ThreadFusion - A Forum Website

ThreadFusion is a dynamic and responsive forum website designed and implemented as the final project for CS50’s Web Programming with Python and JavaScript.

It provides a platform for users to engage in discussions, ask questions, and explore topics of interest through a well-organized tagging system. The application uses Django for the backend and HTML, SASS/CSS, and JavaScript for the frontend.

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Tech Stack

Backend

• Python
• Django
• Django ORM

Frontend

• HTML
• SASS/CSS
• JavaScript
• Quill WYSIWYG Editor

Database & Storage

• Neon PostgreSQL — Production database
• Cloudinary — User-uploaded media storage

Deployment

• Docker — Application containerization
• Gunicorn — Production WSGI server
• Render — Application hosting
• WhiteNoise — Static file serving

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How to run

1. Clone the repository using:

   git clone https://github.com/RajDeshmukh2001/threadfusion.git

2. Navigate into the project directory:

   cd threadfusion

3. Create and activate a Python virtual environment:

   python -m venv .venv

   Windows:

   .venv\Scripts\activate

4. Install the project dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Create a .env file in the project root and configure the required environment variables:

   SECRET_KEY=your_django_secret_key
   DEBUG=True
   DATABASE_URL=your_neon_database_connection_string
   CLOUDINARY_URL=your_cloudinary_url

6. Apply the existing database migrations:

   python manage.py migrate

7. Start the Django development server:

   python manage.py runserver

8. Open the application in your browser:

   http://localhost:8000/

9. Optional: Django Admin - Create a superuser if you want to access Django Administration:

   python manage.py createsuperuser

Docker

1. Build the Docker image:

   docker build -t threadfusion .

2. Run the container:

   docker run --rm --name threadfusion-app --env-file .env -p 8000:8000 -e PORT=8000 threadfusion

3. Then open:

   http://localhost:8000/

Deployment

ThreadFusion is deployed using:

• Docker for containerization
• Render for application hosting
• Neon PostgreSQL for the production database
• Cloudinary for persistent media storage
• Gunicorn as the production WSGI server
• WhiteNoise for static files

Production secrets and database credentials are configured through environment variables.

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Features

• User Authentication: Registration, login, logout, password validation, and authenticated user actions.
• Questions & Answers: Users can ask questions and post detailed answers using a rich-text editor.
• Rich-Text Editing: Quill WYSIWYG editor for formatting questions and answers, including code snippets, links, images, and other formatting options.
• Comments: Users can comment on answers and participate in discussions.
• Tags & Search: Questions can be categorized using tags and searched by title, description, or tags.
• User Profiles: Users can create and update profiles with profile images and social links.
• Follow System: Users can follow other users and view their activity.
• Likes: Users can like answers.
• Pagination: Large collections of questions, answers, and comments are paginated for better usability.
• User Feedback: Toast notifications and confirmation dialogs provide feedback for important actions.