When# 🏥 Digital Birth Certificate Management System

A comprehensive, secure, and user-friendly digital birth certificate management system built with PHP 8.4, featuring real-time notifications, elegant certificate templates, and robust verification capabilities.

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/your-org/birth-certificate-system.git
cd birth-certificate-system

# Install dependencies
composer install
npm install

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env
# Edit .env with your database credentials

# Start the development server
php -S localhost:8000 -t public public/router.php

Default Admin Credentials:

• Email: admin@example.com
• Password: password

Table of Contents

• Features
• System Requirements
• Installation
• User Roles
• API Documentation
• Security Features
• Testing
• Troubleshooting
• Contributing

Features

Core Features

• Multi-Role User System: Parent, Hospital, Registrar, and Admin roles
• Application Management: Complete birth certificate application workflow
• Certificate Generation: Professional, government-style certificate templates
• Real-time Verification: QR code and number-based instant verification
• Document Management: Secure file upload and storage system

Notification System

• Live Notifications: Real-time notification bell with polling updates
• Browser Notifications: Native browser notification support
• In-app Toasts: Elegant toast notifications with sound alerts
• Email Notifications: Automated email alerts for status changes
• Admin Broadcasting: System-wide announcements and maintenance alerts

User Management

• Profile Management: Complete user profile editing
• Password Security: Secure password change functionality
• Account Deletion: Self-service account deletion with safeguards
• Application History: View and manage personal applications
• Data Export: GDPR-compliant data export functionality

Dashboard & Reports

• Role-based Dashboards: Customized dashboards for each user role
• Advanced Reporting: Daily, weekly, and monthly reports with charts
• Application Tracking: Real-time application status tracking
• Batch Processing: Bulk approve/reject applications
• Statistics & Analytics: Comprehensive system statistics

Improved UI

• Responsive Design: Mobile-first, fully responsive interface
• Bootstrap 5: Modern, accessible UI components
• Dark/Light Theme: User preference-based theming
• Accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA compliant
• Progressive Web App: PWA capabilities for mobile devices

System Requirements

Server Requirements

• PHP: 8.4 or higher
• Database: MySQL 8.0+ or MariaDB 10.4+
• Web Server: Apache 2.4+ or Nginx 1.18+
• Memory: 2GB RAM minimum
• Storage: 20GB available space

PHP Extensions

php-pdo
php-mysql
php-json
php-gd
php-mbstring
php-xml
php-fileinfo
php-zip
php-curl
php-pdf

Frontend Dependencies

• Bootstrap 5.3.0
• Font Awesome 6.4.0
• Chart.js 3.9.1
• SweetAlert2 11.7.12

🔧 Installation

1. Environment Setup

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/your-org/birth-certificate-system.git
cd birth-certificate-system

# Install PHP dependencies
composer install

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

# Build frontend assets
npm run build

2. Database Configuration

# Create database
mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE birth_certificate_system CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;"

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env

Edit .env file:

DB_HOST=localhost
DB_NAME=birth_certificate_system
DB_USER=your_username
DB_PASS=your_password

APP_URL=http://localhost:8000
APP_DEBUG=true

3. Initialize Database

The system uses dynamic table creation, so tables will be created automatically when needed. For manual setup:

# Run the setup script
php setup_database.php

4. Start Development Server

# Start PHP development server
php -S localhost:8000 -t public public/router.php

# Access the application
open http://localhost:8000

👥 User Roles

Parent

• Register and submit birth certificate applications
• Upload required documents (birth notification, ID documents)
• Track application status in real-time
• Download approved certificates
• Manage personal profile and applications
• Delete rejected applications

Hospital

• Verify birth records and medical information
• Upload supporting medical documents
• Review and validate birth applications
• Communicate with registrars about applications

Registrar

• Review and process birth certificate applications
• Approve or reject applications with detailed comments
• Generate official birth certificates
• Batch process multiple applications
• Generate comprehensive reports
• Manage application workflows

Admin

• Full system administration capabilities
• User management (create, edit, disable accounts)
• System monitoring and audit logs
• Broadcast system-wide notifications
• Generate system reports and analytics
• Configure system settings

Security Features

Authentication & Authorization

• Bcrypt Password Hashing: Secure password storage
• Role-Based Access Control: Granular permission system
• Session Management: Secure session handling
• CSRF Protection: Cross-site request forgery prevention

Data Protection

• Input Validation: Comprehensive server-side validation
• SQL Injection Prevention: Prepared statements
• File Upload Security: Type and size validation
• Data Encryption: Sensitive data encryption

Audit & Monitoring

• Activity Logging: Comprehensive audit trails
• Failed Login Tracking: Brute force protection
• Certificate Verification Logging: Verification attempt tracking
• System Monitoring: Real-time system health monitoring

🧪 Testing

Running Tests

# Run PHP unit tests
composer test

# Run frontend tests
npm test

# Run integration tests
php run_tests.php

Test Coverage

• Unit Tests: Core business logic
• Integration Tests: Database interactions
• Feature Tests: End-to-end workflows
• Security Tests: Vulnerability scanning

📡 API Documentation

Authentication Endpoints

POST /auth/login          - User login
POST /auth/register       - User registration
POST /auth/logout         - User logout
GET  /auth/profile        - Get user profile

Application Endpoints

GET    /applications           - List applications
POST   /applications           - Create application
GET    /applications/{id}      - Get application details
PUT    /applications/{id}      - Update application
DELETE /applications/{id}      - Delete application

Certificate Endpoints

GET  /certificates            - List certificates
GET  /certificates/{id}       - Get certificate details
GET  /certificates/{id}/download - Download certificate
POST /certificates/{id}/verify   - Verify certificate

Notification Endpoints

GET    /notifications              - List notifications
POST   /notifications              - Create notification
GET    /notifications/{id}         - Get notification
PUT    /notifications/{id}/read    - Mark as read
DELETE /notifications/{id}         - Delete notification
GET    /notifications/poll         - Real-time polling

System Architecture

┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────┐
│   Frontend      │    │   Backend       │    │   Database      │
│                 │    │                 │    │                 │
│ • Bootstrap 5   │◄──►│ • PHP 8.4       │◄──►│ • MySQL 8.0+    │
│ • JavaScript    │    │ • MVC Pattern   │    │ • InnoDB Engine │
│ • Chart.js      │    │ • RESTful API   │    │ • Full-text     │
│ • PWA Support   │    │ • Real-time     │    │   Search        │
└─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘    └─────────────────┘

🚨 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Database Connection Error

# Check database service
sudo service mysql status

# Test connection
mysql -u username -p database_name

File Permission Issues

# Fix storage permissions
chmod -R 755 storage/
chmod -R 755 public/uploads/

Session Problems

# Clear sessions
rm -rf storage/framework/sessions/*

# Check PHP session configuration
php -i | grep session

Error Logs

# Application logs
tail -f storage/logs/app.log

# PHP error log
tail -f php_error.log

# Web server logs
tail -f /var/log/apache2/error.log

Database Schema

• Migration 027 applied: All certificate verification fixes
• 19 active certificates ready for verification
• 10 approved applications with valid certificate numbers
• All tracking numbers generated and functional

Code Standards

• PSR-12 coding standards
• Comprehensive PHPDoc comments
• Unit test coverage
• Security best practices

📄 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

🆘 Support

• Documentation: Full Documentation
• Issues: GitHub Issues
• Security: Security Policy
• Email: touyboateng339@gmail.com

🗺️ Roadmap

• Multi-language support
• Advanced blockchain integration
• AI-powered fraud detection
• Mobile applications (iOS/Android)
• Integration with government databases
• Advanced analytics dashboard

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Built with ❤️ for secure and efficient birth certificate management