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Overview

The Blog feature in LaraCMS provides a complete content management system for creating, organizing, and publishing blog posts. Posts support rich text content, featured images, categorization, and tagging.

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Database Structure

The posts table stores all blog content with the following structure:
posts
  - id: bigint (primary key)
  - user_id: bigint (foreign key to users)
  - title: string
  - post_image: text (nullable)
  - slug: string (unique)
  - body: text
  - status: string (default: 'draft')
  - is_published: boolean (default: false)
  - published_at: timestamp (nullable)
  - view_count: integer (default: 0)
  - like_count: integer (default: 0)
  - dislike_count: integer (default: 0)
  - comment_count: integer (default: 0)
  - created_at: timestamp
  - updated_at: timestamp
Reference: database/migrations/2025_03_31_154815_create_posts_table.php:14

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Model Relationships

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Post Model

The Post model defines relationships with users, categories, and tags: 
class Post extends Model
{
    protected $fillable = [
        'user_id', 'title', 'body', 'slug', 'post_image'
    ];

    // Each post belongs to one user (author)
    public function user()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(User::class);
    }

    // Posts can have multiple categories
    public function blogCategories()
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(BlogCategory::class, 'blog_category_post');
    }

    // Posts can have multiple tags
    public function tags()
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(Tag::class);
    }
}
Reference: app/Models/Post.php:7

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User Workflows

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Admin Workflow

  1. Navigate to Blog Management
    • Go to /admin/blog/posts to view all posts
    • Click “Create New Post” or navigate to /admin/blog/create
  2. Fill Post Details
    • Title: Enter a descriptive title (min 8 characters, max 255)
    • Slug: Auto-generated URL-friendly identifier (must be unique)
    • Body: Rich text content for the post
    • Featured Image: Upload an optional post image (stored in storage/images/)
  3. Organize Content
    • Select one or more categories from the dropdown
    • Add relevant tags for searchability
  4. Publish or Save as Draft
    • Status defaults to draft
    • Set is_published to true when ready to go live
    • published_at timestamp records when post goes live
Route: POST /admin/blog/posts
Controller: BlogController@store
Reference: app/Http/Controllers/BlogController.php:63

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Edit Workflow

  1. Access Edit Screen
    • From the posts list at /admin/blog/posts
    • Click “Edit” on any post to go to /admin/blog/posts/{post}/edit
  2. Update Content
    • Modify title, body, or featured image
    • Change categories or tags as needed
    • Update validation ensures title uniqueness (except for current post)
  3. Save Changes
    • Form submits to PATCH /admin/blog/posts/{post}/update
    • System syncs categories and tags relationships
    • Flash message confirms successful update
Route: PATCH /admin/blog/posts/{post}/update
Controller: BlogController@update
Reference: app/Http/Controllers/BlogController.php:104

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Delete Workflow

  1. Initiate Delete
    • Click “Delete” button on post list or edit screen
  2. Authorization Check
    • System verifies user has delete permission via Gate
  3. Cascade Deletion
    • Post record is removed
    • Related pivot table entries (categories, tags) are automatically deleted
    • Featured image remains in storage (manual cleanup may be needed)
Route: DELETE /admin/blog/posts/{post}
Controller: BlogController@destroy
Reference: app/Http/Controllers/BlogController.php:133

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Frontend Display

Blog Index

Route: GET /blogDisplays paginated list of all published posts ordered by published_at (newest first).
  • Shows 8 posts per page
  • Accessible to all visitors
  • Links to individual post pages
Controller: PostController@index
Reference: routes/web.php:58

Single Post

Route: GET /blog/{slug}Displays full post content including:
  • Title and featured image
  • Author information (via user relationship)
  • Post body content
  • Categories and tags
  • Engagement metrics (views, likes, comments)
Controller: PostController@show
Reference: routes/web.php:59

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Validation Rules

When creating or updating posts, the system enforces: 
[
    'title' => 'required|unique:posts|min:8|max:255',
    'post_image' => 'file',
    'body' => 'required',
    'slug' => 'required|unique:posts,slug',
    'category_id' => 'nullable|exists:blog_categories,id',
    'tags' => 'nullable|array',
    'tags.*' => 'exists:tags,id'
]
Reference: app/Http/Controllers/BlogController.php:67

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Permissions

Blog management requires specific permissions:
  • View Posts: access.admin.panel middleware required
  • Create Posts: create gate authorization on Post class
  • Update Posts: update gate authorization on specific post
  • Delete Posts: delete gate authorization on specific post

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File Storage

Featured images are stored using Laravel’s Storage system: 
// Images stored in public disk under 'images' directory
Storage::disk('public')->put('images', $request->file('post_image'));
Storage Path: storage/app/public/images/
Public URL: /storage/images/{filename}
Reference: app/Http/Controllers/BlogController.php:80

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Key Routes

MethodURIActionDescription
GET/admin/blog/postsBlogController@indexList all posts
GET/admin/blog/createBlogController@createShow create form
POST/admin/blog/postsBlogController@storeStore new post
GET/admin/blog/posts/{post}/editBlogController@editShow edit form
PATCH/admin/blog/posts/{post}/updateBlogController@updateUpdate post
DELETE/admin/blog/posts/{post}BlogController@destroyDelete post
GET/blogPostController@indexFrontend post list
GET/blog/{slug}PostController@showFrontend single post
Reference: routes/web.php:93-99

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