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📚 STUDYBUD - Community Discussion Platform

Django Version Python Version

📋 Table of Contents

Overview

STUDYBUD is a community-driven discussion platform built with Django, where users can create and join topic-based discussion rooms. The platform facilitates knowledge sharing and collaboration by enabling users to:

  • Create discussion rooms on various topics
  • Join existing rooms and participate in conversations
  • Send and manage messages within rooms
  • Create and customize user profiles
  • Browse topics and recent activities
  • Track room participants

Live URL: https://mysite-3zm8.onrender.com/

This application demonstrates core Django concepts including authentication, database relationships, CRUD operations, REST API development, and deployment configuration.

🛠️ Tech Stack

Backend Framework

┌─────────────────────────────────────┐
│         Django 6.0                  │
│  Python Web Framework               │
└─────────────────────────────────────┘

Core Technologies

Category Technology Version Purpose
Framework Django 6.0 Main web framework
API Django REST Framework 3.16.1 RESTful API development
Database PostgreSQL - Production database (via psycopg2-binary 2.9.11)
Storage Cloudinary 1.44.1 Media file storage
Server Gunicorn 23.0.0 WSGI HTTP Server
Server Uvicorn 0.40.0 ASGI server
Static Files WhiteNoise 6.11.0 Static file serving
Image Processing Pillow 12.0.0 Image handling
CORS django-cors-headers 4.9.0 Cross-Origin Resource Sharing

Additional Dependencies

  • asgiref (3.11.0) - ASGI specification implementation
  • dj-database-url (3.0.1) - Database configuration via URL
  • django-cloudinary-storage (0.3.0) - Cloudinary integration
  • requests (2.32.5) - HTTP library
  • GitPython (3.1.45) - Git integration

Key Features

1. User Authentication System

  • Custom User Registration: Users can signUp with their mail-id and create a unique username
  • Email-based Login: Users can login with their email-id and password
  • Logout Functionality
  • Password Validation

2. Room Management

  • Create Rooms: Users can create discussion rooms with topics
  • Update Rooms: Room hosts can edit room details
  • Delete Rooms: Room hosts can delete their rooms
  • Join Rooms: Users automatically become participants when messaging
  • Room Filtering: Search rooms by topic, name, or description

3. Messaging System

  • Real-time message posting in rooms
  • Message deletion by message owner
  • Message display with timestamps
  • Recent activity tracking

4. User Profiles

  • Custom user profiles with avatar support
  • Bio and personal information
  • User activity history
  • Profile update functionality

5. Topic Browsing

  • View all topics
  • Filter rooms by topic
  • Topic-based search functionality

6. Recent Activity Feed

  • Global activity stream
  • Topic-filtered activities
  • User-specific activity tracking

7. REST API

  • Room listing endpoint
  • Individual room details

Database Architecture

Entity Relationship Diagram

erDiagram
    User ||--o{ Room : "hosts"
    User ||--o{ Message : "writes"
    User }o--o{ Room : "participates"
    Topic ||--o{ Room : "categorizes"
    Room ||--o{ Message : "contains"

    User {
        int id PK
        string username
        string name
        string email UK
        string password
        text bio
        image avatar
        datetime date_joined
    }

    Topic {
        int id PK
        string name
    }

    Room {
        int id PK
        int host_id FK
        int topic_id FK
        string name
        text description
        datetime updated
        datetime created
    }

    Message {
        int id PK
        int user_id FK
        int room_id FK
        text body
        datetime updated
        datetime created
    }
Loading

Model Details

1. User Model (Custom AbstractUser)

Fields:
- username: CharField (inherited)
- name: CharField(max_length=200, null=True)
- email: EmailField(unique=True, null=True) - Used for login
- bio: TextField(null=True)
- avatar: ImageField(default="avatar.svg", upload_to="images/")
- password: CharField (inherited)

Authentication: Email-based (USERNAME_FIELD = 'email')

2. Topic Model

Fields:
- id: AutoField (Primary Key)
- name: CharField(max_length=200)

Purpose: Categorize discussion rooms

3. Room Model

Fields:
- id: AutoField (Primary Key)
- host: ForeignKey(User, on_delete=SET_NULL)
- topic: ForeignKey(Topic, on_delete=SET_NULL)
- name: CharField(max_length=200)
- description: TextField(blank=True)
- participants: ManyToManyField(User, related_name='participants')
- updated: DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
- created: DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

Ordering: Most recently updated first

4. Message Model

Fields:
- id: AutoField (Primary Key)
- user: ForeignKey(User, on_delete=CASCADE)
- room: ForeignKey(Room, on_delete=CASCADE)
- body: TextField
- updated: DateTimeField(auto_now=True)
- created: DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

Display: First 25 characters + "..."

Project Structure

STUDYBUD/
│
├── 📁 studybud/                    # Main project directory
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── settings.py                # Project settings & configuration
│   ├── urls.py                    # Main URL configuration
│   ├── asgi.py                    # ASGI configuration
│   └── wsgi.py                    # WSGI configuration
│
├── 📁 base/                        # Main application
│   ├── 📁 api/                     # REST API implementation
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── serializers.py         # API serializers
│   │   ├── views.py               # API views
│   │   └── urls.py                # API URL routing
│   │
│   ├── 📁 migrations/              # Database migrations
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   └── 0001_initial.py        # Initial migration
│   │
│   ├── 📁 templates/base/          # HTML templates
│   │   ├── home.html              # Main landing page
│   │   ├── login_register.html    # Authentication page
│   │   ├── room.html              # Room detail page
│   │   ├── room_form.html         # Room creation/editing form
│   │   ├── profile.html           # User profile page
│   │   ├── update-user.html       # Profile update form
│   │   ├── delete.html            # Deletion confirmation
│   │   ├── topics.html            # Topics listing page
│   │   ├── activity.html          # Activity feed page
│   │   ├── feed_component.html    # Feed component
│   │   ├── topics_component.html  # Topics sidebar component
│   │   └── activity_component.html # Activity component
│   │
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── models.py                  # Database models
│   ├── views.py                   # View functions
│   ├── urls.py                    # App URL routing
│   ├── forms.py                   # Form classes
│   ├── admin.py                   # Admin configuration
│   ├── apps.py                    # App configuration
│   └── tests.py                   # Test cases
│
├── 📁 templates/                   # Global templates
│   ├── main.html                  # Base template
│   └── navbar.html                # Navigation bar
│
├── 📁 static/                      # Static files
│   ├── 📁 images/                  # Image assets
│   │   ├── logo.svg
│   │   ├── avatar.svg
│   │   ├── favicon.ico
│   │   └── 📁 icons/              # UI icons
│   ├── 📁 styles/                  # CSS files
│   │   ├── style.css              # Main stylesheet
│   │   └── main.css
│   └── 📁 js/                      # JavaScript files
│       └── script.js              # Main script
│
├── 📁 staticfiles/                 # Collected static files (production)
│
├── manage.py                       # Django management script
├── requirements.txt                # Python dependencies
├── build.sh                        # Build script for deployment
└── render.yaml                     # Render deployment configuration

Application Flow

1. User Authentication Flow

flowchart TD
    A[User visits site] --> B{Authenticated?}
    B -->|No| C[Show Login/Register Page]
    B -->|Yes| D[Redirect to Home]
    C --> E{User Action}
    E -->|Login| F[Enter email & password]
    E -->|Register| G[Fill registration form]
    F --> H{Valid credentials?}
    H -->|Yes| I[Create session]
    H -->|No| J[Show error message]
    G --> K{Form valid?}
    K -->|Yes| L[Create user account]
    K -->|No| M[Show validation errors]
    L --> I
    I --> D
    J --> C
    M --> C
Loading

2. Room Creation and Discussion Flow

flowchart TD
    A[Authenticated User] --> B[Click Create Room]
    B --> C[Fill Room Form]
    C --> D{Select/Create Topic}
    D -->|Existing| E[Choose from dropdown]
    D -->|New| F[Enter new topic name]
    E --> G[Enter room name & description]
    F --> G
    G --> H[Submit form]
    H --> I[Room created]
    I --> J[Redirect to home]
    
    K[User browses rooms] --> L{Search/Filter?}
    L -->|Yes| M[Apply filters]
    L -->|No| N[View all rooms]
    M --> O[Filtered room list]
    N --> O
    O --> P[Click room]
    P --> Q[View room details]
    Q --> R[See messages & participants]
    R --> S{Post message?}
    S -->|Yes| T[Type message]
    T --> U[Submit]
    U --> V[Message saved]
    V --> W[Added to participants]
    W --> X[Page refreshes]
    S -->|No| Y[Continue browsing]
Loading

3. Message Management Flow

flowchart TD
    A[User in Room] --> B[View messages]
    B --> C{User's own message?}
    C -->|Yes| D[Delete option visible]
    C -->|No| E[No delete option]
    D --> F{Click delete?}
    F -->|Yes| G[Show confirmation page]
    F -->|No| H[Continue viewing]
    G --> I{Confirm deletion?}
    I -->|Yes| J[Message deleted]
    I -->|No| K[Return to room]
    J --> K
Loading

4. Profile Management Flow

flowchart TD
    A[Authenticated User] --> B[Click profile]
    B --> C[View profile page]
    C --> D[Display user info]
    D --> E[Show user's rooms]
    D --> F[Show user's activities]
    C --> G{Update profile?}
    G -->|Yes| H[Click edit]
    G -->|No| I[Continue browsing]
    H --> J[Profile update form]
    J --> K[Edit fields]
    K --> L{Upload avatar?}
    L -->|Yes| M[Select image file]
    L -->|No| N[Skip avatar]
    M --> O[Submit form]
    N --> O
    O --> P[Profile updated]
    P --> Q[Redirect to profile]
Loading

5. Room Update/Delete Flow

flowchart TD
    A[User views room] --> B{Is room host?}
    B -->|No| C[View only mode]
    B -->|Yes| D[Edit/Delete options visible]
    D --> E{User action}
    E -->|Edit| F[Show room form with data]
    E -->|Delete| G[Show confirmation page]
    F --> H[Modify fields]
    H --> I[Submit changes]
    I --> J[Room updated]
    J --> K[Redirect to home]
    G --> L{Confirm deletion?}
    L -->|Yes| M[Room deleted]
    L -->|No| N[Return to room]
    M --> K
Loading

URL Routes

URL Structure

Main App: base-url/
API: base-url/api/
Admin: base-url/admin/

Web Application Routes

Method Endpoint View Function Purpose Auth Required
GET/POST /login/ loginPage User login No
GET /logout/ logoutUser User logout No
GET/POST /register/ registerUser User registration No
GET / home Home page with rooms No
GET/POST /room/<pk>/ room Room detail & messaging No
GET /profile/<pk>/ userProfile User profile No
GET/POST /create-room/ createRoom Create new room Yes
GET/POST /update-room/<pk>/ updateRoom Update room Yes (Host only)
GET/POST /delete-room/<pk>/ deleteRoom Delete room Yes (Host only)
GET/POST /delete-message/<pk>/ deleteMessage Delete message Yes (Owner only)
GET/POST /update-user/ updateUser Update user profile Yes
GET /topics/ topicsPage Topics listing No
GET /activities/ activitiesPage Activities feed No

REST API Routes

Method Endpoint View Function Response Auth Required
GET /api/ getRoutes List of available API routes No
GET /api/rooms/ getRooms List of all rooms (JSON) No
GET /api/room/<pk>/ getRoom Single room details (JSON) No

API Response Examples

GET /api/rooms/

[
    {
        "id": 1,
        "host": 2,
        "topic": 3,
        "name": "Django Best Practices",
        "description": "Discuss Django development patterns",
        "participants": [2, 5, 8],
        "updated": "2025-02-13T10:30:00Z",
        "created": "2025-02-10T14:20:00Z"
    }
]

GET /api/room/1/

{
    "id": 1,
    "host": 2,
    "topic": 3,
    "name": "Django Best Practices",
    "description": "Discuss Django development patterns",
    "participants": [2, 5, 8],
    "updated": "2025-02-13T10:30:00Z",
    "created": "2025-02-10T14:20:00Z"
}

Screenshots

Home Page

Home Page Main landing page showing available rooms, topics, and recent activities

Room Detail

Room Detail Discussion room showing messages and participants

Login/Register

Authentication User authentication interface

Create Room

Create Room Room creation form with topic selection

User Profile

User Profile User profile showing rooms and activities

Topics Page

Topics Browse all discussion topics

Development Concepts Demonstrated

Django Concepts Applied

  1. MVT Architecture

    • Models: Database schema definition
    • Views: Business logic and request handling
    • Templates: HTML rendering with Django template language

  2. ORM (Object-Relational Mapping)

    • Model relationships (ForeignKey, ManyToManyField)
    • QuerySet API usage
    • Database queries with Q objects

  3. Authentication System

    • Custom user model extending AbstractUser
    • Login/logout functionality
    • User registration
    • Login required decorators

  4. Forms Handling

    • ModelForm usage
    • Form validation
    • File upload handling (avatars)

  5. URL Routing

    • URL patterns
    • Named URLs
    • URL parameters

  6. Template Inheritance

    • Base templates
    • Template blocks
    • Template includes
    • Context processors

  7. Static and Media Files

    • Static file serving
    • Media file uploads
    • Cloudinary integration
    • WhiteNoise configuration

  8. Admin Interface

    • Model registration
    • Admin customization

  9. REST API Development

    • Django REST Framework
    • Serializers
    • API views

  10. Deployment Configuration

    • Production settings
    • Database configuration
    • Server setup (Gunicorn/Uvicorn)
    • Build scripts

License

This is an educational project developed for learning purposes.

Contributing

As this is a personal learning project, it is not currently open for contributions. However, feedback and suggestions are welcome!

Note: This project is developed as a learning initiative to enhance my skills in Django web development. It is currently under continuous development with new features being added regularly.

Version Project Status

About

STUDYBUD is a community-driven discussion platform built with Django that allows users to create and join topic-based rooms. It enables knowledge sharing through room discussions, messaging, user profile customization, topic browsing, and participant tracking.

mysite-3zm8.onrender.com/

Topics

python django django-rest-framework github-actions supabase-db cloudinary-integration render-deployment

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