Building a Full-Stack Blog Platform from Scratch in 2026

Introduction

This project started as an extension of my personal portfolio, with the goal of building a fully functional blog platform from scratch. Instead of relying on existing CMS solutions, I wanted to design and implement every layer myself, from authentication to content management.

Tech Stack

• Next.js (App Router)

• React

• Prisma ORM

• PostgreSQL

• Custom authentication (JWT + cookies)

Architecture

The application follows a full-stack architecture using Next.js server routes for API logic. Authentication is handled via HTTP-only cookies, ensuring session security without exposing tokens on the client.

Admin System

An admin dashboard was built to manage both content and users. It includes:

• Create, edit, publish and delete blog posts

• Role-based access control (Admin / Member)

• User moderation (ban/unban)

• Password reset functionality

Content Editor

The blog uses a rich text editor built with Tiptap, allowing structured content creation including headings, lists, code blocks, images and links. Content is stored as HTML and sanitized before rendering for security.

Interactive Features

• Post reactions (limited one per user)

• Threaded comments system

• Reactions on comments

Security Considerations

Several measures were implemented:

• Password hashing with bcrypt

• Protected API routes

• HTML sanitization to prevent XSS

• Basic anti-bot protection on registration

Challenges

One of the main challenges was handling relational data correctly with Prisma, especially for nested comments and reactions. Another key aspect was maintaining a clean separation between client and server logic in Next.js.

Conclusion

This project represents a complete end-to-end implementation of a modern web application. It allowed me to strengthen both frontend and backend skills while focusing on real-world features such as authentication, data integrity and user interaction.