GradLink 🚀

Welcome to GradLink! This guide will help you clone, set up, and contribute to the project.

📥 Getting Started

Follow these steps to get the project running on your local machine.

1️⃣ Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Ellvius/GradLink.git
cd frontend

2️⃣ Install Dependencies

Make sure Node.js (preferably the latest LTS version) is installed. Then, install the required dependencies:

npm install
# or
yarn install
# or
pnpm install

3️⃣ Run the Development Server

npm run dev
# or
yarn dev
# or
pnpm dev

Now, open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to check out the app! 🎉

⚙️ Environment Variables

If the project requires environment variables, create a .env.local file in the root directory and add them like this:

NEXT_PUBLIC_API_URL=https://api.example.com
DATABASE_URL=postgres://user:password@host:port/database

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🤝 Contribution Guidelines

🌿 Branching Strategy

Please work on a separate branch for each feature or bug fix. Use this naming convention:

• feature/your-feature-name → For new features
• bugfix/your-bug-description → For fixing bugs
• hotfix/your-fix-name → For urgent fixes

Example:

git checkout -b feature/user-authentication

📝 Making Changes & Committing

• Keep commits small and meaningful.
• Follow this format for commit messages:

  [Type] Brief description of changes
  

  Example:

  [Feature] Added login functionality with JWT authentication
  

📌 Raising a Pull Request (PR)

1. Ensure your code follows the project’s style and standards.
2. Before creating a PR, pull the latest changes from main and resolve conflicts.
3. Push your branch:

   git push origin feature/your-feature-name

4. Create a Pull Request (PR) to merge your branch into main.
5. In the PR description, clearly explain the changes you made.

🛠 Code Review & Merging

• The admin will review your PR.
• If any changes are needed, update your branch and push the changes.
• Once approved, the admin will merge the PR into main.

✅ Best Practices

✔️ Write clean, maintainable code.
✔️ Add comments where necessary.
✔️ Stick to the project’s coding style.
✔️ Test your code before submitting a PR.

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🎯 Let’s build something awesome together! 🚀