Car Community Event Platform

An Express + MongoDB MVC web app for creating car events, managing attendees, and tracking RSVP status.

Tech Stack

• Node.js
• Express.js
• MongoDB + Mongoose
• EJS templating
• Express Session + Connect Mongo
• Multer (image upload)
• Express Validator
• Express Rate Limit
• Method Override
• Connect Flash

Features

Authentication and Session

• User signup with validation
• User login/logout
• Password hashing using bcryptjs
• Session-based authentication with Mongo-backed session store
• Guest-only and logged-in-only route guards

User Management

• Create account with unique email check
• Login with email/password verification
• Profile page showing:
• Hosted events
• RSVPed events

Event Management

• Create event (host must be logged in)
• Read all events and event details
• Update event (host only)
• Delete event (host only)
• Car category validation (enum-based)
• Date validation, including end date after start date
• Event image upload (jpeg/png/gif, size limit)

RSVP System

• Logged-in users can RSVP to events with:
• YES
• NO
• MAYBE
• Host cannot RSVP to their own event
• RSVP is upserted (create if missing, update if existing)
• Event detail page shows count of YES RSVPs

Security and Validation

• Request payload validation and sanitization (express-validator)
• Mongo ObjectId validation middleware
• Login rate limiting (5 attempts per 2 minutes)
• Protected routes for auth and host authorization

UX and Error Handling

• Flash messages for success/error states
• 404 error handler for unknown routes
• 500 error handler for server errors

Routes Overview

Main Routes

• GET / Home page
• GET /about About page
• GET /contact Contact page

User Routes

• GET /users/new Signup form (guest only)
• POST /users Create account
• GET /users/login Login form (guest only)
• POST /users/login Authenticate user (rate-limited)
• GET /users/profile User profile (logged in)
• GET /users/logout Logout user

Event Routes

• GET /events List all events
• GET /events/new New event form (logged in)
• POST /events Create event (logged in, validated, image upload)
• GET /events/:id Event detail
• GET /events/:id/edit Edit form (host only)
• PUT /events/:id Update event (host only)
• DELETE /events/:id Delete event (host only)
• POST /events/rsvp/:id RSVP to event (logged in)

Data Models

User

• firstName
• lastName
• email (unique)
• password (hashed before save)

Event

• category (enum)
• title
• host (User reference)
• image
• details
• location
• startDate
• endDate

RSVP

• user (User reference)
• event (Event reference)
• status (YES | NO | MAYBE)

Project Structure

• app.js App setup, DB connection, session config, middleware mount, route mount
• controllers/ Business logic for main, user, and event flows
• routes/ Route definitions
• models/ Mongoose schemas
• middleware/ Auth, validators, upload, and rate limiting
• views/ EJS templates
• public/ Static assets (CSS/images)

Setup and Run

1. Install dependencies:

npm install

2. Configure MongoDB connection:

• Current code uses a hardcoded Mongo URI in app.js.
• Recommended: move URI to environment variable (MONGO_URI) and load it from code.

MongoDB Connection String

This project uses a MongoDB Atlas style connection string (mongodb+srv) for both:

• Mongoose DB connection
• Session store (connect-mongo)

Current location in code:

• app.js (const mongUri = "...")
• app.js (store: new MongoStore({ mongoUrl: "..." }))

Atlas format:

mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@<cluster-host>/<database>?retryWrites=true&w=majority

Example:

mongodb+srv://myUser:myPass@cluster0.xxxxx.mongodb.net/car_community?retryWrites=true&w=majority

Local MongoDB format:

mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/car_community

Important notes:

• If Atlas cluster is paused/deleted, app startup will fail with DNS/connection errors.
• Ensure your Atlas IP access list allows your current machine IP.
• Ensure the DB user credentials in the string are valid.
• If password has special characters (like @, #, %), URL-encode it.

3. Start the app:

node app.js

Optional (development):

npx nodemon app.js

4. Open in browser:

• http://localhost:3000

Notes

• package.json currently does not define start or dev scripts.
• If npm run dev fails, run node app.js directly.
• RSVP values are strictly validated as uppercase YES, NO, or MAYBE.