OPIGS — Online Placement Information Gathering System

An Online Placement Information Gathering System (OPIGS) for managing alumni, students, companies, job postings and applications, notifications, and real-time chat. Built as a Software Engineering lab project (CS29006) for Spring 2023-24.

Stack

• Language(s): JavaScript (Node.js backend, React frontend), CSS, HTML
• Framework / runtime: Node.js + Express (backend), React + Vite (frontend)
• Notable libraries: mongoose (MongoDB), jsonwebtoken (JWT auth), cloudinary (file uploads), socket.io (real-time chat), axios (frontend HTTP client)

How it's organized

backend/             Express API, DB connection, routes, controllers, middlewares
  app.js             Express app and route wiring
  server.js          cloudinary init + start server
  routes/            route definitions (alumni, student, company, job, admin, application, notification, Chat routes...)
  controllers/       request handlers and business logic
  models/            Mongoose models
  database/          DB connection (dbConnection.js)
  middlewares/       error handling, auth, etc.
  public/            static assets served by backend
frontend/            React + Vite SPA
  src/                React app sources
  public/             frontend public assets
  index.html
socket/              standalone socket server for chat (socket/index.js)
OPIGS_outline.pdf    project outline
SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION.pdf

How it fits together:

• The Express backend (backend/) exposes REST endpoints under /api/v1/* (alumni, student, company, job, application, notification, admin) and hosts chat-related routes under backend/Chat. The DB layer uses Mongoose to persist users, jobs, and applications. Cloudinary is used for media uploads. The React frontend (frontend/) communicates with the API and connects to the socket server for real-time messaging (socket/index.js).

How to run it

1. Backend

cd backend
npm install
# development
npm run dev       # uses nodemon server.js
# production
npm start         # node server.js

2. Frontend

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev       # start vite dev server

3. Socket server (chat)

cd socket
npm install
node index.js

Run all three (backend, frontend, socket) concurrently during development. Adjust ports/URLs via environment variables (below).

Environment variables (example)

• PORT — backend port
• FRONTEND_URL — frontend origin allowed by CORS
• MONGO_URI — MongoDB connection string
• JWT_SECRET — secret for signing JSON Web Tokens
• CLOUDINARY_CLIENT_NAME, CLOUDINARY_CLIENT_API, CLOUDINARY_CLIENT_SECRET — Cloudinary credentials for uploads

Useful files to inspect

• backend/app.js — central Express app and route registration
• backend/server.js — Cloudinary init and server start
• backend/package.json — backend dependencies and scripts
• frontend/package.json — frontend dependencies and scripts
• socket/index.js — socket server entrypoint
• backend/Chat/ — chat routes and message handling
• OPIGS_outline.pdf and SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION.pdf — project design & requirements

UI screenshots

Student Login Page

Student Register

Student Dashboard

Update Profile

View CV

Explore Jobs

View Job Details

Request Alumni

Job Application Form

Notifications

Chat