README

Flask Blog Application

This is a Flask-based web application where users can register, log in, create blog posts, comment on them, and perform other blog-related activities. The application is built with a focus on user authentication, password security, and a clean interface using Flask-Bootstrap and Flask-CKEditor.

Features

1. User Authentication:

   • Register and Login functionalities.
   • Passwords are securely hashed using werkzeug.security.
   • Logged-in users can create, edit, and delete their blog posts.

2. Blog Functionality:

   • Users can create, view, and comment on blog posts.
   • Only authenticated users can create posts and add comments.
   • Posts can have a title, subtitle, body, and image.
   • Users can only edit or delete their own posts.

3. Comments:

   • Authenticated users can comment on posts.
   • The comments are linked to both the blog post and the user who made the comment.

Project Setup

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x
• Flask
• SQLite (default database)
• Python packages listed in the requirements.txt file.

Installing Dependencies

To install all the required dependencies, run the following command:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Folder Structure

The project has the following folder structure:

├── app.py              # Main Flask application file
├── forms.py            # Contains Flask-WTF form classes for registration, login, etc.
├── templates/          # HTML templates for various pages
│   ├── index.html      # Home page
│   ├── register.html   # User registration page
│   ├── login.html      # User login page
│   ├── post.html       # Individual blog post page
│   ├── make-post.html  # Page for creating/editing blog posts
│   ├── user_post.html  # Page to display user's own blog posts
├── static/             # Static files (CSS, JS, images)
│   ├── css/
│   ├── js/
├── posts.db            # SQLite database file (created automatically)
├── README.md           # Project documentation
└── requirements.txt    # Python dependencies file

Running the Application

1. Set Up the Database:

   • The database is automatically created when the application runs for the first time.
   • It uses SQLite as the default database, defined in the app.config['SQLALCHEMY_DATABASE_URI'].

2. Running the App: Use the following command to start the Flask development server:

   python app.py

   By default, the app will run on http://localhost:5001/. You can visit this URL to see the app in action.

Functionality Overview

User Authentication

• Registration: Users can register with a name, email, and password. Passwords are hashed before being stored in the database.
• Login: Existing users can log in with their email and password. Passwords are verified using werkzeug.security.check_password_hash.

Blog Posts

• View Posts: The homepage displays all blog posts.
• Create Posts: Logged-in users can create blog posts with a title, subtitle, body, and an image URL.
• Edit Posts: Users can edit their own blog posts.
• Delete Posts: Users can delete their own blog posts.

Comments

• View Comments: Comments are displayed on each blog post.
• Add Comments: Logged-in users can comment on blog posts.
• Delete Comments: Users can delete their own comments.

Forms

forms.py:

• CreatePostForm: Form for creating/editing blog posts.
• RegisterForm: Form for user registration.
• LoginForm: Form for user login.
• CommentForm: Form for adding comments to a blog post.

Gravatar Integration

User avatars are displayed using Gravatar based on their email. The Gravatar service is integrated using the flask-gravatar library.

Database Models

BlogPost

• Represents each blog post in the database.
• Linked to a user (author) via author_id.

User

• Represents users registered in the system.
• Contains hashed passwords for security.
• Linked to blog posts and comments.

Comment

• Represents user comments on blog posts.
• Linked to a user and a blog post.

Templates

The templates directory contains all the HTML files required for rendering different parts of the application. They use Jinja2 templating syntax to dynamically display content from the Flask app.

Debug Mode

The app is run with debug=True, which provides better error messages and auto-reloading during development.

Future Improvements

• Add support for post categories/tags.
• Enable rich text editing in the blog body (currently supported with CKEditor but can be improved).
• Add pagination to the list of blog posts.
• Implement email verification during user registration.
• Adding admin privileges to users

Contributing

Pull requests are welcome. For significant changes, please open an issue first to discuss what you would like to change.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.