Initialize Laravel project with composer

Initialize a new Laravel blog project using composer create-project laravel/laravel blog

Set up the proper folder structure and organize routes (web.php for blog routes, api.php if needed)

Configure the .env file with app name, environment settings, and debug mode

Initialize git repository and create .gitignore for Laravel projects

Set up proper directory permissions for storage and bootstrap/cache directories.

Configure PHPStorm/VS Code with Laravel extensions

Set up IDE workspace for Laravel development

For VS Code, install extensions: Laravel Extension Pack, PHP Intelephense, Laravel Blade Snippets, and Laravel Extra Intellisense

Create .vscode/settings.json with PHP formatting rules, blade formatter settings, and file associations

Configure PHP CS Fixer or Laravel Pint for code style

Add editor config for consistent formatting (PSR-12 standard, 4-space indent)

Set up Xdebug configuration for debugging.

Laravel UI, Laravel Sanctum

Install essential Laravel packages for blog functionality

Use composer to install laravel/ui for authentication scaffolding, laravel/sanctum for API authentication if needed

Install additional packages: laravel/breeze or jetstream for modern auth, spatie/laravel-sluggable for automatic slug generation, intervention/image for image manipulation

Run npm install to set up frontend dependencies

Configure each package in config files and register service providers if needed.

Configure MySQL/PostgreSQL connection

Configure database connection in .env file. Choose between MySQL or PostgreSQL and set DB_CONNECTION, DB_HOST, DB_PORT, DB_DATABASE, DB_USERNAME, and DB_PASSWORD

Create the database using command line or GUI tool (MySQL Workbench, phpMyAdmin, or TablePlus)

Test connection using php artisan migrate:status

Configure database timezone and charset in config/database.php

Set up separate testing database configuration for running tests.

Create posts, users, categories tables

Create database migrations for blog tables using php artisan make:migration

Design posts table with columns: id, user_id, title, slug, content, excerpt, featured_image, published_at, timestamps

Create categories table with id, name, slug, description

Build posts_categories pivot table for many-to-many relationships

Add proper foreign key constraints, indexes on slug and published_at columns

Include soft deletes for posts

Run migrations with php artisan migrate and verify table structure.

Set up Blade templates and Tailwind CSS

Set up Blade template structure in resources/views

Create layouts/app.blade.php as the main layout with header, navigation, main content area, and footer

Install and configure Tailwind CSS using npm install -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer, then npx tailwindcss init

Configure tailwind.config.js to scan blade files

Set up resources/css/app.css with Tailwind directives

Create reusable Blade components for navigation, post cards, pagination, and footer

Ensure responsive design with mobile-first approach. Compile assets with npm run dev or build.

Create Post, Category, User models

Create Eloquent models using php artisan make:model

Build Post model with fillable fields (title, slug, content, excerpt, featured_image, published_at), relationships to User (belongsTo) and Category (belongsToMany), slug generation using spatie/sluggable, published scope for filtering published posts, and accessors/mutators for date formatting

Create Category model with posts relationship (belongsToMany)

Configure User model with posts relationship (hasMany)

Add model observers for automatic slug generation and event handling.

Build post create, read, update, delete

Build complete CRUD functionality for blog posts

Create PostController using php artisan make:controller PostController --resource

Implement index() to list all published posts with pagination, show() to display single post, create() and store() for creating new posts with validation, edit() and update() for editing posts, destroy() for soft deleting posts

Create form requests for validation using php artisan make:request StorePostRequest

Build Blade views for listing (index.blade.php), single post (show.blade.php), create/edit forms

Add authorization using Laravel policies to ensure only post authors can edit/delete their posts.

Implement user registration and login

Implement authentication system using Laravel Breeze or Laravel UI

Run php artisan breeze:install or php artisan ui:auth to scaffold authentication. Customize registration to include additional fields (name, bio, avatar)

Set up login, registration, password reset, and email verification flows

Create middleware to protect admin routes. Customize auth views to match blog design

Set up user profiles with ability to edit profile information

Configure email settings in .env for password reset functionality

Add remember me functionality and session management.

Add comment functionality

Build a commenting system for blog posts

Create Comment model and migration with fields: id, post_id, user_id, parent_id (for nested replies), content, approved_at, timestamps

Set up relationships: Comment belongsTo Post and User, Post hasMany Comments

Create CommentController with store() for submitting comments, approve() for moderation, destroy() for deletion

Build Blade components for displaying comments with nested replies, comment form with validation

Implement comment moderation system where admins can approve/reject comments

Add pagination for comments

Consider spam prevention with rate limiting and honeypot fields.

Integrate TinyMCE or CKEditor

Integrate a rich text editor for post content creation. Choose between TinyMCE or CKEditor and include via CDN or npm package

Configure editor with appropriate toolbar options: headings, bold, italic, lists, links, images, code blocks, blockquotes

Set up image upload handling by creating an upload endpoint in Laravel that stores images in storage/app/public and returns the URL

Configure storage symlink with php artisan storage:link

Add content sanitization to prevent XSS attacks using HTMLPurifier package. Customize editor styling to match blog design. Save content in database as HTML with proper escaping in Blade templates using {!! $content !!}.

Image Upload & Featured Images

Add comprehensive image upload and management for blog posts.

Install intervention/image package using composer for image manipulation and optimization.

Create image upload endpoint in PostController or dedicated ImageController that handles file uploads, validates file type (jpg, png, gif, webp) and size (max 5MB), generates unique filenames using Str::random() or timestamp, stores in storage/app/public/images using Storage facade, creates optimized versions/thumbnails.

Configure storage symlink if not already done: php artisan storage:link to make storage/app/public accessible via public/storage.

Add featured_image field to posts table migration and Post model fillable array.

Create image upload form field in post create/edit Blade templates using <input type="file" accept="image/*">.

Implement featured image display in post show view using asset(Storage::url($post->featured_image)).

For inline images: integrate image upload button in rich text editor (TinyMCE/CKEditor) that uploads to Laravel endpoint and returns image URL to embed in content.

Add image deletion functionality when post is deleted or featured image is replaced using Storage::delete().

Optional: use Laravel Media Library by Spatie for advanced media management with collections, conversions, and responsive images.

Optional: integrate cloud storage like AWS S3 or DigitalOcean Spaces by configuring filesystems in config/filesystems.php and .env.

Create form request validation for image uploads with rules: 'image|mimes:jpeg,png,jpg,gif,webp|max:5120'.

Configure PHPUnit for Laravel

Set up testing infrastructure for Laravel using PHPUnit (included by default)

Configure phpunit.xml with testing database connection (sqlite in memory recommended)

Create TestCase base classes if needed

Set up database factories using php artisan make:factory for Post, Category, User, and Comment models to generate fake data

Create database seeders for consistent test data

Configure test environment variables in .env.testing

Install additional testing packages like pestphp/pest if preferred

Set up test helpers and traits for common testing operations

Add test scripts to composer.json for easy execution.

Test homepage renders correctly

Write your first feature test for the blog homepage

Create tests/Feature/HomePageTest.php using php artisan make:test HomePageTest

Test that the homepage returns successful response (200 status), displays blog title and navigation, shows list of published posts (use factory to create test posts), does not show unpublished posts, includes pagination links if more than 10 posts exist

Use Laravel testing assertions like assertSee, assertDontSee, assertViewHas

Run tests with php artisan test or vendor/bin/phpunit.

Test post CRUD operations

Write comprehensive feature tests for post CRUD operations

Create tests/Feature/PostTest.php

Test post creation: authenticated user can create post, validation works (required fields, length limits), slug is auto-generated, timestamps are set

Test post reading: guest can view published posts, post shows correct content and author, unpublished posts are hidden from guests

Test post updating: only author can update own post, validation works on update, slug is preserved or updated

Test post deletion: only author can delete own post, soft delete works, deleted posts are hidden

Use RefreshDatabase trait, factories for test data, and actingAs() for authenticated requests.

Test user authentication flows

Write authentication flow tests covering registration, login, logout, and password reset

Create tests/Feature/AuthTest.php

Test registration: new user can register with valid data, validation prevents invalid registrations, user is logged in after registration, email verification works if enabled

Test login: user can login with correct credentials, login fails with wrong credentials, remember me functionality works, rate limiting prevents brute force

Test logout: authenticated user can logout, session is cleared

Test password reset: user can request reset link, reset email is sent, user can reset password with valid token, token expires

Use Laravel authentication testing helpers like assertAuthenticated, assertGuest.

Deploy to Laravel Forge or DigitalOcean

Deploy Laravel blog to production

If using Laravel Forge: connect your server (DigitalOcean, AWS, etc), create new site, connect Git repository, configure environment variables in Forge dashboard, set up deployment script with composer install, npm build, php artisan migrate, php artisan config:cache

If manual deployment: set up server with PHP 8.1+, MySQL/PostgreSQL, Nginx/Apache, install composer, clone repository, copy .env.example to .env and configure production settings, run composer install --optimize-autoloader --no-dev, npm install && npm run build, php artisan key:generate, php artisan migrate --force, set up SSL certificate with Certbot, configure web server to point to public directory, set proper permissions on storage and bootstrap/cache

Set up automatic backups for database and storage

Configure queue workers and scheduler if used

Test all functionality in production.