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DAY 4: Getting started with Django: Build your first project step by step

✍️ By ZeddyEem

🌱 Introduction
If you're just getting started with Django, welcome! This guide will walk you through everything you need to build your first simple Django project — from installation to creating your own HTML templates and apps.

We’ll build a simple project called Config, which has two apps:

✅ tasks – for managing daily to-do items.

✅ contacts – for saving personal or professional contacts.

Step 1:Check Versions
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⚙️ Step 2: Install Django
First, make sure you have Python installed. Then install Django using pip:
pip install django

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You can also create a virtual environment for better project management:

python -m venv env
source env/bin/activate    # On Windows: env\Scripts\activate
pip install django
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🚀 Step 3: Start the Django Project
Create the Django project using the command:

django-admin startproject config

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🧩 Step 4: Create Two Django Apps
We will build two apps inside the project:

python manage.py startapp tasks
python manage.py startapp contacts
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Now go to config/settings.py and register the apps:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'tasks',
'contacts',
]

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🌐 Step 5: Set Up URLs
Update config/urls.py of the main to include both apps:

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Create urls.py inside both apps.

📁 tasks/urls.py

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📁 contacts/urls.py

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💡 Step 6: Create Simple Views
📄 tasks/views.py

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contacts/views.py
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🎨 Step 7: Add Templates
Inside each app, create templates folders like this:

tasks/
└── templates/
    └── tasks/
        └── index.html

contacts/
└── templates/
    └── contacts/
        └── index.html
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📄 tasks/templates/tasks/index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Tasks App</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to the Tasks App</h1>
</body>
</html>
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📄 contacts/templates/contacts/index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>Contacts App</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to the Contacts App</h1>
</body>
</html>
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Make sure your settings.py includes:

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        ...
        'APP_DIRS': True,
    },
]
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🛠 Step 8: Run the Project
Run the server:
python manage.py runserver

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Visit:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/tasks/ – View your tasks app

http://127.0.0.1:8000/contacts/ – View your contacts app

🎁 Final Thoughts
Django is powerful, but the best way to learn is to start small. With this basic setup, you now have two working apps in a Django project — fully connected with HTML templates and views.

Next up, you can expand it into a complete productivity tool!

💬 Let’s Connect!
Got stuck? Have questions? Drop them in the comments or DM me.
Let’s build the future of tech, one line at a time.

🔗 Useful Commands Summary

# Create project and apps
django-admin startproject config
python manage.py startapp tasks
python manage.py startapp contacts

# Run server
python manage.py runserver
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