How this site works.

Project goal

• Create a personal portfolio for a school assignment that can keep growing after the course.
• Keep the public site focused on projects, writing, contact details, and a downloadable CV.
• Avoid a full CMS by building a small custom admin area for content that changes over time.

Application structure

• The public document root is the www folder, with www/index.php acting as the front controller.
• Shared PHP code lives in app, including bootstrap, rendering helpers, authentication, mail, database, and content logic.
• Public files such as stylesheets, icons, uploaded images, and the CV PDF stay under www.

Routing and rendering

• The router maps clean URLs such as /about, /projects, /blog, /cv, /contact, and /build-notes to PHP functions.
• Reusable layout code in app/views.php renders the shared head, navigation, footer, metadata, and stylesheet includes.
• Project and blog detail pages are resolved by slug, while unpublished or missing content returns a not found page.

Content management

• The protected designer area lets an administrator create and edit projects and blog posts.
• Content blocks are stored as structured data so entries can contain reusable sections.
• The CV can be replaced from the admin area without changing code, while the public page exposes only open and download links.

Security choices

• Admin routes require a logged-in session before protected actions can run.
• Forms use CSRF tokens to prevent unwanted cross-site form submissions.
• Uploaded cover images and the resume PDF are checked for expected type, size, and file handling constraints before being stored.
• Dynamic output is escaped before rendering to reduce the risk of cross-site scripting.
• The server configuration adds browser hardening headers for content sniffing and same-origin framing.

Hosting and deployment

• The site is intended for Combell shared hosting with the web root pointed at the public www folder.
• The current deployment can be uploaded directly, but a Git-based workflow would make future releases easier to audit and repeat.
• Combell AutoGit is a possible next step once repository boundaries and shared runtime files are clearly defined.
• Environment settings, local databases, and user-uploaded runtime files should stay out of normal source commits.

Next improvements

• Initialize a Git repository and add CI checks for PHP syntax and accidentally committed secrets.
• Separate deployable code from shared production files such as uploads, environment variables, and persistent database content.
• Add automated checks around uploads, routing, and admin-only actions as the site grows.