Univent - Real-Time College Event Management System (MERN Stack)

 

     

🚀 Overview

Univent is a comprehensive, real-time event management platform designed specifically for the dynamic environment of colleges and universities. Built on the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js) with a microservice architecture, it provides a centralized system for organizing and participating in college fests, workshops, and technical events. The platform features live announcements and interactive leaderboards to boost engagement and streamline communication between organizers and participants.

This open-source project is a perfect example of a full-stack web application using modern technologies like Socket.IO for real-time communication and JWT for secure authentication.

✨ Key Features

Univent is packed with features to create a seamless event experience:

• 🎫 Full Event Lifecycle Management: Create, update, delete, and manage events.
• 📝 Easy Participant Registration: Simple, one-click event registration for students.
• 📢 Real-time Announcements: Push live updates and announcements to all users instantly.
• 🏆 Live Gamified Leaderboards: Dynamic leaderboards that update scores in real-time to foster competition.
• 👥 Role-based Access Control (RBAC): Distinct roles for Admins, Organizers, and Participants with specific permissions.
• 📱 Instant Notifications: Real-time notifications for event registrations, updates, and more.
• 📊 Event Analytics Dashboard: Organizers can view registration statistics and engagement metrics.

   

Event Management Interface for College Fests

🛠️ Technology Stack

This project uses a modern and scalable technology stack:

• Frontend: React.js with TailwindCSS for a responsive and beautiful UI.
• Backend: Node.js with Express.js for building robust APIs.
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose for flexible, schema-based data storage.
• Real-time Communication: Socket.IO for WebSocket-based live updates.
• Authentication: JWT (JSON Web Tokens) for secure, stateless authentication.
• Containerization: Docker and Docker Compose for easy setup and deployment.

🏛️ System Architecture

Univent is designed using a microservice architecture to ensure scalability, maintainability, and independent deployment of services. An API Gateway acts as a single entry point for all client requests, routing them to the appropriate downstream service.

• Authentication Service: Manages user registration, login, and JWT token generation.
• Event Service: Handles all CRUD operations for events and manages participant registrations.
• Notification Service: Powers real-time announcements and user notifications via Socket.IO.
• Leaderboard Service: Manages participant scoring, ranking calculations, and live leaderboard updates.

🏁 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v14 or higher)
• MongoDB (v4.4 or higher)
• npm or yarn
• Docker (optional, for containerized setup)

Installation Guide

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone [https://github.com/AbhishekBalija/Univent.git](https://github.com/AbhishekBalija/Univent.git)
   cd univent

2. Install server and client dependencies:

   # Install frontend dependencies
   cd frontend
   npm install
   
   # Install backend dependencies for each microservice
   cd ../backend
   cd auth-service && npm install
   cd ../event-service && npm install
   cd ../notification-service && npm install
   cd ../leaderboard-service && npm install

3. Environment Variables Setup: Create a .env file in each service's root directory (auth-service, event-service, etc.) and add the required environment variables.

   # Example for auth-service/.env:
   MONGODB_URI=mongodb://localhost:27017/univent
   JWT_SECRET=your_super_secret_jwt_key
   PORT=8001

4. Run the Application:

   # Option 1: Start all services using Docker (Recommended)
   docker-compose up
   
   # Option 2: Start each service and the frontend individually
   # Terminal 1: Auth Service
   cd backend/auth-service && npm run dev
   # Terminal 2: Event Service
   cd backend/event-service && npm run dev
   # ...and so on for other services
   
   # Terminal 5: Frontend
   cd frontend && npm start

👤 User Roles and Permissions

Role	Access Level	Responsibilities
Admin	Full system access	Manages users, roles, and system-wide settings.
Organizer	Event-level access	Creates and manages their own events, tracks participants, makes announcements.
Participant	Basic access	Registers for events, views leaderboard, receives notifications.

                             

Admin Dashboard

Organizer Dashboard

Participant Home

📂 Project Structure

The repository is organized into a frontend directory for the React client and a backend directory containing the microservices.

univent/
├── frontend/             # React.js client application
│   ├── src/
│   ├── components/       # Reusable React components
│   ├── pages/            # Page-level components
│   └── services/         # API service functions
│
├── backend/
│   ├── auth-service/     # Handles user authentication & roles
│   ├── event-service/    # Handles event CRUD and registration
│   ├── notification-service/ # Real-time notifications via Socket.IO
│   ├── leaderboard-service/  # Manages scoring and ranking
│   └── gateway/          # API Gateway (e.g., Express Gateway)
│
└── docker-compose.yml    # Docker configuration for all services

📜 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.