📖 i-Book

📜 Project Description

i-Book is a modern social media platform that allows users to connect and interact with their friends and communities anonymously. This project is a clone of a popular social media website, with enhanced features for privacy-conscious users. Users can upload media (photos, videos), share locations, create groups, and engage with trending content in their region.

📚 Table of Contents

1. Installation Guide
2. Features
3. Contributing
4. Acknowledgements

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⚙️ Installation Guide

There are two ways to get started with the i-Book project: either by running the app locally using npm or by building it using Docker. Follow the instructions for the setup method that works best for you.

Option 1: Local Setup (NPM)

1. Clone the Repository
   Clone the project repository using:

   git clone <repo_link>

2. Navigate to the Client Directory

   cd client

3. Install Dependencies

   npm install

4. Create an Environment File
   Create a .env file in the client directory and add the following lines:

   REACT_APP_PUBLIC_FOLDER=http://localhost:8000/images/
   GENERATE_SOURCEMAP=false
   REACT_APP_PATH_TO_BACKEND=http://localhost:8000

5. Start the Client
   Run the following command to start the frontend:

   npm run start

6. Navigate to the API Directory
   In a new terminal window, navigate to the api directory:

   cd ../api

7. Install API Dependencies

   npm install

8. Start the API
   Start the backend server by running:

   npm run start

Option 2: Docker Setup

If you prefer working with Docker, follow these steps to run the application using Docker containers.

1. Clone the Repository
   Clone the project repository using:

   git clone <repo_link>

2. Navigate to the API Directory
   First, build and run the backend in a Docker container:

   cd api

3. Build the API Docker Image
   Build the Docker image for the backend:

   docker build -t 'api-docker-image' .

4. Run the API Container
   Start the backend container with the following command:

   docker run -p 8000:8000 'api-docker-image'

5. Navigate to the Client Directory
   In another terminal window, navigate to the client directory:

   cd ../client

6. Build the Client Docker Image
   Build the Docker image for the frontend:

   docker build -t 'client-docker-image' .

7. Run the Client Container
   Start the frontend container with the following command:

   docker run -p 3000:3000 'client-docker-image'

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✨ Features

Feature	Description
Anonymous Interaction	Users can interact with their friends and communities while keeping their identities hidden.
Media Sharing	Upload photos, videos, and share locations with your network.
Group Creation	Form and join groups with people who share similar interests.
Trending Content	Stay updated with popular content in your area and interact with it.

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🤝 Contributing

We encourage you to contribute to the i-Book project! Please follow the guidelines below to make contributions:

• Fork the repository and then clone it using:

  git clone <repo_link>

• Work on the develop branch only. Please do not clone or fork the master branch.
  To create a new branch for your contributions, run:

  git checkout -b <your_branch_name>

• Front-end contributions only: Focus on making changes to the code in the client folder. No changes to the API are required unless otherwise requested.

• Creating Pull Requests (PRs):

  • PRs should be made to the develop branch only. PRs to any other branches will be rejected.

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🙏 Acknowledgements

• This project was inspired by several popular social media platforms but focuses on enhancing user privacy and interaction.
• Thanks to all contributors and the open-source community for their support and resources in making this project possible.