Tweeter

A lightweight Twitter-style microblogging web application built with Django. Users can post short messages (tweets), browse a public feed, like/unlike posts and manage their accounts through a full authentication system.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Tech Stack
• Getting Started
  • Prerequisites
  • Installation
• Environment Variables
• Deployment
• License

Features

• Tweet Feed -- Browse all tweets in reverse chronological order.
• Post Tweets -- Authenticated users can create tweets with a nickname and up to 280 characters of content.
• Like / Unlike -- Toggle likes on tweets. Each user can only like a tweet once (enforced at the database level via a unique constraint).
• User Authentication -- Sign up, log in, and log out using Django's built-in auth system.
• Responsive UI -- Built with Bootstrap 5 and custom CSS for a clean, mobile-friendly experience.

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	Python 3.11, Django 4.2
Database	SQLite (default, dev)
Frontend	Django Templates, Bootstrap 5
Static Files	WhiteNoise
Deployment	Gunicorn, Railway
Config	python-decouple

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Python 3.11+
• pip

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yusufyzzc/Tweeter.git
   cd Tweeter

2. Create and activate a virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   # Windows
   venv\Scripts\activate
   # macOS / Linux
   source venv/bin/activate

3. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Apply database migrations:

   python manage.py migrate

5. (Optional) Create a superuser for the admin panel:

   python manage.py createsuperuser

Environment Variables

The project uses python-decouple to manage configuration. Create a .env file in the project root with the following variables:

Variable	Description	Default
SECRET_KEY	Django secret key	Auto-generated insecure default
DEBUG	Enable/disable debug mode	False

Example .env:

SECRET_KEY=your-production-secret-key
DEBUG=True

Deployment

The project is configured for deployment on Railway (or any platform that supports Gunicorn + Procfile workflows).

Key deployment details:

• Procfile declares the web process: web: gunicorn djangotweet.wsgi --log-file -
• runtime.txt pins the Python version to 3.11.7.
• WhiteNoise serves static files in production without a separate web server.
• Allowed Hosts include *.up.railway.app by default. Update settings.py to add your own domain.

License

This project is open source and available for educational purposes.