Set up Django project

Django Setup Guide

This guide will help you set up a Django project from scratch.

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Prerequisites

Make sure you have the following installed:

• Python (3.12 or later is recommended)
• pip (Python package manager)
• Virtualenv (optional but recommended)
• PostgreSQL (for production, if required)
• SQLite (default for development)

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Steps to Set Up a Django Project

Install Django

Create and Activate a Virtual Environment

# Create a virtual environment
python3 -m venv env

# Activate the virtual environment (MacOS/Linux)
source env/bin/activate

# Activate the virtual environment (Windows)
.env\Scripts\activate

Install Django

pip install django

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Create a Django Project

django-admin startproject project_name
cd project_name

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Run the Development Server

To verify that Django is installed and working:

python manage.py runserver

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/ in your web browser. You should see the Django welcome page.

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Configure Database Settings

By default, Django uses SQLite. To use PostgreSQL or another database, edit settings.py:

Example Configuration for PostgreSQL:

Install the PostgreSQL driver:

pip install psycopg2

Modify DATABASES in settings.py:

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
        'NAME': 'your_database_name',
        'USER': 'your_username',
        'PASSWORD': 'your_password',
        'HOST': 'localhost',
        'PORT': '5432',
    }
}

Apply migrations to set up the database schema:

python manage.py migrate

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Create a Superuser

Create an admin user to access the Django admin panel:

python manage.py createsuperuser

Follow the prompts to set up the username, email, and password.

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Add an App

Create a New App

python manage.py startapp app_name

Register the App

Add the app to the INSTALLED_APPS list in settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'app_name',
]

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Configure Static and Media Files

Static Files

Add the following to settings.py:

STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [BASE_DIR / 'static']
STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / 'staticfiles'

Collect static files:

python manage.py collectstatic

Media Files

Add the following to settings.py:

MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / 'media'

Update urls.py to serve media files in development:

from django.conf import settings
from django.conf.urls.static import static

if settings.DEBUG:
    urlpatterns += static(settings.MEDIA_URL, document_root=settings.MEDIA_ROOT)

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Set Up Git (Optional)

Initialize Git

git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

Create a .gitignore File

touch .gitignore

Add the following to .gitignore:

*.pyc
__pycache__/
.env
/staticfiles/
/media/

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Deploy to Production

For deploying to production, consider using:

• PostgreSQL as the database
• Gunicorn as the WSGI server
• Nginx for serving static files
• Docker for containerization

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Additional Resources

• Django Documentation
• Django Tutorials
• Virtualenv Documentation