General Knowledge Game

A browser-based trivia game built with PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, and CSS. Create an account, choose a question category, and earn points for correct answers.

Features

• Account registration and sign-in
• Category-based questions with point values
• Score tracking and a game timer
• A reset-score action
• Responsive login and game screens

Requirements

• PHP 8.1 or newer with the MySQLi extension
• MySQL 8.0 or MariaDB 10.6 or newer
• A PHP web server such as Apache, Nginx with PHP-FPM, or PHP's built-in server
• mysqlnd enabled for MySQLi's get_result() method

Run locally

1. Clone the repository and enter the project directory:

   git clone https://github.com/hamdamme/general_knowledge_app.git
   cd general_knowledge_app

2. Create a MySQL database and load the starter schema and questions:

   mysql -u root -p -e "CREATE DATABASE general_knowledge CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;"
   mysql -u root -p general_knowledge < database/schema.sql

3. Create a local database configuration file:

   cp .env.example .env

   Edit .env with your MySQL connection details. For production, provide the same DB_* settings through the PHP process environment.

4. Start the PHP development server:

   php -S 127.0.0.1:8000

5. Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/login.php, register an account, and start playing.

Database

database/schema.sql creates the tables required by the application and inserts three example questions. Add rows to j_category, j_value, and j_question to expand the game.

Configuration

The application reads these settings from .env during local development or from the PHP process environment in production:

Variable	Description	Default
DB_HOST	MySQL server host	127.0.0.1
DB_USER	MySQL username	Required
DB_PASSWORD	MySQL password	Empty string
DB_NAME	Database name	general_knowledge

Never commit .env or production credentials.

Project layout

.
├── database/
│   └── schema.sql
├── database.php       # MySQL connection
├── game.php           # JSON endpoints for game actions
├── game.js            # Browser game behavior
├── login.php          # Registration and sign-in
├── mainboard.php      # Authenticated game screen
├── mainBoard.css      # Game screen styles
├── reset_game.php     # Score reset endpoint
└── style.css          # Login screen styles

Contributing

Read CONTRIBUTING.md before submitting a change. To report a vulnerability, follow SECURITY.md.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.