Django Template Project

A production-ready Django project template with modern best practices, custom user authentication, and Bootstrap 5 integration.

Features

• Custom User Model with email-based authentication
• Modular Settings (base.py and prod.py configurations)
• Bootstrap 5 with jQuery and Popper.js from CDN
• Manifest Static Files Storage for production cache-busting
• Comprehensive .gitignore for Django projects
• Environment Variables support with python-dotenv
• Home App with base templates ready for customization
• Production-ready logging and security configurations

Quick Start

1. Clone or download this template:

   git clone https://github.com/qcif/django-template.git
   cd django-template

2. Initialize your project:

   ./init.sh

   This script will:

   • Prompt for your project name
   • Replace all instances of "myproject" with your project name
   • Rename directories appropriately
   • Update configuration files

3. Set up your development environment:

   cd your-project-name
   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure environment variables:

   cp .env.sample .env
   # Edit .env with your settings

5. Run migrations and create superuser:

   python manage.py migrate
   python manage.py createsuperuser

6. Start development server:

   python manage.py runserver

Project Structure

your-project-name/
├── accounts/                 # Custom user model app
│   ├── models.py            # Email-based User model
│   └── ...
├── home/                    # Home page app
│   ├── templates/home/      # Base templates
│   │   ├── header.html      # Base template with Bootstrap
│   │   └── index.html       # Homepage
│   └── ...
├── your-project-name/       # Main project directory
│   ├── settings/
│   │   ├── base.py          # Base settings
│   │   ├── prod.py          # Production settings
│   │   └── log/             # Logging configuration
│   ├── urls.py
│   └── wsgi.py
├── static/css/              # Static files
├── utils/                   # Utility modules
├── manage.py
├── requirements.txt
├── .env.sample              # Environment variables template
└── .gitignore

Settings Configuration

Development Settings (base.py)

• Uses SQLite database
• Debug mode enabled
• Development-friendly configurations
• Loads from .env file

Production Settings (prod.py)

• Security headers enabled
• Manifest static files storage
• Production logging configuration
• SSL/HTTPS configurations

To use production settings:

export DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE=your_project_name.settings.prod

Environment Variables

Copy .env.sample to .env and configure:

# Required
SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here
HOSTNAME=your-domain.com

# Email (optional)
MAIL_HOSTNAME=smtp.example.com
MAIL_SMTP_PORT=587
[email protected]
MAIL_SMTP_PASSWORD=your-password
MAIL_USE_TLS=true

# reCAPTCHA (optional)
RECAPTCHA_SITE_KEY=your-site-key
RECAPTCHA_SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key

Custom User Model

The template includes a custom User model (accounts.User) that:

• Uses email as the username field
• Includes first_name, last_name fields
• Has proper UserManager for creating users and superusers
• Is properly configured in settings

Frontend Framework

• Bootstrap 5.3.0 loaded from CDN
• jQuery 3.7.1 for enhanced functionality
• Popper.js for Bootstrap components
• Local CSS file for custom styles (static/css/main.css)

Deployment

For production deployment:

1. Set environment variables appropriately
2. Use production settings: your_project_name.settings.prod
3. Run python manage.py collectstatic
4. Configure your web server (nginx/apache)
5. Use a WSGI server like Gunicorn