Creating a Django project - Try It Yourself

Creating a Django Project

📖 Scenario: You want to start a new website project using Django, a popular web framework in Python. This project will guide you through creating the basic Django project setup step-by-step.

🎯 Goal: Build a new Django project named mywebsite with the default settings and a basic app called main.

📋 What You'll Learn

Create a new Django project named mywebsite

Create a new Django app named main inside the project

Add the main app to the project’s INSTALLED_APPS list

Create a simple view in main/views.py that returns a plain text response

Configure the project’s urls.py to route the home page to the main app’s view

💡 Why This Matters

🌍 Real World

Starting a Django project is the first step to building websites and web apps with Python. This setup is the foundation for adding pages, data, and user features.

💼 Career

Many web developer jobs require knowledge of Django project structure, app creation, and URL routing to build maintainable web applications.

1

Create the Django project

Run the command django-admin startproject mywebsite in your terminal to create a new Django project folder named mywebsite.

Django

# Run the command django-admin startproject mywebsite in your terminal
# Your code here

Hint

Open your terminal or command prompt and type exactly django-admin startproject mywebsite then press Enter.

2

Create the Django app

Inside the mywebsite folder, run the command python manage.py startapp main to create a new app called main.

Django

# Run the command python manage.py startapp main inside the mywebsite folder
# Your code here

Hint

Change directory into mywebsite and run python manage.py startapp main.

3

Add the app to INSTALLED_APPS

Open mywebsite/settings.py and add the string 'main' to the INSTALLED_APPS list.

Django

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    # Add your app here
]
# Your code here

Hint

Find the INSTALLED_APPS list in settings.py and add 'main' as a new item.

4

Create a view and route the home page

In main/views.py, create a function home that returns HttpResponse("Hello, Django!"). Then, in mywebsite/urls.py, import home and add a URL pattern for the root path '' to call home.

Django

from django.http import HttpResponse

# In main/views.py
# Define a view function called home

# In mywebsite/urls.py
# Import home and add a path for '' to home
# Your code here

Hint

Define the home function in main/views.py and return a simple HttpResponse. Then update urls.py to route the root URL to this view.

Practice

1. What is the correct command to create a new Django project named mywebsite?

easy

A. django-admin startproject mywebsite

B. django startproject mywebsite

C. django-admin createproject mywebsite

D. django-admin newproject mywebsite

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the Django project creation command

   The official command to create a new Django project is django-admin startproject projectname.

2. Step 2: Match the command with the project name

   Replacing projectname with mywebsite gives django-admin startproject mywebsite.

3. Final Answer:

   django-admin startproject mywebsite -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Correct command = django-admin startproject mywebsite [OK]

Hint: Use 'django-admin startproject' plus your project name [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Using 'django startproject' instead of 'django-admin startproject'
• Using 'createproject' or 'newproject' which are invalid commands
• Forgetting to specify the project name

2. Which of the following commands has the correct syntax to create a Django project called blog?

easy

A. django-admin startproject blog

B. django-admin start project blog

C. django-admin startprojectblog

D. django-admin create project blog

Solution

1. Step 1: Check the command syntax

   The correct syntax is django-admin startproject projectname without spaces inside the command words.

2. Step 2: Identify the correct option

   django-admin startproject blog matches the correct syntax exactly: django-admin startproject blog.

3. Final Answer:

   django-admin startproject blog -> Option A

4. Quick Check:

   Correct syntax = django-admin startproject blog [OK]

Hint: No spaces inside 'startproject', write as one word [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Adding spaces inside 'startproject' command
• Combining command and project name without space
• Using 'create' instead of 'startproject'

3. After running django-admin startproject testsite, which folder structure will be created?

medium

A. A folder named testsite with only one file settings.py

B. A folder named testsite containing only manage.py file

C. A folder named testsite containing manage.py and urls.py only

D. A folder named testsite containing manage.py and a subfolder testsite with settings files

Solution

1. Step 1: Recall Django project folder structure

   Running django-admin startproject testsite creates a folder testsite with manage.py and a subfolder testsite containing settings.py, urls.py, asgi.py, and wsgi.py.

2. Step 2: Match the correct folder structure

   A folder named testsite containing manage.py and a subfolder testsite with settings files correctly describes this structure with manage.py and a subfolder testsite holding settings files.

3. Final Answer:

   Folder with manage.py and subfolder testsite with settings files -> Option D

4. Quick Check:

   Default Django project structure = A folder named testsite containing manage.py and a subfolder testsite with settings files [OK]

Hint: Remember: project folder has manage.py plus inner folder with settings [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Expecting all files in one folder without subfolder
• Thinking only manage.py is created
• Confusing project folder and app folder structure

4. You ran django-admin startproject mysite but got an error: django-admin: command not found. What is the likely cause?

medium

A. You need to run the command inside an existing Django project folder

B. You typed the project name incorrectly

C. Django is not installed or not in your system PATH

D. The command should be django startproject mysite

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand the error message

   The error django-admin: command not found means the system cannot find the django-admin command.

2. Step 2: Identify the cause

   This usually happens if Django is not installed or the Python scripts folder is not in your system PATH environment variable.

3. Final Answer:

   Django is not installed or not in your system PATH -> Option C

4. Quick Check:

   Command not found = Django missing or PATH issue [OK]

Hint: Check Django installation and PATH if 'command not found' error appears [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Assuming project name typo causes command not found
• Trying to run command inside project folder before creating it
• Using wrong command syntax instead of fixing PATH

5. You want to create a Django project named shop inside a folder websites that already exists. Which is the correct way to do this?

hard

A. Run django-admin startproject websites/shop from any folder

B. Navigate to the websites folder in terminal, then run django-admin startproject shop

C. Create the shop folder manually inside websites then run django-admin startproject shop

D. Run django-admin startproject shop websites from the parent folder

Solution

1. Step 1: Understand how startproject creates folders

   The startproject command creates a new folder with the project name in the current directory.

2. Step 2: Choose the correct folder navigation

   To create shop inside websites, first go into websites folder, then run django-admin startproject shop.

3. Final Answer:

   Navigate to websites folder, then run django-admin startproject shop -> Option B

4. Quick Check:

   Run command inside target folder to create project there [OK]

Hint: Change directory to target folder before running startproject [OK]

Common Mistakes:

• Trying to specify nested folder in startproject command
• Creating folders manually before running startproject
• Passing folder name as second argument to startproject