Platform Layout and User Authentication

Slowly Shaping The Course Platform

Hi everyone!

Last week, I worked on implementing the main layout of my course platform. It was a journey of decisions and discoveries, and I'm excited to share these updates with you.

🖥️ Choosing the Application Shell & Layout

Choosing the right application shell and layout was quite the task. After some thought, I decided to use one of the application shells provided by Tailwind UI. I realized I had a copy of Tailwind UI, so it made sense to put it to good use. Here's the layout I finally picked after trying out a few options.

🔐 Simplifying User Authentication with GitHub

The next big challenge was figuring out user authentication. Initially, I thought about having a registration form, but that would mean dealing with things like password resets, email verification, and so on. To keep things simple, I decided to use the GitHub API for authentication. This method is much more straightforward, allowing me to create a user record in the users table once the user is authenticated through GitHub.

Laravel's Socialite package made setting up GitHub authentication a breeze (no pun intended). The process is pretty simple: you'll click a button, get redirected to GitHub to grant permissions, and then get redirected back to the platform. If you're new to this, it's a standard oAuth flow.

🎨 A Splash of Color: Seeking Your Opinion

On a different note, I played around with the course card design and chose an orange gradient. It might seem odd with the blue gradient at the top left corner, but it harmonizes beautifully with Laravel's logo and sets the tone for the course sections. I’m not a good designer so I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

🔜 Next Steps

Now that I've got the application shell and basic layout sorted, I'll start adding other components. Some pages are meant for later stages and won't be part of the initial MVP launch. But I'm excited about the progress and can't wait to bring more features to life.

So, that's the update for now. Your feedback is incredibly important to me. Let me know what you think about the layout and the color choices. Feel free to share your thoughts, ideas, or just say hi!

Until next time, keep coding, learning and stay curious!

P.S.: Check my new video on my YouTube channel. It is about a topic that I know a lot of us have either gone through, going through or will go through at some point. 🌟