CollabCrew is a fully-featured, two-sided freelance talent marketplace built natively in PHP and MySQL. Heavily inspired by the modern UI and architecture of Upwork, it provides a seamless ecosystem for Clients to post jobs and hire talent, and Freelancers to bid on projects and build their professional reputation.
- Users can seamlessly switch between Client mode (posting jobs, hiring) and Freelancer mode (submitting proposals, finding work) from a single account.
- Complete settings dashboard to update Professional Titles, Bios, and Hourly Rates.
- Freelancers don't just "apply" with a click. They must submit detailed Proposals including a custom cover letter, a specific bid amount, and an estimated delivery timeline.
- Clients get a visually rich dashboard to review these proposals, compare bid amounts, read cover letters, and officially Hire the best candidate.
- For Clients: Manage active postings, view proposal counts, and mark active contracts as "Completed".
- For Freelancers: View a dedicated "Active Contracts" dashboard tracking accepted proposals and agreed-upon bid amounts.
- Direct Messaging: Once a proposal is accepted, an exclusive chat interface opens up allowing the client and freelancer to communicate directly on the platform.
- Review System: When a client marks a project as "Completed", they are prompted to leave a 1-5 star rating and comment. This feedback is permanently attached to the Freelancer's public profile.
- A robust, query-based job feed allowing freelancers to search jobs by keyword and see immediately the required skills, budget, project length, and experience level.
- Frontend: HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap 5 (Customized Green/White Upwork theme), Bootstrap Icons
- Backend: PHP (Session management, prepared statements)
- Database: MySQL (Relational tables with foreign key cascading)
index.php/register.php: Authentication and onboarding.dashboard.php: The main control bridge for active jobs and contracts.view_works.php: The public job feed for freelancers.post_project.php: Form for clients to construct detailed job listings.project_details.php: Handles viewing job specifics, submitting proposals, and client proposal review.freelancer_profile.php: Public portfolios showcasing bio, skills, and past reviews.messages.php: Real-time style message board for hired contracts.profile.php: The user settings portal.
Please refer to the detailed STARTUP_GUIDE.md file included in this repository for step-by-step instructions on running this application on a local development server like XAMPP.