Save The Bee Bulgaria - Honey Web Platform

A comprehensive e-commerce web platform for Bulgarian honey products, built with ASP.NET Core 6.0. The platform connects beekeepers with customers, offering a marketplace for honey, propolis, bee pollen, and related products.

🏗️ Project Architecture

This project follows a Clean Architecture pattern with clear separation of concerns:

SaveTheBeeBulgaria/
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Web/                    # Presentation Layer (MVC)
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Data/                   # Data Access Layer
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Data.Models/            # Domain Models
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Services.Data/          # Business Logic Layer
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Services.Data.Models/   # Service Models
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Services.Mapping/       # AutoMapper Configuration
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Web.Infrastructure/     # Infrastructure Services
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Web.ViewModels/         # View Models
├── HoneyWebPlatform.Common/                 # Shared Constants
└── HoneyWebPlatform.Services.Tests/         # Unit Tests

🛠️ Technologies Used

Backend Technologies

• .NET 6.0 - Core framework
• ASP.NET Core MVC - Web application framework
• Entity Framework Core 6.0 - ORM for data access
• SQL Server - Primary database
• SQLite - Development database
• AutoMapper - Object-to-object mapping
• SignalR - Real-time communication

Frontend Technologies

• Razor Views - Server-side rendering
• Bootstrap - CSS framework
• jQuery - JavaScript library
• HTML5/CSS3 - Markup and styling
• JavaScript - Client-side functionality

Authentication & Security

• ASP.NET Core Identity - User management
• Google OAuth - Social authentication
• Facebook OAuth - Social authentication
• reCAPTCHA - Bot protection
• Anti-forgery tokens - CSRF protection

Additional Features

• Email Services - SMTP integration
• File Upload - Image handling
• Caching - Memory caching
• Real-time Chat - SignalR hubs
• Shopping Cart - Session management
• Order Management - E-commerce functionality

📊 Core Entities

User Management

• ApplicationUser - Extended Identity user with profile information
• Beekeeper - Specialized user role for product sellers
• Admin - Administrative role

Product Catalog

• Honey - Main product entity with categories, pricing, and beekeeper info
• Propolis - Secondary product type
• BeePollen - Additional product offering
• Category - Product categorization
• Flavour - Product flavor profiles

E-commerce

• Cart - Shopping cart functionality
• CartItem - Individual cart items
• Order - Customer orders with status tracking
• OrderItem - Individual order line items

Content Management

• Post - Blog posts and articles
• Comment - User comments on posts
• SubscribedEmail - Newsletter subscriptions

🎯 Key Features

For Customers

• Product Browsing - Browse honey, propolis, and bee pollen
• Advanced Filtering - Filter by category, price, origin
• Shopping Cart - Add/remove items with real-time updates
• User Registration - Account creation and management
• Order Tracking - Track order status
• Blog Reading - Educational content about beekeeping

For Beekeepers

• Product Management - Add, edit, and manage products
• Profile Management - Manage beekeeper profile and farm images
• Order Management - View and process customer orders
• Analytics - View sales statistics

For Administrators

• User Management - Manage all users and beekeepers
• Content Management - Manage blog posts and comments
• Order Oversight - Monitor all orders across the platform
• Statistics - Platform-wide analytics

🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• .NET 6.0 SDK
• SQL Server (or SQLite for development)
• Visual Studio 2022 or VS Code

Installation

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd SaveTheBeeBulgaria

2. Restore dependencies

   dotnet restore

3. Update connection strings

   • Edit appsettings.json or appsettings.Development.json
   • Configure your database connection string

4. Run database migrations

   dotnet ef database update --project HoneyWebPlatform.Data --startup-project HoneyWebPlatform.Web

5. Run the application

   dotnet run --project HoneyWebPlatform.Web

Configuration

Database Setup

• Development: Uses SQLite (LocalDB)
• Production: Uses SQL Server with Azure connection

Email Configuration

Configure SMTP settings in appsettings.json:

{
  "EmailSettings": {
    "SmtpServer": "smtp.gmail.com",
    "SmtpPort": 587,
    "SmtpUsername": "your-email@gmail.com",
    "SmtpPassword": "your-app-password"
  }
}

OAuth Configuration

Set up Google and Facebook OAuth in Program.cs:

.AddGoogle(options => {
    options.ClientId = "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID";
    options.ClientSecret = "YOUR_GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET";
})
.AddFacebook(options => {
    options.AppId = "YOUR_FACEBOOK_APP_ID";
    options.AppSecret = "YOUR_FACEBOOK_APP_SECRET";
})

🏢 Business Logic

Service Layer Architecture

The application uses a service-oriented architecture with interfaces for:

• IHoneyService - Honey product management
• IPropolisService - Propolis product management
• IBeekeeperService - Beekeeper management
• ICategoryService - Category management
• IOrderService - Order processing
• ICartService - Shopping cart operations
• IPostService - Blog post management
• IEmailSender - Email notifications

Real-time Features

• ChatHub - Real-time customer support chat
• CartHub - Real-time cart updates
• OrderHub - Real-time order notifications for admins

🧪 Testing

The project includes unit tests in the HoneyWebPlatform.Services.Tests project:

• Service layer testing
• Database seeder for test data
• XUnit test framework

Run tests with:

dotnet test

🚀 Deployment

Railway Deployment (Production)

The project is configured for deployment to Railway using a Modified Git Flow strategy:

1. Production Deployment

   • Railway automatically deploys from the master branch
   • Only production-ready code reaches the live site
   • Uses semantic versioning with Git tags (v1.0.0, v1.1.0, etc.)

2. Branching Strategy

   • master: Production branch (auto-deployed to Railway)
   • dev: Development branch (safe for testing)
   • release/*: Release preparation branches
   • hotfix/*: Emergency production fixes
   • feature/*: Optional feature development branches

3. Release Process

   • Monthly releases: dev → release/v1.1.0 → master
   • Hotfixes: master → hotfix/fix-name → master
   • See BRANCHING_WORKFLOW.md for detailed workflows

4. Environment Setup

   • Configure Railway environment variables
   • Set up connection strings for PostgreSQL
   • Configure OAuth providers (Google, Facebook)
   • Set up email settings (Resend/SMTP)

Docker Support

The project includes Docker configuration:

• Dockerfile for containerization
• docker-compose.yml for local development
• Multi-stage build for optimized production images
• Dockerfile.railway for Railway deployment

📁 Project Structure Details

Data Layer (HoneyWebPlatform.Data)

• DbContext - Entity Framework context
• Configurations - Entity configurations
• Migrations - Database migration files

Services Layer (HoneyWebPlatform.Services.Data)

• Interfaces - Service contracts
• Implementations - Business logic implementation
• Models - Service-specific models

Web Layer (HoneyWebPlatform.Web)

• Controllers - MVC controllers
• Views - Razor view templates
• Areas - Admin and Identity areas
• Hubs - SignalR hubs for real-time features
• wwwroot - Static files (CSS, JS, images)

Infrastructure (HoneyWebPlatform.Web.Infrastructure)

• Extensions - Custom extension methods
• Middlewares - Custom middleware components
• ModelBinders - Custom model binding

🔧 Development Guidelines

Code Organization

• Follow Clean Architecture principles
• Use dependency injection throughout
• Implement proper error handling
• Use async/await for I/O operations

Database Design

• Use Entity Framework Code First approach
• Implement proper relationships between entities
• Use data annotations for validation
• Follow naming conventions

Security Best Practices

• Use HTTPS in production
• Implement proper authentication and authorization
• Validate all user inputs
• Use anti-forgery tokens
• Implement rate limiting

📞 Support

For support and questions:

• Email: savethebee2024@gmail.com
• GitHub Issues: Create an issue in the repository

📄 License

This project is proprietary software developed for Save The Bee Bulgaria initiative.

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Built with ❤️ for Bulgarian beekeepers and honey lovers