University Admissions Platform

A comprehensive, modern multilingual university marketing, admissions and recruitment platform built with Next.js, Django, and PostgreSQL.

🚀 Features

Public Website

• Modern, responsive design (Desktop, Tablet, Mobile)
• Hero section with call-to-action buttons
• Featured universities and programs
• Advanced search and filtering
• Testimonials and FAQs
• Blog/News section
• Contact form
• Multilingual support (English & Arabic with full RTL)

Student Portal

• User registration and authentication
• Student dashboard
• Browse and search universities/programs
• Submit applications online
• Upload required documents
• Track application status
• Receive notifications

Admin Dashboard

• Complete university and program management
• Advanced applicant management
• Document review and approval workflow
• Content management (pages, banners, FAQs, testimonials, blog)
• Website branding and theme customization
• Role-based access control
• Audit logging
• Export and reporting features

Technical Highlights

• API-first architecture (REST with Django)
• JWT-based authentication with token refresh
• Comprehensive permission system
• Multilingual content management
• Full RTL support for Arabic
• Responsive design with Tailwind CSS
• File upload with validation and security
• Real-time audit logging
• Production-ready deployment scripts

📋 Prerequisites

• Python 3.10+
• Node.js 18+
• PostgreSQL 14+
• Git

🛠️ Installation & Setup

1. Clone and Navigate to Project

cd university-platform

2. Backend Setup

cd backend

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv venv

# Activate virtual environment
# Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate
# macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Create .env file from example
cp .env.example .env

# Configure database in .env
# Update: DB_NAME, DB_USER, DB_PASSWORD, DB_HOST, DB_PORT

# Create uploads directory
mkdir uploads logs

# Run migrations
python manage.py migrate

# Create superuser
python manage.py createsuperuser

# Start development server
python manage.py runserver

Backend API will be available at: http://localhost:8000/api/v1 Django Admin: http://localhost:8000/admin API Documentation: http://localhost:8000/api/docs/

3. Frontend Setup

cd frontend

# Install dependencies
npm install

# Create .env.local file
cp .env.local.example .env.local

# Start development server
npm run dev

Frontend will be available at: http://localhost:3000

📁 Project Structure

university-admissions-platform/
├── backend/              # Django REST API
│   ├── apps/
│   │   ├── auth/         # Authentication & authorization
│   │   ├── university/   # Universities & programs
│   │   ├── application/  # Student applications
│   │   ├── content/      # CMS & pages
│   │   ├── blog/         # Blog posts
│   │   └── notifications/# Notifications & audit logs
│   ├── config/           # Django configuration
│   ├── core/             # Utilities, middleware, exceptions
│   └── requirements.txt
│
├── frontend/             # Next.js frontend app
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── app/          # Next.js app directory
│   │   ├── components/   # React components
│   │   ├── hooks/        # Custom React hooks
│   │   ├── lib/          # API client, store, utilities
│   │   ├── types/        # TypeScript type definitions
│   │   └── styles/       # CSS & Tailwind config
│   ├── package.json
│   └── next.config.js
│
├── scripts/              # Deployment & maintenance scripts
├── docker-compose.yml    # Local development setup
└── README.md

🔐 Security Considerations

• All passwords are hashed using Django's default hasher
• JWT tokens with expiry and refresh rotation
• CORS configured for frontend domain only
• CSRF/XSS/SQL injection protections enabled
• File upload validation (type, size, custom checks)
• Secure file storage with hashed filenames
• Audit logging for all admin actions
• Environment variables for sensitive data

🌍 Multilingual Support

• Languages: English (en) & Arabic (ar)
• RTL Support: Automatic RTL layout for Arabic
• Content: All database fields support both languages ({field}_en and {field}_ar)
• Frontend: Language switching via UI, persisted in localStorage
• Backend: Multilingual content served via API

📊 Database Schema

Major tables:

• User, UserProfile, Role, Permission - Authentication & authorization
• University, Program, ProgramRequiredDocument - Academic information
• Application, Document, DocumentReview - Admissions workflow
• Page, Banner, FAQ, Testimonial, SiteSettings - Content management
• BlogPost - Blog articles
• ContactInquiry, Notification, AuditLog - Notifications & logging

See Database Schema Plan for detailed structure.

🚀 Deployment

Email Configuration

Update .env with email settings:

EMAIL_BACKEND=django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend
EMAIL_HOST=smtp.gmail.com
EMAIL_PORT=587
EMAIL_USE_TLS=True
EMAIL_HOST_USER=your-email@gmail.com
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD=your-app-password

Production Deployment

See Deployment Guide for:

• VPS setup and configuration
• Nginx reverse proxy setup
• SSL/HTTPS configuration
• Database backup strategy
• Monitoring and logging

📚 API Documentation

Interactive API documentation available at:

• Swagger UI: http://localhost:8000/api/docs/
• ReDoc: http://localhost:8000/api/redoc/

🧪 Testing

# Backend tests
cd backend
pytest

# Frontend tests
cd frontend
npm run test

🤝 Contributing

1. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
2. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
3. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
4. Open a Pull Request

🛣️ Roadmap

Phase 1 (Complete)

• Core authentication and authorization
• University and program management
• Student applications and document upload
• Admin dashboard basics
• Multilingual support

Phase 2 (Planned)

• Page builder for homepage customization
• Advanced blog system with categories
• SMS/WhatsApp notifications
• Live chat support
• Advanced analytics and reporting
• Mobile app (React Native)

📝 License

This project is confidential and proprietary.

📞 Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, please contact the development team.

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Last Updated: April 2026 Version: 0.1.0 (MVP)