SOCIAL NETWORK FOR PLANT LOVERS

Abstract

As society continues to develop, people's need to connect and share their hobbies has become increasingly important. Among these, ornamental plants have become not only a refined hobby but also an essential part of many people's spiritual lives. However, there is currently a lack of a dedicated online platform where plant lovers can effectively connect, share knowledge, and interact with one another. For these reasons, this project aims to design and develop a social networking system specifically for the plant lover community. The goal is to create a friendly and functional online space where members can post articles, share photos, discuss topics, make friends, send messages, and interact with others who share the same passion. Additionally, the system allows users to create private groups, exchange plants and gardening supplies, and conveniently share plant care experiences. The website is built on Apache/Nginx/IIS servers, using PHP programming language (version 7.4+) combined with MySQL 5.0+ for data management. The system integrates extended PHP libraries such as mysqli, mbstring, and curl, as well as the GD graphics library and core PHP functions including allow_url_fopen() and mail() to ensure high performance and rich interactivity. The entire system is designed for stability, easy maintenance, and scalability in the future. With the technologies applied and a wide range of features, this project hopes to strengthen the plant-loving community and provide a practical and beneficial platform for people who share the same interest across the country.