PROJECT OVERVIEW

AI Blog Generator is a Django-based web application that allows users to generate, edit, and manage blogs using AI assistance. The app provides a smooth and modern user experience with Tailwind CSS styling, a TinyMCE rich text editor, and Django’s built-in authentication and message frameworks.

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FEATURES

1. USER AUTHENTICATION

   • Secure login and signup pages
   • CSRF protection enabled across all forms
   • Password reset and email verification support (via Mailtrap)

2. BLOG MANAGEMENT

   • Create, view, edit, and delete blogs
   • Rich text editing with TinyMCE integration
   • Auto-sanitized HTML content using Django’s safe filter
   • Pagination and sorting on “My Blogs” page

3. AI INTEGRATION

   • Blog content generation using AI APIs (configured in utils.py)
   • Ability to modify or regenerate content before saving

4. UI/UX DESIGN

   • Responsive and modern layout built with Tailwind CSS
   • Global message component (success, error, warning, info)
   • Auto-fading toast messages for smooth user feedback
   • Modular templates (base.html + partials for navbar, footer, messages)

5. SECURITY

   • CSRF tokens included in all forms
   • User-specific blog access control
   • Secure session handling and proper redirect logic

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TECHNOLOGY STACK

• BACKEND: Django (Python)
• FRONTEND: HTML, Tailwind CSS, Alpine.js
• RICH TEXT EDITOR: TinyMCE
• DATABASE: PostgreSQL
• EMAIL SERVICE: Mailtrap (for testing)
• DEPLOYMENT: Docker, Render, Vercel, or traditional VPS setups

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PREREQUISITES

Before running the project, ensure you have the following installed:

• Docker Engine: https://docs.docker.com/get-docker/
• Docker Compose: https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/
• Git: https://git-scm.com/
• (Optional) Python 3.10+ and virtual environment if running locally

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PROJECT STRUCTURE

AI_BLOG_APP/ │ ├── ai_blog_app/ # Main project folder (Django settings) ├── blog_generator/ # Main app │ ├── migrations/ │ ├── templates/ │ ├── utils/ │ ├── static/ │ ├── media/ │ ├── likes/ │ ├── admin.py │ ├── apps.py │ ├── models.py │ ├── urls.py │ ├── views.py │ ├── signals.py │ ├── tests.py ├── .env # Environment variables ├── Dockerfile # Docker setup ├── docker-compose.yml # Docker Compose configuration ├── requirements.txt ├── manage.py ├── venv/ # Local virtual environment (ignored) └── README.md

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DOCKER SETUP

The Docker setup includes two services: web (Django) and db (PostgreSQL).

Example docker-compose.yml:

version: "3.9"

services:
  db:
    image: postgres:15-alpine
    container_name: ai_blog_db
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: ai_blog_db
      POSTGRES_USER: avnadmin
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: your_password
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    volumes:
      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
    networks:
      - ai_blog_network

  web:
    build: .
    container_name: ai_blog_web
    command: >
      sh -c "python manage.py migrate &&
             python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000"
    volumes:
      - .:/app
    ports:
      - "8000:8000"
    environment:
      - GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key
      - ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY=your_assemblyai_api_key
      - POSTGRES_DB=ai_blog_db
      - POSTGRES_USER=avnadmin
      - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_password
      - POSTGRES_HOST=db
      - POSTGRES_PORT=5432
    depends_on:
      - db
    networks:
      - ai_blog_network

volumes:
  postgres_data:

networks:
  ai_blog_network:

Example Dockerfile:

# Use Python base image
FROM python:3.10-slim

# Set working directory
WORKDIR /app

# Copy requirements and install dependencies
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt

# Copy the rest of the project
COPY . .

# Prevent Python from buffering output
ENV PYTHONUNBUFFERED=1

# Expose port
EXPOSE 8000

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SETUP INSTRUCTIONS (DOCKER)

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/Macowen14/ai_blog_generator.git
   cd ai_blog_generator

2. Create a .env file in the project root with your API keys and database credentials:

   GEMINI_API_KEY=your_gemini_api_key
   ASSEMBLYAI_API_KEY=your_assemblyai_api_key
   POSTGRES_DB=ai_blog_db
   POSTGRES_USER=avnadmin
   POSTGRES_PASSWORD=your_password
   

3. Build and start containers:

   docker compose up --build

4. Apply Django migrations (inside the web container):

   docker compose exec web python manage.py migrate

5. (Optional) Create a superuser:

   docker compose exec web python manage.py createsuperuser

6. Open your browser and visit:

   http://localhost:8000/
   

7. To stop the containers:

   docker compose down

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SETUP INSTRUCTIONS (LOCAL)

If running without Docker:

1. Create a virtual environment:

   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate   # Linux/macOS
   venv\Scripts\activate      # Windows

2. Install dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Configure .env and settings.py with PostgreSQL credentials

4. Apply migrations:

   python manage.py migrate

5. Run the development server:

   python manage.py runserver

6. Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/ in your browser

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DEVELOPMENT NOTES

• All templates extend base.html

• Do NOT push .vscode/ or venv/ folders to GitHub

• Ensure .gitignore includes:

  venv/
  .vscode/
  
  *.pyc
  
  .env
  

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KNOWN ISSUES

• CSRF tokens must be present in all POST forms to avoid “CSRF token missing” errors
• TinyMCE requires a stable internet connection to load via CDN
• PostgreSQL must be running locally or via Docker for migrations and queries to work
• For testing emails, resend is recommended

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CONTRIBUTING

1. Fork the repository

2. Create a new branch:

   git checkout -b feature-name

3. Commit your changes:

   git commit -m "Add new feature"

4. Push to the branch:

   git push origin feature-name

5. Create a pull request

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LICENSE

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

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AUTHOR

Developed by: Macowen Keru Email: macowenkeru@gmail.com

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CREDITS

• Django Team (for the web framework)
• TinyMCE (for rich text editing)
• TailwindCSS (for styling)
• Gemini API (for AI blog generation)
• AssemblyAI (for transcription)