MediaRate - Personal Media Platform

MediaRate is a full‑stack personal media platform where users can discover and rate movies and books, create custom lists, and interact with other users. The project consists of a Node.js & Express.js RESTful API, a PostgreSQL database, and a Tailwind CSS + Vanilla JavaScript web frontend.

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Features

• User Management

  • Register / login / logout
  • JWT‑based authentication
  • Password reset flow
  • Profile editing (avatar, bio, etc.)

• Content Management

  • Movie and book search
  • Detailed content pages
  • TMDb and Google Books API integrations
  • Persisting content to the database with simple caching logic

• Ratings & Reviews

  • 1–10 rating system
  • Add, edit, and delete reviews
  • Average rating and user history

• Social Features

  • Follow / unfollow users
  • Personalized feed (activities of followed users)
  • Like and comment on activities

• List Management

  • Default lists: Watched, Watchlist, Read, To‑Read
  • Create, edit, and delete custom lists
  • Public / private lists
  • Cover image previews on list cards

• User Experience

  • Responsive (mobile‑friendly) design
  • Dark / Light theme support
  • Toast notifications and loading states
  • Infinite scroll for a smooth feed experience

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Tech Stack

• Backend

  • Node.js
  • Express.js
  • PostgreSQL
  • JWT (JSON Web Token)
  • bcrypt
  • dotenv
  • axios

• Frontend

  • HTML5
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Vanilla JavaScript

• External Services

  • TMDb (The Movie Database) API
  • Google Books API

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Project Structure

.
├── backend/          # Node.js/Express API server
│   ├── config/       # Database configuration
│   ├── controllers/  # Business logic (auth, feed, content, lists, etc.)
│   ├── middleware/   # Auth, upload, and other middleware
│   ├── routes/       # REST API endpoints
│   ├── uploads/      # Uploaded avatars and other files
│   └── server.js     # Express entry point
├── database/         # PostgreSQL connection and table setup scripts
│   ├── db.js
│   └── tables.js
└── frontend/         # Static frontend (HTML, CSS, JS)
    ├── index.html
    ├── pages/        # Feed, profile, content, lists, auth pages
    └── scripts/      # Page‑specific JS files

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Getting Started

The following steps are for running the project in a local development environment.

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Prolab-Project/Kisisel-Medya-Platformu.git
cd Kisisel-Medya-Platformu

2. Database Setup

1. Create a PostgreSQL database:

   CREATE DATABASE mediarate;

2. Update connection settings in database/db.js (host, user, password, database, port) according to your local environment.

3. Create tables and relationships:

   cd database
   npm install        # if needed
   node tables.js
   cd ..

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Running the Backend

1. Install Dependencies

cd backend
npm install

2. Configure Environment Variables

Create a .env file in the backend directory and add at least the following variables (example):

PORT=5000
JWT_SECRET=super_secret_key
PGHOST=localhost
PGUSER=postgres
PGPASSWORD=postgres
PGDATABASE=mediarate
PGPORT=5432
TMDB_API_KEY=YOUR_TMDB_KEY
GOOGLE_BOOKS_API_KEY=YOUR_GOOGLE_BOOKS_KEY

3. Start the Server

npm start
# or
node server.js

By default, the server will run at http://localhost:5000.

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Running the Frontend

The frontend is a static application and can be served in two ways:

1. Static Serving via Backend

backend/server.js is configured to serve the frontend folder statically. Once the backend is running, you can access the UI via:

• http://localhost:5000/index.html
• or specific pages such as feed.html, login.html, etc.

2. Separate Dev Server (optional)

If you prefer to run a separate dev server for the frontend:

cd frontend
# For example, using live-server:
npx live-server .

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Example API Endpoints

For all endpoints, please check the backend/routes and backend/controllers directories.

• Auth

  • POST /auth/register – Register
  • POST /auth/login – Login
  • POST /auth/forgot-password – Request password reset
  • POST /auth/reset-password – Reset password

• User & Profile

  • GET /users/me – Get current user
  • GET /profile/:username – Get user profile and stats
  • PUT /profile – Update profile

• Feed & Social

  • GET /feed – Get feed of followed users
  • POST /follow/:userId – Follow user
  • DELETE /follow/:userId – Unfollow user

• Content

  • GET /content/search – Search movies/books
  • GET /content/:id – Get content details
  • POST /rating – Add or update rating
  • POST /review – Add review

• Lists

  • GET /list – Get user lists
  • POST /list – Create new list
  • POST /user-lists/:listId/items – Add item to list

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Developer Notes

• The project follows a modular architecture (clear separation of controllers, routes, middleware).
• Database relations (users, contents, ratings, reviews, activities, user_lists, followers, likes, comments, etc.) are modeled in detail.
• Security relies on JWT, bcrypt, and dedicated auth middleware.
• On the frontend, Tailwind CSS is used for rapid prototyping and responsive design.

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Contributing

1. Fork this repository.
2. Create a new branch: feature/your-feature-name
3. Commit your changes.
4. Open a Pull Request.

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License

This project has been developed for educational purposes. A dedicated LICENSE file can be added to this repository if needed.