Neighborhood Skill-Swap CMS

Build a more connected community with a platform where neighbors can share their skills, request assistance, and exchange help. Neighborhood Skill-Swap CMS provides a central place to discover local offers and requests, connect with other members, and recognize helpful contributions.

Key Features

• Community Bulletin Board: Browse, search, and discover active skill offers and requests by category or keyword.
• Skill and Favor Exchange: Support community exchanges such as tutoring, repairs, rides, and other neighbor-to-neighbor assistance.
• Mutual Connection Approval: Private messaging threads and contact email details become available when both neighbors approve a connection.
• Ratings and Feedback: Members can leave 5-star ratings and thank-you comments on profiles after completed exchanges.
• Administrator Dashboard: Manage platform statistics, user roles, administrator privileges, community posts, and reviews.
• Content Moderation: Remove inappropriate posts and reviews to help maintain a useful community environment.
• Automated Installation Wizard: Check server requirements, configure the database, initialize tables, and generate application configuration.
• Demo Data: Load sample users and records to explore the platform during setup.
• Profile Avatars: Support user avatar uploads with server-side execution restrictions in the uploads directory.
• Customizable Branding: Adjust the site name, colors, and skill categories to suit your neighborhood.

Who Can Use It?

• Neighborhood associations and local community groups
• Residential communities and apartment complexes
• Volunteer and mutual-aid networks
• Community organizers and nonprofit initiatives
• Developers building customized local exchange platforms

Technology Requirements

• PHP 8.0 or newer
• MySQL 5.7+ or MariaDB 10.3+
• PDO with the MySQL driver enabled
• Apache web server with mod_rewrite enabled
• Writable uploads directory for avatar files

Installation and Setup

Install locally using XAMPP, WAMP, or MAMP, or deploy to compatible shared hosting. Use the included installation wizard to configure your database and create an administrator account. Manual SQL installation instructions are also provided.

For security, remove the installation directory after setup and verify that configuration files and upload directories are properly protected.

Customization Options

• Update the site name and branding.
• Customize the interface colors through the CSS variables.
• Add or remove skill-swap categories.
• Adapt the platform to the needs of your local community.

Important Notes

The platform is designed to facilitate community connections and reciprocal help. The README describes a mutual-approval connection flow, but does not establish that the platform includes payment processing or a monetary transaction system. Exchanges should be understood as community-based skill-sharing unless additional functionality is implemented.

Before deploying publicly, change demo credentials, configure the production database, review access controls, and replace the placeholder support email with your own support contact.

Bring Your Community Together

Give neighbors a practical way to discover useful skills, request help, build trust through feedback, and create stronger local connections with Neighborhood Skill-Swap CMS.