GameReviewsBlog

Overview

This is a Django web app where users can write a video game review and be able to discuss them with others via comments. Users can also submit requests for other reviewers to write a review, and can view every post associated with a specific reviewer. It uses simple HTML templates to render the frontend, with Django on the backend.

Screenshots

Installation

1. Clone this repository to your local machine using the command:

https://github.com/onelastbyt3/gamereviewsblog.git

2. Ensure you have Python installed (ver.3.9.9) and Django

3. Install the required dependencies using the command:

pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure your secret key and database in the source code on the settings.py file located inside the gamereviewsblog folder:

SECRET_KEY = config('DJANGO_SECRET_KEY')

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
    }
}

5. Migrate the database

py manage.py makemigrations
py manage.py migrate

6. Run the application from the main.py file located on the root folder which will generate a local URI link where the app will run.

py manage.py runserver

Development Notes

As a backend dev, my primary focus was to ensure the functionality of backend views/models, and that all data was retrieved and displayed without any issues. To achieve this, I started by creating data models that accurately represented the core elements of the application, including Review, Game, Genre, Reviewer, and ReviewRequest. Using Django's Object-Relational Mapping (ORM), I established relationships between each models and set up the database schema. I decided to go with SQLite for storage due to the simplicity and scale of the data required for a small scale project.

For the frontend, I designed and implemented various views and templates. This involved creating both functional and class views for displaying lists of reviews, detailed review views, game details, reviewer profiles, review request forms, and so forth. To enhance user experience and aesthetics, I integrated a generic base template using a small portion of CSS for the side bar navigation with search functionalities where users can look up a specific game.

To allow users to navigate the application smoothly, I configured URL patterns that mapped specific URLs to their corresponding views. This routing system ensured that users could access various sections of the application with ease. For data input and validation, I implemented simple forms that allowed users to create and edit reviews and submit review requests.

In terms of testing, I developed unit tests for views and models to verify their proper functionality. These tests covered a range of scenarios, including edge cases and input validation. During development, I actively used Django's built-in debugging tools and error messages to identify and address issues promptly.

Lastly, I deployed this application to AWS via EC2 instance. The backend was functioning smoothly, however I ran into an issue where the static files wouldn't load properly. This was resolved quickly with Whiteboard as well as some minor NGINX configurations.

Overall, this was a very fun project to tackle and learn from. It was a bigger learning curve than my first Flask project, incorporating cleaner code and functionalities such as the base_template navi bar and search. As the app is designed to scale, meaning more functionality such as user private messaging, or consuming game information from another API such as HowLongToBeat's, can be implemented to further enhance the user experience some time in the future if I want to develop this further. However, as this was a passion project and a dive into Django development overall, I am content with leaving the project as is for now.