SplashCourses - Multi-Tenant Online Learning Management System

Overview

SplashCourses is a complete multi-tenant SaaS platform for online courses and knowledge businesses, built with pure PHP and MySQL. Similar in spirit to Teachable, Kajabi, and Thinkific, it provides everything needed to run an online course business at scale.

Target Users

Course creators & online educators
Training academies & universities
Corporate training departments
Coaching & consulting businesses

Key Features

🏢 Multi-Tenant Architecture

Fully isolated tenant data with single shared database
Subscription plans with quota enforcement
Usage tracking (courses, students, storage, API calls)
Customizable branding per tenant

📚 Learning Management System (LMS)

Unlimited courses, modules, and lessons
Multiple content types: video, text, downloads, quizzes
Progress tracking and course completion
Certificates of completion
Preview lessons for marketing

🎓 Quizzes & Assessments

Multiple question types (MCQ single/multi, true/false, short text)
Configurable passing scores
Attempt limits
Auto-grading with detailed results

💳 Monetization

One-time course purchases
Subscription memberships
Course bundles
Free courses
Simulated payment processing (ready for Stripe/PayPal integration)

🤝 Affiliate System

Referral tracking with unique codes
Configurable commission rates (percent or fixed)
Click tracking and conversion attribution
Commission management

📊 Analytics & Reporting

Student progress dashboards
Instructor revenue tracking
Course performance metrics
Platform-wide admin analytics

🔌 REST API

Public API for integrations
API key authentication
Course catalog access
Enrollment management
Progress tracking

Tech Stack

Backend: PHP 7.0+ (compatible with 7.x - 8.x)
Database: MySQL 5.7+ / MariaDB 10.2+
Architecture: Custom lightweight MVC (no frameworks)
Frontend: Vanilla JavaScript + responsive CSS
Security: PDO prepared statements, CSRF protection, password hashing

Requirements

PHP 7.0 or higher
MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.2+
Apache/Nginx web server
PHP Extensions:
- pdo_mysql
- mbstring
- openssl
- json
- fileinfo

Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/ahmedsaadawi13/splashcourses.git
cd splashcourses

2. Configure Environment

cp .env.example .env

Edit .env with your database credentials:

APP_ENV=development
APP_DEBUG=true
APP_URL=http://localhost

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_DATABASE=splashcourses
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=your_password_here

3. Create Database

mysql -u root -p

CREATE DATABASE splashcourses CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

4. Import Database Schema

mysql -u root -p splashcourses < database.sql

This will create all tables and insert seed data including:

Demo tenant ("Demo Academy")
Sample users with different roles
Example courses with content
Quiz questions and certificates

5. Set File Permissions

chmod -R 755 storage/
chmod -R 755 storage/uploads/
chmod -R 755 storage/logs/

6. Configure Web Server

Apache

Ensure mod_rewrite is enabled and set DocumentRoot to /path/to/splashcourses/public

Example VirtualHost:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName splashcourses.local
    DocumentRoot /var/www/splashcourses/public

    <Directory /var/www/splashcourses/public>
        AllowOverride All
        Require all granted
    </Directory>

    ErrorLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/splashcourses_error.log
    CustomLog ${APACHE_LOG_DIR}/splashcourses_access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

Nginx

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name splashcourses.local;
    root /var/www/splashcourses/public;

    index index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/var/run/php/php7.4-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_index index.php;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

7. Access the Application

Open your browser and navigate to:

http://localhost (or your configured domain)
http://localhost/demo (Demo Academy homepage)

Default Credentials

Platform Admin

Email: platform@splashcourses.com
Password: password123

Demo Tenant Owner

Email: owner@demoacademy.com
Password: password123

Demo Instructor

Email: instructor@demoacademy.com
Password: password123

Demo Students

Email: student1@example.com, student2@example.com, student3@example.com
Password: password123

⚠️ IMPORTANT: Change all default passwords immediately after installation!

Project Structure

splashcourses/
├── app/
│   ├── core/               # MVC framework core
│   │   ├── Database.php
│   │   ├── Router.php
│   │   ├── Controller.php
│   │   ├── Model.php
│   │   ├── View.php
│   │   ├── Auth.php
│   │   ├── Session.php
│   │   ├── Request.php
│   │   ├── Response.php
│   │   └── CSRF.php
│   ├── controllers/        # Application controllers
│   ├── models/            # Database models
│   ├── views/             # View templates
│   └── helpers/           # Helper utilities
├── config/                # Configuration files
├── public/                # Public web root
│   ├── index.php         # Application entry point
│   ├── .htaccess         # Apache rewrite rules
│   └── assets/           # CSS, JS, images
├── storage/
│   ├── uploads/          # User uploaded files
│   └── logs/             # Application logs
├── tests/                # Test scripts
├── database.sql          # Database schema & seed data
├── .env.example          # Environment template
└── README.md             # This file

Usage Guide

Creating a Course

Login as instructor or tenant owner
Navigate to "My Courses" or "Manage Courses"
Click "Create New Course"
Fill in course details:
- Title, subtitle, description
- Level (beginner/intermediate/advanced)
- Category
- Pricing (free or paid)
Save as draft
Add modules and lessons
Publish when ready

Course Structure

Course
├── Module 1
│   ├── Lesson 1 (Video)
│   ├── Lesson 2 (Text)
│   └── Lesson 3 (Quiz)
├── Module 2
│   ├── Lesson 4 (Video)
│   └── Lesson 5 (Download)
└── ...

Student Enrollment Flow

Browse courses at /demo/courses
Click on a course to view details
Click "Enroll Now"
For free courses: instant enrollment
For paid courses: simulated checkout process
Access course from student dashboard
Track progress automatically
Earn certificate upon completion

Certificates

Certificates are automatically generated when students complete all lessons in a course. Each certificate has:

Unique verification code
Public verification URL: /certificate/{code}
Downloadable HTML (PDF generation can be added)

Affiliate Marketing

Create affiliate account in tenant admin
Generate unique referral code
Share referral link: /demo?ref={code}
Track clicks and conversions
Earn commissions on sales
View earnings in affiliate dashboard

REST API

Authentication

All API requests require an API key in the header:

X-API-KEY: your_api_key_here

Endpoints

Get All Published Courses

GET /api/courses

Query parameters:

category - Filter by category ID
free_only - Show only free courses (1/0)
search - Search in title/description

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": [...],
  "count": 2
}

Get Course Details

GET /api/courses/{id or slug}

Response:

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "course": {...},
    "modules": [...]
  }
}

Create Enrollment

POST /api/enrollments/create

Body:

{
  "student": {
    "email": "john@example.com",
    "name": "John Doe"
  },
  "course_id": 1
}

Get Student Progress

GET /api/students/{student_id}/courses/{course_id}/progress

API Example

$curl = curl_init();

curl_setopt_array($curl, [
    CURLOPT_URL => "http://localhost/api/courses",
    CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER => true,
    CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER => [
        "X-API-KEY: demo_api_key_1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef1234567890abcdef"
    ]
]);

$response = curl_exec($curl);
curl_close($curl);

$data = json_decode($response, true);

Testing

Run the included test scripts to verify installation:

# Test database connection
php tests/test_db_connection.php

# Test course creation
php tests/test_course_creation.php

# Test enrollment flow
php tests/test_enrollment_flow.php

# Test API (requires running server)
php tests/test_api.php

Security Features

Password Hashing: BCrypt via password_hash()
SQL Injection Prevention: PDO prepared statements only
XSS Protection: htmlspecialchars() on all outputs
CSRF Protection: Token validation on all forms
Session Security: session_regenerate_id() on login
Login Throttling: Brute force protection with lockout
Tenant Isolation: Strict filtering on all queries
File Upload Validation: MIME type and size checks
API Rate Limiting: Via usage tracking

Quota Enforcement

Each subscription plan has quotas for:

Maximum courses
Maximum students
Maximum instructors
Maximum storage (bytes)
Maximum membership tiers
API calls per month

The system automatically enforces these limits and provides clear error messages when quotas are exceeded.

Email System

Emails are currently logged to /storage/logs/email_log.txt.

To integrate real email service:

Install PHPMailer or use built-in mail()
Update app/helpers/MailerHelper.php
Configure SMTP settings in .env

Triggered emails:

Enrollment confirmation
Payment receipts
Certificate issuance
Password reset
Welcome messages

Payment Integration

The payment system is currently simulated. To integrate real payments:

Stripe Integration

// In app/helpers/PaymentHelper.php
require_once 'vendor/autoload.php';

\Stripe\Stripe::setApiKey('your_secret_key');

$charge = \Stripe\Charge::create([
    'amount' => $amount * 100,
    'currency' => 'usd',
    'source' => $token,
    'description' => 'Course purchase'
]);

PayPal Integration

Similar integration can be done with PayPal REST API or other payment gateways like Braintree, Square, or Paddle.

Scaling Recommendations

Database Optimization

Add indexes on frequently queried columns
Implement query caching
Use read replicas for analytics
Consider partitioning large tables

File Storage

Move uploads to S3/CloudFlare R2/DigitalOcean Spaces
Implement CDN for static assets
Use cloud storage for videos

Performance

Add Redis/Memcached for session storage
Implement application-level caching
Use queue systems (Redis Queue, RabbitMQ) for emails
Enable OPcache for PHP

High Availability

Load balancer (HAProxy, Nginx)
Multiple web servers
Database clustering
Automated backups

Customization

Adding New User Roles

Add role to users table enum
Update permissions in controllers
Create role-specific dashboard view
Update navigation menus

Custom Themes

Edit /public/assets/css/style.css
Or add per-tenant theme CSS in database
Load custom CSS based on tenant.theme_settings_json

Adding Content Types

Add type to course_lessons.content_type enum
Create handler in LessonController
Add view template
Update lesson creation form

Troubleshooting

Database Connection Errors

Check .env credentials
Verify MySQL is running
Test connection: php tests/test_db_connection.php

404 Errors on All Pages

Ensure mod_rewrite is enabled (Apache)
Check .htaccess is in /public
Verify DocumentRoot points to /public

File Upload Errors

Check storage directory permissions
Verify upload_max_filesize in php.ini
Ensure post_max_size is sufficient

Session Issues

Check session directory is writable
Verify session.save_path in php.ini
Clear browser cookies

License

This project is provided as-is for educational and commercial use.

Support

For issues, feature requests, or contributions:

GitHub Issues: https://github.com/ahmedsaadawi13/splashcourses/issues
Email: ahmed.sha3ban13@gmail.com

Credits

Built with:

Custom PHP MVC Architecture
MySQL Database
Vanilla JavaScript
Pure CSS

Changelog

Version 1.0.0 (Initial Release)

Multi-tenant architecture
Complete LMS functionality
Quiz system
Certificate generation
Affiliate program
REST API
Payment simulation
50+ database tables
Responsive UI
Security hardening
Comprehensive documentation

Happy Teaching! 🎓

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 2 Commits
app		app
config		config
public		public
tests		tests
.env.example		.env.example
DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md		DEPLOYMENT_GUIDE.md
README.md		README.md
database.sql		database.sql

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