Blogging API

A secure blogging platform built with Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and EJS, featuring user authentication, blog management, and a simple frontend interface.

Features

• JWT Authentication (signup/login)
• Full Blog CRUD Operations
• Reading time calculation (auto-calculated based on content length)
• Draft/Published state control
• Read count tracking (increases on each view)
• Owner-only edit/delete access
• EJS-powered frontend views with CSS styling
• Comprehensive testing setup for core functionality

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Wanna test it out yourself?

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/your-username/blogging-api.git
cd blogging-api

2. Install Dependencies

npm install

3. Set Up Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the root directory:

PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/blogging-api
JWT_SECRET=your-super-secret-jwt-key-here-make-it-long-and-random
JWT_EXPIRES_IN=1h

Security Tip: Generate a strong secret key using:

node -e "console.log(require('crypto').randomBytes(32).toString('hex'))"

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Database Setup

Option A: Local MongoDB

Ensure MongoDB is running locally:

mongod

Option B: MongoDB Atlas (Recommended for Deployment)

Use cloud-hosted MongoDB:

MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@cluster0.abcd.mongodb.net/blogging-api?retryWrites=true&w=majority

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Running the Application

Development Mode

npm run dev

Production Mode

npm start

The server will run at http://localhost:${PORT}

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API Endpoints

Method	Route	Description	Access
GET	/	Get all published blogs	Public
POST	/auth/signup	Register a new user	Public
POST	/auth/login	Login and get JWT token	Public
GET	/dashboard	User dashboard (EJS)	Authenticated Users
POST	/blogs/create	Create a new blog	Authenticated Users
PUT	/blogs/:id/edit	Update an existing blog	Blog owner Only
DELETE	/blogs/:id	Delete a blog	Blog owner Only
GET	/blogs/:id	View a specific blog	Public

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Example Requests

1. User Authentication

Signup

POST http://localhost:5000/auth/signup
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "first_name": "John",
  "last_name": "Doe",
  "email": "john@example.com",
  "password": "password123"
}

Login

POST http://localhost:5000/auth/login
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "email": "john@example.com",
  "password": "password123"
}

2. Blog Management

Create a Blog

POST http://localhost:5000/blogs/create
Authorization: Bearer YOUR_JWT_TOKEN
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "title": "My First Blog",
  "content": "This is the content of my first blog post."
}

Get All Published Blogs

GET http://localhost:5000/

View Specific Blog

GET http://localhost:5000/blogs/64a7b9e1f8d8e42c12345678

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Frontend Interface (EJS)

View the web interface at:

• http://localhost:5000/auth/signup – Registration page
• http://localhost:5000/auth/login – Login page
• http://localhost:5000/dashboard – User dashboard
• http://localhost:5000/blogs/create – Create blog form

After login, tokens are automatically stored in browser localStorage.

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Deployment

Personally deployed to Pipeops with MongoDB Atlas, but you can use other PAAS and MongoDB cloud providers and it (probably) won't break lol

Environment Variables in Production

Set these variables in your PaaS dashboard:

• MONGODB_URI – Your MongoDB connection string
• JWT_SECRET – Secure JWT signing key
• PORT – Port number (optional as it defaults to 5000)