Getting Started with Django: A Simple Tutorial for Beginners

Posted on by Kingsley
Getting Started with Django: A Simple Tutorial for Beginners

If you’re looking to build web applications with Python, Django is one of the best frameworks to start with. It’s fast, secure, and comes with a lot of built-in features. In this beginner-friendly tutorial, we’ll walk through creating a simple Django app — a To-Do List.

What You’ll Need

Before we start, make sure you have the following installed:

  • Python 3.x

  • pip (Python package installer)

  • Virtualenv (optional but recommended)

Step 1: Set Up Your Project

Open your terminal and follow these steps:

# Create a project directory
mkdir mytodo
cd mytodo

# Create a virtual environment
python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate

# Install Django
pip install django

# Create a new Django project
django-admin startproject todo_project .

Run the server to test
python manage.py runserver

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000 — you should see the Django welcome page.

Step 2: Create the To-Do App

Now let’s create a Django app inside our project.

python manage.py startapp todo

Add 'todo' to your INSTALLED_APPS in todo_project/settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'todo',
]

Step 3: Define the To-Do Model

In todo/models.py:

from django.db import models

class Task(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    completed = models.BooleanField(default=False)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.title

Then run:

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

Step 4: Create a Simple Admin Interface

In todo/admin.py:

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Task

admin.site.register(Task)

Create a superuser to access the admin:

python manage.py createsuperuser

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin and log in — you’ll see the Task model.

Step 5: Create Views and Templates

In todo/views.py:

from django.shortcuts import render
from .models import Task

def home(request):
    tasks = Task.objects.all()
    return render(request, 'todo/home.html', {'tasks': tasks})

Create a folder todo/templates/todo/ and add home.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>To-Do List</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>My To-Do List</h1>
    <ul>
        {% for task in tasks %}
            <li>
                {{ task.title }} - {% if task.completed %}✔{% else %}✖{% endif %}
            </li>
        {% endfor %}
    </ul>
</body>
</html>

 

Step 6: Set Up URLs

In todo/urls.py (create it if it doesn't exist):

 

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.home, name='home'),
]

Then in todo_project/urls.py, include the app's URLs:

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('', include('todo.urls')),
]

 

You’re Done!

Now run your server again:

python manage.py runserver

Visit http://127.0.0.1:8000 — you’ll see your To-Do list in action!

Final Thoughts

You’ve just created a simple Django app with:

  • A database model

  • Admin interface

  • Views and templates

  • URL routing

From here, you can add features like form submission, user authentication, and styling with Bootstrap or Tailwind CSS.

 

🧠 Want more tutorials like this? Let me know in the comments, or suggest your next project idea!

 

 

Tags:
#Python #Django #HTML/CSS #Technology #Web Development #Software Development

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Comments

Jude on Jun 12, 2025 17:49

Great job you are doing here, how can I learn from you?

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