L-overCook 🍳

A comprehensive recipe management and sharing platform that allows users to discover, save, and review culinary recipes from around the world.

Description

L-overCook is a full-stack web application designed for food enthusiasts who want to explore diverse cuisines, manage their favorite recipes, and share their culinary experiences. The platform features a user-friendly interface for browsing recipes by categories, cuisines, and ingredients, along with comprehensive admin tools for content management.

Tech Stack

Frontend

• Template Engine: EJS (Embedded JavaScript)
• Styling: CSS3
• JavaScript: Vanilla JavaScript
• Layout Engine: Express EJS Layouts

Backend

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js
• Authentication: Passport.js with Local Strategy
• Session Management: Express Session with MongoDB Store
• Password Hashing: Bcrypt
• File Upload: Multer
• Email Service: Nodemailer

Database

• Database: MongoDB Atlas
• ODM: Mongoose
• Session Store: MongoDB Session Store

Development & Utilities

• Environment Variables: Dotenv
• Development Server: Nodemon
• String Manipulation: Slugify, Shortid, UUID
• Search: FuzzySearch

Features

User Features

• 🔐 User Authentication: Secure signup/signin with email verification
• 👤 User Profiles: Personal profile management with avatar upload
• 🔍 Recipe Search: Advanced search functionality with search history
• ❤️ Favorites: Save and manage favorite recipes
• ⭐ Reviews & Ratings: Rate and review recipes
• 🌍 Cuisine Exploration: Browse recipes by different cuisines
• 🥗 Ingredient-based Search: Find recipes by available ingredients

Admin Features

• 📊 Dashboard: Comprehensive admin dashboard with statistics
• 👥 User Management: Manage user accounts and permissions
• 🍽️ Recipe Management: Add, edit, and delete recipes
• 🥘 Cuisine Management: Manage cuisine categories
• 🥕 Ingredient Management: Organize ingredients by categories
• 📁 Category Management: Create and manage ingredient categories

Technical Features

• 📱 Responsive Design: Mobile-friendly interface
• 🔒 Secure Sessions: Session-based authentication
• 📧 Email Integration: Account verification and notifications
• 🖼️ Image Upload: Recipe and profile image management
• 🔗 SEO-friendly URLs: Slugified recipe URLs

Prerequisites

Before running this project, make sure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (v14.0.0 or higher)
• MongoDB Atlas Account (or local MongoDB installation)
• Git (for cloning the repository)

Required Environment Variables

• MONGODB_URI - MongoDB connection string
• SESSION_SECRET - Secret key for session encryption
• EMAIL_HOST - SMTP host for email service
• EMAIL_PORT - SMTP port for email service
• EMAIL_USER - Email username for authentication
• EMAIL_PASS - Email password for authentication

Installation & Setup

1. Clone the repository

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/L-overCook.git
   cd L-overCook

2. Install dependencies

   npm install

3. Setup environment variables

   Create a .env file in the root directory and add the following:

   NODE_ENV=development
   MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
   SESSION_SECRET=your_session_secret_key
   EMAIL_HOST=your_smtp_host
   EMAIL_PORT=your_smtp_port
   EMAIL_USER=your_email_username
   EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password
   PORT=3000

4. Seed the database (optional)

   If you want to populate the database with sample data:

   node models/seed/sampleSeed.js

5. Run the application

   For development:

   npm test

   For production:

   npm start

6. Access the application

   Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000

Usage

For Regular Users

1. Sign Up/Sign In: Create an account or log in to access personalized features
2. Browse Recipes: Explore recipes by cuisine, category, or search functionality
3. Save Favorites: Click the heart icon to save recipes to your favorites
4. Rate & Review: Share your experience by rating and reviewing recipes
5. Profile Management: Update your profile information and avatar

For Administrators

1. Admin Access: Log in with admin credentials to access the admin panel
2. Dashboard: View statistics and system overview at /dashboard
3. Manage Content: Add, edit, or remove recipes, cuisines, ingredients, and categories
4. User Management: Monitor and manage user accounts

Folder Structure

L-overCook/
├── controllers/                 # Request handlers
│   ├── admin/                  # Admin-specific controllers
│   │   ├── categoryController.js
│   │   ├── cuisineController.js
│   │   ├── ingredientController.js
│   │   ├── recipeController.js
│   │   └── usersController.js
│   ├── client/                 # Client-specific controllers
│   │   ├── favoriteRecipeController.js
│   │   ├── homeController.js
│   │   ├── profileController.js
│   │   ├── reviewController.js
│   │   └── searchHistoryController.js
│   ├── sendEmail.js           # Email service controller
│   ├── signInController.js    # Authentication controller
│   └── SignUpController.js    # Registration controller
├── middlewares/                # Custom middleware functions
│   ├── checkAdmin.js          # Admin authorization middleware
│   ├── checkVerifyOTP.js      # OTP verification middleware
│   ├── database.js            # Database connection
│   ├── PassportConfig.js      # Passport authentication config
│   └── UploadMedia.js         # File upload middleware
├── models/                     # Database models
│   ├── Category.js            # Ingredient categories
│   ├── Cuisine.js             # Cuisine types
│   ├── Ingredient.js          # Recipe ingredients
│   ├── Recipe.js              # Recipe model with reviews
│   ├── User.js                # User accounts
│   └── seed/                  # Database seeding files
├── public/                     # Static assets
│   ├── css/                   # Stylesheets
│   ├── js/                    # Client-side JavaScript
│   ├── images/                # Static images
│   └── uploadImages/          # User-uploaded images
├── routes/                     # Route definitions
│   ├── admin/                 # Admin routes
│   ├── client/                # Client routes
│   ├── partials/              # Shared routes
│   └── index.js               # Route aggregator
├── views/                      # EJS templates
│   ├── admin/                 # Admin interface templates
│   ├── client/                # Client interface templates
│   ├── layouts/               # Layout templates
│   └── partials/              # Reusable template components
├── server.js                   # Main application entry point
├── session.js                  # Session configuration
└── package.json               # Dependencies and scripts

Contributing

We welcome contributions to L-overCook! Here's how you can help:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch

   git checkout -b feature/your-feature-name

3. Make your changes
4. Commit your changes

   git commit -m "Add your commit message"

5. Push to your branch

   git push origin feature/your-feature-name

6. Create a Pull Request

Contribution Guidelines

• Follow the existing code style and structure
• Add comments for complex functionality
• Test your changes thoroughly
• Update documentation if necessary

License

This project is licensed under the ISC License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Contact

Project Maintainer: LJFamily2
GitHub: https://github.com/LJFamily2
Repository: https://github.com/LJFamily2/L-overCook

---

🚀 Quick Start

# Clone and setup
git clone https://github.com/LJFamily2/L-overCook.git
cd L-overCook
npm install

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your configurations

# Run the application
npm test  # Development mode
npm start # Production mode

Happy Cooking! 👨‍🍳👩‍🍳