Overview:

The MERN-template is a website template that utilizes the MERN stack (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, Node.js). While it is primarily designed for Persistent Browser Based Games (PBBGs), it is also flexible enough to be used for various other purposes. The template includes several microservices and is released under the zlib license.

Features:

• Full documentation: The template comes with comprehensive documentation to guide users through the setup and usage process.
• Fully Featured Account System: Includes functionality for email validation, logging in and out, account deletion, and password management. Utilizes JSON web token authentication and HttpOnly cookies for enhanced security.
• Fully Featured News Blog: Allows users to publish, edit, and delete articles. Secured via an admin panel.
• Fully Featured Chat System: Enables logged-in users to engage in room-based chat, with features such as moderation tools, user banning and muting, and reporting offensive content.
• Easy To Use Configuration Script: Sets up all necessary components through Docker, simplifying the installation process.
• Coming Soon: Planned updates include additional documentation, modding tutorials, individual pages for news articles, and restore and undo functionality for articles and chat messages.

Installation:

To install and set up the MERN-template in development mode, follow these steps:

1. Ensure that MariaDB is running in your development environment.
2. Run the tools/create_database.sql file as the root user of MariaDB.
3. Run npm install in the project directory.
4. Copy the .envdev file and rename it as .env. Enter your desired details into the .env file.
5. Execute npm run dev to start the development server.
6. Navigate to http://localhost:3001 in your web browser to access the template.

Summary:

The MERN-template is a versatile website template that utilizes the MERN stack. It is primarily designed for Persistent Browser Based Games but can be used for other purposes as well. The template includes fully featured microservices for an account system, news blog, and chat system. It also provides an easy-to-use configuration script for setting up the template through Docker. With ongoing updates and planned future features, the MERN-template is a comprehensive solution for building web applications.