fineartsuite

FineArtSuite

FineArtSuite is a minimal gallery website project. The repository now ships a small Node.js/Express application using EJS templates for rendering pages.

Running the site locally

The project now includes a small Node.js/Express application with SQLite persistence. Install dependencies and start the server:

npm install
npm start

On first run the application will create a gallery.db SQLite file in the project root populated with demo data. Remove this file if you want to start with an empty database.

After running the server, visit http://localhost:3000 in your browser to view the homepage.

Configuration

The server reads credentials and session configuration from environment variables. These are optional and default to development-friendly values:

• ADMIN_USERNAME – username for the admin login (defaults to admin)
• ADMIN_PASSWORD – password for the admin login (defaults to password)
• SESSION_SECRET – secret used to sign session cookies (defaults to gallerysecret)
• USE_DEMO_AUTH – set to true to automatically log into admin pages

Set these variables before starting the server to override the defaults.

When USE_DEMO_AUTH is disabled (the default), all /dashboard routes require logging in. Set the variable to true during development to bypass the login form for convenience.

Flash messages are provided using the connect-flash middleware. These messages give feedback after actions such as logging in or editing records.

Sessions

Session data is persisted using connect-sqlite3. Running npm install will install this dependency and the application will create a sessions.db file in the project root to store session data. Session cookies are configured with the secure flag when NODE_ENV is set to production and always use the httpOnly flag for improved security.

Gallery pages

Navigating to /demo-gallery or another gallery slug will display a public gallery page. Gallery, artist and artwork data is loaded from the SQLite database.

Planned gallery features

The current page is only a basic landing page. Future improvements may include:

• A dedicated gallery page showing artwork thumbnails
• Upload functionality for adding new pieces
• Navigation enhancements and styling refinements
• Search and filtering tools for visitors

Admin upload page

After logging in you can upload new artwork at /dashboard/upload. The form provides fields for the artwork details along with an image preview before submitting.

Sample EJS snippets

Styled navigation bar:

<nav class="flex flex-col items-center justify-between p-4 border-b border-gray-300 md:flex-row">
  <a href="/" class="text-2xl font-bold">FineArtSuite</a>
  <div class="flex space-x-4 mt-2 md:mt-0">
    <a href="/galleries" class="hover:underline">Galleries</a>
    <a href="/artists" class="hover:underline">Artists</a>
  </div>
</nav>

Clean hero heading:

<section class="text-center py-24">
  <h1 class="text-5xl font-bold mb-6">Discover Modern Art</h1>
  <p class="text-gray-600">Explore our curated collection.</p>
</section>

Two-column layout of artwork thumbnails:

<div class="grid grid-cols-1 sm:grid-cols-2 gap-6">
  <% artworks.forEach(art => { %>
    <a href="/artworks/<%= art.id %>" class="block">
      <img src="<%= art.image %>" alt="<%= art.title %>" class="w-full mb-2"/>
      <h3 class="font-semibold"><%= art.title %></h3>
    </a>
  <% }) %>
</div>

Running tests

The project uses Node’s built-in test runner for basic route tests. After installing dependencies, run:

npm test

This will start the application in test mode and verify that the homepage and a sample gallery page respond correctly.

Deployment on Render

The repository includes a render.yaml file for deploying the app to Render. Create a new Web Service using this repository and Render will apply the provided build and start commands. The configuration sets default environment variables and mounts a small persistent disk for the SQLite database.

License

FineArtSuite is released under the ISC License.

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