md

Twitter Clone | Live Demo

A full-stack twitter clone application built with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and React.

Table of Contents

• Twitter Clone | Live Demo
  • Table of Contents
  • Overview
  • Features
  • Technologies Used
  • Backend Overview
    • Dependencies
    • Environment Setup
    • API Routes
  • Frontend Overview
    • Components
      • Pages
      • Components
    • Routes
  • Setup Instructions
  • Usage
  • Screenshots
    • Sign Up
    • Sign In
    • Home
    • Notifications
    • Search
    • Profile
    • Skeleton

Overview

This project is a social media platform that allows users to create profiles, connect with other users, share posts, like posts, receive notifications, and more.

Features

• User authentication (signup, login, logout).
• User profiles with profile images, cover images, bios, and external links.
• Posting functionality with text and optional images.
• Like, comment and retweet functionality on posts.
• Follow and unfollow other users.
• Notifications for follows, post likes, comments and retweets.
• Search functionality to find other users.
• Responsive design for mobile and desktop views.

Technologies Used

• Backend: Node.js, Express, MongoDB, Mongoose, Cloudinary (for image storage), dotenv (for environment variables).
• Frontend: React, React Router, TanStack/react-query (for data fetching), Tailwind CSS (for styling).

Backend Overview

Dependencies

• express: Web server framework for Node.js.
• dotenv: Loads environment variables from a .env file.
• mongoose: MongoDB object modeling tool.
• cloudinary: Cloud storage for images.
• Other relevant dependencies for routing, middleware, etc.

Environment Setup

Create a .env file in the root directory of the backend with the following variables:

PORT=your_preferred_port_number
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
NODE_ENV=development

CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloudinary_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_cloudinary_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_cloudinary_api_secret

API Routes

• Authentication Routes (/api/auth):

  • /signup: POST request to register a new user.
  • /login: POST request to authenticate and login.
  • /logout: POST request to log out the user.
  • /me: GET request to get current user details.

• User Routes (/api/users):

  • /profile/:username: GET request to fetch user profile.
  • /profile/:username/connections: GET request to fetch user's followers and following.
  • /suggested: GET request to fetch suggested users.
  • /searchUser/:searchTerm: GET request to search for users.
  • /follow/:id: POST request to follow/unfollow a user.
  • /update: POST request to update user profile.

• Post Routes (/api/posts):

  • /all: GET request to fetch all posts.
  • /following: GET request to fetch posts from users followed by current user.
  • /likes/:id: GET request to fetch liked posts of a user.
  • /user/:username: GET request to fetch posts by a specific user.
  • /create: POST request to create a new post.
  • /like/:id: POST request to like/unlike a post.
  • /comment/:id: POST request to comment on a post.
  • /:id: DELETE request to delete a post.

• Notification Routes (/api/notifications):

  • /: GET request to fetch notifications for the current user.
  • /: DELETE request to delete notifications.

Frontend Overview

Components

Pages

• HomePage: Displays the home page content.
• SignUpPage: Allows users to sign up for the application.
• LoginPage: Allows users to log in to the application.
• NotificationPage: Displays notifications for the logged-in user.
• ProfilePage: Displays user profile information.
• SearchPage: Allows users to search for other users.
• Followers_Following: Displays followers and following of a user.

Components

• Sidebar: Displays navigation links and user-related actions.
• RightPanel: Displays additional information or actions related to the current page.
• LoadingSpinner: Shows a loading spinner while fetching data.
• Toaster: Displays toast notifications.

Routes

• /: Displays HomePage if authenticated, otherwise redirects to /login.
• /signup: Displays SignUpPage if not authenticated, otherwise redirects to /.
• /login: Displays LoginPage if not authenticated, otherwise redirects to /.
• /notifications: Displays NotificationPage if authenticated, otherwise redirects to /login.
• /profile/:username: Displays ProfilePage for the specified user if authenticated, otherwise redirects to /login.
• /search: Displays SearchPage if authenticated, otherwise redirects to /login.
• /profile/:username/:type: Displays Followers_Following for the specified user if authenticated, otherwise redirects to /login.

Setup Instructions

To run this project locally, follow these steps:

1. Clone this repository.
2. Navigate to the root directory and create a .env file based on the provided .env.example.
3. Install dependencies using npm install.
4. Start the backend server using npm run dev.
5. Create a new terminal and navigate to the frontend directory and install dependencies using npm install.
6. Start the frontend development server using npm rundev.
7. Open your browser and go to http://localhost:5000 to view the application.

Usage

• Register a new account using the SignUpPage.
• Log in with your credentials using the LoginPage.
• Navigate through different pages using the sidebar.
• Create posts, like posts, and comment on posts.
• View notifications for follows and likes on the NotificationPage.
• Search for other users using the SearchPage.
• View user profiles and their followers/following on the ProfilePage.

Screenshots

Sign Up

Sign In

Home

Notifications

Search

Profile

Skeleton