🌐 Professional Network - LinkedIn Clone

A modern, full-stack social networking platform designed for professional connections and career growth.

📋 Table of Contents

• Overview
• Features
• Tech Stack
• Screenshots
• Installation
• Usage
• API Documentation
• Contributing
• License

🚀 Overview

This project is a professional networking platform inspired by LinkedIn, built with modern web technologies. It enables users to connect professionally, share career updates, showcase work experience, and build meaningful professional relationships.

Live Demo: [Coming Soon]

✨ Features

Core Functionality

• 📝 Create & Share Posts - Share professional updates with your network
• 🖼️ Image Uploads - Add images to posts (50KB limit for cloud storage optimization)
• 💬 Interactive Comments - Engage with posts through comments
• ❤️ Like System - Show appreciation for posts
• 🔄 Share Posts - Amplify content across your network
• 🗑️ Content Management - and delete your posts

Profile & Professional Features

• 👤 Complete Profile Management - Comprehensive profile customization
• 💼 Work Experience - Showcase your professional journey
• 🔍 User Discovery - Find and explore other professionals
• 👀 Profile Viewing - Browse detailed user profiles
• 🤝 Connection System - Send and manage connection requests
• ✅ Request Management - Accept connection requests
• 📄 Resume Download - Generate and download professional resumes

User Experience

• 📱 Responsive Design - Seamless experience across all devices
• 🔐 Secure Authentication - Safe login and registration system
• 🌟 Intuitive Interface - Clean, professional user interface

🛠️ Tech Stack

Frontend

• Framework: Next.js 15.3.4
• Library: React 19.0.0
• State Management: Redux Toolkit 2.8.2
• HTTP Client: Axios 1.10.0
• Styling: CSS Modules / Tailwind CSS

Backend

• Runtime: Node.js
• Framework: Express.js 5.1.0
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose 8.16.1
• Authentication: bcrypt 6.0.0
• File Upload: Multer 2.0.1
• PDF Generation: PDF Creator Node 2.3.5, PDFKit 0.17.1

Development Tools

• Development Server: Nodemon 3.1.10
• Environment Variables: dotenv 17.0.0
• Cross-Origin Requests: CORS 2.8.5
• Code Quality: ESLint 9

📱 Screenshots

Desktop Views

Home Page

Clean, professional home feed with post interactions

Login Page

Secure authentication with modern design

Registration Page

Streamlined signup process

Dashboard

Comprehensive overview of your professional network

Profile Page

Complete professional profile showcase

Discover Users

Find and connect with professionals

View Profile

Detailed view of other users' profiles

My Connections

Manage your professional network

Mobile Views

Home Page - Mobile

Optimized mobile experience

Login - Mobile

Touch-friendly authentication

Registration - Mobile

Mobile-optimized signup

Dashboard - Mobile

Mobile dashboard experience

Profile - Mobile

Mobile profile management

Discover - Mobile

Mobile user discovery

View Profile - Mobile

Mobile profile viewing

Connections - Mobile

Mobile connection management

🚀 Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v16 or higher)
• MongoDB
• npm or yarn

Backend Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone [your-repo-url]
cd professional-network

# Navigate to backend directory
cd backend

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create environment variables
cp .env.example .env
# Configure your MongoDB URI and other variables

# Start development server
npm run dev

Frontend Setup

# Navigate to frontend directory
cd frontend

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Start development server
npm run dev

💻 Usage

1. Start the Backend Server:

   cd backend && npm run dev

2. Start the Frontend Application:

   cd frontend && npm run dev

3. Access the Application:

   • Frontend: http://localhost:3000
   • Backend API: http://localhost:9090

📚 API Documentation

Authentication Endpoints

• POST /api/auth/register - User registration
• POST /api/auth/login - User login
• GET /api/auth/profile - Get user profile

Posts Endpoints

• GET /api/posts - Get all posts
• POST /api/posts - Create new post
• PUT /api/posts/:id - Update post
• DELETE /api/posts/:id - Delete post
• POST /api/posts/:id/like - Like post
• POST /api/posts/:id/comment - Add comment

Users Endpoints

• GET /api/users - Discover users
• GET /api/users/:id - Get user profile
• PUT /api/users/profile - Update profile
• POST /api/users/connect/:id - Send connection request
• PUT /api/users/accept/:id - Accept connection request
• GET /api/users/connections - Get user connections

Resume Endpoints

• GET /api/resume/download/:id - Download user resume

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

Development Guidelines

• Follow the existing code style
• Write meaningful commit messages
• Add tests for new features
• Update documentation as needed

📝 License

This project is licensed under the ISC License - see the LICENSE file for details.

👨‍💻 Author

Balram

• GitHub: @balram
• LinkedIn: Connect with me

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by LinkedIn's professional networking model
• Built with modern web development best practices
• Thanks to the open-source community for amazing tools and libraries

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📊 Project Stats

• Frontend Package: React 19.0.0 + Next.js 15.3.4
• Backend Package: Node.js + Express.js 5.1.0
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose
• Image Limit: 50KB (Cloud storage optimized)
• Features: 13+ Core features implemented

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