SOCIAL MEDIA APP

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ABOUT SOCIAL MEDIA APP

This Social Media App is a Flask-based application designed to provide users with an engaging platform for seamless communication, content sharing, and interaction. It features essential functionalities such as user account management, direct messaging (DMs), and post creation. Built using Python, Flask, and MySQL, this app serves as a demonstration of modular application design and API integration for modern social media platforms.

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KEY FEATURES

1. User Account Management

   • Users can create accounts, update their profiles, and manage their information.
   • Passwords are securely stored using encryption mechanisms.

2. Posts

   • Users can create, read, update, and delete (CRUD) posts.
   • The app supports multimedia content integration for posts.

3. Direct Messaging (DMs)

   • Users can send and receive direct messages.
   • Users can also delete and edit a message that has already been sent.

4. Database Integration

   • ata is stored in a MySQL database with tables for users, posts, and messages.
   • SQLAlchemy is used for ORM (Object-Relational Mapping), making database operations efficient and secure.

5. API-Driven Design

   • The app's endpoints are structured for easy integration with client-side applications or third-party systems.
   • Postman is recommended for API testing and debugging.

6. Scalable Architecture

   • The application is divided into modules: user_app, post_app, and message_app, making it easy to maintain and extend.
   • Shared resources and configurations are managed centrally in the shared folder.

7. Real-Time Communication

   • Implements WebSocket or polling-based communication (future improvement).

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TECH STACK

1. Backend Framework: Flask (Python)
2. Database: MySQL
3. Frontend/API Testing: Postman
4. Additional Libraries:
   • SQLAlchemy for database management.
   • Flask-Migrate for handling database migrations.
   • Cryptography for secure password handling.

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INSTRUCTIONS TO RUN SOCIAL MEDIA APP

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PREREQUISITES

1. Python (3.8 or higher)

   • Click for - How to install Python on Windows and MacOS both

2. MySQL LTS version (8.3 or higher version)

   • Click for - how to install MySQL LTS version on windows
   • Click for - how to install MySQL LTS version on MacOS
   • NOTE : use simple passwords that only has characters and numbers while setting up the password for the MySQL to avoid descrepencies (DO NOT USE SPECIAL CHARACTERS)

3. Postman API application

   • Click for - How to install Postman applciation on windows
   • Click for - How to install Postman application on MacOS

4. pip installation

   • Click for - How to install pip on command prompt
   • Click for - How to install pip on terminal

5. GitHub Desktop

   • Click for - How to install github desktop on Windows
   • Click for - How to install github desktop on MacOS

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CREATING THE DATABASE

Creating a database in MacOS -

1. Open terminal
2. Run:

   mysql -u root -p

3. Enter your MySQL password.
4. Create the database:

   create database social_media_app;
   

Creating a database in Windows

1. Locate the MySQL bin directory :

   • Navigate to C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server X.X\bin.
   • Copy the path.

2. Add MySQL to path :

   • Open System Environment Variables:
     • Press Windows + S and search for Environment Variables.
   • Under System Variables, edit the Path variable and add the copied MySQL bin path.

3. Verify Installation :

   • Open a new Command Prompt window and run :

     mysql --version

   • If successful, create the database :

     mysql -u root -p
     create database social_media_app;
     

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CLONING THE REPOSITORY

1. Ensure GitHub CLI is installed -
   • Windows: Pre-installed.
   • macOS: Install using -

     • brew install github/gh/gh
       

2. Verify installation -

   • github --version

   • if it doesn't work, use -

     gh --version
     

3. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/shr3yajaisal/social_media_app
   

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ACTIVATING THE VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT AND INSTALLING REQUIREMENTS' PACKAGES

• Open terminal.
• Navigate to your project folder -
  • For Windows -

    cd path\to\your\project  

  • For MacOS

    cd path/to/your/project
    

• Create the virtual environment -

  # For both MacOS and Windows
  python -m venv venv
  OR
  python3 -m venv venv   # In case you are using python3
  

• Activate the virtual environment -
  • For Windows

    venv\Scripts\activate
    

  • For MacOS

    source venv/bin/activate
    

• Installing the packages of the requirements.txt file -

  # For both MacOS and Windows
  pip install -r requirements.txt
  OR
  pip3 install -r requirements.txt   # In case you are using pip3
  

• Installing the package "cryptography" -

  # For both MacOS and Windows
  pip install cryptography
  OR
  pip3 install cryptography
  

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CONFIGURING THE CODE

1. Update the python path -

   • Open social_media_app/app_runner.py.
   • Copy the path of the venv/bin/python.
   • replace <version/of/Python/used/within/the/venv> in line numbers 5, 9 and 13 with the path.

2. Update MySQL password -

   • In user_app/app.py, shared/app.py, post_app/app.py and message_app/app.py -
   • Go to the line number 11.
   • replace <enter-your-password> with your actual MySQL password.

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CONNECTING THE SOCIAL_MEDIA_APP TO DATABASE

1. Set the Flask application -
   • For Windows -

     set FLASK_APP=shared/app.py

   • For MacOS -

     export FLASK_APP=shared/app.py
     

2. Initializing migrations -

   # For both Windows and MacOS
   flask db init
   

3. Generating a migration script -

   # For both Windows and MacOS
   flask db migrate -m "Added new table for user profiles"
   

4. Applying the migrations -

   # For both Windows and MacOS
   flask db upgrade
   

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RUNNING THE APPLICATION

• Start the application

  # For both MacOS and Windows
  python app_runner.py
  OR
  python3 app_runner.py
  

• The servers will be available at -
  • User App: http://127.0.0.1:5001
  • Post App: http://127.0.0.1:5002
  • Message App: http://127.0.0.1:5003

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USING THE POSTMAN APPLICATION

1. Now, for sending message or to create post, first of all you need to create a user.

2. When you go to social_media_app/shared/post_model.py, you can see, you have the structure of the user table.

3. CREATING A COLLECTION ON POSTMAN APPLICATION -

   • Open the Postman application
   • open collections.
   • select the + sign i.e., create new collection.
   • select blank collection.
   • Give name to your collection.

4. CREATING A REQUEST ON POSTMAN APPLICATION -

   • Now, select the option bar of your created collection.
   • select the option Add request.
   • Give name to your request. For example, here you are going to create a users request, so name it users.
   • Place where, enter URL or paste text is written, enter the address of the server. Here, we are making the request for users, so we will be adding the address of the user_app. i.e., http://127.0.0.1:5001
   • Now go to the social_media_app/user_app/routes/user_routes.py.
   • There, you can see that the endpoint of create_user() function is /api/users and the method is POST.
   • Now enter the URL as - http://127.0.0.1:5001/api/users and select the method as POST.
   • Now, go to the Headers column, enter the key as Content-Type and enter the value as application/json
   • Now, go to the Body column, select raw and then, json.
   • In the blank space provided, enter the values of the users in the json format.
   • Example -

     {
        "username" : "Shreya",
        "email" : "shreya@example.com",
        "password" : "shreya@123",
        "full_name" : "Shreya Jaisal",
        "bio" : "backend developer"
     }

   • Now click the send button.
   • On success, you will see,

     { "message": "User created successfully", "user_id": 1 }

   • And hence, a user is successfully created in your database.

5. Explore Additional Routes:

   • check routes in -
     • user_app/routes/user_routes.py
     • post_app/routes/post_routes.py
     • message_app/routes/message_routes.py

6. And this is how you can run your social_media_app.

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For further setup and usage instructions, refer to the "INSTRUCTIONS TO RUN SOCIAL MEDIA APP" section above. If you have suggestions or questions, feel free to email me at shreyajaisal90@gmail.com.