Reflecta Journal App

Welcome to the Reflecta Journal App! This is a simple journaling application that provides users with daily writing prompts as well as a mood tracker to help them track their mood over time. It allows to create, edit, and delete journal entries.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Prerequisites
• Installation
• Usage
• Notes

Features

1. Journal Entries

• Users can create a journal entry for each day.
• Entries are limited to one per day to encourage regular journaling.
• Users can edit and delete their journal entries.

2. Daily Writing Prompts

• Each day, users are presented with a random writing prompt in the form of a question to inspire their journal entry.

3. Mood Tracker

• Integrated into the journal entry form, users can select their mood from five predefined options when submitting their entry.
• The app generates a graphical representation of mood changes over time, allowing users to track their emotional well-being.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have met the following requirements:

• Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) installed on your computer.

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/charischaefer/journal-app.git
   

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd journal-app
   

3. Install dependencies for the server:

   npm install
   

4. Install dependencies for the client:

   cd client
   npm install
   

5. Create a .env file in the project directory and configure your database connection settings. Update the .env file with your database credentials. Replace YOUR_PASSWORD with your actual password:

   DB_NAME=journal
   DB_PASS=YOUR_PASSWORD
   

6. Create the MySQL database:

• Open your MySQL client.

• Run the following command to create the database:

  CREATE DATABASE journal;
  

7. Migrate the database from the project directory:

   npm run migrate
   

Usage

Now, you can start the development server and use the application.

• Run npm start in the project directory to start the Express server on port 4000.
• cd client and run npm run dev to start the client on port 5173.
• You can test your client app in http://localhost:5173.
• You can test your API in http://localhost:4000/api.

If you have any questions or encounter any issues during the installation process, please feel free to reach out for assistance. Happy journaling!

Notes

This is a student project that was created at CodeOp, a full stack development bootcamp in Barcelona.