Premium Car Marketplace Afghanistan (2026 Edition) 🇦🇫

A professional, university-level final-year project designed for the LAMP stack (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP). This system is optimized for 100% offline use on XAMPP without requiring any internet connection.

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🎯 Project Overview

This platform is a comprehensive single-vendor car marketplace where users can browse, search, and simulate the purchase of premium vehicles. It features a modern Glassmorphism UI built entirely with Pure CSS, ensuring responsiveness and a premium feel.

Key Features

• Guest Access: Browse cars, advanced search/filters, view showroom details.
• User Dashboard: Register/Login, manage listings (seller role), view simulated purchases, and notifications.
• Admin Panel: Manage users, approve car listings, monitor system statistics, and handle contact messages.
• Offline Simulation: Functional bank transaction simulation and local image handling.
• Security: PDO prepared statements (SQL injection protection), hashed passwords, and CSRF/XSS safeguards.

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🏗 Tech Stack

• Backend: PHP 8.x (Vanilla)
• Database: MariaDB / MySQL
• Frontend: Pure CSS (CSS Grid, Flexbox, Variables), Vanilla JavaScript
• Local Assets: No CDNs used (everything is bundled locally)

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🚀 Installation Steps (XAMPP Guide)

1. Copy Project Files

• Install XAMPP on your computer.
• Copy the entire project folder into the C:\xampp\htdocs\ directory (Windows) or /opt/lampp/htdocs/ (Linux).
• Rename the folder to afg_cars for easy access.

2. Start Apache & MySQL

• Open the XAMPP Control Panel.
• Click Start next to Apache.
• Click Start next to MySQL.

3. Import Database

• Open your browser and go to: http://localhost/phpmyadmin/
• Create a new database named: afg_cars
• Click on the Import tab.
• Choose the file located at: db/database.sql inside the project folder.
• Click Go at the bottom to complete the import.

4. Configure Database (if needed)

• Open db/config.php in a text editor.
• Ensure the credentials match your local setup:

  define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
  define('DB_NAME', 'afg_cars');
  define('DB_USER', 'root');
  define('DB_PASS', ''); // XAMPP default is empty
  

5. Access the Project

• Open your browser and navigate to: http://localhost/afg_cars/index.php

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🔐 Default Credentials (Demo)

System Administrator

• Email: admin@gmail.com
• Password: 12345678

Regular User

• Email: user@gmail.com
• Password: 12345678

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📁 Folder Structure

• admin/: Administrative tools and dashboard.
• user/: Personal dashboard for registered users.
• assets/: Local CSS, JS, and UI images.
• db/: Database configuration, setup scripts, and SQL dump.
• includes/: Reusable components (Header, Footer, Navbar).
• uploads/: Directory for uploaded car images.

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🧠 Notes for University Presentation

• Architecture: The project follows an MVC-like pattern for separation of concerns.
• RBAC: Role-Based Access Control ensures that only authorized users can perform certain actions (e.g., only admins can approve listings).
• SEO: On-page SEO meta tags are dynamically generated.
• Performance: Optimized for speed with minimal assets and clean code.

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🛠 Troubleshooting Common Errors

• DB Connection Failed: Ensure MySQL is running in XAMPP and credentials in db/config.php are correct.
• CSS Not Loading: Clear your browser cache or use Ctrl + F5 to force a hard reload.
• Images Missing: Ensure the uploads/ folder has proper write permissions (especially on Linux).

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Design Goal: Modern, Premium, and Responsive. No frameworks used. Version: 1.0.0 (2026 Edition) Ready for academic submission.