University ACE Forum (UNIACE)

A full-stack ACE forum for university communities where users can register, log in, ask questions, comment on questions, and manage their profile.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React + Vite
• Backend: Node.js + Express.js
• Database: MongoDB (local)

Project Structure

UNIACE/
├── client/
│   ├── public/
│   └── src/
│       ├── components/
│       ├── context/
│       ├── lib/
│       └── pages/
└── server/
    └── src/
        ├── middleware/
        ├── models/
        └── routes/

Features

1. User Authentication

• Register with:
  • unique username
  • password
  • confirm password
• Login with:
  • username
  • password

2. User Profile

Users can view and update optional profile fields:

• name
• phone number
• role (student, senior student, lecturer)

3. Question Posting

• Post text-only questions
• Edit own questions
• Delete own questions

4. Commenting

• Comment on questions

5. Database

• MongoDB URI: mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/quiz
• Collections:
  • users
  • questions
  • comments

API Endpoints

Base URL: http://localhost:5000/api

Auth

• POST /register - create new user
• POST /login - authenticate user

Questions

• GET /questions - fetch all questions
• GET /questions/:id - fetch one question with comments
• POST /questions - create new question (auth required)
• PUT /questions/:id - update own question (auth required)
• DELETE /questions/:id - delete own question (auth required)

Comments

• POST /comments - create new comment (auth required)

Profile

• GET /profile - fetch current user profile (auth required)
• PUT /profile - update current user profile (auth required)

Data Models

User

• username (String, required, unique)
• password (String, required, hashed)
• name (String, optional)
• phone (String, optional)
• role (String, optional: student | senior student | lecturer)

Question

• text (String, required)
• author (ObjectId -> User, required)
• timestamps

Comment

• text (String, required)
• author (ObjectId -> User, required)
• question (ObjectId -> Question, required)
• timestamps

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18+ recommended
• npm 9+ recommended
• MongoDB running locally

Setup Instructions

1. Install server dependencies

cd server
npm install

2. Configure server environment

Create server/.env with:

PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/quiz
JWT_SECRET=quiz_jwt_secret_key_change_in_production

3. Install client dependencies

cd ../client
npm install

Running the App

Start backend

cd server
npm run dev

Start frontend (new terminal)

cd client
npm run dev

Frontend URL:

• http://localhost:3000

Backend URL:

• http://localhost:5000

Notes

• Questions can only be edited/deleted by their author.
• Deleting a question also deletes its comments.