PGLIFE: A full-stack web-based PG accommodation management system

Abstract:

Student housing in urban academic environments remains a persistent logistical challenge, often linked to manual search processes, unverified listings, and the absence of structured booking and communication mechanisms. A web-based Paying Guest accommodation management system was developed to address these limitations. The system supports three distinct roles: students, PG owners, and administrators, each operating within a dedicated workflow. Students can discover PGs by city, apply filters, mark favorites, book rooms, cancel bookings, chat with owners, submit reviews, and report issues. Owners can register, submit PG listings for administrative review, and communicate with prospective tenants. Administrators verify and approve listings before publication, ensuring platform reliability. The backend is implemented in PHP with a MySQL relational database, while the frontend uses HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, and JavaScript. Email notifications are delivered through PHPMailer integrated with Gmail SMTP. A rule-based natural language search assistant is included to support budget- and preference-based PG discovery. The system demonstrated consistent end-to-end functionality across all major workflows including booking, cancellation with refund computation, multi-role authentication, and moderation. This platform provides a practical foundation for digitizing the PG accommodation ecosystem in student-dense urban settings.