BlogWebApp

A small Node.js + Express blog application with server-side rendered views using EJS.

Features

• Create, view, edit, and delete blog posts
• Server-side rendered pages with EJS templates
• Bootstrap-based layout and custom styles
• PostgreSQL storage for posts

Project structure

• index.js - Main Express application entry point
• db.js - PostgreSQL connection pool, schema initialization, and post queries
• .env.example - PostgreSQL connection settings template
• package.json - Node dependencies and package metadata
• public/ - Static assets
  • main.css - Custom styling
  • logo-notepad.png - App logo image
• views/ - EJS view templates
  • index.ejs - Landing/home page
  • app.ejs - New blog post form
  • post_new.ejs - List of published posts
  • post_view.ejs - Single post display
  • post_edit.ejs - Edit form for an existing post
  • partials/ - Shared components
    • header.ejs - Header with navigation
    • footer.ejs - Footer content

Installation

1. Install dependencies from the project directory:

cd "C:\Users\hp\Desktop\Full Stack Web Development\BlogWebApp"
npm install

2. Create a PostgreSQL database. For a local PostgreSQL installation, run:

CREATE DATABASE blogdb;

3. Create the environment file:

Copy-Item .env.example .env

Open .env and replace your_password with the password for the PostgreSQL user. The default local connection is:

postgresql://postgres:your_password@localhost:5432/blogdb

You can instead set separate PGHOST, PGPORT, PGDATABASE, PGUSER, and PGPASSWORD values. DATABASE_URL takes precedence when provided.

4. Run the application:

npm start

3. Open your browser at:

http://localhost:3000

Usage

• Visit / to view the landing page and saved posts loaded from PostgreSQL.
• Visit /post to create a new blog post.
• After posting, you are redirected to /post/new where all posts are listed.
• Use the View button to open a post at /post/:id.
• Use the Edit button to modify a post at /post/:id/edit.
• Use the Delete button to remove a post.

Notes

• On startup, db.js creates the posts table if it does not already exist. Restarting the server does not delete posts.
• Post titles are optional; blank titles display as Untitled.
• Post content is required to create or save a post.

Dependencies

• express
• body-parser
• ejs
• pg
• dotenv