Feature Request: New Template with Combined Admin & Sales Modules

[bahamshop]

Hi team,

First, thank you for the excellent work on the bit Boilerplate (bit platform). It's a very useful tool for kickstarting projects.

I would like to suggest a new template option. Currently, under the "Module" selection (as seen in the project creation UI), we can choose "Admin", "Sales", or "None".

My Suggestion:
It would be incredibly helpful to have a template option that pre-configures both "Admin" and "Sales" modules together.

Reasoning/Use Case:
Many applications, especially business-oriented ones, require both backend administrative functionalities (user management, settings, etc., typically covered by an "Admin" module) and customer/sales-related features (CRM, order management, sales dashboards, etc., typically covered by a "Sales" module) right from the start.
Having a template that combines these two would:

• Save significant development and integration time.
• Provide a more comprehensive starting point for such common project types.
• Ensure a consistent integration pattern between these core modules.

Ideally, all other project configuration options (like Backend database, Files storage, API deployment configuration, CI-CD pipeline, Captcha, push notifications, etc.) would remain selectable as they are currently. The main difference would be the inclusion and basic integration of both Admin and Sales module functionalities in the generated boilerplate.

Thank you for considering this feature request. I believe it would be a valuable addition for many users of the bit platform.

Best regards,
@SirTypeOfficial

[ysmoradi]

Hey Dear @bahamshop
You could create one project with admin panel module and another with sales module and connect them to the same database just like we did in our https://adminpanel.bitplatform.dev and https://sales.bitplatform.dev/ demos.

[bahamshop]

Hi @ysmoradi,

Thank you so much for your quick response and for the fantastic Bit Platform! We truly appreciate the effort that goes into maintaining and developing it.

Your suggestion to create separate Admin and Sales projects and connect them to the same database is understood, and we've seen this approach in the demos you shared (adminpanel.bitplatform.dev and sales.bitplatform.dev). This is definitely a straightforward way to get both functionalities up and running.

However, as we plan for a more complex, evolving application (like "Bahamshop" which will also include a Vendor panel in the future), we foresee some potential challenges with managing them as completely separate project structures that only share a database connection, especially regarding long-term maintainability and consistency. Our main concerns revolve around:

• Domain Entity Duplication & Consistency: Core domain entities (e.g., Product, User, Category, Order) would likely need to be defined in both the Admin and Sales (and later Vendor) solutions. Keeping these definitions perfectly synchronized across multiple codebases could become error-prone.
• DbContext and Migration Management:
  • If each solution (Admin.Server.Api, Sales.Server.Api) has its own DbContext (even if they target the same database), which one becomes the "source of truth" for EF Core migrations? Managing migrations across separate projects for a shared schema can lead to conflicts or inconsistencies.
  • Alternatively, if only one project handles migrations, the other projects would need a robust way to consume and align with those schema changes.
• Shared Business Logic / Services: There might be core business logic or services that are relevant to both Admin (e.g., for backend processing or reporting on orders) and Sales (e.g., for order creation/modification). Implementing these independently could lead to duplicated effort and potential divergence in behavior.
• Identity Model (ApplicationUser) Synchronization: While ASP.NET Core Identity tables would be shared, the ApplicationUser class itself (if extended with custom properties) would need to be identically defined in each solution referencing it, again leading to potential synchronization issues.
• Maintenance Overhead: Updating a shared concept (like adding a field to Product or changing a core business rule) would necessitate changes in multiple, largely independent solutions, increasing development time and the risk of oversight.

The original feature request by @SirTypeOfficial for a template that pre-configures both Admin and Sales modules together resonated with us because we hoped it might address some of these integration challenges by fostering a more unified core structure.

Perhaps there's an intended pattern within Bit Platform for creating shared "kernel" or "core" libraries (e.g., for Domain Entities and a central DbContext / Persistence layer) that multiple Bit Platform project templates (Admin, Sales, etc.) could then reference? This would allow for a single source of truth for core domain models and data access logic, while still enabling separate, deployable front-ends and APIs for Admin, Sales, and Vendor functionalities.

We'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on managing these shared concerns in a larger, multi-module Bit Platform application, or if there are existing best practices/examples within the ecosystem that address this more integrated approach.

Thanks again for your valuable work and guidance!

Best regards,
@SirTypeOfficial

[ysmoradi]

Consider a project named Bahamshop. This project would necessitate the following C# projects:

1- Bahamshop.AdminPanel.Client.Core, Bahamshop.AdminPanel.Client.Web
2- Bahamshop.App.Client.Core, Bahamshop.App.Client.Web, Bahamshop.App.Client.Maui, Bahamshop.App.Server.Web
3- Bahamshop.Server.Api, Bahamshop.Shared

Bahamshop.AdminPanel.Client.Web will be deployed as a Progressive Web Application (PWA) for administrative purposes.
Bahamshop.App.Server.Web will be deployed as a pre-render-enabled PWA (Blazor WebAssembly) to ensure high performance and SEO-friendliness.
Bahamshop.App.Client.Maui will serve as the basis for the Android and iOS native applications.
Bahamshop.Server.Api would function as the unified backend API for both client applications (Admin Panel and public-facing App).
Bahamshop.Shared would be the designated location for shared components, such as Data Transfer Objects (DTOs) and other common codes.

Additionally, we could introduce Bahamshop.Client.Shared to house components that may be common to both client applications. However, it's important to note that the Client.Core and Client.Web projects for the Admin Panel and the public App should remain distinct. This separation is crucial because the Admin Panel might incorporate numerous packages specific to its administrative functions, which, if shared, would unnecessarily increase the bundle size and load time of the public-facing consumer web app.

Furthermore, you could include Bahamshop.AdminPanel.Server.Web to facilitate ease of development in a local environment using Blazor Server, although this project would strictly be for development purposes and would not be published to production.

This architectural approach, or a similar configuration, might be well-suited to your requirements. In such a scenario, I would recommend purchasing at least a one-month subscription to our service. This subscription grants access to custom feature development, specialized workshops, performance and security consultations, theme implementation, and a host of other premium services. These offerings are designed to optimize your utilization of the Bit Boilerplate project template, empowering you to achieve significantly more in the long term. Consequently, not only will we construct the project tailored to your specific architecture and provide an array of additional services, but your engagement will also be instrumental in accelerating the growth of the bitplatform itself.

[bahamshop]

Hi @ysmoradi,

Thank you so much for your insightful feedback and the detailed architectural proposal for the Bahamshop project. We truly appreciate the thought and guidance you've provided.

We wanted to give an update on our internal progress. Based on our ongoing discussions and the valuable insights gained from this very thread, we have successfully converged on an architectural approach that aligns very closely with the core idea behind our initial feature request.

As you might have noticed from our recent commits and the current repository structure in the provided screenshots (e.g., the introduction of Bahamshop.Core, Bahamshop.Admin, Bahamshop.Sales, Bahamshop.Vendor modules, along with Bahamshop.Domain and Bahamshop.Persistence within Core), we've moved towards a more centralized and shared core infrastructure. This structure addresses the key concerns we raised earlier regarding:

• Domain Entity Consistency: Centralizing core entities in Bahamshop.Core.Domain.
• DbContext & Migration Management: A unified persistence layer that can be managed more coherently.
• Shared Business Logic & Services: Providing a common ground for shared functionalities and preventing duplication across different administrative and customer-facing panels.
• Identity Model Synchronization: Handling the ApplicationUser and related identity configurations effectively.

This internal development validates our initial intuition that a template providing a "combined Admin & Sales with Shared Core" foundation would be exceptionally powerful. Our implementation has proven the efficiency and maintainability benefits of this structure for complex, evolving applications like Bahamshop.

While we have now effectively built this structure for our specific project, we firmly believe that a foundational Bit Boilerplate template embodying this "monorepo with shared core and modular domain" concept would be incredibly valuable for the broader Bit Platform community. It would enable other developers to jumpstart similar enterprise-grade applications with a robust and scalable architecture right from the beginning.

Given that our immediate architectural need regarding our Bahamshop project has been addressed through our direct implementation, and this discussion has greatly helped us refine our architectural strategy, we feel this issue has served its purpose effectively. Therefore, we would like to close this feature request.

Thank you again for your time, invaluable insights, and for developing such an excellent platform. We look forward to contributing to the Bit Platform ecosystem in any way we can.

Best regards,
@SirTypeOfficial

[ysmoradi]

Excellent progress! Keep me posted about progress of your project on telegram as you move forward! @ysmoradi_NL