Build Guide · SEU Campus Board

Create the project in IntelliJ IDEA

Foundation

Start with an empty Spring Boot project made by IntelliJ IDEA itself, then set up the folders, the database and a shared page.

Do this by hand in IDEA first

Go to File → New → Project and choose Spring Initializr.
Set Name seughost, Group com.seughost, Artifact app, Type Maven, Language Java, Packaging Jar and JDK 25.
Pick the latest Spring Boot 4.x and add: Spring Web, Thymeleaf, Spring Data MongoDB, Spring Security, Validation, Spring Cache Abstraction, Lombok and Spring Boot DevTools.
Click Create and wait for Maven to finish importing.

Prompt 1 of 3 · Folders

I just created an empty Spring Boot 4 project (Java 25, Maven) in IntelliJ. Organise it into the usual folders: model, dto, repository, service, controllers (web and api), exception and config.

Prompt 2 of 3 · Database

Connect it to MongoDB Atlas. Use two databases, one for building and testing and one for the live site, so testing never touches real data. Keep the real database link out of git, and let me pick which one to use with a setting. Run it on port 9090 unless a PORT setting says otherwise.

Prompt 3 of 3 · Home page

Make a shared page layout (top bar, footer) and a simple home page that uses it. Visitors shouldn't need to log in to see the home page or the static files.

Checkpoint

The green Run button starts the app and the console ends with Started SeughostApplication
The home page opens at localhost:9090 with the shared layout
Building and the live site use two different databases, and no real database link is in git

Anonymous posts

Core feature

Add posts that anyone can write, with no author information anywhere.

Prompt 1 of 3 · The post

Add a post that can be a Feeling, a Compliment or a Confession. It has the text, an optional nickname, an optional teacher name, some tags and the time it was posted. It must have no author at all, not even a hidden one. Nobody logs in to post.

Prompt 2 of 3 · The rules

Check what people send: the text must be 3 to 1000 characters, the nickname at most 40, a compliment must say which teacher, and there is a limit on tags. If something is wrong, send back a short message the page can show.

Prompt 3 of 3 · Create and list

Add a way to create a post and a way to list posts. A new post goes live straight away. Anyone can use both without logging in.

Checkpoint

Sending a valid post (with the IDEA HTTP Client or Postman) gives back the new post
Empty or too-short text is refused with a message
Nothing saved in the database says who wrote the post

The home page feed

Frontend

Show every live post as a card, then add filters, sorting and pages.

Prompt 1 of 5 · Show the posts

Show all live posts as cards on the home page, pinned ones first and then the newest. Each card shows the type, the tags, the text, the nickname and how long ago it was posted (like "5 minutes ago"). It should be one column on phones.

Prompt 2 of 5 · Filters

Add tabs to filter the posts: All, Feelings, Compliments and Confessions. It should change instantly, without reloading the page.

Prompt 3 of 5 · Tags and sorting

Add a tag dropdown made from the tags in the posts, and a sort dropdown with Newest and Most related.

Prompt 4 of 5 · Pages and empty state

Show 30 posts per page with Previous and Next buttons. If there are no posts, show a friendly message instead of an empty page.

Prompt 5 of 5 · Look and feel

Make it look nice with a light theme and no CSS or JavaScript framework. [Describe your own style here: colours, fonts, how the cards look, any animation.]

Checkpoint

Posts you created show up as cards, newest first, and a compliment shows who it is for
The tabs and both dropdowns change the cards instantly
With more than 30 posts you get pages, and with none you get the friendly message
After editing a page or script, run ./mvnw compile (or Build Project in IDEA) to see the change

The share popup

Frontend

Let anyone post from the home page with a small popup.

Prompt 1 of 4 · Open and close

Add a big "Share your thoughts..." button on the home page that opens a popup. The popup should close with the X button, by clicking outside it, or with the Esc key.

Prompt 2 of 4 · Pick a type

In the popup, first ask what they want to share: a Feeling, a Compliment or a Confession, each with a short description.

Prompt 3 of 4 · The form

Then show a form: "To whom" (only for compliments), the message with a live counter (max 1000), an optional nickname, and one optional tag from this list: study, exam, life, love, breakup, friendship, threeam, campus, canteen, gamesroom, funny, rant, gratitude. Keep the Post button switched off until the form is valid.

Prompt 4 of 4 · Sending

When someone posts, close the popup, show a small "Posted!" message and refresh the feed. If it fails, show the error inside the form. Old links to /posts/new should just go to the home page.

Checkpoint

The button opens the popup, and X, clicking outside and Esc all close it
Only a Compliment shows the "To whom" field, and the Post button stays off until the form is valid
Posting shows the message and the new post appears at the top
Stopping the app and posting shows an error in the form instead of doing nothing

Reactions and a faster feed

Core feature

Let people react to posts with a heart, a report button and a view count, one small request at a time. Then make the home page load faster.

Prompt 1 of 4 · Heart button

Put a heart button on every post with a number beside it. When someone taps it, the number should go up straight away, without the page refreshing. People shouldn't need to log in, and don't keep any record of who tapped it.

Prompt 2 of 4 · Report button

Put a small flag button on every post so people can report it. Ask "Are you sure?" first, then show a little message saying the report was sent. Only admins should be able to see how many reports a post has.

Prompt 3 of 4 · View count

Show a small eye icon on every post with the number of times it has been seen. If counting fails for any reason, don't show the visitor an error.

Prompt 4 of 4 · Faster home page

The home page will get slow once there are lots of posts. Please make it load faster, but a new post or a heart tap should still show up straight away. The view numbers can update about once a minute.

Checkpoint

Tapping the heart makes the number go up at once, and it is still there after you refresh
The flag asks first and then shows a message. Nobody except an admin can see the report count
Opening the home page raises the eye numbers, and a failure never shows the visitor an error
A new post shows up straight away, and the view numbers catch up within about a minute

Stop spam and repeat clicks

Protection

Stop spam without keeping any record of who did what.

Prompt 1 of 2 · Post spam

People shouldn't be able to spam the board. Make someone wait 2 minutes between posts, and let them post 10 times a day at most. If they hit the limit, show a friendly message in the share popup. Don't save anything about this in the database.

Prompt 2 of 2 · Repeat clicks

If someone taps the heart or the report button on the same post again, don't count it twice. Show a small message instead. If someone views the same post twice, just count it once and don't say anything.

Checkpoint

Posting again within 2 minutes shows a friendly message in the popup
The 11th post in one day is refused
Tapping the heart or the flag twice on the same post counts only once and tells you so
Refreshing the page many times adds only one view per post
Restarting the app resets the limits, and nothing about them is saved in the database

Login and the first admin

Security

Add logins, but only for admins. Regular visitors never need an account.

Prompt 1 of 2 · Login and register pages

Add a login page and a register page. People log in with their email and password. Only emails that end with @seu.edu.bd can register. If the password is wrong, show an error. Posting and hearts should still work without logging in.

Prompt 2 of 2 · First person becomes admin

The first person who registers becomes the admin. After that, nobody else can register: close the register page and hide the link to it. Only admins can open the admin pages.

Remember this when you put the site online

Register your own account right after the first deploy. Until the first account exists, anyone who finds the register page could become the admin.

Checkpoint

Registering with a gmail address shows an error, and a wrong password shows an error on the login page
The first account you register can log in and is an admin
After that, the register page sends you to login, and a normal visitor who tries an admin page is sent to login too
Posting and hearts still work when you are logged out

The admin dashboard

Admin

Build the admin page one piece at a time: reported posts first, then pinning, search, feedback on buttons and users.

Prompt 1 of 5 · Reported posts

Make an admin page at /admin/dashboard. The first tab lists the posts people have reported, most reported first. Each one has two buttons: Dismiss (clear the reports and keep the post) and Remove (take the post off the board, but don't delete it for good).

Prompt 2 of 5 · Pin posts

Add a Live Posts tab that lists every post on the board. Each row gets a Pin / Unpin button. Pinned posts stay at the top of the board.

Prompt 3 of 5 · Search and pages

The Live Posts list will get very long. Add a search box on the right side (it should search the post text and the teacher's name), and Previous / Next buttons. Show 20 posts on each page.

Prompt 4 of 5 · Loading and messages

When I press Remove or Pin, nothing shows that it's working. Show a small loading circle on the button, and then a little message saying it worked or failed. When a post is removed, let its row fade away.

Prompt 5 of 5 · Users tab

Add a Users tab that shows each person's email and role, with a button to switch their account off or on. Someone whose account is off can't log in.

Checkpoint

A post you reported shows up under Reported. Dismiss keeps it on the board, and Remove takes it off but does not delete it
Pin moves a post to the top of the board, and Unpin puts it back
Search narrows the list, Previous and Next work, and pinning keeps you on the same page
Every button shows a loading circle and a message, and if something fails the button comes back
Switching a user off stops them from logging in, and switching them on lets them back in

Put it online with Render

Deployment

Put the site online with its own separate live database and no passwords saved in git.

Do this yourself in Atlas and Render

In MongoDB Atlas, create a separate prod database user and allow Render to connect under Network Access.
In Render, create a New Blueprint Instance from your GitHub repository.
Paste the prod database link as the value of MONGODB_URI when Render asks.
After the first deploy, open /auth/register and create your admin account.

Prompt 1 of 2 · Docker

Make this app ready to run in Docker. Keep it small, don't run it as the root user, and let it take the port number from the PORT setting.

Prompt 2 of 2 · Render

Add a render.yaml so I can put this on Render. Don't put the database link (MONGODB_URI) in git, I'll paste it into Render myself. Use a separate database for the live site, not the one I use while building. Also add a .env.example that lists the settings the app needs.

Checkpoint

docker build . finishes without errors and the container opens the site
You cannot find a real database link or password anywhere in the repository
The Render deploy finishes and the live site opens
You registered your own admin account right after the first deploy

Build this site, one prompt at a time