Project E: Contact Form

Scenario

A company wants to collect contact details from visitors to its website. When someone fills out the contact form, their information must be saved in a PostgreSQL database and an email must be sent.

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What You Need to Create

A Spring Boot REST API with:

1. A public contact form - anyone can submit their contact details
2. A protected admin panel - to view and manage received contacts
3. An email system - automatic notifications

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The Flow

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Form Preview (Frontend)

Here is what the form should look like on the webpage:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    CONTACT US                           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                         │
│  Full Name *                   Company                  │
│  ┌─────────────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────────┐│
│  │ Your name               │    │ Your company name   ││
│  └─────────────────────────┘    └─────────────────────┘│
│                                                         │
│  Email *                         Phone                  │
│  ┌─────────────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────────┐│
│  │ your@company.com        │    │ Your phone number   ││
│  └─────────────────────────┘    └─────────────────────┘│
│                                                         │
│  Request Type *                                         │
│  ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──┐│
│  │ Select request type                            │ v││
│  ├─────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──┤│
│  │ > Select request type                             ││
│  │   Information request                             ││
│  │   Quote request                                   ││
│  │   Technical support                               ││
│  │   Partnership                                     ││
│  │   Other                                           ││
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│                                                         │
│  Message *                                              │
│  ┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐│
│  │ Describe your request, your budget,                ││
│  │ and your deadlines...                              ││
│  │                                                    ││
│  │                                                    ││
│  └────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘│
│                                                         │
│            ┌─────────────────────┐                      │
│            │      SEND           │                      │
│            └─────────────────────┘                      │
│                                                         │
│  * Required fields                                      │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Form Fields:

Field	HTML Type	Validation
Full Name	<input type="text">	Required
Company	<input type="text">	Optional
Email	<input type="email">	Required, email format
Phone	<input type="tel">	Optional
Request Type	<select>	Required
Message	<textarea>	Required, min 10 characters

Options for "Request Type" field:

Value	Display
INFO	Information request
QUOTE	Quote request
SUPPORT	Technical support
PARTNERSHIP	Partnership
OTHER	Other

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Endpoints to Create

Public Endpoint (no authentication)

Method	URL	Description
POST	/api/contact	Submit the form

Form Data:

• fullName (required)
• company (optional)
• email (required)
• phone (optional)
• requestType (required) - selection list
• message (required)

Admin Endpoints (with JWT)

Method	URL	Description
GET	/api/admin/leads	List of contacts
GET	/api/admin/leads/\{id\}	Contact details
PUT	/api/admin/leads/\{id\}/status	Change status
DELETE	/api/admin/leads/\{id\}	Delete

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Class Diagram

Here is a proposed structure. You can modify, add, or simplify as needed.

Design Freedom

This diagram is a suggestion. You are free to:

• Add classes (e.g., LeadNote for internal notes)
• Add fields (e.g., company, source)
• Modify relationships
• Simplify if you find it too complex

The important thing is that your solution works and is well-structured.

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Database

Create these tables in PostgreSQL:

Table leads

• id (primary key)
• full_name
• company
• email (unique)
• phone
• request_type (INFO, QUOTE, SUPPORT, PARTNERSHIP, OTHER)
• message
• status (NEW, CONTACTED, CONVERTED, LOST)
• created_at

Table users (for admins)

• id
• email
• password
• role

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Emails to Send

1. When someone submits the form:

   • Email to admin: "New contact received"
   • Email to visitor: "Thank you, we have received your message"

2. Use @Async to avoid blocking the request

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Configuration

# application.yml
spring:
  datasource:
    url: jdbc:postgresql://localhost:5432/contactdb
    username: postgres
    password: postgres
  
  mail:
    host: localhost
    port: 1025  # MailHog for testing

To test emails locally:

docker run -d -p 1025:1025 -p 8025:8025 mailhog/mailhog

View emails at http://localhost:8025

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Tests to Write

• POST /api/contact with valid data → returns 200
• POST /api/contact with invalid email → returns 400
• GET /api/admin/leads without token → returns 401
• GET /api/admin/leads with token → returns the list

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Evaluation

Criteria	Points
Endpoint POST /api/contact works	20
Data saved in PostgreSQL	20
Emails sent	15
Admin endpoints protected by JWT	20
Tests	15
Clean code	10
Total	100

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Getting Started

1. Create the project on start.spring.io with:

   • Spring Web
   • Spring Data JPA
   • Spring Security
   • Spring Mail
   • Validation
   • PostgreSQL Driver
   • Lombok

2. Create the Lead entity

3. Create the LeadRepository

4. Create the ContactController with POST /api/contact

5. Test with curl or Postman

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Deliverables

• Code on GitHub
• README with instructions
• Postman collection for testing

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