Finance-Based Q&A Platform

Project Overview

This repository contains a Finance-Based Q&A Platform that allows users to ask and answer questions related to finance, investments, banking, and other financial topics. The platform includes user authentication, profile management, and an admin dashboard for question moderation.

Deployment Links

• Client Deployment Link: https://qulth.vercel.app/
• Server Deployment Link: https://qulth-backend.onrender.com/

Features

Frontend

Authentication

• Secure signup and login with Clerk.js

Pages

• /: Home page displaying all financial questions
• /signup: User registration page
• /login: User login page
• /question/:questionId: View specific financial question details, including user comments
• /questions: Manage all finance-related questions posted by the user (segregated by status: approved, pending)
• /adminQuestions: Admin dashboard for managing financial questions (approve/disapprove)
• /questionSearch/:keyword: Search results for financial queries

Dialog Boxes

• Add Question Dialog: Allows users to submit new financial questions
• Profile Update Dialog: Lets users update their personal and financial profile details

Question Management

• Infinite scrolling to load questions dynamically
• Sorting and filtering options for finance-related categories (e.g., investments, banking, taxes)

Error Handling

• Notifications for failed actions or API errors

Backend

User Management

• Profile creation, fetching, and updating
• Unique username validation using a Bloom filter

Finance Question Management

• CRUD operations for financial questions
• Admin functionality to approve or disapprove questions
• Search functionality optimized for financial terms and categories

Commenting

• Add and view comments on financial questions

Authentication Middleware

• Securely protects routes with Clerk's ClerkExpressRequireAuth

Search Functionality

• Full-text search for financial questions using keywords and tags

Webhooks

• Clerk webhook listener to handle user account updates

Data Storage

• MongoDB for storing financial questions, user profiles, and comments
• Cloudinary for managing media uploads

Backend API Endpoints Documentation

Authentication Endpoints

POST /webhook/clerk

• Description: Handles Clerk webhook events to sync data between the application and Clerk.

GET /get

• Description: Retrieves the authenticated user's profile data.

POST /check-username

• Description: Checks if a username is unique using Bloom filter.

POST /update

• Description: Updates the profile information of the authenticated user.

---

Comment Endpoints

POST /create

• Description: Creates a new comment for a specific question. Requires user authentication.

GET /get

• Description: Retrieves all comments for a specific question.

---

Like/Dislike Endpoints

POST /likeQuestion

• Description: Allows the authenticated user to like a specific question.

POST /dislikeQuestion

• Description: Allows the authenticated user to dislike a specific question.

---

Question Endpoints

POST /create

• Description: Allows the authenticated user to create a new question.

POST /edit

• Description: Allows the authenticated user to edit an existing question.

POST /approve

• Description: Approves a question for visibility.

POST /disapprove

• Description: Disapproves a question and removes it from visibility.

GET /delete

• Description: Deletes a specific question.

GET /get

• Description: Retrieves all questions for the authenticated user. Supports infinite scrolling for pagination.

GET /getById

• Description: Retrieves a specific question by its ID.

---

Security Considerations

• All sensitive routes require authentication via Clerk to ensure secure access.
• Bloom filter is used to efficiently check for unique usernames.

---

Additional Notes

• Infinite scroll functionality is implemented in the /get endpoint for fetching questions.
• Clerk is used for user authentication and profile management.

---

Technologies Used

Frontend

• Framework: React (Vite for fast builds)
• UI Library: TailwindCSS
• Authentication: Clerk.js
• State Management: Context API
• HTTP Client: Axios

Backend

• Framework: Node.js with Express
• Database: MongoDB (with Mongoose)
• Authentication: Clerk SDK

Utilities

• Multer for file uploads
• Bloom Filter for unique username validation
• Hosting:
  • Vercel (Frontend)
  • Render (Backend)

Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• Install Node.js and npm
• Set up a MongoDB Atlas cluster or local MongoDB instance
• Register for a Clerk account for authentication
• Create a Cloudinary account for media uploads

Installation

1. Clone the Repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd <repository-folder>
   

2. Install Dependencies

    # For Backend
    cd server
    npm install
   
    # For Frontend
    cd client
    npm install
   

3. Enviroment Variable .env

   MONGODB_URI=mongodb+srv://<username>:<password>@cluster.mongodb.net/?retryWrites=true&w=majority
   PORT=8000
   CLERK_WEBHOOK_SECRET_KEY=whsec_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   CLERK_SECRET_KEY=sk_test_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=<cloudinary-cloud-name>
   CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=<cloudinary-api-key>
   CLOUDINARY_SECRET_KEY=<cloudinary-secret-key>
   

4. Frontend .env

   VITE_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=pk_test_XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
   VITE_BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:8000
   

Running the Application

Backend

```bash
cd server
npm start

Frontend

```bash
cd client
npm run dev

Usage

Visit http://localhost:5173 for the frontend. Sign up or log in using Clerk authentication.

Features:

• Submit financial questions for the community to answer.
• Search financial queries by keywords and tags.
• Admins can moderate questions (approve/disapprove).
• Users can comment and participate in discussions.

Future Enhancements

• Push Notifications: Notify users about question approvals or responses.
• Enhanced Search: Filters for financial tags like investment, taxation, or budgeting.
• Gamification: Add badges for active participants (e.g., Finance Expert, Tax Advisor).
• Data Analytics: Provide insights into popular questions, topics, and user engagement.
• Mobile Support: Optimize for smaller screens and add a mobile app.

Support

For further support, feel free to raise an issue on the repository or contact the maintainer.