Windows macOS / Linux Verify Git is installed

git --version

All OS Run once after installing Git

git config --global user.name "Your Full Name"
git config --global user.email "youremail@gmail.com"

Create this as config.example.php — commit this, NOT config.php

<?php
// Copy this file to config.php and fill in your database details
// NEVER commit config.php to GitHub — it is in .gitignore

define('DB_HOST', 'localhost');
define('DB_NAME', 'your_database_name');
define('DB_USER', 'your_mysql_username');
define('DB_PASS', 'your_mysql_password');

$conn = mysqli_connect(DB_HOST, DB_USER, DB_PASS, DB_NAME);

if (!$conn) {
    die("Connection failed: " . mysqli_connect_error());
}
?>

Copy this template into your README.md

# 🌐 [Your Project Name]

[![PHP](https://img.shields.io/badge/PHP-8.x-777BB4)](https://php.net)
[![MySQL](https://img.shields.io/badge/MySQL-8.0-E07D10)](https://mysql.com)
[![License: MIT](https://img.shields.io/badge/License-MIT-yellow.svg)](LICENSE)

> A brief one-sentence description of what your system does and who it is for.

🔗 **[Live Demo](YOUR_DEMO_URL)** | 📖 **[Documentation](link)** | 🎓 Final Year Project

---

## ✨ Features

- [Main feature 1 — e.g. Admin dashboard with real-time billing summary]
- [Main feature 2 — e.g. Automated monthly bill generation for all active customers]
- [Main feature 3 — e.g. Role-based access control (Admin / Staff / Customer)]
- [Main feature 4]
- [Main feature 5]

## 🛠 Tech Stack

| Category    | Technology              |
|-------------|-------------------------|
| Backend     | PHP 8.x                 |
| Database    | MySQL 8.0               |
| Frontend    | HTML5, CSS3, Bootstrap 4|
| Local Server| XAMPP / WAMP / Laragon  |
| Version Ctrl| Git + GitHub            |

## 🚀 Local Setup — Get Running in 5 Minutes

### Prerequisites
- XAMPP (or WAMP/Laragon) installed and running
- Apache and MySQL services started
- A web browser

### Installation Steps
1. Clone this repository into your XAMPP htdocs folder:
   ```
   git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPO-NAME.git
   ```
2. Open phpMyAdmin at http://localhost/phpmyadmin
3. Create a new database named `isp_db` (or your project's database name)
4. Import the SQL file: Click Import → Choose `database/isp_db.sql` → Go
5. Copy the example config: `cp config.example.php config.php`
6. Open `config.php` and update with your database details:
   ```php
   define('DB_NAME', 'isp_db');    // your database name
   define('DB_USER', 'root');       // usually 'root' on XAMPP
   define('DB_PASS', '');           // usually blank on XAMPP
   ```
7. Visit: http://localhost/YOUR-REPO-NAME/

### Default Login
| Role  | Username | Password    |
|-------|----------|-------------|
| Admin | admin    | 12345678    |

⚠️ Change the default password immediately after first login.

## 📸 Screenshots

| Dashboard | Customer Management |
|-----------|-------------------|
| ![Dashboard](screenshots/dashboard.png) | ![Customers](screenshots/customers.png) |

## 🔧 Key Technical Details

**Database Design:** [Brief description of your main tables and relationships]

**Main Technical Challenge:** [Describe one specific technical problem you solved — 
e.g. "Implemented duplicate-prevention logic in the billing module to ensure 
only one bill per customer per month is generated, using a SQL EXISTS check 
before each INSERT."]

**Security Measures:** Session-based authentication, prepared statements for 
all database queries, input validation on all form fields.

## 📬 Contact

**[Your Name]** — [your.email@gmail.com]

[![LinkedIn](https://img.shields.io/badge/LinkedIn-Connect-blue)](YOUR-LINKEDIN-URL)
[![GitHub](https://img.shields.io/badge/GitHub-Follow-black)](https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME)

---
⭐ If this project helped you, please give it a star on GitHub!

Windows Navigate to your project in XAMPP htdocs

# Replace "isp-management-system" with your actual project folder name
cd C:\xampp\htdocs\isp-management-system

# Confirm you are in the right folder — lists all files
dir

macOS Navigate to your project in MAMP

# Replace "isp-management-system" with your actual project folder name
cd /Applications/MAMP/htdocs/isp-management-system

# Confirm you are in the right folder
ls

Run these commands in order — read each comment first

# Step 1: Initialise Git in your project folder
# Creates a hidden .git folder that tracks all your changes
git init

# Step 2: Check what Git can see — should show your files
# Files in red = untracked. Files that should NOT be here = your .gitignore is wrong
git status

# Step 3: Stage all files for your first commit
# The dot (.) means "everything in this folder"
# Git will automatically skip anything listed in .gitignore
git add .

# Step 4: Check staged files — everything should now be green
git status

# Step 5: Make your first commit
# This saves a snapshot of your project with a message describing what it is
git commit -m "Initial commit: ISP Management System in PHP and MySQL"

# Step 6: Rename the default branch from 'master' to 'main'
# GitHub uses 'main' by default since 2020 — this keeps them consistent
git branch -M main

# Step 7: Connect your local project to your GitHub repository
# IMPORTANT: Replace YOUR-USERNAME and YOUR-REPO-NAME with your actual details
git remote add origin https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/YOUR-REPO-NAME.git

# Step 8: Push your project to GitHub
# -u sets 'origin main' as the default — future pushes only need 'git push'
git push -u origin main

Run after making any changes to your project

# See what changed since your last commit
git status

# Stage all changes (or replace . with specific filename)
git add .

# Commit with a descriptive message — NOT "update" or "fix"
git commit -m "Add PDF export feature to billing module"

# Push to GitHub — since you used -u earlier, this is all you need
git push