Building a Modern LMS with Django, HTMX, and Tailwind CSS — Introducing JakIja

#lms #django #htmx #tailwindcss

What Is JakIja?

Learning Management Systems (LMS) are everywhere, but building one that is
JakIja is an open-source Learning Management System (LMS) designed to support multi-vendor learning platforms. It focuses on providing essential LMS features without unnecessary complexity, making it easier to extend and maintain.

Instead of relying on heavy frontend frameworks, JakIja embraces a server-driven approach using Django and HTMX, which results in a simpler architecture and better performance.

Design Philosophy

JakIja is built with a few core principles in mind:
Lightweight & Performant
Focuses on core LMS functionality with minimal overhead.
Modular & Extendable
Easy to customize and scale as the platform grows.
Developer-Friendly
Clean project structure and readable Django patterns.
Interactive Without Complexity
Uses HTMX to deliver dynamic UI interactions without JavaScript-heavy frameworks.
Key Features
User & Role Management

JakIja supports multiple user roles, such as:

Admin
Instructor
Learner
Partner
Subsction
Curation
Finance

Each role has its own permissions and dashboard experience.
Course & Content Management
Create and manage courses
Upload learning materials (documents, videos, quizzes)
Organize content in a structured and scalable way
Assessment & Progress Tracking
Automated evaluations
Learner progress tracking
Learning analytics and reports
These features make it easier for instructors to monitor student performance.
Subscription & Payment System

JakIja includes support for paid courses and subscriptions, with examples of payment gateway integration (such as Tripay for Indonesia).

This makes it suitable not only for educational institutions, but also for commercial learning platforms.

Technology Stack

JakIja uses a modern and pragmatic stack:
Python & Django – A robust and scalable backend framework
HTMX – Dynamic UI updates without complex frontend frameworks
Tailwind CSS – Utility-first CSS for fast and clean UI development
SQLite / Other Databases – Flexible database options depending on needs

This combination keeps development fast while maintaining long-term maintainability.

Quick Installation Guide

If you want to try JakIja locally, here’s a quick setup guide:

git clone https://github.com/johansantri/jakija.git
cd jakija
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
pip install -r requirements.txt
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py runserver

After running the server, open your browser at:

http://127.0.0.1:8000

Why JakIja Is Interesting for Developers

JakIja is a great project if you:
Want to learn Django with a real-world project
Are curious about HTMX in production
Need a base LMS platform to customize
Prefer server-side rendering over complex frontend stacks
It can also be a solid starting point for adding features like: