This is a Flask web application that serves as a fan page for Thorin Oakenshield and his company of dwarves from J.R.R. Tolkien's beloved novel, The Hobbit. The app provides information about the characters, their quest, and allows fans to share their thoughts and appreciation.

This mockup was generated using Am I Responsive.

• Character Profiles: Detailed profiles of Thorin and each member of his company, including their backgrounds, personalities, and roles in the quest.
• Quest Overview: A comprehensive overview of the dwarves' quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug.
• Fan Forum: A dedicated section within the application that displays recent discussions and allows users to start new discussions. The forum includes the following features:
  • Recent Discussions: A list of recent discussions or forum posts, each displaying the title, a brief description, and the name of the user who posted it along with the date.
  • Start a New Discussion: A form where users can enter a topic and message to start a new discussion.

• Fan Forum: While the application doesn't have a fully-fledged custom fan forum, it provides a section that simulates the experience of a fan forum by displaying sample discussions and allowing users to submit new discussion topics and messages through a form.

• Flask: A lightweight Python web framework used for building the application.
• HTML/CSS: Markup and styling languages for creating the user interface.
• JSON: Data interchange format used for communication between the backend and frontend of the application.

To build the application locally, follow these steps:

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/your-username/the-hobbit-fan-page.git
   

2. Navigate to the project directory:

   cd the-hobbit-fan-page
   

3. Create and activate a virtual environment (optional but recommended):

   python -m venv env
   source env/bin/activate
   
   On Windows, use `env\Scripts\activate`
   

4. Install the required dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

5. Set up the database:

   flask db upgrade
   

6. Run the application:

   flask run
   

7. Open your web browser and visit http://localhost:5000 to access the fan page.

Follow these steps to deploy the app:

1. Sign up for Heroku: If you haven't already, create a Heroku account here.

2. Install Heroku CLI: Download and install the Heroku Command Line Interface (CLI) from here.

3. Log in to Heroku: Open your terminal or command prompt and log in to Heroku using the command heroku login.

4. Create a new Heroku app: Once logged in, create a new Heroku app by running heroku create your-app-name in your terminal. Replace your-app-name with the desired name of your app.

5. Deploy your code: After setting up your Heroku app, deploy your code to Heroku by executing git push heroku master in your terminal. This command pushes your local Git repository to Heroku's servers.

6. Access your deployed app: Once deployment is complete, open your browser and navigate to the URL provided by Heroku, or use the command heroku open in your terminal to open the app automatically.

Contributions are welcome! If you'd like to contribute to this project, please follow these steps:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bug fix.
3. Make your changes and commit them with descriptive commit messages.
4. Push your changes to your forked repository.
5. Submit a pull request to the main repository.

• J.R.R. Tolkien for creating the incredible world of Middle-earth and the beloved characters from The Hobbit.
• Tim Nelson, Software Developer and Tutor at Code Institute, for preparing and presenting the walkthrough of the application
• The Flask community for their excellent documentation and support.
• All the contributors who have helped make this project better.