Galaxo LMS 🎓

A full-featured Learning Management System built with the MERN stack

Galaxo is a production-ready Learning Management System designed to support the complete learning lifecycle—from course discovery to certification. Built to handle real-world challenges including payment processing, user authentication, progress tracking, and administrative analytics.

🌟 Features

For Learners

• 📚 Course Discovery - Browse courses with detailed descriptions and previews
• 💳 Secure Enrollment - Enroll in free and paid courses with integrated PayPal payments
• 🎥 Flexible Learning - Multi-source video support (YouTube, Google Drive, direct uploads)
• 📊 Progress Tracking - Real-time completion tracking and learning milestones
• 🏆 Gamification - Earn Gold and Legendary badges as you progress
• 📜 Instant Certificates - Generate and download personalized certificates on completion

For Admins

• 🛠️ Course Management - Create, edit, and manage courses through dedicated dashboard
• 👥 User Monitoring - Track enrollments and monitor user activity
• 💰 Revenue Analytics - View payment insights, trends, and financial performance
• 📈 Platform Analytics - Interactive charts for enrollment trends and performance metrics
• 🎬 Content Control - Manage videos and course content from multiple sources

🚀 Tech Stack

Frontend

• React 19 - Modern UI library with latest features
• Vite - Lightning-fast build tool and dev server
• TailwindCSS v4 - Utility-first CSS framework

Backend

• Node.js - JavaScript runtime environment
• Express 5 - Minimal and flexible web application framework
• Mongoose - Elegant MongoDB object modeling

Database

• MongoDB - NoSQL database for flexible data storage
• MongoDB Atlas - Cloud-hosted database solution

Authentication & Payments

• Clerk - Secure authentication and user management
• PayPal Server SDK - Server-side payment integration with webhooks

Additional Tools

• Recharts - Data visualization library for analytics
• Multer - File upload middleware for video content
• html2canvas - Dynamic certificate generation

📦 Installation

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18 or higher)
• MongoDB Atlas account
• Clerk account (for authentication)
• PayPal developer account (for payments)

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/Ruusheka/Galaxo.git
cd Galaxo

Backend Setup

cd server
npm install

Create a .env file in the server directory:

# MongoDB
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_atlas_connection_string

# Clerk Authentication
CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=your_clerk_publishable_key
CLERK_SECRET_KEY=your_clerk_secret_key

# PayPal Configuration
PAYPAL_CLIENT_ID=your_paypal_client_id
PAYPAL_CLIENT_SECRET=your_paypal_client_secret
PAYPAL_MODE=sandbox  # Use 'live' for production

# Server Configuration
PORT=5000
NODE_ENV=development
CLIENT_URL=http://localhost:5173

Start the backend server:

npm run dev

Frontend Setup

cd client
npm install

Create a .env file in the client directory:

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000
VITE_CLERK_PUBLISHABLE_KEY=your_clerk_publishable_key

Start the frontend development server:

npm run dev

The application will be available at http://localhost:5173

🏗️ Project Structure

galaxo/
├── client/                     # Frontend (React + Vite)
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── components/        # Reusable UI components
│   │   │   ├── common/       # Shared components (Button, Card, etc.)
│   │   │   ├── course/       # Course-related components
│   │   │   └── dashboard/    # Dashboard components
│   │   ├── pages/            # Route pages
│   │   │   ├── Home.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Courses.jsx
│   │   │   ├── CourseDetail.jsx
│   │   │   ├── Dashboard.jsx
│   │   │   └── Admin/
│   │   ├── context/          # React context providers
│   │   ├── utils/            # Helper functions
│   │   ├── hooks/            # Custom React hooks
│   │   └── assets/           # Images, icons, styles
│   └── public/               # Static files
│
├── server/                    # Backend (Node + Express)
│   ├── models/               # Mongoose schemas
│   │   ├── User.js
│   │   ├── Course.js
│   │   ├── Enrollment.js
│   │   └── Payment.js
│   ├── routes/               # API endpoints
│   │   ├── auth.js
│   │   ├── courses.js
│   │   ├── enrollments.js
│   │   └── payments.js
│   ├── controllers/          # Business logic
│   ├── middleware/           # Auth, validation, error handling
│   ├── config/               # Configuration files
│   └── uploads/              # File upload directory
│
└── README.md

🔑 Key Features Breakdown

1. Authentication System

• Secure sign-up and login via Clerk
• Session management with protected routes
• Role-based access control (Learner vs Admin)
• Automatic user profile creation

2. Payment Integration

• Full PayPal SDK integration with server-side verification
• Support for both free and paid course enrollment
• Sandbox mode for testing, live mode for production
• Webhook handling to prevent duplicate transactions
• Complete Order → Capture → Confirmation flow

3. Course Management

• Multi-source video support:
  • YouTube video embeds
  • Google Drive video links
  • Direct file uploads
• Rich course metadata (title, description, pricing, difficulty)
• Organized curriculum structure
• Course preview functionality

4. Progress Tracking & Gamification

• Real-time completion percentage tracking
• Course milestone achievements
• Badge System:
  • 🥇 Gold Badge - Standard course completion
  • 🏆 Legendary Badge - Premium/Advanced course completion
• Learning history and activity logs

5. Certificate Generation

• Dynamic certificate creation using html2canvas
• Personalized with learner name, course title, and date
• Professional template with platform branding
• Instant download as high-quality image

6. Admin Dashboard

• Analytics Overview:
  • Total enrollments count
  • Revenue metrics and trends
  • Active users statistics
  • Top-performing courses
• Visual Charts (Recharts):
  • Enrollment trends over time
  • Revenue breakdown by course
  • User activity patterns
• Management Interface:
  • Create and edit courses
  • Upload and manage video content
  • Monitor user enrollments
  • Track payment transactions

🚧 Technical Challenges & Solutions

Challenge 1: PayPal Integration

Problem:

• Business verification vs developer account verification
• Payments succeeding on frontend but failing server-side
• Understanding Orders → Capture → Confirmation workflow
• Webhook duplicate entries

Solution:

• Built robust server-side verification system
• Implemented webhook idempotency with transaction IDs
• Proper error handling and logging
• Separated sandbox/live environment configurations

Challenge 2: Deployment Issues

Problem:

• CORS conflicts between HTTPS auth and HTTP backend
• MongoDB Atlas connection timeouts
• Missing build assets causing white screens
• Environment variable inconsistencies

Solution:

• Environment-specific CORS configuration
• MongoDB Atlas IP whitelist optimization
• Proper build process with asset management
• Environment variable validation system

Challenge 3: Certificate Generation

Problem:

• html2canvas crashes with modern CSS (oklab, oklch)
• Inconsistent rendering across browsers

Solution:

• Reverted to standard color formats (hex, rgb)
• Browser compatibility testing
• Optimized canvas settings for quality vs performance

📊 API Documentation

Authentication Routes

POST   /api/auth/register       # Register new user
POST   /api/auth/login          # Login user
GET    /api/auth/profile        # Get user profile

Course Routes

GET    /api/courses             # Get all courses
GET    /api/courses/:id         # Get course by ID
POST   /api/courses             # Create course (Admin)
PUT    /api/courses/:id         # Update course (Admin)
DELETE /api/courses/:id         # Delete course (Admin)

Enrollment Routes

POST   /api/enrollments         # Enroll in course
GET    /api/enrollments/user    # Get user enrollments
PUT    /api/enrollments/:id     # Update progress

Payment Routes

POST   /api/payments/create     # Create PayPal order
POST   /api/payments/capture    # Capture payment
POST   /api/payments/webhook    # PayPal webhook handler

🔒 Security Features

• Authentication: Secure session management with Clerk
• Payment Verification: Server-side PayPal verification
• Protected Routes: Authentication middleware on all sensitive endpoints
• CORS Configuration: Environment-specific allowed origins
• Route Guards: Content protection for paid courses
• Environment Variables: Sensitive data stored securely
• Input Validation: Request validation on all API endpoints

⚠️ Current Limitations

1. Payment Mode: PayPal is currently in SANDBOX mode. Real payments are disabled. Use free courses to explore the platform.

2. Video Storage: Direct uploads stored on server. For production scale, migrate to cloud storage (AWS S3, Cloudinary).

3. Email Notifications: Not yet implemented. Planned for future release.

4. Mobile App: Web-only platform. Native mobile apps planned for future development.

🔮 Future Enhancements

• Email notifications for enrollments and certificates
• Course reviews and ratings system
• Discussion forums for learner interaction
• Quiz and assessment features
• Mobile applications (React Native)
• Advanced analytics with AI-powered insights
• Multi-language support (i18n)
• Live streaming for real-time classes
• Subscription plans for unlimited access
• Instructor dashboard for third-party course creators
• Social learning features (study groups, peer reviews)
• Offline mode with progressive web app (PWA)

📈 Performance Optimizations

• Vite for fast build times and hot module replacement
• Code splitting for optimized bundle sizes
• MongoDB indexing for faster queries
• Image optimization for certificates
• Lazy loading for course videos
• React Context API for efficient state management

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

👤 Author

Ruusheka Akilavarshini

⭐ Show Your Support

Give a ⭐️ if this project helped you learn something new!

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Note: This project was built as a learning experience to understand real-world challenges in full-stack development, payment integration, and deployment. PayPal is currently in sandbox mode for demonstration purposes.

Live Demo: https://galaxo.onrender.com/

Project Status: 🚧 Active Development