Quick Start with Django: Building a Web Application from Scratch

To begin building a Django web application, first ensure Python is installed and configured on your system. Then install Django using pip:

pip install Django

Verify the installation by checking the version:

python -m django --version

Creating a Django Project

It’s critical to initialize the project from the correct directory. Avoid creating the project within an IDE-generated structure (e.g., PyCharm’s project template), as this may cause path and module resolution issues.

Navigate to your desired workspace directory (e.g., Django-workspace) and run:

django-admin startproject test_platform

This generates a project root folder containing essential files like manage.py and settings.py. Open this folder in your IDE (e.g., PyCharm), then conifgure the enterpreter to use a virtual environment. If you previously created a project in the IDE, delete it and re-open the newly created folder—PyCharm will auto-detect the correct Python environment.

Creating a Django App

Inside the project directory, generate a new app using the manage.py script:

python manage.py startapp webtest

This creates a new app folder with standard Django components: models.py, views.py, apps.py, and more.

Registering the App

Open test_platform/settings.py and add your app to the INSTALLED_APPS list:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'webtest',  # Add this line
]

Failure to register the app will result in runtime errrors when referencing its views or models.

Building a View

Edit webtest/views.py to define a simple HTTP response:

from django.http import HttpResponse

def index(request):
    return HttpResponse("Hello, Django!")

Rendering a Template

To serve dynamic HTML content, create a template directory structure. Inside the webtest folder, create a folder named templates, and within it, create another folder named webtest (matching the app name):


webtest/
├── templates/
│   └── webtest/
│       └── index.html
└── views.py

Now create webtest/templates/webtest/index.html:


<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>Django Template</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to My Django App</h1>
    <p>This page is rendered using a template.</p>
</body>
</html>

Update the view to render this template instead of returning plain text:

from django.shortcuts import render

def index(request):
    return render(request, 'webtest/index.html')

Now you’re ready to run the development server:

python manage.py runserver

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/ in your browser to see your page.

Tags: Django python WebDevelopment HTTP TemplateRendering

Posted on Thu, 02 Jul 2026 16:21:55 +0000 by czukoman20

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