Travel Blog Project

A modern PHP-based travel blog application with user profiles, posts, articles, and comments.

Features

• 🏝️ Travel blog posts with rich content
• 👤 User profiles and authentication
• 📝 Article management with image uploads
• 💬 Comment system
• 🔍 Search functionality
• 📱 Responsive design with Bootstrap

Requirements

• PHP 8.0 or higher
• MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.2+
• Composer 2.x

Quick Start

1. Install Dependencies

composer install

This will:

• Install all PHP dependencies
• Automatically create a .env file from .env.example if it doesn't exist

2. Configure Environment

Edit the .env file and update your database credentials:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=travel_blog
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=your_password_here

3. Install Database

Run the database installation script to automatically create the database and import the schema:

composer install-db

This will:

• Create the travel_blog database
• Import all tables and sample data
• Verify the installation

4. Start Development Server

Start the built-in PHP development server:

composer dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:8000

Project Structure

TravelBlogProject/
├── config/              # Configuration files
│   ├── bootstrap.php    # Application initialization
│   └── database.php     # Database connection
├── database/            # Database files
│   └── travel_blog.sql  # Database schema and sample data
├── public/              # Public web root (document root)
│   └── index.php        # Application entry point
├── scripts/             # JavaScript and utility scripts
│   ├── install-database.php  # Database installer
│   └── ...
├── src/                 # PHP source code (PSR-4 autoloaded)
├── static/              # Static assets (CSS, images)
│   ├── css/
│   ├── images/
│   └── scss/
├── templates/           # PHP templates/views
│   ├── core/            # Core templates (navbar, footer)
│   ├── index/           # Home page templates
│   ├── post/            # Post templates
│   ├── profile/         # Profile templates
│   └── ...
├── vendor/              # Composer dependencies (gitignored)
├── .env                 # Environment configuration (gitignored)
├── .env.example         # Example environment configuration
├── composer.json        # Composer configuration
└── README.md            # This file

Available Composer Scripts

• composer dev - Start development server on localhost:8000
• composer install-db - Install/reinstall database with sample data

Development

Adding New Dependencies

composer require vendor/package-name

Development Mode

The application runs in development mode by default with error reporting enabled. To switch to production mode, update .env:

APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false

Database Access

The application uses PDO for database access. Connection is handled automatically through environment variables:

// Get database connection
$conn = getDbConnection();

// Or use legacy function (backward compatible)
$conn = connect();

Database Schema

The database includes the following main tables:

• user - User accounts and profiles
• post - Blog posts
• article - Articles within posts
• comment - User comments
• user_intro - User introductions

Security Notes

• Always keep .env file out of version control
• Update database credentials before deploying
• Set APP_DEBUG=false in production
• Review and update security settings in .env

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch
3. Commit your changes
4. Push to the branch
5. Create a Pull Request