Laravel Project — Complete Newbie Guide

Overview (What you'll do)

This guide provides a complete walkthrough for setting up a Laravel project, improving its appearance, and adding international tax functionality. It's designed for beginners but includes advanced techniques.

1 Tools to install (beginner friendly)

Set up your development environment with these essential tools:

• XAMPP or Laragon - Provides PHP, MySQL, and Apache in one installer
• Composer - PHP package manager for Laravel dependencies
• Node.js - Required for frontend asset compilation
• VS Code - Modern code editor with excellent Laravel support
• Optional AI tools: GitHub Copilot Chat, Continue.dev, or Cursor

2 Copy the project locally

1. Copy the entire Laravel folder (including app/, resources/, routes/, and composer.json) to your development directory
2. Open the folder in VS Code using File → Open Folder
3. Verify the project structure in the Explorer view

3 Install PHP & frontend dependencies

Open VS Code terminal (Ctrl+` ) inside the project and run:

composer install    # Install PHP dependencies
npm install         # Install JavaScript dependencies
npm run dev         # Compile frontend assets

4 Create & import the database

1. Start XAMPP/Laragon and open phpMyAdmin (typically at http://localhost/phpmyadmin)
2. Create a new database (e.g., laravel_app)
3. Import your .sql file using the Import tab

mysql -u root -p laravel_app < path/to/yourfile.sql

5 Configure Laravel to use the DB

Update the project's .env file with your database credentials:

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=laravel_app
DB_USERNAME=root
DB_PASSWORD=

If your MySQL installation has a password, add it to the DB_PASSWORD field. Save the file after making changes.

6 Serve the app locally

In the VS Code terminal, run:

php artisan serve

Visit the provided address (typically http://127.0.0.1:8000) in your browser to view the application.

7 Where the homepage text lives

Laravel follows the MVC pattern. To edit homepage content:

1. Check routes/web.php for the root route (Route::get('/', ...))
2. If it returns a view directly (e.g., view('welcome')), edit resources/views/welcome.blade.php
3. If it uses a controller (e.g., HomeController@index), check the controller method to see which view it returns
4. Also check: resources/views/components/, resources/js/components, and resources/lang/ for component-based or localized text
5. For database-driven content, inspect controller queries and the corresponding database tables

9 Improve appearance using Blade + CSS

Modernize the homepage with these techniques:

1. Use a layout file (resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php) for consistent structure
2. Add a responsive hero section with modern styling
3. Update CSS/SCSS files in resources/css and recompile with npm run dev
4. Implement responsive design with media queries or utility classes

<!-- Example hero section -->
<section class="hero bg-gradient-to-r from-blue-500 to-indigo-600 py-20">
  <div class="container mx-auto px-4 text-center">
    <h1 class="text-4xl font-bold text-white mb-4">ReaffordOS</h1>
    <p class="text-xl text-blue-100 max-w-2xl mx-auto">
      A complete product, service receipting, and inventory sales solution.
    </p>
  </div>
</section>

10 Use AI in VS Code to help

AI tools can accelerate your development workflow:

11 Add International Tax Support

We'll implement a flexible tax system that:

• Stores user country and tax enabled status
• Uses config-based tax rates per country
• Provides a TaxService for checkout calculations

php artisan make:migration add_tax_fields_to_users_table --table=users

public function up()
{
  Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->string('country', 2)->nullable()->after('email');
    $table->boolean('tax_enabled')->default(false)->after('country');
  });
}

public function down()
{
  Schema::table('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->dropColumn(['country', 'tax_enabled']);
  });
}

<?php
return [
  // country_code => rate (decimal)
  'US' => 0.07,  // United States
  'CA' => 0.05,  // Canada
  'GB' => 0.20,  // United Kingdom
  'DE' => 0.19,  // Germany
  'FR' => 0.20,  // France
  'AU' => 0.10,  // Australia
  'JP' => 0.08,  // Japan
  // Add more countries as needed
];

<?php
namespace App\Services;

class TaxService
{
  public function calculate(
    float $amount, 
    ?string $country, 
    bool $taxEnabled
  ): array {
    if (!$taxEnabled || empty($country)) {
      return ['tax' => 0.00, 'total' => $amount, 'rate' => 0.0];
    }

    $rates = config('taxes', []);
    $rate = $rates[$country] ?? 0;
    $tax = round($amount * $rate, 2);
    $total = round($amount + $tax, 2);

    return compact('tax', 'total', 'rate');
  }
}

use App\Services\TaxService;

public function checkout(Request $request, TaxService $taxService)
{
  $user = auth()->user();
  $subtotal = Cart::total(); // Example cart total
  
  $taxResult = $taxService->calculate(
    $subtotal, 
    $user->country, 
    $user->tax_enabled
  );
  
  // Access values:
  // $taxResult['tax'], $taxResult['total'], $taxResult['rate']
  
  // Proceed with order creation...
}

<form method="POST" action="{{ route('user.settings.update') }}">
  @csrf
  @method('PUT')
  
  <div class="mb-4">
    <label class="block text-gray-700 mb-2">Country</label>
    <select name="country" class="w-full p-2 border rounded">
      <option value="">Select Country</option>
      <option value="US" {{ $user->country == 'US' ? 'selected' : '' }}>United States</option>
      <option value="CA" {{ $user->country == 'CA' ? 'selected' : '' }}>Canada</option>
      <option value="GB" {{ $user->country == 'GB' ? 'selected' : '' }}>United Kingdom</option>
      <!-- Add more countries -->
    </select>
  </div>
  
  <div class="mb-4">
    <label class="flex items-center">
      <input type="checkbox" name="tax_enabled" value="1" 
        {{ $user->tax_enabled ? 'checked' : '' }} class="mr-2" />
      Enable Tax Calculation
    </label>
  </div>
  
  <button type="submit" class="bg-blue-500 text-white py-2 px-4 rounded">
    Save Settings
  </button>
</form>

12 Git workflow & safety tips

• Initialize Git: git init
• Stage changes: git add .
• Commit: git commit -m "Add international tax feature"
• Work in feature branches: git checkout -b feat/tax-module
• Test changes thoroughly before deployment
• Maintain regular database backups

13 Example AI prompts