canadian-alternatives/README.md

Canadian Alternatives

A web application that helps users find Canadian-made alternatives to American products. This project aims to support Canadian businesses and entrepreneurs by promoting locally made products and identifying market opportunities.

Features

• Search for American products and find their Canadian alternatives
• Browse products by category
• View detailed product information and alternatives
• Discover business opportunities for Canadian entrepreneurs
• Submit new business opportunity suggestions

Tech Stack

• Frontend: Next.js 14 (App Router), React, TypeScript
• UI Components: Shadcn UI, Tailwind CSS, Framer Motion
• Database: Supabase
• Form Handling: React Hook Form, Zod
• State Management: React Server Components, URL state with nuqs

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js 18.17 or later
• npm or yarn
• Supabase account (for database)

Environment Setup

Create a .env.local file in the root directory with the following variables:

NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_URL=your_supabase_url
NEXT_PUBLIC_SUPABASE_ANON_KEY=your_supabase_anon_key

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/yourusername/canadian-alternatives.git
   cd canadian-alternatives
   

2. Install dependencies:

   npm install
   # or
   yarn install
   

3. Run the development server:

   npm run dev
   # or
   yarn dev
   

4. Open http://localhost:3000 in your browser to see the application.

Database Schema

The application uses the following Supabase tables:

Products

• id: string (UUID)
• name: string
• description: string
• company: string
• country_of_origin: string
• category: string
• image_url: string (optional)
• created_at: timestamp

Alternatives

• id: string (UUID)
• product_id: string (references Products.id)
• name: string
• description: string
• company: string
• category: string
• image_url: string (optional)
• created_at: timestamp

Opportunities

• id: string (UUID)
• category: string
• description: string
• created_at: timestamp

Deployment

This application can be deployed to any hosting platform that supports Next.js applications, such as Vercel, Netlify, or a VPS.

Deploying to Vercel

1. Push your code to a GitHub repository
2. Import the project in Vercel
3. Configure environment variables
4. Deploy

Deploying to a VPS

1. Build the application:

   npm run build
   

2. Start the production server:

   npm start
   

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.