Connect Sphere - Social Media Platform

A full-featured social media platform with real-time messaging, post interactions, and user connections.

Features

User Authentication

• Secure signup/login with credential validation
• Profile management with image upload
• Password protected sessions

Core Features

• Create and share image posts with captions
• Like/unlike posts with real-time counters
• Follow/unfollow other users
• Search for users by username
• View user profiles with follower statistics
• Suggested users to follow

Real-time Chat

• WebSocket-based messaging
• Typing indicators
• Message read receipts
• Chat history persistence

Additional Features

• Responsive UI with Tailwind CSS
• File upload handling (images)
• Activity feed with followed users' posts
• User review system

Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+
• pip package manager
• Virtual environment (recommended)

Setup

git clone https://github.com/itsgaurav355/Let-s-Connect.git
cd Let-s-Connect
python -m venv venv

# Linux/Mac
source venv/bin/activate

# Windows
venv\Scripts\activate

pip install django pillow channels
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py runserver

Project Structure

project/
├── core/                 # Main application
│   ├── models.py         # Database models
│   ├── views.py          # Business logic
│   ├── urls.py           # App routes
│   └── admin.py          # Admin configurations
├── project/              # Project settings
│   ├── settings.py       # Project configuration
│   ├── urls.py           # Main routes
│   └── wsgi.py           # WSGI config
├── templates/            # HTML templates
├── static/               # Static assets
│   └── assets/           # CSS, JS, images
├── media/                # User-uploaded files
└── manage.py             # Django CLI

Configuration

• Database: SQLite (default), can be changed in settings.py
• Static/Media Files: Configured in settings.py
• Authentication: Session-based with Django's built-in system
• Real-time Features: Using Django Channels (WebSockets)

Running the Server

# Development mode
python manage.py runserver

# Production setup (example)
# Configure ALLOWED_HOSTS in settings.py
# Set DEBUG=False
# Add proper database configuration

Contributing

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