SkillXchange MVC Architecture

📐 Complete MVC Structure

SkillXchange/
│
├── 📁 app/                          # Application Layer
│   ├── 📁 config/                   # Configuration
│   │   └── config.php               # Database & app settings
│   │
│   ├── 📁 controllers/              # Controllers (Business Logic)
│   │   ├── AdminController.php      # Admin panel management
│   │   ├── AuthController.php       # Authentication (login/register)
│   │   ├── ChatController.php       # Chat functionality
│   │   ├── CommunityController.php  # Community management
│   │   ├── DahboardController.php   # Dashboard views
│   │   ├── Home.php                 # Homepage
│   │   ├── ManagerDashboardController.php
│   │   ├── NotificationController.php
│   │   ├── OrganizationController.php
│   │   ├── PagesController.php      # Static pages
│   │   ├── ProjectApplicationController.php
│   │   ├── ProjectController.php    # Project CRUD
│   │   ├── QuizManagerController.php
│   │   ├── TaskController.php       # Task management
│   │   ├── UserdashboardController.php
│   │   ├── UsersController.php      # User management
│   │   └── WalletController.php     # Wallet transactions
│   │
│   ├── 📁 models/                   # Models (Data Layer)
│   │   ├── community.php            # Community model
│   │   ├── Notification.php         # Notification model
│   │   ├── Project.php              # Project model
│   │   ├── Task.php                 # Task model
│   │   ├── User.php                 # User model
│   │   └── UsersService.php         # User services
│   │
│   ├── 📁 views/                    # Views (Presentation Layer)
│   │   ├── 📁 auth/                 # Authentication views
│   │   │   ├── register.php
│   │   │   └── signin.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 layouts/              # Reusable layouts
│   │   │   ├── header.php
│   │   │   ├── header_user.php
│   │   │   ├── footer.php
│   │   │   ├── footer_user.php
│   │   │   ├── adminsidebar.php
│   │   │   ├── usersidebar.php
│   │   │   ├── organization_sidebar.php
│   │   │   ├── commanagersidebar.php
│   │   │   └── qmansidebar.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 users/                # User-related views
│   │   │   ├── admin.php
│   │   │   ├── admin_users.php
│   │   │   ├── admin_skills.php
│   │   │   ├── admin_reports.php
│   │   │   ├── userprofile.php
│   │   │   ├── edit_profile.php
│   │   │   ├── profile_setup.php
│   │   │   ├── view_profile.php
│   │   │   ├── projects.php
│   │   │   ├── communities.php
│   │   │   ├── community_forum.php
│   │   │   ├── chats.php
│   │   │   ├── matches.php
│   │   │   ├── notifications.php
│   │   │   ├── wallet.php
│   │   │   ├── quiz.php
│   │   │   └── take_quiz.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 organization/         # Organization views
│   │   │   ├── profile.php
│   │   │   ├── projects.php
│   │   │   ├── createProject.php
│   │   │   ├── viewProject.php
│   │   │   ├── members.php
│   │   │   ├── applications.php
│   │   │   ├── tasks.php
│   │   │   ├── createTask.php
│   │   │   ├── editTask.php
│   │   │   └── chats.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 projects/             # Project views
│   │   │   ├── view.php
│   │   │   └── tasks.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 tasks/                # Task views
│   │   │   ├── addTask.php
│   │   │   ├── editTask.php
│   │   │   ├── projectTasks.php
│   │   │   ├── userTasks.php
│   │   │   └── taskHistory.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 userdashboard/        # User dashboard
│   │   │   └── project_chats.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 managerdashboard/     # Manager dashboard
│   │   │   ├── users.php
│   │   │   └── organizations.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 cmmanager/            # Community manager
│   │   │   ├── dashboard.php
│   │   │   ├── community_create.php
│   │   │   └── community_edit.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 quizmanager/          # Quiz manager
│   │   │   ├── dashboard.php
│   │   │   └── quiz_create.php
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 community/            # Community views
│   │   ├── 📁 notifications/        # Notification views
│   │   └── home.php                 # Homepage view
│   │
│   ├── 📁 helpers/                  # Helper functions
│   │   └── (utility functions)
│   │
│   ├── 📁 middlewares/              # Middleware
│   │   └── (auth, validation, etc.)
│   │
│   └── 📁 validators/               # Input validation
│       └── (form validators)
│
├── 📁 core/                         # Core Framework
│   ├── Core.php                     # Router (URL dispatcher)
│   ├── Controller.php               # Base controller
│   └── Database.php                 # Database wrapper
│
├── 📁 public/                       # Public Web Root
│   ├── index.php                    # Front Controller (entry point)
│   ├── .htaccess                    # URL rewriting
│   │
│   ├── 📁 assets/                   # Static assets
│   │   ├── 📁 css/                  # Stylesheets
│   │   │   ├── global.css
│   │   │   ├── organizations.css
│   │   │   ├── profile.css
│   │   │   └── (other CSS files)
│   │   │
│   │   ├── 📁 js/                   # JavaScript files
│   │   │   ├── main.js
│   │   │   ├── organizations.js
│   │   │   ├── projects.js
│   │   │   ├── chats.js
│   │   │   ├── notifications.js
│   │   │   └── (other JS files)
│   │   │
│   │   └── 📁 images/               # Images
│   │
│   ├── 📁 uploads/                  # User uploads
│   │   └── (profile pictures, files)
│   │
│   └── 📁 api/                      # API endpoints (optional)
│       └── (REST API endpoints)
│
├── 📁 database/                     # Database files
│   └── 📁 migrations/               # Database migrations
│       └── (SQL migration files)
│
├── 📁 scripts/                      # Utility scripts
│   ├── 📁 tests/                    # Test scripts
│   │   └── (test-*.php files)
│   │
│   └── 📁 debug/                    # Debug utilities
│       └── (debug-*.php files)
│
├── .htaccess                        # Root htaccess
├── README.md                        # Project documentation
├── SETUP_INSTRUCTIONS.txt           # Setup guide
├── TESTING_GUIDE.md                 # Testing guide
├── MVC_STRUCTURE.md                 # This file
└── insert-test-data.sql             # Test data

🎯 MVC Pattern Explained

Model (Data Layer)

Location: app/models/

Responsibility:

Database interactions
Business logic related to data
Data validation
CRUD operations

Example: app/models/Project.php

class Project {
    private $db;
    
    public function __construct() {
        $this->db = new Database();
    }
    
    public function getAll() {
        $this->db->query("SELECT * FROM projects");
        return $this->db->resultSet();
    }
    
    public function create($data) {
        $this->db->query("INSERT INTO projects ...");
        // ... bind and execute
    }
}

View (Presentation Layer)

Location: app/views/

Responsibility:

Display data to users
HTML templates
User interface
NO business logic

Example: app/views/organization/projects.php

<?php require_once "../app/views/layouts/header_user.php"; ?>

<div class="projects-container">
    <h1>My Projects</h1>
    <?php foreach($data['projects'] as $project): ?>
        <div class="project-card">
            <h3><?= htmlspecialchars($project->name) ?></h3>
            <p><?= htmlspecialchars($project->description) ?></p>
        </div>
    <?php endforeach; ?>
</div>

<?php require_once "../app/views/layouts/footer_user.php"; ?>

Controller (Business Logic Layer)

Location: app/controllers/

Responsibility:

Handle user requests
Call appropriate models
Pass data to views
Business logic orchestration

Example: app/controllers/OrganizationController.php

class OrganizationController extends Controller {
    private $projectModel;
    
    public function __construct() {
        $this->projectModel = $this->model('Project');
    }
    
    public function projects() {
        // Get data from model
        $projects = $this->projectModel->getByOrganization($_SESSION['org_id']);
        
        // Pass to view
        $data = ['projects' => $projects];
        $this->view('organization/projects', $data);
    }
    
    public function createProject() {
        if($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] == 'POST') {
            // Process form
            $result = $this->projectModel->create($_POST);
            if($result) {
                redirect('organization/projects');
            }
        } else {
            // Show form
            $this->view('organization/createProject');
        }
    }
}

🔄 Request Flow

1. User Request
   ↓
2. public/index.php (Front Controller)
   ↓
3. core/Core.php (Router)
   - Parses URL
   - Determines Controller/Method
   ↓
4. app/controllers/*Controller.php
   - Processes request
   - Calls Model if needed
   ↓
5. app/models/*.php (if data needed)
   - Queries database
   - Returns data
   ↓
6. Controller passes data to View
   ↓
7. app/views/*/*.php
   - Renders HTML
   - Displays data
   ↓
8. Response sent to User

🌐 URL Structure

Pattern: http://localhost/SkillXchange/public/[controller]/[method]/[params]

Examples:

http://localhost/SkillXchange/public/
→ PagesController → index()

http://localhost/SkillXchange/public/auth/signin
→ AuthController → signin()

http://localhost/SkillXchange/public/organization/projects
→ OrganizationController → projects()

http://localhost/SkillXchange/public/organization/members/13
→ OrganizationController → members(13)

http://localhost/SkillXchange/public/project/view/42
→ ProjectController → view(42)

🔐 Core Framework Components

1. Core.php (Router)

Parses URLs
Routes to correct controller/method
Handles parameters

2. Controller.php (Base Controller)

class Controller {
    // Load model
    public function model($model) {
        require_once '../app/models/' . $model . '.php';
        return new $model();
    }
    
    // Load view with data
    public function view($view, $data = []) {
        if(file_exists('../app/views/' . $view . '.php')) {
            require_once '../app/views/' . $view . '.php';
        }
    }
}

3. Database.php (PDO Wrapper)

Prepared statements
Secure queries
Result handling

📝 Naming Conventions

Controllers

Format: PascalCaseController.php
Examples:
- OrganizationController.php
- ProjectController.php
- AuthController.php

Models

Format: PascalCase.php
Examples:
- Project.php
- User.php
- Task.php

Views

Format: snake_case.php or camelCase.php
Location: app/views/[section]/[view].php
Examples:
- app/views/organization/projects.php
- app/views/auth/signin.php
- app/views/users/profile.php

Methods

Format: camelCase
Examples: getProjects(), createTask(), updateProfile()

🛡️ Security Features

Prepared Statements - SQL injection prevention
Password Hashing - password_hash() / password_verify()
Session Management - Secure session handling
XSS Protection - htmlspecialchars() in views
CSRF Protection - Session tokens (recommended to add)
Input Validation - Server-side validation

📦 Directory Purposes

Directory	Purpose
`app/config/`	Configuration files
`app/controllers/`	Business logic controllers
`app/models/`	Data models
`app/views/`	HTML templates
`app/helpers/`	Utility functions
`app/middlewares/`	Request/response middleware
`app/validators/`	Input validation
`core/`	Framework core files
`public/`	Web-accessible files
`public/assets/`	CSS, JS, images
`public/uploads/`	User-uploaded files
`database/migrations/`	Database changes
`scripts/`	Development utilities

🚀 Best Practices

✅ Do's

Keep controllers thin (delegate to models)
Put business logic in models
Use prepared statements always
Validate all user input
Use meaningful names
Separate concerns (MVC pattern)
Keep views clean (minimal PHP logic)

❌ Don'ts

Don't put SQL in controllers
Don't put business logic in views
Don't use raw SQL queries
Don't mix HTML and business logic
Don't expose sensitive data
Don't trust user input

🔧 Adding New Features

1. Create Model (if needed)

// app/models/NewFeature.php
class NewFeature {
    private $db;
    
    public function __construct() {
        $this->db = new Database();
    }
    
    public function getData() {
        // Database operations
    }
}

2. Create Controller

// app/controllers/NewFeatureController.php
class NewFeatureController extends Controller {
    private $model;
    
    public function __construct() {
        $this->model = $this->model('NewFeature');
    }
    
    public function index() {
        $data = $this->model->getData();
        $this->view('newfeature/index', ['data' => $data]);
    }
}

3. Create View

// app/views/newfeature/index.php
<?php require_once "../app/views/layouts/header_user.php"; ?>

<div class="feature-container">
    <h1>New Feature</h1>
    <!-- Display data -->
</div>

<?php require_once "../app/views/layouts/footer_user.php"; ?>

4. Access via URL

http://localhost/SkillXchange/public/newfeature

📚 Additional Resources

Setup: See SETUP_INSTRUCTIONS.txt
Testing: See TESTING_GUIDE.md
Database: See database/migrations/
Main README: See README.md

✅ MVC Checklist

When building features, ensure:

Last Updated: November 26, 2025
Architecture: Pure PHP MVC (No Frameworks)
Status: Production Ready ✅

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SkillXchange MVC Architecture

📐 Complete MVC Structure

🎯 MVC Pattern Explained

Model (Data Layer)

View (Presentation Layer)

Controller (Business Logic Layer)

🔄 Request Flow

🌐 URL Structure

🔐 Core Framework Components

1. Core.php (Router)

2. Controller.php (Base Controller)

3. Database.php (PDO Wrapper)

📝 Naming Conventions

Controllers

Models

Views

Methods

🛡️ Security Features

📦 Directory Purposes

🚀 Best Practices

✅ Do's

❌ Don'ts

🔧 Adding New Features

1. Create Model (if needed)

2. Create Controller

3. Create View

4. Access via URL

📚 Additional Resources

✅ MVC Checklist

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MVC_STRUCTURE.md

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MVC_STRUCTURE.md

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SkillXchange MVC Architecture

📐 Complete MVC Structure

🎯 MVC Pattern Explained

Model (Data Layer)

View (Presentation Layer)

Controller (Business Logic Layer)

🔄 Request Flow

🌐 URL Structure

🔐 Core Framework Components

1. Core.php (Router)

2. Controller.php (Base Controller)

3. Database.php (PDO Wrapper)

📝 Naming Conventions

Controllers

Models

Views

Methods

🛡️ Security Features

📦 Directory Purposes

🚀 Best Practices

✅ Do's

❌ Don'ts

🔧 Adding New Features

1. Create Model (if needed)

2. Create Controller

3. Create View

4. Access via URL

📚 Additional Resources

✅ MVC Checklist