Creating a Blog with CodeIgniter: Building a Simple Blog Application

CodeIgniter, a lightweight and powerful PHP framework, is ideal for quickly building web applications. One of the most common beginner projects is creating a blog—it's the perfect way to learn the core functionalities of CodeIgniter such as routing, controllers, models, views, and database interaction.

In this tutorial, we’ll walk through how to build a simple blog application using CodeIgniter.

Project Structure Overview

A basic blog includes:

• Homepage listing all blog posts
• View single post
• Admin area to create and manage posts

Step 1: Set Up CodeIgniter

Download the latest version of CodeIgniter from the official site or install via Composer:

Set up your .env file and configure your base URL and database settings.

Step 2: Create the Database

Create a MySQL database (e.g., blog_db) and a posts table:

Update database settings in .env:

Step 3: Create Model

Create a model to interact with the posts table:

Inside PostModel.php:

Step 4: Create Controller

Inside Blog.php:

Step 5: Create Views

View for listing posts: app/Views/blog/index.php

View for a single post: app/Views/blog/view.php

Step 6: Add a Form to Create Posts (Optional Admin Panel)

Create another method in the controller:

View for the form: app/Views/blog/create.php

Step 7: Set Up Routes

Update app/Config/Routes.php:

Final Thoughts

Congratulations! You’ve built a simple yet functional blog with CodeIgniter. This project covers the core aspects of the framework and can be extended with features like categories, comments, authentication, and search.