# LOCAL PULSE Australia's Local News Platform - A Laravel 11-based news platform delivering hyper-local coverage across Australia. ## Features - **Public Frontend**: Homepage, latest news, breaking news, category pages, location-based news, event listings, weather, traffic, and community stories - **Admin Dashboard**: Full content management system for editors, journalists, and moderators - **User Accounts**: Registration, login, saved articles, and profile management - **Comments**: Moderated comment system on articles - **Newsletter**: Email subscription system - **SEO**: Meta tags, Open Graph, Twitter Cards, Schema.org JSON-LD, XML sitemap, RSS feeds - **API**: RESTful API v1 for articles, categories, locations, events, breaking news, and search - **News Importer**: One-click import of licensed news from NewsAPI.org (with auto image download) ## Tech Stack - **Backend**: Laravel 11 (PHP 8.2+) - **Frontend**: Blade templates, Tailwind CSS 3, Alpine.js - **Database**: MySQL - **Build**: Vite ## Requirements - PHP 8.2 or higher - Composer 2.x - Node.js 18+ and npm - MySQL 8.0+ - Laragon (recommended for Windows) ## Installation 1. Clone the repository: ```bash git clone localpulse cd localpulse ``` 2. Install PHP dependencies: ```bash composer install ``` 3. Install Node.js dependencies: ```bash npm install ``` 4. Copy environment file: ```bash cp .env.example .env ``` 5. Generate application key: ```bash php artisan key:generate ``` 6. Configure database in `.env`: ```env DB_CONNECTION=mysql DB_HOST=127.0.0.1 DB_PORT=3306 DB_DATABASE=localpulse DB_USERNAME=root DB_PASSWORD= ``` 7. Run migrations and seeders: ```bash php artisan migrate:fresh --seed ``` 8. Build frontend assets: ```bash npm run build ``` 9. Serve the application: ```bash php artisan serve ``` Visit `http://localhost:8000` in your browser. ## Demo Accounts | Role | Email | Password | |------|-------|----------| | Admin | admin@localpulse.com | password | | Editor | editor@localpulse.com | password | | Journalist | journalist@localpulse.com | password | | Moderator | moderator@localpulse.com | password | | User | user@localpulse.com | password | ## Artisan Commands ```bash # Generate XML sitemap php artisan sitemap:generate # Generate RSS feeds php artisan rss:generate # Import news from NewsAPI.org php artisan news:import --mode=latest --limit=30 # top AU headlines php artisan news:import --query="AFL" --from=2026-08-20 --to=2026-09-02 --limit=20 php artisan news:import --query="housing" --from=2026-08-15 --to=2026-09-02 --no-images php artisan news:import --query="Sydney" --from=2026-08-20 --to=2026-09-02 --limit=30 --dry-run # Run scheduled tasks php artisan schedule:run # Run tests php artisan test ``` ## News Importer LOCAL PULSE can pull licensed news from [NewsAPI.org](https://newsapi.org/) (free dev tier, 100 req/day). Add your key to `.env`: ```env NEWSAPI_KEY=your-key-here NEWSAPI_AU_SOURCES=abc-news-au,news-com-au,australian-financial-review,google-news-au ``` Then visit **Admin → News Importer** to run a one-click import. The importer: - Fetches articles from your chosen sources / date range - Downloads and stores images locally to `storage/app/public/news-imports/` - Auto-tags articles based on AU keywords (Sydney, AFL, RBA, etc.) - Skips duplicates and `[Removed]` placeholders - Adds a "Read full article at source →" attribution link to comply with copyright **Free-tier limit:** `/everything` is restricted to the last ~30 days. For historical data (e.g. July onwards), upgrade to a paid plan or use multiple scheduled daily imports. **Copyright:** Imported content is summary + attribution only, not full text reproduction. Always verify your plan's ToS before going live. ## Scheduled Tasks The application includes scheduled tasks configured in `app/Console/Kernel.php`: - Daily sitemap generation - Daily RSS feed generation - Publish scheduled articles (every 5 minutes) - Expire breaking alerts - Process analytics (hourly) ## API Endpoints | Method | Endpoint | Description | |--------|----------|-------------| | GET | `/api/v1/articles` | List published articles | | GET | `/api/v1/articles/{slug}` | Get single article | | GET | `/api/v1/categories` | List categories | | GET | `/api/v1/locations` | List locations | | GET | `/api/v1/events` | List upcoming events | | GET | `/api/v1/breaking` | List breaking news | | GET | `/api/v1/search?q=` | Search articles | | POST | `/api/v1/analytics/page-view/{slug}` | Track page view | | GET | `/api/v1/analytics/trending` | Get trending articles | ## Project Structure ``` app/ ├── Console/Commands/ # Artisan commands ├── Http/ │ ├── Controllers/ # Public and admin controllers │ ├── Middleware/ # HTTP middleware │ └── Resources/ # API resources ├── Models/ # Eloquent models ├── Providers/ # Service providers └── View/Components/ # Blade components database/ ├── factories/ # Model factories ├── migrations/ # Database migrations └── seeders/ # Database seeders resources/ ├── css/app.css # Tailwind CSS + custom styles ├── js/app.js # JavaScript (Alpine.js) ├── views/ # Blade templates │ ├── components/ # Reusable Blade components │ ├── layouts/ # Page layouts │ ├── admin/ # Admin panel views │ └── *.blade.php # Public page views └── feeds/ # RSS feed views routes/ ├── web.php # Web routes ├── api.php # API routes └── auth.php # Authentication routes ``` ## Content Categories - Local News - Crime & Courts - Traffic & Transport - Community - Sport - Business - Lifestyle - Food & Dining - Politics - Health - Education - Environment - Technology - Entertainment - Weather - Opinion - Investigations ## Supported Locations - Victoria (Melbourne, Geelong, Ballarat, Bendigo, etc.) - New South Wales (Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, etc.) - Queensland (Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, etc.) - Western Australia (Perth, Fremantle, Bunbury, etc.) - South Australia (Adelaide, Mount Gambier, etc.) - Tasmania (Hobart, Launceston, Devonport, etc.) ## License MIT License ## Support For issues or questions, please open an issue on GitHub or contact news@localpulse.com.