Candles - Anonymous Community Emotion Sharing

link to latest production

React + Vite Template Information

This project is built using the React + Vite template, which provides a minimal setup to get React working in Vite with HMR and some ESLint rules.

Currently, two official plugins are available:

• @vitejs/plugin-react uses Babel for Fast Refresh
• @vitejs/plugin-react-swc uses SWC for Fast Refresh

Expanding the ESLint configuration

If you are developing a production application, we recommend using TypeScript with type-aware lint rules enabled. Check out the TS template for information on how to integrate TypeScript and typescript-eslint in your project.

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Application Documentation

Overview

Candles is a web application that allows users to anonymously share their emotions by placing virtual candles on a map. It creates a visual representation of community emotions across different locations, fostering a sense of shared experience while maintaining privacy.

Core Features

• Interactive world map interface
• Anonymous emotion sharing through virtual candles
• Real-time visualization of community emotions
• Personal emotion tracking
• Responsive and dynamic candle visualization
• Data visualization through charts and analytics

Technical Architecture

Frontend Structure

src/
├── Components/
│   ├── Map/           # Main map interface
│   ├── Candle/        # Candle marker objecto n map
│   ├── Sidebar/       # Navigation and controls
│   └── Charts/        # Data visualization components
│   └── CreateCandle/  # CreateCandle popup interface
├── lib/               # Utilities and backend integration
└── assets/           # Static resources

Key Components

Map Component (MapComponent.jsx)

• Built with React-Leaflet
• Handles map interactions and marker management
• Features:
  • Click-to-place candle functionality
  • Marker state management
  • Real-time updates
  • User interaction handling
  • Debug panel for development

Candle Component (Candle.jsx)

• Represents individual emotion markers on the map
• Features:
  • Dynamic sizing based on zoom level
  • Visual effects (glow and flicker)
  • Timestamp display
  • User ownership management
• Supported emotions seen in Candle/emotions.json

Sidebar Component

• Contains charts for visualization, seen Charts/

User System

• Anonymous user identification using UUID
• Stored in localStorage
• Users can:
  • Place candles
  • Delete their own candles
  • View all community candles

Backend (Supabase)

• Database: Supabase Postgres table markers stores candles (emotion, lat/lng position, timestamps, user_id).
• Auth (anonymous): Uses Supabase anonymous auth sessions (no accounts/passwords) so actions can be tied to a user without collecting personal info.
• Spam/bot resistance: Uses Cloudflare Turnstile to obtain a captcha token before signInAnonymously, and uses Supabase RPCs (e.g. create_marker_rate_limited) to rate-limit candle creation.
• Safer writes: Deletion is scoped to the current user (delete ... where id = ? and user_id = currentUserId), and rejected actions can be logged via an RPC (e.g. log_marker_rejection).
• Env vars: VITE_SUPABASE_URL, VITE_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY, and VITE_TURNSTILE_SITE_KEY are configured via environment variables (never committed).

Technical Stack

• Frontend: React with Vite
• Map: Leaflet/React-Leaflet
• Backend: Supabase, Cloudfare
• Styling: CSS with custom animations
• State Management: React Hooks
• Date Handling: date-fns

User Flow

1. User visits the application
2. System generates anonymous UUID (if not exists)
3. User can:
   • Click on map to place a candle
   • Select emotion from popup
   • View existing candles
   • Delete their own candles
   • Interact with data visualizations

Data Visualization

• Charts component provides analytics and insights
• Visualizes:
  • Emotion distribution
  • Temporal patterns
  • Geographic clustering
  • User interaction metrics

Privacy & Security

• Anonymous user system
• No personal data collection
• User can only delete their own candles
• Secure backend integration
• Local storage for user preferences only

Development Notes

• Debug panel available for development
• Responsive design considerations
• Performance optimizations:
  • Memoized components
  • Efficient marker rendering
  • Optimized state management
  • Cached user data

Future Considerations

• Enhanced data visualization
• Additional emotion categories
• Community features
• Advanced filtering options
• Mobile optimization
• Offline capabilities