Boilerplate: Create A New Django Site/Project

Introduction

These are the basic Mac commands to create a new Django site (aka project). I expect the commands should work on most linux installs too, but haven't had a chance to check it. I'll do that and add a Windows version as time allows. There's also more about the process in the Boilerplate Details section further below.

Boilerplate Steps

Specify the name for your site/project directory and intial module name (which I default to site_files for consistency):

Directory Name: Module Name:

Run these Mac commands

The last step will be to create a superuser accont which you'll need to fill out some details for. I use "admin" for the username, keep the email blank, and use a simple password when I'm making test boilerplate sites, but you can use whatever you want.

terminal commands

type deactivate &> /dev/null && deactivate
mkdir django_example 
cd django_example
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip
python -m pip install Django
django-admin startproject site_files
git init
echo "venv" > .gitignore
echo ".env" >> .gitignore
echo "*.log" >> .gitignore
echo "*.pot" >> .gitignore
echo "*.pyc" >> .gitignore
echo "__pycache__" >> .gitignore
echo "db.sqlite3" >> .gitignore
echo "media" >> .gitignore
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git checkout -b dev
cd site_files
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py createsuperuser

Start the server
terminal commands
```
python manage.py runserver
```
Verify the default home page shows up

link

http://127.0.0.1:8000/ ↗

Next Steps

That's it for the site creation. If you're setting up for a new boilerplate example, the next step is:

Boilerplate: Add Basic Template And Static File Handling In Django

Boilerplate Details

The commands work on a Mac. They migth work on any given linux install. I'll make a Windows version when I have the resources to work on it.
The process creates a directory with your specified name. It then creates a django site/project inside it using the Module Name you defined. I go with "site_files" for consistency among my sites. Most instructions I see use a more specific name, but I haven't been able to determine if there's a reason to not stick with a generic one.
The process creates a Python virtual environment and activates it. Django is then installed inside it to avoid messing with the system install of Python.
The process creates a git repo and .gitignore file that ignore the .env file, venv directory, db.sqlite3 database, and some other python/django related files that don't need to be stored.
The intiail code is committed to the git repo and a new branch named dev is created and checked out to work on.
All the initial database migrations are run to set up the database.
The createsuperuser command is run at the end to prompt for super user account details.

~ fin ~