🧭 MINT Navigator

Smart Visitor Guidance & Feedback Management System

Developed for the Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MInT), Ethiopia

🌐 Live Demo • 🐛 Report Bug • ✨ Request Feature

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📋 Table of Contents

• About The Project
• Key Features
• Tech Stack
• System Architecture
• Getting Started
• User Roles
• API Documentation
• Contributing
• Contact

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🎯 About The Project

MINT Navigator is a comprehensive visitor guidance and feedback management system built for the Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MInT) in Ethiopia.

The system helps visitors navigate across the Ministry's two buildings, collects real-time visitor feedback, and generates data-driven department performance rankings to support executive decision-making.

💡 Visitors can find any department by floor, building, or sector. Executives can see which departments are performing best based on real customer ratings.

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✨ Key Features

🚶 Visitor Features

• Smart Navigation — Browse departments by sector, building, or floor
• Step-by-Step Directions — Detailed directions with landmarks
• Multilingual Support — English 🇬🇧, Amharic 🇪🇹, Afaan Oromo
• Feedback Submission — Rate and comment on department service quality
• Department Search — Real-time search across all departments

👨‍💼 Admin Features

• Department Management — Full CRUD operations
• Sector Management — Organize departments into sectors
• Announcement System — Create and schedule visitor announcements
• System Complaints — Monitor and resolve technical issues

📊 Analyst Features

• Analytics Dashboard — Real-time charts and performance metrics
• Department Rankings — Data-driven rankings based on customer ratings
• Feedback Management — View, respond, and resolve visitor feedback
• Report Generation — Export analytics reports for executives

🔐 Security

• JWT-based authentication
• Role-based access control (RBAC)
• Rate limiting & input sanitization
• Secure HTTP headers (Helmet)

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🛠️ Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Frontend	React 19, Vite, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion
Backend	Node.js, Express.js 5
Database	MongoDB Atlas, Mongoose
Auth	JWT, bcryptjs
Charts	Recharts, Chart.js
Storage	Cloudinary
Email	Nodemailer
Deployment	Netlify (frontend), Render (backend)

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🏗️ System Architecture

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│               MINT Navigator                     │
├──────────────┬──────────────┬────────────────────┤
│   Visitors   │    Admins    │      Analysts      │
│  Navigation  │  CRUD Ops    │  Analytics/Ranking │
│  Feedback    │  Announce    │  Feedback Inbox    │
└──────┬───────┴──────┬───────┴────────┬───────────┘
       └──────────────┼────────────────┘
                      │
             ┌────────▼────────┐
             │  React Frontend │  (Netlify)
             └────────┬────────┘
                      │ REST API
             ┌────────▼────────┐
             │ Express Backend │  (Render)
             └────────┬────────┘
              ┌───────┼──────────┐
              ▼       ▼          ▼
          MongoDB  Cloudinary  Nodemailer

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js v18+
• MongoDB Atlas account
• Git

Installation

# 1. Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Ebo1996/mintnavigation.git
cd mintnavigation

# 2. Install backend dependencies
cd backend
npm install

# 3. Install frontend dependencies
cd ../frontend
npm install

Environment Variables

Backend (backend/.env):

PORT=5000
MONGODB_URI=your_mongodb_connection_string
JWT_SECRET=your_jwt_secret
CLOUDINARY_CLOUD_NAME=your_cloud_name
CLOUDINARY_API_KEY=your_api_key
CLOUDINARY_API_SECRET=your_api_secret
EMAIL_USER=your_email@gmail.com
EMAIL_PASS=your_app_password

Frontend (frontend/.env):

VITE_API_URL=http://localhost:5000/api

Running the App

# Terminal 1 - Backend
cd backend
npm run dev

# Terminal 2 - Frontend
cd frontend
npm run dev

• Frontend: http://localhost:5173
• Backend API: http://localhost:5000/api
• Health Check: http://localhost:5000/api/health

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👥 User Roles & Permissions

Role	Access
Visitor	Browse departments, search, submit feedback
Admin	CRUD departments & sectors, manage announcements
Feedback Analyst	View analytics, manage feedback, generate reports
Sector Manager	View & respond to sector-specific feedback
Department Head	View & respond to department-specific feedback
Superadmin	Full system access + user management

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📡 API Documentation

Base URL:

Production:  https://mint-navigation-u0hc.onrender.com/api
Development: http://localhost:5000/api

Method	Endpoint	Description	Auth
GET	/departments	Get all departments	❌
GET	/departments/:id	Get single department	❌
POST	/departments	Create department	✅ Admin
PUT	/departments/:id	Update department	✅ Admin
DELETE	/departments/:id	Delete department	✅ Admin
POST	/feedback	Submit feedback	❌
GET	/analytics/overview	Dashboard stats	✅ Analyst
GET	/analytics/rankings	Department rankings	✅ Analyst
POST	/admin/login	Admin login	❌

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🤝 Contributing

1. Fork the Project
2. Create your Feature Branch (git checkout -b feature/AmazingFeature)
3. Commit your Changes (git commit -m 'Add some AmazingFeature')
4. Push to the Branch (git push origin feature/AmazingFeature)
5. Open a Pull Request

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📞 Contact

Developers:

Name	GitHub
Ebisa Berhanu	Ebo1996
Anam Tesfa	anotesfa
Natnael Kefyalew	Nati121442

University: Jimma University Institute of Technology Department: Software Engineering

Link	URL
🌐 Live Demo	mintnavigation.netlify.app
📁 Repository	github.com/Ebo1996/mintnavigation

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📝 License

MIT License © 2026 Ebisa Berhanu, Anam Tesfa, Natnael Kefyalew

See LICENSE for more information.

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🙏 Acknowledgments

• Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MInT) — For the opportunity
• Mr. Dinber Getahun — Immediate Supervisor
• Mr. Teferi Kibebew — Department Advisor
• Jimma University — Internship program support

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Made with ❤️ for the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, Ethiopia

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