Hi everyone! In this blog post, I’m going to share with you the development process of an LMS (Learning Management System) with Laravel and Vue.js. I’ll show you how I planned, designed, coded, tested and deployed this project from scratch. I’ll also share some of the challenges and lessons learned along the way. Let’s get started!
What is an LMS and why did I choose to build one?
An LMS is a software application that allows you to create, manage and deliver online courses. It typically consists of a backend that handles the course content, user management, assessments and analytics, and a frontend that provides a user-friendly interface for learners and instructors.
I decided to build an LMS for two main reasons: first, because I wanted to learn more about Laravel and Vue.js, two of the most popular and powerful frameworks for web development; and second, because I wanted to create a useful and meaningful product that could help people learn new skills online.
How did I plan the project?
Before writing any code, I spent some time planning the project. I defined the scope, features and requirements of the LMS, as well as the target audience and the value proposition. Also researched some existing LMS platforms based on Laravel to get some inspiration and ideas.
I used Trello to organize my tasks and track my progress and created a board with four lists: Backlog, To Do, Doing and Done. I added cards for each feature or task that I needed to complete, and moved them across the lists as I worked on them. This helped me stay focused and motivated throughout the project.
How did I design the UI/UX of LMS?
After planning the project, I moved on to designing the UI/UX of the LMS. I wanted to create a simple, clean and intuitive interface that would enhance the learning experience and make it easy for users to navigate through the courses.
I used Figma to create wireframes and mockups of the main pages of the LMS: the landing page, the course catalog, the course page, the lesson page, the quiz page and the dashboard. And followed some best practices for UI/UX design, such as using consistent colors, fonts and icons, using white space and contrast to create hierarchy and emphasis, using clear labels and feedback for buttons and forms, and using responsive design to ensure compatibility across different devices.
How did I code the backend for LMS with Laravel?
Once I had a clear idea of how the LMS would look like, I started coding the backend with Laravel. Laravel is a PHP framework that provides a fast and easy way to build web applications. It offers many features and tools that simplify common tasks such as routing, authentication, database migrations, testing and deployment.
Used Packages
- I used Laravel Jetstream to scaffold the authentication system for the LMS. Jetstream is a package that provides a starting point for building robust applications with features such as registration, login, email verification, password reset, two-factor authentication and team management.
- I used Laravel Breeze to generate the basic layout and views for the LMS. Breeze is a package that provides a minimal frontend preset for Laravel applications. It uses Tailwind CSS for styling and Alpine.js for interactivity.
- I used Laravel Sanctum to implement API authentication for the LMS. Sanctum is a package that allows you to issue tokens to users or devices that can access your API endpoints without requiring cookies or sessions.
- I used Laravel Nova to create an admin panel for the LMS. Nova is a package that allows you to build beautiful dashboards and CRUD (create-read-update-delete) interfaces for your Laravel models with minimal code.
- I used Laravel Telescope to monitor and debug the LMS. Telescope is a package that provides insights into your application’s requests, exceptions, queries, jobs, events and more.
- I used Laravel Livewire to create dynamic components for the LMS. Livewire is a package that allows you to write frontend code using PHP instead of JavaScript. It uses AJAX requests to update parts of your page without reloading it.
- I used Spatie Media Library to handle file uploads for the LMS. Media Library is a package that allows you to easily add files to your models with automatic conversions and optimizations.
- I used Spatie Permissions to manage roles and permissions for the LMS. Permissions is a package that allows you to assign users different abilities based on their roles.
- I used Spatie Tags to add tags to courses for the LMS. Tags is a package that allows you to attach tags or categories to your models with support for multiple types of tags.
How did I code the frontend with Vue.js?
After coding the backend with Laravel for LMS, I moved on to coding the frontend with Vue.js. Vue.js is a JavaScript framework that allows you to create reactive and interactive web interfaces using components. It offers many features and tools that make it easy to work with data, events, transitions, animations and more.
Used Packages
- I used Vue CLI to set up the project structure and configuration for the LMS. Vue CLI is a command-line tool that helps you create Vue projects with various options and plugins.
- I used Vite as the build tool for the LMS. Vite is a fast and efficient build tool that uses Rollup under the hood. It provides many features that make it easy to develop and deploy Vue projects, such as hot reloading, code splitting and tree shaking.
- I used Vue Router to handle routing for the LMS. Vue Router is a powerful routing library that makes it easy to create and manage routes in Vue applications. It offers many features such as nested routes, dynamic routes and route guards.
- I used Vuex to manage state for the LMS. Vuex is a state management library that makes it easy to store and manage application state in a centralized way. It offers many features such as mutation, action and getters.
- I used Vuetify as the UI framework for the LMS. Vuetify is a popular UI framework that provides a wide range of components and themes for building beautiful and responsive Vue applications.
- I used Axios to make HTTP requests to the backend. Axios is a popular HTTP client library that makes it easy to make HTTP requests in JavaScript. It offers many features such as request cancellation, progress tracking and response caching.
- I used Jest as the unit testing framework for the LMS. Jest is a popular unit testing framework that makes it easy to write and run unit tests in JavaScript. It offers many features such as code coverage reporting and snapshot testing.
- I used Cypress as the end-to-end testing framework for the LMS. Cypress is a popular end-to-end testing framework that makes it easy to write and run end-to-end tests in JavaScript. It offers many features such as support for real browsers and real devices, and support for parallel testing.
How did I deploy the LMS with Laravel?
After coding the frontend and backend, I deployed the LMS with Laravel to a production server. I used Heroku to deploy the LMS. Heroku is a popular cloud platform that makes it easy to deploy and scale web applications.
I used the Heroku CLI to create a new Heroku project and deploy the LMS to it. Also configured Heroku to automatically deploy the LMS whenever I push changes to the master branch of my Git repository.
I also used Heroku to add a free SSL certificate to the LMS. This ensures that the LMS is secure and that users can access it over HTTPS.
Challenges and lessons learned from LMS with Laravel
There were a few challenges that I faced while developing the LMS with Laravel. One challenge was learning how to use Laravel and Vue.js. Both frameworks are very powerful, but they can also be complex. I spent a lot of time reading documentation and watching tutorials to learn how to use them.
Another challenge was testing the LMS. I used Jest and Cypress to write unit and end-to-end tests, but it was still difficult to test all of the features of the LMS. I ended up having to manually test some of the features, which was time-consuming.
Finally, I had some challenges deploying the LMS to Heroku. I had to learn how to configure Heroku to automatically deploy the LMS whenever I push changes to my Git repository. I also had to learn how to add a free SSL certificate to the LMS.
Overall, I learned a lot from developing the LMS with Laravel. I learned how to use Laravel and Vue.js, I learned how to test web applications, and I learned how to deploy web applications to production. I am also proud of the final product, which is a functional and secure LMS that can be used by anyone to learn new skills.
Conclusion
In this blog post, I shared with you the development process of an LMS (Learning Management System) with Laravel and Vue.js. I showed you how I planned, designed, coded, tested and deployed this project from scratch. Also shared some of the challenges and lessons learned along the way.
I hope this blog post has been helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment below.
