Twitter Clone

A simplified Twitter clone project built using Django. This project allows users to post content, follow other users, like posts, and manage their profile with a full authentication system. It includes features like creating, editing, and deleting posts, following users, and liking posts. All operations are managed through the Explore page.

Table of Contents

1. Project Overview
2. Features
3. Installation
4. Usage
5. Application Structure
6. Authentication System
7. CRUD Operations
8. How to Contribute
9. License

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Project Overview

This project is a Twitter clone where users can:

• Explore posts
• Create posts
• Like/unlike posts
• Follow/unfollow users
• Edit or delete their posts
• Manage user profiles

Everything from post creation to interactions such as likes and follows is handled via the Explore page.

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Features

• User Authentication: Sign up, log in, log out, and password management (change, reset).
• Profile Management: Users can edit their profile information and change their profile picture.
• Create, Read, Update, Delete (CRUD) operations for posts.
• Follow system: Users can follow and unfollow each other.
• Like system: Users can like and unlike posts.
• Responsive design using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for interactive user experience.

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Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/m-hasan-2004/twitter-clone.git

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd twitter-clone

3. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv env
   source env/bin/activate  # On Windows: env\Scripts\activate

4. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Apply database migrations:

   python manage.py migrate

6. Create a superuser to access the admin panel:

   python manage.py createsuperuser

7. Run the development server:

   python manage.py runserver

8. Visit the app at http://127.0.0.1:8000/home/ and start exploring the features.

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Usage

Home Page

The home page serves as an explore page where users can view all posts, follow/unfollow users, like/unlike posts, and create new posts. You must be logged in to access the explore page and interact with posts.

CRUD Operations

1. Create Post:

• Go to the Explore page.
• Click on "Create Your Custom Post" button.
• Fill in the title, description, and optionally upload an image.
• Submit the form to create a new post.

2. Read Post:

• Posts are displayed on the Explore page. Users can see the title, description, image (if any), and the number of likes/comments.

3. Edit Post:

• Only the post author can edit their post.
• On the Explore page, if you are the author of a post, you will see an Edit button beneath your post.
• Click on Edit, make changes, and submit the form to update your post.

4. Delete Post:

• Only the post author can delete their post.
• On the Explore page, if you are the author of a post, you will see a Delete button beneath your post.
• Click on Delete to remove the post.

Like/Unlike Posts

• On the Explore page, each post has a like button.
• Click the heart icon to like a post. If you have already liked it, clicking again will unlike it.
• The like count updates dynamically.

Follow/Unfollow Users

• If you're not following a user, you'll see a Follow button beside their profile on their post in the Explore page.
• Once followed, the button does not change.

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Application Structure

The application is organized into three Django apps:

1. Social: Handles all social functionalities like posts, likes, follows, and comments.
2. Users: Manages user registration, authentication, and profile management.
3. Core: Handles the common functionality of the project.

Social App

• Handles CRUD for posts, likes, and follows.
• Views for post creation, updates, and deletions.
• Manages the Explore page where all operations take place.

Users App

• Manages user registration, login, logout, profile updates, and password management.
• Templates for sign up, log in, change password, and edit profile.

Core App

• Contains settings and root configurations for the project.

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Authentication System

The project uses Django’s built-in authentication system with custom extensions for user profiles.

Features:

• Sign Up: Allows new users to register for an account.
• Log In: Existing users can log in with their credentials.
• Password Management: Users can change or reset their password.
• Profile Management: Users can update their profile information, including uploading a profile picture.

The authentication system is integrated with Django’s user model, and the custom user forms are defined in the Users App.

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CRUD Operations (Detailed)

All CRUD operations (Create, Read, Update, Delete) for posts are handled in the Explore URL.

• Create: Users can create posts directly from the Explore page.
• Update: Post authors can edit their own posts.
• Delete: Post authors can delete their own posts.
• Read: All posts are visible on the Explore page.

Each action is accompanied by server-side validation and proper authentication checks. For instance, only the author of a post can edit or delete it.

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How to Contribute

If you want to contribute to the project, follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bugfix:

   git checkout -b feature-or-bugfix-name

3. Commit your changes and push them to your forked repository:

   git push origin feature-or-bugfix-name

4. Create a pull request and explain your changes.