Part 1: Getting Started with Django Tweet Project

Prerequisites

Before we begin, ensure you have the following installed on your system:

1. Python: Python 3.6 or later.

2. Django: The web framework we will use to build our project.

3. Virtual Environment: To manage dependencies for your project.

Introduction

Hello! I'm Dhruv, and in this blog series, I'll be documenting the process of creating a Tweet Project using Django. This project aims to simulate a simplified version of a Twitter-like application where users can post tweets, view them, and interact with them. In Part 1, we will set up our development environment, create our Django project, and set up a basic structure.

Step-by-Step Guide

1. Create Project Directory

First, let's create a directory for our project. Open your terminal and navigate to the path where you want to create your project folder, then execute:

mkdir tweet-demo-project
cd tweet-demo-project

2. Set Up Virtual Environment

Next, we'll set up a virtual environment to manage our project's dependencies. Run the following commands:

python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate  # On Windows
source .venv/bin/activate  # On macOS/Linux

3. Install Django

With the virtual environment activated, install Django and upgrade pip:

pip install django
python.exe -m pip install --upgrade pip

To keep track of our project dependencies, create a requirements.txt file:

pip freeze > requirements.txt

4. Create Django Project

Now, we'll create our Django project. Run:

django-admin startproject tweetdemo
cd tweetdemo
python manage.py runserver

You should see an output indicating the server is running. Open your browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/ to see the default Django welcome page.

5. Make Migrations and Apply Migrations

Before applying the initial migrations, we need to create them. This sets up the database schema according to the models defined in Django's default apps. Run:

python manage.py makemigrations

Now, apply the migrations to set up the database:

python manage.py migrate

6. Create Superuser

Create a superuser to access the Django admin interface:

python manage.py createsuperuser

Enter the required information (username, email, password) when prompted.

7. Configure Static and Media Files

Open settings.py and add the following configurations to handle static and media files:

import os

STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')]

MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'media')

Here’s a breakdown:

• STATIC_URL: This is the URL prefix for serving static files (CSS, JavaScript, images).

• STATICFILES_DIRS: This tells Django where to look for additional static files.

• MEDIA_URL: This is the URL prefix for serving user-uploaded files.

• MEDIA_ROOT: This is the file system path to the directory that will hold user-uploaded files.

Create the necessary directories:

mkdir static
mkdir media

8. Update URLs for Media Files

In urls.py, add the following imports and configurations to serve media files during development:

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

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
] + static(settings.MEDIA_URL, document_root=settings.MEDIA_ROOT)

Here’s a breakdown:

• settings: Importing settings allows us to access the MEDIA_URL and MEDIA_ROOT configurations.

• static: The static function is used to serve static and media files during development.

9. Create Tweet App

Create a new Django app named tweet:

python manage.py startapp tweet

10. Register Tweet App

Tell our tweetdemo project about the tweet app. In tweetdemo/settings.py, add 'tweet', to the INSTALLED_APPS list:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'tweet',
]

The INSTALLED_APPS list contains all Django applications that are activated in this Django instance. Adding 'tweet' allows Django to include the configurations and models of the tweet app.

Also, update the TEMPLATES setting to include a templates directory:

'DIRS': [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')],

Here’s a breakdown:

• DIRS: This is a list of directories where the DjangoTemplates backend will search for templates.

11. Link Tweet App URLs

In tweetdemo/urls.py, include the tweet app URLs:

from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('tweet/', include('tweet.urls')),
] + static(settings.MEDIA_URL, document_root=settings.MEDIA_ROOT)

Here’s a breakdown:

• include: The include function allows referencing other URL configurations. This is used to include the tweet app's URL patterns in the main URL configuration.

12. Create a View in Tweet App

In tweet/views.py, create a simple index view:

from django.shortcuts import render

def index(request):
    return render(request, 'index.html')

13. Set Up Tweet App URLs

Create a urls.py file in the tweet app and link the index view:

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.index, name='index'),
]

14. Create Template for Tweet App

Create a templates folder within the tweet app and add an index.html file:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Tweet Project</title>
    <style>
        body {
            background-color: #000;
            color: #FFF;
        }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>TWEET INDEX TEMPLATE</h1>
</body>
</html>

15. Test the Setup

Run the development server:

python manage.py runserver

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/tweet/ in your browser to see the index template.

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This concludes Part 1 of our Django Tweet Project. We have set up the project, created a basic structure, and ensured everything is running smoothly. Stay tuned for Part 2, where we will dive deeper into building out the Tweet functionality.