blog

app/Http/Controllers/Web/BlogController.php

@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Http\Controllers\Web;
+
+use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
+use App\Models\Article;
+
+class BlogController extends Controller
+{
+    public function index()
+    {
+        $articles = Article::published()
+            ->orderByDesc('published_at')
+            ->paginate(12);
+
+        return view('blog.index', compact('articles'));
+    }
+
+    public function show(Article $article)
+    {
+        abort_unless($article->is_published, 404);
+
+        return view('blog.show', compact('article'));
+    }
+}

app/Http/Controllers/Web/SitemapController.php

@@ -66,11 +66,26 @@ class SitemapController extends Controller
     {
         $xml = $this->cacheService->remember(
             'sitemap:jobs',
-            1800, // 30 minutes cache (jobs change more frequently)
+            1800,
             fn() => $this->sitemapService->generateJobsSitemap()
         );
 
         return response($xml, 200)
             ->header('Content-Type', 'application/xml');
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Generate and serve blog sitemap
+     */
+    public function blogSitemap(): Response
+    {
+        $xml = $this->cacheService->remember(
+            'sitemap:blog',
+            3600,
+            fn() => $this->sitemapService->generateBlogSitemap()
+        );
+
+        return response($xml, 200)
+            ->header('Content-Type', 'application/xml');
+    }
 }

app/Models/Article.php

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace App\Models;
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
+use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
+use Illuminate\Support\Str;
+
+class Article extends Model
+{
+    protected $fillable = [
+        'title',
+        'slug',
+        'excerpt',
+        'body',
+        'published_at',
+    ];
+
+    protected function casts(): array
+    {
+        return [
+            'published_at' => 'datetime',
+        ];
+    }
+
+    protected static function boot(): void
+    {
+        parent::boot();
+
+        static::creating(function (Article $article) {
+            if (empty($article->slug)) {
+                $article->slug = static::generateUniqueSlug($article->title);
+            }
+        });
+
+        static::updating(function (Article $article) {
+            if ($article->isDirty('title') && empty($article->slug)) {
+                $article->slug = static::generateUniqueSlug($article->title);
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    public static function generateUniqueSlug(string $title): string
+    {
+        $baseSlug = Str::limit(Str::slug($title), 200, '');
+        $slug = $baseSlug;
+        $counter = 1;
+
+        while (static::where('slug', $slug)->exists()) {
+            $slug = $baseSlug . '-' . $counter;
+            $counter++;
+        }
+
+        return $slug;
+    }
+
+    public function scopePublished(Builder $query): Builder
+    {
+        return $query->whereNotNull('published_at')->where('published_at', '<=', now());
+    }
+
+    public function getIsPublishedAttribute(): bool
+    {
+        return $this->published_at !== null && $this->published_at->isPast();
+    }
+
+    public function getRouteKeyName(): string
+    {
+        return 'slug';
+    }
+}

app/Services/SitemapService.php

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 namespace App\Services;
 
+use App\Models\Article;
 use App\Models\Job;
 use App\Models\JobCategory;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\URL;
@@ -92,6 +93,9 @@ class SitemapService
         // Add jobs sitemap
         $this->addSitemapToIndex($xml, route('sitemap.jobs'), now());
 
+        // Add blog sitemap
+        $this->addSitemapToIndex($xml, route('sitemap.blog'), now());
+
         return $xml->asXML();
     }
 
@@ -105,6 +109,31 @@ class SitemapService
         $sitemapElement->addChild('lastmod', $lastmod->format('Y-m-d'));
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Generate blog sitemap
+     */
+    public function generateBlogSitemap(): string
+    {
+        $xml = new \SimpleXMLElement('<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9"></urlset>');
+
+        $this->addUrl($xml, route('blog.index'), now(), 'daily', '0.8');
+
+        Article::published()
+            ->orderByDesc('published_at')
+            ->get(['slug', 'published_at', 'updated_at'])
+            ->each(function (Article $article) use ($xml) {
+                $this->addUrl(
+                    $xml,
+                    route('blog.show', $article),
+                    $article->updated_at,
+                    'monthly',
+                    '0.7'
+                );
+            });
+
+        return $xml->asXML();
+    }
+
     /**
      * Generate main sitemap (static pages and categories)
      */

database/migrations/2026_05_01_000001_create_articles_table.php

@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+<?php
+
+use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
+use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
+use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
+
+return new class extends Migration
+{
+    public function up(): void
+    {
+        Schema::create('articles', function (Blueprint $table) {
+            $table->id();
+            $table->string('title');
+            $table->string('slug')->unique();
+            $table->text('excerpt')->nullable();
+            $table->longText('body');
+            $table->timestamp('published_at')->nullable();
+            $table->timestamps();
+
+            $table->index('published_at');
+        });
+    }
+
+    public function down(): void
+    {
+        Schema::dropIfExists('articles');
+    }
+};

resources/views/blog/index.blade.php

@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+@extends('layouts.app')
+
+@section('title', 'Blog - JobifyGarden')
+@section('description', 'Career advice, job search tips, and hiring insights from the JobifyGarden team.')
+@section('canonical', route('blog.index'))
+
+@section('content')
+<div class="max-w-7xl mx-auto px-4 sm:px-6 lg:px-8 py-12">
+    <div class="mb-10">
+        <h1 class="text-4xl font-bold text-gray-900">Blog</h1>
+        <p class="text-gray-600 mt-2">Career advice, job search tips, and hiring insights.</p>
+    </div>
+
+    @if($articles->isEmpty())
+        <div class="bg-white rounded-lg shadow-sm border border-gray-200 p-12 text-center">
+            <p class="text-gray-500 text-lg">No articles published yet. Check back soon.</p>
+        </div>
+    @else
+        <div class="grid grid-cols-1 md:grid-cols-2 lg:grid-cols-3 gap-8">
+            @foreach($articles as $article)
+            <article class="bg-white rounded-lg shadow-sm border border-gray-200 overflow-hidden hover:shadow-md transition-shadow duration-200 flex flex-col">
+                <div class="p-6 flex flex-col flex-1">
+                    <div class="text-xs text-gray-500 mb-3">
+                        {{ $article->published_at->format('M j, Y') }}
+                    </div>
+                    <h2 class="text-xl font-semibold text-gray-900 mb-3 leading-snug">
+                        <a href="{{ route('blog.show', $article) }}" class="hover:text-emerald-600">
+                            {{ $article->title }}
+                        </a>
+                    </h2>
+                    @if($article->excerpt)
+                    <p class="text-gray-600 text-sm flex-1 mb-4">{{ $article->excerpt }}</p>
+                    @endif
+                    <a href="{{ route('blog.show', $article) }}"
+                       class="inline-flex items-center text-sm font-medium text-emerald-600 hover:text-emerald-700 mt-auto">
+                        Read more
+                        <svg class="ml-1 w-4 h-4" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
+                            <path stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" d="M9 5l7 7-7 7"/>
+                        </svg>
+                    </a>
+                </div>
+            </article>
+            @endforeach
+        </div>
+
+        <div class="mt-10">
+            {{ $articles->links() }}
+        </div>
+    @endif
+</div>
+@endsection

resources/views/blog/show.blade.php

@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+@extends('layouts.app')
+
+@section('title', $article->title . ' - JobifyGarden Blog')
+@section('description', $article->excerpt ?? Str::limit(strip_tags($article->body), 155))
+@section('canonical', route('blog.show', $article))
+
+@push('structured_data')
+<script type="application/ld+json">
+{!! json_encode([
+    '@context' => 'https://schema.org',
+    '@type'    => 'BlogPosting',
+    'headline' => $article->title,
+    'description' => $article->excerpt ?? Str::limit(strip_tags($article->body), 155),
+    'datePublished' => $article->published_at->toIso8601String(),
+    'dateModified'  => $article->updated_at->toIso8601String(),
+    'url' => route('blog.show', $article),
+    'publisher' => ['@type' => 'Organization', 'name' => 'JobifyGarden'],
+], JSON_UNESCAPED_SLASHES | JSON_PRETTY_PRINT) !!}
+</script>
+@endpush
+
+@section('content')
+<div class="max-w-3xl mx-auto px-4 sm:px-6 lg:px-8 py-12">
+    <!-- Back -->
+    <div class="mb-8">
+        <a href="{{ route('blog.index') }}" class="inline-flex items-center text-emerald-600 hover:text-emerald-700 text-sm">
+            <svg class="w-4 h-4 mr-1" fill="none" stroke="currentColor" viewBox="0 0 24 24">
+                <path stroke-linecap="round" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke-width="2" d="M15 19l-7-7 7-7"/>
+            </svg>
+            Back to Blog
+        </a>
+    </div>
+
+    <article class="bg-white rounded-lg shadow-sm border border-gray-200 p-8 sm:p-12">
+        <header class="mb-8 pb-8 border-b border-gray-200">
+            <div class="text-sm text-gray-500 mb-3">{{ $article->published_at->format('F j, Y') }}</div>
+            <h1 class="text-3xl sm:text-4xl font-bold text-gray-900 leading-tight">{{ $article->title }}</h1>
+            @if($article->excerpt)
+            <p class="mt-4 text-xl text-gray-600 leading-relaxed">{{ $article->excerpt }}</p>
+            @endif
+        </header>
+
+        <div class="prose prose-emerald max-w-none text-gray-700 leading-relaxed">
+            {!! nl2br(e($article->body)) !!}
+        </div>
+    </article>
+</div>
+@endsection

resources/views/layouts/app.blade.php

@@ -80,6 +80,10 @@
                                class="inline-flex items-center px-1 pt-1 text-sm font-medium {{ request()->routeIs('jobs.remote') ? 'border-b-2 border-emerald-500 text-gray-900' : 'text-gray-500 hover:text-gray-700 hover:border-gray-300' }}">
                                 Remote Jobs
                             </a>
+                            <a href="{{ route('blog.index') }}"
+                               class="inline-flex items-center px-1 pt-1 text-sm font-medium {{ request()->routeIs('blog.*') ? 'border-b-2 border-emerald-500 text-gray-900' : 'text-gray-500 hover:text-gray-700 hover:border-gray-300' }}">
+                                Blog
+                            </a>
                         </div>
                     </div>
 
@@ -139,6 +143,10 @@
                        class="block pl-3 pr-4 py-2 border-l-4 text-base font-medium {{ request()->routeIs('jobs.remote') ? 'border-emerald-500 text-emerald-700 bg-emerald-50' : 'border-transparent text-gray-500 hover:bg-gray-50 hover:border-gray-300 hover:text-gray-700' }}">
                         Remote Jobs
                     </a>
+                    <a href="{{ route('blog.index') }}"
+                       class="block pl-3 pr-4 py-2 border-l-4 text-base font-medium {{ request()->routeIs('blog.*') ? 'border-emerald-500 text-emerald-700 bg-emerald-50' : 'border-transparent text-gray-500 hover:bg-gray-50 hover:border-gray-300 hover:text-gray-700' }}">
+                        Blog
+                    </a>
                 </div>
                 <div class="pt-2 pb-3 border-t border-gray-200 space-y-1">
                     @auth

routes/web.php

@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 use App\Http\Controllers\Admin\DashboardController;
 use App\Http\Controllers\ProfileController;
+use App\Http\Controllers\Web\BlogController;
 use App\Http\Controllers\Web\BookmarkController;
 use App\Http\Controllers\Web\HomeController;
 use App\Http\Controllers\Web\JobController;
@@ -26,11 +27,18 @@ Route::prefix('jobs')->group(function () {
     Route::get('/{job:slug}', [JobController::class, 'show'])->name('jobs.show');
 });
 
+// Blog routes
+Route::prefix('blog')->name('blog.')->group(function () {
+    Route::get('/', [BlogController::class, 'index'])->name('index');
+    Route::get('/{article:slug}', [BlogController::class, 'show'])->name('show');
+});
+
 // Sitemap routes
 Route::get('/sitemap.xml', [SitemapController::class, 'index'])->name('sitemap');
 Route::get('/sitemap-index.xml', [SitemapController::class, 'sitemapIndex'])->name('sitemap.index');
 Route::get('/sitemap-main.xml', [SitemapController::class, 'mainSitemap'])->name('sitemap.main');
 Route::get('/sitemap-jobs.xml', [SitemapController::class, 'jobsSitemap'])->name('sitemap.jobs');
+Route::get('/sitemap-blog.xml', [SitemapController::class, 'blogSitemap'])->name('sitemap.blog');
 
 // Authenticated user routes
 Route::middleware('auth')->group(function () {