College Management System (MERN)

Full-stack College Management System built with React (CRA) + Node/Express + MongoDB. Includes role-based portals (Admin/Faculty/Student/Alumni), academic management, media uploads, and real-time chat via Socket.io.

Features

Admin

• Manage branches, subjects, notices, timetables, materials
• Manage student/faculty/admin profiles and credentials
• Societies management (society details, coordinator assignment, events/projects/achievements)

Faculty

• Upload & manage study materials
• Student finder + profile viewing
• Timetable/notice access

Student

• View materials, timetable, notices
• Lost & Found (with image upload)
• Browse societies + subscribe

Alumni

• Alumni module + Student ↔ Alumni real-time chat (Socket.io)

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React (Create React App), Redux, Tailwind
• Backend: Node.js, Express, Mongoose
• Database: MongoDB Atlas / MongoDB
• Auth: JWT (cookie-based)
• Realtime: Socket.io
• Uploads/Email (optional): Cloudinary, Nodemailer, SendGrid

Project Structure

College/
	backend/   (Express API + Socket.io)
	frontend/  (React app)

Local Development

1) Install dependencies

cd College/backend
npm install

cd ../frontend
npm install

2) Backend environment variables

Create College/backend/.env (IMPORTANT: no spaces around =):

MONGODB_URI=mongodb://127.0.0.1:27017/college
JWT_SECRET=change_me
FRONTEND_API_LINK=http://localhost:3000

# Optional (emails)
NODEMAILER_EMAIL=
NODEMAILER_PASS=

# Optional (Lost & Found image uploads)
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=

# Optional (claim notifications)
SENDGRID_API_KEY=
SENDGRID_FROM=

Note: The Mongo connection file lives in backend/Database/db.js (capital “D”). This matters on Linux (Render).

3) Frontend environment variables

Create College/frontend/.env:

REACT_APP_APILINK=http://localhost:4000/api
REACT_APP_MEDIA_LINK=http://localhost:4000/media

4) Run

cd College/backend
npm run dev

cd ../frontend
npm start

(Optional) Seed default admin

cd College/backend
npm run seed

Default credentials:

• Email: admin@gmail.com
• Password: admin123

Deployment

Backend: Render (recommended)

Socket.io requires a long-running server, so deploy the backend on Render.

Render settings:

• Root directory: College/backend
• Build command: npm install
• Start command: npm start

Render environment variables:

• NODE_ENV=production
• MONGODB_URI=... (MongoDB Atlas URI)
• JWT_SECRET=...
• FRONTEND_API_LINK=https://<your-vercel-app>.vercel.app,https://*.vercel.app
• Add optional email/cloudinary/sendgrid vars if you use those features

MongoDB Atlas note: allow Render to connect (Atlas → Network Access). For quick testing, you can allow 0.0.0.0/0.

Frontend: Vercel

Vercel settings:

• Root directory: College/frontend
• Build command: npm run build
• Output directory: build

Vercel environment variables:

• REACT_APP_APILINK=https://<your-render-backend>.onrender.com/api
• REACT_APP_MEDIA_LINK=https://<your-render-backend>.onrender.com/media

SPA routing is handled via frontend/vercel.json.

Security

• Do not commit .env files.
• Rotate any credentials if they were ever shared publicly.

License

MIT (see LICENSE).