Local Events Platform

A platform for organizing and discovering local events.

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB (local installation or MongoDB Atlas account)
• npm or yarn

Setup Instructions

1. Backend Setup

1. Navigate to the backend directory:

cd backend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Create a .env file in the backend directory with the following:

MONGO_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/local-events
PORT=5000
JWT_SECRET=local-events-dev-secret

For MongoDB Atlas (cloud):

MONGO_URI=mongodb+srv://username:password@cluster.mongodb.net/local-events?retryWrites=true&w=majority
PORT=5000
JWT_SECRET=local-events-dev-secret

4. Start the backend server:

# Development mode (with auto-reload)
npm run dev

# Or production mode
npm start

The backend will run on https://micro-event-discovery.onrender.com

2. Frontend Setup

1. Open a new terminal and navigate to the frontend directory:

cd frontend

2. Install dependencies:

npm install

3. Start the development server:

npm run dev

The frontend will run on http://localhost:5173 (or another port if 5173 is busy)

Running the Application

1. Start MongoDB (if using local MongoDB):

   • Make sure MongoDB is running on your system
   • Or use MongoDB Atlas (cloud) - no local installation needed

2. Start Backend (Terminal 1):

   cd local-events-platform/backend
   npm run dev

3. Start Frontend (Terminal 2):

   cd local-events-platform/frontend
   npm run dev

4. Open Browser:

   • Navigate to http://localhost:5173 (or the port shown in terminal)

Available Scripts

Backend

• npm start - Start the server
• npm run dev - Start the server with nodemon (auto-reload)

Frontend

• npm run dev - Start development server
• npm run build - Build for production
• npm run preview - Preview production build

Quick Start Checklist

Before running, make sure:

• Node.js is installed (node -v)
• MongoDB is running (local or Atlas)
• .env file exists in backend folder with MONGO_URI
• Dependencies installed in both backend and frontend (npm install)
• Backend runs without errors (npm run dev in backend folder)
• Frontend runs without errors (npm run dev in frontend folder)

Troubleshooting

If the app crashes, see TROUBLESHOOTING.md for common issues and solutions.

Notes

• The seeder file has been removed - events are now only created by organizers through the UI
• Organizers can create events from the Organizer Dashboard
• Events created by organizers will appear on both:
  • Organizer Dashboard (for the organizer)
  • User Dashboard (for all users in the same city)
• Fixed: Added null checks for user properties to prevent crashes