MERN-template

A website template using the MERN stack. It is geared towards Persistent Browser Based Games (think neopets), but is flexible enough for a number of different uses.

The primary technology involved is:

• React
• Nodejs
• MariaDB (with Sequelize)
• Docker (with docker compose)

This template is designed to support the development of persistent browser based games (PBBGs), but it, and it's component microservices, can be used elsewhere.

This template is released under the zlib license (see LICENSE).

See the github wiki for full documentation.

Microservices

There are external components to this template referred to as "microservices". These can be omitted entirely by simply removing the React components that access them. These are also available via docker hub.

• News Server: https://github.com/krgamestudios/news-server
• Auth Server: https://github.com/krgamestudios/auth-server
• Chat Server: https://github.com/krgamestudios/chat-server

Setup Deployment

A clean install is this easy:

git clone https://github.com/krgamestudios/MERN-template.git
cd MERN-template
node configure-script.js
docker compose up --build

Setup Development

To set up this template in development mode:

1. Ensure mariadb is running in your development environment
2. Run mariadb tools/create_database.sql as the root user
3. Run npm install
4. Run cp .envdev .env and enter your details into the .env file
5. Execute npm run dev
6. Navigate to http://localhost:3001 in your web browser

Features List

• Mainly one language across the codebase (JavaScript)
• Full documentation
  • Setup tutorial
• Fully Featured Account System (as a microservice)
  • Email validation
  • Logging in and out
  • Account deletion
  • Password management
  • JSON web token authentication
  • HttpOnly cookies for security
  • Optional post validation hook
• Fully Featured News Blog (as a microservice)
  • Publish, edit or delete articles as needed
  • Secured via admin panel
• Fully Featured Chat System (as a microservice)
  • Available when logged in
  • Chat logs saved to the database
  • Room-based chat (type /room name to access a specific room)
• Moderation tools
  • Permanently banning users
  • Chat-muting users for a time period
  • Users reporting offensive chat-content
• Easy To Use Configuration Script
  • Sets up everything via docker
  • A default admin account (if desired)

Coming Soon

• Full documentation
  • Modding tutorials
• Fully Featured News Blog (as a microservice)
  • Individual pages for news articles

Coming Eventually

• Fully Featured News Blog (as a microservice)
  • Restore deleted articles
  • Undo edits
• Fully Featured Chat System (as a microservice)
  • Custom emoji
  • Private messaging
  • Broadcasting to all channels
  • Badges next to usernames
• Backend for leaderboards (modding tutorial?)
• Backend for energy systems (modding tutorial?)
• Backend for items, shops, trading and currency (modding tutorial?)