🌐 Connectify

Connectify is a full-featured social media web application built with Node.js and Express, using server-side rendering with EJS templates for a dynamic and responsive experience. Users can create profiles, share posts, follow others, and interact with content.

🚀 Live Demo

✨ Features

• User Authentication: Secure signup/login with sessions or JWT.
• Profile Management: Create/update profiles with profile picture uploads.
• Post Creation: Share text-based posts.
• Like & Comment: Engage with content.
• Follow System: Follow/unfollow users for a personalized feed.
• Personalized Feed: See recent posts from followed users.
• User Discovery: Explore and view other profiles.
• Server-Side Rendering: Fast initial page loads.

🛠 Technologies Used

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Frontend: EJS templates, CSS3, Vanilla JavaScript
• Database: MongoDB, Mongoose
• Authentication: JWT or Express Session, bcrypt.js
• Utilities: (Optional) Cloudinary for image storage

🔧 Setup & Installation

Prerequisites:

• Node.js and npm installed
• MongoDB running locally or a MongoDB Atlas connection string

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ritiku2004/Connectify.git

# Navigate to project folder
cd Connectify

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .env file and add credentials
MONGO_URL="your_mongodb_connection_string"
JWT_SECRET="your_secret_key"
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME="your_cloudinary_cloud_name"
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY="your_cloudinary_api_key"
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET="your_cloudinary_api_secret"

# Start server
npm start

The app will be running at http://localhost:5000 (or specified port).

📂 Code Structure

• /controllers — Request/response handling logic.
• /middleware — Auth checks, other middlewares.
• /models — Mongoose schemas for User, Post, etc.
• /public — Static assets.
• /routes — URL endpoints mapping.
• /utils — Helper functions.
• /views — EJS template files.
• index.js — Main server entry point.

👤 Author

Ritik — ritiku2004