TackPad

A notes application built with PHP and MVC

Here I'll explain how I developed the note-taking application called TackPad.
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Table of Contents

1. About The Project
2. Installation Guide
3. License
4. Contributing

About The Project

I have always had the ambition to create a note-taking application, but for a long time I struggled to figure out how to approach building one. Taking a coding course transformed my skills and inspired me to finally start this project.

Once I had mapped out the use cases and features I needed for the application, I began the development phase. Surprisingly, the process was smoother and less challenging than I expected.

After completing the first version and publishing it to GitHub, I started thinking about how to improve the application. This led to the decision to implement a login system to ensure that users can securely access their own notes without seeing other people's data.

I am excited about the future of this project and look forward to seeing how it evolves. One thing is for sure - I have accomplished everything I set out to do when I first started the project!

Future Mission: This application should have end-to-end encryption so that no bulk text gets into the database, only the hash.

Installation Guide

1. Install Git:

   • Download and install Git on your local machine from here.

2. Clone the Project:

   • Choose a suitable location on your computer.
   • Right-click on the folder and select "Git Bash Here".
   • In the command prompt window, type:

     git clone https://github.com/olivierluethy/TackPad.git

3. Setup Local Database:

   • You will need a local database to run the application. I recommend using XAMPP.
   • Ensure you download and install the latest version for compatibility.

4. Download Composer:

To manage your project dependencies, including the Dotenv package, you need to have Composer installed on your system. Composer is a dependency manager for PHP that allows you to declare the libraries your project depends on and manages (installs/updates) them for you.

Installing Composer

1. Download Composer:

   You can download Composer by visiting the official Composer download page.

2. Install Composer:

   Follow the installation instructions provided for your operating system on the Composer download page. The installation process may vary slightly depending on whether you are using Windows, macOS, or Linux.

Installing Dotenv Package

Once Composer is installed, you can use it to install the Dotenv package, which allows you to load environment variables from a .env file into your PHP application.

1. Navigate to your project directory:

   Open your terminal or command prompt and navigate to the root directory of your PHP project.

   cd /path/to/your/project

2. Require the Dotenv package:

   Run the following command to require the Dotenv package using Composer:

   composer require vlucas/phpdotenv

   This command will download the Dotenv package and add it to your project's composer.json file.

Using Dotenv in Your Project

After installing the Dotenv package, you need to initialize it in your project to start using environment variables from the .env file.

1. Create a .env file:

   In the root directory of your project, create a .env file and add your environment variables to it. For example:

   APP_ENV=local
   APP_DEBUG=true
   DATABASE_URL=mysql://user:password@localhost/database

2. Load the .env file in your PHP script:

   In your PHP script (e.g., index.php or config.php), load the .env file using the Dotenv package:

   <?php
   require __DIR__ . '/vendor/autoload.php';
   
   $dotenv = Dotenv\Dotenv::createImmutable(__DIR__);
   $dotenv->load();
   
   // Now you can access the environment variables
   $appEnv = getenv('APP_ENV');
   $appDebug = getenv('APP_DEBUG');
   $databaseUrl = getenv('DATABASE_URL');

By following these steps, you will have Composer installed and be able to use the Dotenv package to manage your environment variables efficiently.

6. Run the Application:
   • Follow the setup instructions provided with the project to configure and run it locally.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.

Contributing

Contributions are what make the open-source community such an amazing place to learn, inspire, and create. Any contributions you make are greatly appreciated.

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Please be sure to update tests as appropriate and adhere to the Coding Conventions.

By contributing to this project, you agree to abide by the Code of Conduct.