🚀 iDiscuss Forum

A full-stack coding discussion forum where users can register, create threads, comment, and maintain their personal profiles.
Built using Node.js, Express, MySQL, and Bootstrap.

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📌 Project Inspiration & Enhancements

This project is inspired by CodeWithHarry's iDiscuss Forum (PHP).
I re-implemented the concept using a Node.js + Express.js backend with a MySQL database., and also added modern features like:

• 🔐 Users can upload a profile photo
• ✏️ Users can edit full profile details (bio, birthdate, gender, etc.)
• 🧵 Users can post/delete their own threads
• 💬 Users can post/delete their own comments

🛡️ Only the owner of a thread or comment has the right to delete it.

🚀 Features

• 🧑‍💻 User registration, login, logout with session handling
• 🔐 Secure password hashing using bcrypt
• 📂 Categories to organize discussion topics
• 🧵 Post threads under categories
• 💬 Add comments to threads
• 👤 View and update user profile with:
  • Profile picture
  • Bio, Birthdate, Gender, Role, Mobile, Alternate Email
• 📷 Profile image upload using multer
• 📃 EJS templating for dynamic views

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	HTML, CSS, Bootstrap 5, EJS
Backend	Node.js, Express.js
Database	MySQL with mysql2 driver
Auth & File	express-session, multer

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⚙️ Set-Up Instructions

Prerequisites :

• Node.js, MySQL installed and running locally.

1. Clone the Repository -

git clone https://github.com/PranavNikam-15/iDiscuss-Forum.git
cd iDiscuss-Forum

2. Install Node Dependencies -

npm install

3. Database Setup -

💡 See complete Database Schema Description

-- Create the database
CREATE DATABASE idiscuss_project;
USE idiscuss_project;

-- USERS TABLE
CREATE TABLE users (
  user_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  user_name VARCHAR(50) NOT NULL,
  user_email VARCHAR(150) NOT NULL UNIQUE,
  user_password VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
  user_profile VARCHAR(255),
  bio TEXT,
  birthdate DATE,
  gender ENUM('Male', 'Female', 'Other') DEFAULT NULL,
  organization VARCHAR(100) DEFAULT NULL,
  role VARCHAR(50) DEFAULT NULL,
  alt_email VARCHAR(150) DEFAULT NULL,
  mobile VARCHAR(15) DEFAULT NULL,
  timestamp DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

-- CATEGORIES TABLE
CREATE TABLE categories (
  id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  name VARCHAR(35) NOT NULL,
  description TEXT NOT NULL,
  timestamp DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP
);

-- THREADS TABLE
CREATE TABLE threads (
  thread_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  thread_title VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
  thread_desc TEXT NOT NULL,
  thread_cat_id INT NOT NULL,
  thread_user_id INT,
  timestamp DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  FULLTEXT(thread_title, thread_desc),
  FOREIGN KEY (thread_cat_id) REFERENCES categories(id),
  FOREIGN KEY (thread_user_id) REFERENCES users(user_id)
);

-- COMMENTS TABLE
CREATE TABLE comments (
  comment_id INT AUTO_INCREMENT PRIMARY KEY,
  comment_content TEXT NOT NULL,
  thread_id INT NOT NULL,
  comment_by INT NOT NULL,
  comment_time DATETIME DEFAULT CURRENT_TIMESTAMP,
  FOREIGN KEY (thread_id) REFERENCES threads(thread_id) ON DELETE CASCADE,
  FOREIGN KEY (comment_by) REFERENCES users(user_id) ON DELETE CASCADE
);

4. Configure Environment Variables -

Create a .env file in the root directory of your project to store configuration values.

# .env
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_USER=root
DB_PASSWORD=your_mysql_password
DB_NAME=idiscuss_project
SESSION_SECRET=Key

5. Run the App -

Start the server using:

node server.js

OR

nodemon server.js

App will start on: http://localhost:8080

🖼️ Screenshots

🔐 Login Page

📝 Register Page

👤 Profile Page

🧵 Thread Lists

• Thread List 1
  

• Thread List 2
  

💬 Comments

• Comment 1
  

• Comment 2
  

🔍 Search Page

📄 About Page

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.