IIITN-Resell

IIITN-Resell is a campus marketplace platform designed specifically for IIIT Nagpur students and faculty to buy and sell second-hand items. This full-stack application provides a secure, easy-to-use environment for the campus community to trade items, connect through real-time chat, and manage personal listings.

Features

User Management

• Google OAuth Integration - Secure login using institutional (@iiitn.ac.in) email addresses
• JWT Authentication - Secure API access with JSON Web Tokens
• User Profiles - Customizable profiles with image upload capabilities

Product Listings

• Intuitive Marketplace - Browse all available products with advanced filtering
• Category & Price Filtering - Find items by category, price range, and more
• Product Management - Create, edit, and mark items as sold
• Image Upload - Add images to product listings using Cloudinary storage

Messaging System

• Real-time Chat - Instant messaging between buyers and sellers
• Product-Specific Conversations - Chat about specific items
• Notifications - Get notified about new messages
• Unread Message Tracking - See which conversations have unread messages

User Experience

• Responsive Design - Works on desktop and mobile devices
• Dark/Light Mode - Toggle between dark and light themes
• Intuitive Navigation - Easy-to-use interface with clear product visibility

Technology Stack

Frontend

• React.js - UI component library
• React Router - Client-side routing
• Context API - Global state management
• Socket.io-client - Real-time communication
• Axios - API request handling
• Tailwind CSS - Utility-first CSS framework
• Lucide React - Modern icon set

Backend

• Node.js - JavaScript runtime
• Express - Web application framework
• MongoDB - NoSQL database
• Mongoose - MongoDB object modeling
• Socket.io - Real-time bidirectional communication
• JWT - Authentication mechanism
• Passport.js - Authentication middleware
• Multer/Cloudinary - File uploads and storage
• bcryptjs - Password hashing

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB instance (local or Atlas)
• Cloudinary account for image storage
• Google OAuth credentials

Environment Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/yourusername/iiitn-resell.git
cd iiitn-resell

2. Install dependencies:

# Install root dependencies
npm install

# Install server dependencies
cd server
npm install

# Install client dependencies
cd ../client
npm install

3. Create a .env file in the server directory with the following variables:

# Server Configuration
PORT=5000
NODE_ENV=development

# MongoDB Connection
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string

# JWT Secret
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret_key
SESSION_SECRET=your_session_secret

# Google OAuth
GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=your_google_client_id
GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=your_google_client_secret

# Cloudinary Configuration
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret

# Client URL
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:3000
PRODUCTION_CLIENT_URL=https://your-production-url.com

4. Create a .env file in the client directory:

REACT_APP_API_URL=http://localhost:5000/api

Running the Application

Development Mode

# From the root directory
npm run dev

This will start both the client and server concurrently.

Production Build

# Build the client
cd client
npm run build

# Start the server (from root directory)
npm start

API Endpoints

Authentication

• POST /api/auth/register - Register a new user
• POST /api/auth/login - Login user
• GET /api/auth/google - Google OAuth login
• GET /api/auth/profile - Get user profile
• GET /api/auth/verify-token - Verify JWT token

User Management

• GET /api/users/profile - Get current user profile
• PUT /api/users/profile - Update user profile
• PUT /api/users/change-password - Change user password
• PUT /api/users/profile-picture - Update profile picture

Products

• GET /api/products - Get all products with filters
• GET /api/products/user - Get current user's products
• GET /api/products/:id - Get single product
• POST /api/products - Create a new product
• PUT /api/products/:id - Update a product
• DELETE /api/products/:id - Delete a product

Chat

• POST /api/chat/conversations - Create a new conversation
• GET /api/chat/conversations - Get all user conversations
• GET /api/chat/conversations/:conversationId/messages - Get conversation messages

Socket.io Events

Client Events

• join_conversation - Join a conversation room
• send_message - Send a message
• mark_as_read - Mark messages as read
• typing - User is typing
• stop_typing - User stopped typing

Server Events

• receive_message - Receive a new message
• new_message_notification - New message notification
• messages_read - Messages were read
• user_typing - User is typing
• user_stop_typing - User stopped typing

Deployment

The application can be deployed to platforms like Heroku, Vercel, or DigitalOcean. Make sure to set up the environment variables appropriately for your production environment.

Project Structure

iiitn-resell/
├── client/                 # React frontend
│   ├── public/             # Static files
│   └── src/                # Source code
│       ├── api/            # API service
│       ├── components/     # React components
│       ├── context/        # Context providers
│       ├── pages/          # Page components
│       └── config/         # Configuration
├── server/                 # Node.js backend
│   ├── middleware/         # Express middleware
│   ├── models/             # Mongoose models
│   ├── routes/             # API routes
│   └── server.js           # Server entry point
└── package.json            # Root package.json

User Flow Diagram

Future Enhancements

• Admin Dashboard - For content moderation and user management
• Advanced Search - Full-text search capabilities
• Recommendation System - Personalized product recommendations
• Wishlist Feature - Save favorite products
• In-app Notifications - Broader notification system
• Report System - Allow users to report inappropriate listings
• Mobile App - Native mobile application

Contributing

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

License

This project is licensed under the ISC License.

Acknowledgments

• IIIT Nagpur for supporting campus entrepreneurship
• Open source community for the amazing tools and libraries