SocialNet - Full Stack Social Media Application

A full-stack social media web application built with the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React, Node.js).

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Features

• User registration and login with JWT authentication
• Create, view, and delete posts with image upload
• Like and comment on posts
• Follow / unfollow users
• User profiles with followers and following count
• Explore page to discover all posts
• Suggested users panel
• Responsive design

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Tech Stack

Frontend: React, React Router, Axios, React Icons, React Hot Toast
Backend: Node.js, Express.js, MongoDB, Mongoose, JWT, Bcrypt
Storage: Cloudinary (image uploads)
Database: MongoDB Atlas

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Project Structure

socialnet/
├── backend/
│   ├── config/         # Cloudinary config
│   ├── controllers/    # Auth, Post, User logic
│   ├── middleware/     # JWT auth middleware
│   ├── models/         # User, Post schemas
│   ├── routes/         # API routes
│   └── server.js       # Entry point
├── frontend/
│   ├── public/
│   └── src/
│       ├── components/ # PostCard, CreatePost, Layout, SuggestedUsers
│       ├── context/    # AuthContext
│       ├── pages/      # Home, Explore, Profile, Login, Register
│       └── App.js

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Setup & Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js 16+
• MongoDB Atlas account
• Cloudinary account (free tier)

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/Prince-1512/socialnet.git
cd socialnet

2. Backend Setup

cd backend
npm install

Create .env file (copy from .env.example):

PORT=5000
MONGO_URI=your_mongodb_atlas_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_secret_key
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloudinary_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_cloudinary_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_cloudinary_api_secret

Start backend:

npm run dev

3. Frontend Setup

cd frontend
npm install
npm start

4. Open in browser

http://localhost:3000

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API Endpoints

Method	Endpoint	Description
POST	/api/auth/register	Register user
POST	/api/auth/login	Login user
GET	/api/auth/me	Get current user
GET	/api/posts/feed	Get feed posts
GET	/api/posts/explore	Get all posts
POST	/api/posts	Create post
PUT	/api/posts/:id/like	Like/unlike post
POST	/api/posts/:id/comment	Add comment
DELETE	/api/posts/:id	Delete post
GET	/api/users/:username	Get user profile
PUT	/api/users/:id/follow	Follow/unfollow
GET	/api/users/search?q=	Search users
GET	/api/users/suggested	Suggested users

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Author

Prince Ranjan
MCA Final Year | School of Management Sciences, Varanasi
GitHub · LinkedIn