The Exploring Reader

How?

Backend & Database

Since I needed a way to store and retrieve data, I used PHP and MySQL to build a custom Content Management System (CMS). I designed a database to store book titles, authors, episode numbers, and all information necessary.

CRUD Logic

I developed a secure administrative dashboard where the creator can log in to "Create, Read, Update, and Delete" book entries. This was my first introduction to how full stack applications work: handling GET and POST requests, managing database connections, and ensuring that form data was correctly sanitized before being saved. For the frontend, I focused on a clean, reader-friendly design that prioritized the content, ensuring that the podcast transcripts were easy to consume on any device.

For the creator dashboard, I implemented a secure "Forgot Password" feature. This required me to learn how to generate unique, time-sensitive tokens, store them in the database, and use an email server to send a reset link to the creator. It was a great introduction to backend security and the logic required to verify a user's identity outside of a standard login form.

Third-Party API Integration

To streamline the content creation process, I integrated the Google Books API. Instead of manually uploading images, the creator simply enters a book's ISBN.

Challenges

Learning Curve

The biggest challenge was the initial learning curve of PHP and general backend logic. Coming from a background of only static pages, understanding how to handle data exchanges was a major milestone. This was the first time I wrote my own APIs to handle the communication between the frontend and the database. Learning how to structure an endpoint so it could securely receive data from a form and send back the correct response was new to me. I had to learn the basics from scratch, such as setting up a local server and maintaining session security for the admin login.

Content-Aware IU

Lastly, because podcast transcripts are very long, I didn't want the pages to look like a giant wall of text. I implemented a "Pull Quote" system that allows the creator to highlight one or two key moments from the transcript. The real challenge was the logic behind the placement: I had to calculate where to inject these quotes based on the total number of paragraphs and the total number of pull quotes to ensure they were spaced out evenly. It was my first time thinking about content-aware UI, where the code has to "decide" the best layout based on how much text the user provides.

SQL Dialects: Postgres vs. MySQL

When it came to the data, I already had some previous knowledge of PostgreSQL from school, so the database logic felt familiar. In fact, I found this implementation much simpler than my school assignments. However, working with MySQL for the first time did have its surprises; the biggest one being that MySQL doesn't have a native boolean type (it uses TINYINT instead). It was a small but interesting lesson in how different SQL dialects handle data.