GamingBacklog

GamingBacklog is a web application designed to help you keep track of the games you've played and the ones you want to play. It also includes a chat feature to discuss games with others.

Installation

Follow these steps to install the project.

Prerequisites

• Node.js and npm: For running the application.
• MongoDB Atlas Account: For database hosting. You'll need to create a MongoDB Atlas account and set up a cluster. For more info, visit MongoDB Atlas.

Steps

1. Clone the repository and navigate to the project directory:

   git clone https://github.com/UniCT-WebDevelopment/GamingBacklog.git
   cd GamingBacklog

2. Obtain your connection string from MongoDB:

   • The key should look something like this:

     mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster0.mongodb.net/
     

3. Create a .env file with the necessary parameters (replace with your credentials) and place it in the project directory. The required parameters are:

   DB_CONNECTION_STRING= your-mongodb-connection-string
   JWT_SECRET= "8fbb5e8d43c9a7b17b99c2c6d4e4c8d7f9e394b3d3e8b1f2a87e5d0b6f3f9a77"
   PORT = 8888

4. Install the dependencies:

   npm install

Usage

Start the application with the following command:

npm start

The application will be accessible at http://localhost:8888 by default. Replace PORT with your preferred port number in your .env file.

Technologies Used

Frontend

• HTML, CSS, JavaScript: Basic web technologies used for building the user interface.

Backend

• Node.js: Server-side JavaScript runtime for building the backend.
• Socket.IO: Used for enabling real-time, bidirectional communication for the chat feature.
• Multer: Middleware used for handling image uploads in the application.
• MongoDB: NoSQL database used for storing and retrieving application data.