node-base

This is an example node.js app using:

• "express" (duh) with jade templates (easily changeable)
• "passport" for various authentication possibilities (we cover facebook and twitter)
• "mongoose" for mongodb connectivity
• "connect-mongo" for persistent sessions

The project tries to include a complete setup including things like:

• environment differences (development, testing, production)
• jshint setup (but its setup really depends on your preferences)
• mocha tests using supertest (which is based on super-agent)
• grunt for running jshint, tests etc.
• travis-ci setup (see the build status image above)

Features

• extensive inline documentation trying to make clear whats going on
• clean and simple structure with config, controllers, models and views
• facebook and twitter authentication via passport
• users are stored to mongodb
• persistent sessions in mongodb (you're still logged in after server reboots)
• express config examples for development and production modes
• express access logger (just like regular web server logs)
• CSRF protection, see express API docs and https://www.owasp.org/index.php/Cross-Site_Request_Forgery_(CSRF)
• custom middleware example
• loading of static assets
• custom favicon
• stylus styles

Getting started

If you want to use my existing node-base-apps on facebook and twitter to login using their OAuth mechanism, please make sure you serve the app through your localhost accessible via "localhost.com"!

You need to make an /etc/hosts entry for localhost.com like this:

127.0.0.1    localhost    local.host    localhost.com

Other necessary steps

• initially do a "npm install" or "npm update" within this directory to load dependencies to ./node_modules/
• add hosts entry: localhost.com (then you can use provided OAuth keys)
• make sure mongodb is running on 127.0.0.1 (change in config/index.js): run mongod & to start the daemon
• maybe set NODE_ENV environment var, see server.js source (falls back to "development")
• start the node-base app with node server.js
  • even better install nodemon: npm install -g nodemon, then run nodemon server.js
• navigate to http://localhost.com:3001 (or whatever your localhost points to)

Underpinnings and optional goodies

If not done before install these npm packages (globally):

• Grunt: npm install -g grunt-cli
• JSHint: npm install -g jshint

Optional:

• nodemon: npm install -g nodemon, then run nodemon server.js instead of node server.js to avoid restarting your server.js when editing files
• if you use Sublime Text install "EditorConfig" from the package manager: Shift-Cmd-P, enter "pac[...]" -> [Enter] -> "edito[...]" -> [Enter]

Inspired by and hacked together using

• http://nodejs.org/api/
• http://expressjs.com/api.html
• http://jade-lang.com/reference/
• http://www.hacksparrow.com/running-express-js-in-production-mode.html
• http://vimeo.com/56166857
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14414225/access-session-object-in-express-middleware
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/5778245/expressjs-how-to-structure-an-application
• http://stackoverflow.com/questions/14414225/access-session-object-in-express-middleware

MIT License (see LICENSE file)