BridgeBoard

A skill-sharing and service marketplace platform built with PHP where users can post services, browse offerings, and connect with service providers in their community.

🌟 Features

• User Authentication: Secure registration and login system with session management
• Skill Posts: Create, browse, edit, and delete service offerings
• Categories: Organized skill posts by categories for easy navigation
• Search Functionality: Find services and providers quickly
• User Profiles: Manage personal information, bio, location, and avatar
• Messaging System: Contact service providers directly through the platform
• Location-Based: Filter and search services by location
• Price Range: Set price ranges for services
• Image Upload: Support for multiple images per skill post
• Role-Based Access: Member and admin user roles

🛠️ Technology Stack

• Backend: PHP 8+ (with strict types)
• Database: MySQL 8.0+
• Architecture: MVC (Model-View-Controller)
• Router: Custom routing system
• Session Management: PHP native sessions
• File Uploads: Image upload support for avatars and skill posts

📋 Prerequisites

• PHP 8.0 or higher
• MySQL 8.0 or higher
• Web server (Apache/Nginx)
• Composer (optional, for dependency management)

🚀 Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/Kubanabaraka/BridgeBoard.git
   cd BridgeBoard

2. Set up the database

   mysql -u root -p < sql/bridgeboard.sql

3. Configure environment variables

   cp .env.example .env

   Edit .env with your database credentials and application settings:

   APP_NAME=BridgeBoard
   APP_ENV=local
   APP_DEBUG=true
   APP_URL=http://localhost/BridgeBoard/public
   
   DB_CONNECTION=mysql
   DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
   DB_PORT=3306
   DB_DATABASE=bridgeboard
   DB_USERNAME=root
   DB_PASSWORD=your_password
   
   SESSION_NAME=bridgeboard_session
   UPLOAD_MAX_SIZE=5242880
   ALLOWED_IMAGE_TYPES=jpg,jpeg,png,webp

4. Set up file permissions

   chmod -R 755 storage

5. Configure your web server

   Point your web server's document root to the public directory.

   Apache example (.htaccess should handle rewriting):

   DocumentRoot /path/to/BridgeBoard/public

6. Access the application

   Navigate to http://localhost/BridgeBoard/public in your browser

📁 Project Structure

BridgeBoard/
├── config/              # Configuration files
│   ├── app.php         # Application config
│   └── database.php    # Database config
├── public/             # Public web directory
│   └── index.php       # Application entry point
├── sql/                # Database schemas and migrations
│   └── bridgeboard.sql # Database schema
├── src/                # Application source code
│   ├── Controllers/    # Request handlers
│   ├── Core/          # Core framework components
│   ├── Models/        # Data models
│   └── Services/      # Business logic services
├── storage/           # File uploads and cache
├── tools/             # Development tools
├── bootstrap.php      # Application bootstrap
├── . env.example       # Environment variables template
└── . gitignore        # Git ignore rules

🎯 Available Routes

Public Routes

• GET / - Home page
• GET /register - Registration form
• POST /register - Process registration
• GET /login - Login form
• POST /login - Process login
• POST /logout - Logout user

Protected Routes

• GET /dashboard - User dashboard
• GET /posts - Browse skill posts
• GET /posts/create - Create new post form
• POST /posts - Store new post
• GET /posts/{id} - View post details
• GET /posts/{id}/edit - Edit post form
• POST /posts/{id}/update - Update post
• POST /posts/{id}/delete - Delete post
• GET /search - Search posts
• GET /profile - Current user profile
• GET /profile/{id} - View user profile
• POST /profile - Update profile
• GET /contact - Messages inbox
• POST /contact - Send message

🔧 Configuration

Upload Settings

• Max file size: 5MB (5242880 bytes)
• Allowed image types: jpg, jpeg, png, webp

Session Settings

• Session name: bridgeboard_session (configurable)

Database

• Charset: utf8mb4
• Collation: utf8mb4_unicode_ci

🗄️ Database Schema

The application uses four main tables:

• users: User accounts with authentication and profile information
• categories: Service categories for organizing posts
• skill_posts: Service listings with details, pricing, and images
• messages: Direct messaging between users

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

📝 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

👤 Author

Kubanabaraka

• GitHub: @Kubanabaraka

🐛 Bug Reports

If you discover any bugs, please create an issue on GitHub with detailed information about the problem.

✨ Acknowledgments

• Built with PHP and MySQL
• Uses custom MVC architecture
• Designed for community skill-sharing

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Made with ❤️ by Kubanabaraka