WonderLust - Vacation Rental Application

A Node.js web application for browsing vacation rental listings built with Express, MongoDB, and EJS.

Features

• Browse all vacation rental listings
• View detailed information for individual listings
• Responsive design with modern UI
• MongoDB database integration
• Sample data included

Prerequisites

Before running this application, make sure you have the following installed:

• Node.js (version 14 or higher)
• MongoDB (running locally on port 27017)
• npm (comes with Node.js)

Installation

1. Clone or download the project files

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install

3. Start MongoDB: Make sure MongoDB is running on your local machine. If you haven't installed MongoDB, you can download it from mongodb.com.

4. Initialize the database with sample data:

   npm run init-db

5. Start the application:

   npm start

   Or for development with auto-restart:

   npm run dev

Usage

Once the application is running:

1. Open your web browser and go to http://localhost:8080
2. Click on "All Listings" or go to http://localhost:8080/listings to see all vacation rentals
3. Click on any listing to view its details

Available Scripts

• npm start - Start the application
• npm run dev - Start the application with nodemon (auto-restart on file changes)
• npm run init-db - Initialize the database with sample data

Project Structure

Wonderlust/
├── app.js              # Main application file
├── package.json        # Dependencies and scripts
├── models/
│   └── listing.js      # MongoDB schema for listings
├── views/
│   └── listings/
│       ├── index.ejs   # All listings page
│       └── show.ejs    # Individual listing page
└── init/
    ├── data.js         # Sample data
    └── index.js        # Database initialization script

Database Schema

Each listing contains:

• title - Property title
• description - Property description
• image - Object with filename and url
• price - Price per night
• location - City/location
• country - Country

Troubleshooting

MongoDB Connection Issues

• Make sure MongoDB is running on localhost:27017
• Check if the MongoDB service is started
• Verify your MongoDB installation

Port Already in Use

• The application runs on port 8080 by default
• If the port is busy, you can change it in app.js

No Listings Showing

• Run npm run init-db to populate the database with sample data
• Check the MongoDB connection in the console

Technologies Used

• Backend: Node.js, Express.js
• Database: MongoDB with Mongoose ODM
• Template Engine: EJS
• Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript

License

ISC