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Completes text of tutorial and adds syntax highlighting for code
examples. By Hansel.
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‎content/django.txt‎

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@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ Open a bash console on Python Anywhere and enter the following commands
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::
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django-admin.py startproject <my project name>
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cd <your project name>
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cd <my project name>
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python manage.py startapp <my app name>
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@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ edit your wsgi.py file. Delete the contents and copy the code below into it.
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Changing "<my name>" to be your Python Anywhere username and <my project name>
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so that it matches the value you entered above.
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::
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.. sourcecode:: python
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# +++++++++++ DJANGO +++++++++++
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import os
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ Edit settings.py
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Now you need to edit settings.py inside the project directory and change the
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database and installed apps sections to match the code below.
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::
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.. sourcecode:: python
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DATABASES = {
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'default': {
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ Next you will need to edit the urls.py file which can be found inside your
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project folder. Make it look like the one below but insure you substitute the
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project and app names that you used previously.
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::
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.. sourcecode:: python
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from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns, include, url
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from django.contrib.staticfiles.urls import staticfiles_urlpatterns
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Now we will edit the home.html template file so that it looks like this.
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::
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.. sourcecode:: html+django
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<html>
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<head>
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ Create your first view in views.py
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The final piece of work we need to do is create a view inside the file found at
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<my project name>/<my app name>/views.py. Make it look like this.
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::
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.. sourcecode:: python
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from datetime import datetime
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@@ -196,68 +196,258 @@ The main web tab at Python Anywhere looks like this:
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.. image:: http://www.pythonanywhere.com/static/anywhere/images/tutorial/django/pa_web_dashboard.jpg
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To edit your wsgi.py file you click the link with that name. Every time you
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make a change to the files on the Python Anywhere servers you need to click the
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"Reload web app" button. This reloads the web server so that it notices the
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changes you have made.
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To edit your wsgi.py file you click the link titled "this WSGI file". Every
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time you make a change to the files on the Python Anywhere servers you need to
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click the "Reload web app" button at the bottom of the page. This reloads the
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web server so that it notices the changes you have made.
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You can also follow the links through to your error and access logs. These are
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very handy for figuring out why the code you have written might not be working
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or seeing who has been visiting your respectively. If your web app is giving
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a message like "500 internal server error" then you should visit your error log
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and see the actual error message that your code is generating.
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The WSGI file here is how you tell Python Anywhere what application you actually
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want to run. Any WSGI web framework can be used but in this tutorial we will only
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be focusing on django.
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Starting a new django project
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Django is already installed on Python Anywhere so you it is easy to get started.
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.. image:: http://www.pythonanywhere.com/static/anywhere/images/tutorial/django/pa_console_dashboard.jpg
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The first commands need to be run inside a bash console. You will need to go to
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the "Consoles" tab of Python Anywhere and click on the link highlighted in red
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here to create a new bash console.
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You will then need to type the following at
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the console prompt.
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Throughout this tutorial there will be terms surrounded by
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angle brackets <like this>. This means that you should replace the contents,
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including the angle brackets with your own name for the project and application
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that you are creating. So for example the first command below might actually
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look like this:
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"django-admin.py startproject blog".
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Remember this convention because if you just copy and paste the example commands
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they won't work and you will receive errors rather than the expected results.
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So, enter the code below into a bash console:
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::
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django-admin.py startproject <my project name>
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cd <my project name>
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python manage.py startapp <my app name>
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Below is a an example of what your console should look like after you have done
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this.
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.. image:: http://www.pythonanywhere.com/static/anywhere/images/tutorial/django/pa_console_django_start.jpg
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Your next step is to edit the wsgi.py file which is located at /var/www/wsgi.py.
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Editing your wsgi.py file
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The wsgi.py file is a Python Anywhere specific python script and cannot be moved
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or renamed. You can find a direct link to it on the Web tab of the dashboard.
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Go there now and edit the file so that it matches the one below. Making sure to
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replace the <my name> amd <my project name> with the your username and the
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project name that you chose in the previous step.
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.. sourcecode:: python
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# +++++++++++ DJANGO +++++++++++
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import os
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import sys
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## assuming your django settings file is at '/home/<my name>/<my project name>/settings.py'
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path = '/home/<my name>/'
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if path not in sys.path:
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sys.path.append(path)
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os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = '<my project name>.settings'
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import django.core.handlers.wsgi
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application = django.core.handlers.wsgi.WSGIHandler()
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At this point you have a very basic default django app running. You should visit
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it to make sure that this is the case. Every Python Anywhere user has a default
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place to visit their web app. It is <my username>.pythonanywhere.com. This
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tutorial is in fact being delivered to you by a django app run by the user
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"tutorial". If your username was harry you would access your app at
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http://harry.pythonanywhere.com. You can find a link to your own address at the
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Web tab in the dashboard. Try going their now and checking that you can see the
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default welcome message from django then come back here to continue.
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Configuring the database and enabling the admin interface
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Django needs a database connection to do pretty much anything. Python Anywhere
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provides support for MySQL databases but for now we will just use sqlite3. A file
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based database that does not require setting up a database account and password.
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The file that contains all the settings information for django is called,
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naturally enough, settings.py. By default it lives in your django project
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directory. You will need to open this file up and change the DATABASE and
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INSTALLED_APPS sections of it so that it looks like the code below. Do not change
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any other bits of it at this time.
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.. sourcecode:: python
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DATABASES = {
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'default': {
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'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
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'NAME': '/home/%s/<my_test_project>/db.sqlite',
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'USER': '',
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'PASSWORD': '',
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'HOST': '',
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'PORT': ''
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}
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}
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INSTALLED_APPS += (
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'django.contrib.admin',
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'<my project name>.<my app name>',
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)
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Now that you have told django what database to use you have to run a management
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command in order for it to create the initial tables and the first admin user.
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In order to do this you go back to a bash shell and enter the following commands
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::
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cd <your project name>
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./manage.py syncdb
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You will be asked a series of questions. You should enter a username, email
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address, and password for the first admin user. You will need this information
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to log in to django's admin interface so make sure that you remember the details
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somehow.
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Defining your urls
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The next step is defining the urls for your application. This means you are
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starting to tell django what to do when a user visits a certain location in your
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web site. The file to edit is called urls.py and it should be in the same
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directory as your settings.py file. Open it up and make it look like the file
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below. Remember, as always, that each time you see a phrase inside angle
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brackets you need to replace it with the project and app name that you have
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chosen.
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.. sourcecode:: python
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from django.conf.urls.defaults import patterns, include, url
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from django.contrib.staticfiles.urls import staticfiles_urlpatterns
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# Uncomment the next two lines to enable the admin:
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from django.contrib import admin
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admin.autodiscover()
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urlpatterns = patterns('',
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# Examples:
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url(r'^$', '<my project name>.<my app name>.views.home', name='home'),
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# url(r'^<my project name>/', include('<my project name>.foo.urls')),
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# Uncomment the admin/doc line below to enable admin documentation:
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# url(r'^admin/doc/', include('django.contrib.admindocs.urls')),
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# Uncomment the next line to enable the admin:
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url(r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
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)
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# This is needed to serve static files like images and css
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urlpatterns += staticfiles_urlpatterns()
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In this file you are defining two url patterns. The first one matches a blank
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string which is what happens when a user visits the <your username>.pythonanywhere.com.
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The second one matches "admin/" which is djangos default admin interface. This
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should now be working. If you like you can take a look at it now, logging in with
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the username and password that you provided earlier. When you are done come back
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here to continue. You may need to press the "Reload web app" button on your on
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the web tab before theses changes will be recognised. Do that if it doesn't work
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the first time you visit it.
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If you get an error rather than the admin interface then go back through each of
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these steps and check that everything is exactly like the examples. You also
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might want to check the error logs, available from the web tab, and see if they
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can give you additional clues about where the the mistake might be.
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Creating a template
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Now that you have a working admin interface it is time to create a template.
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Go back to your bash console and create a directory for your template and an
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empty template file using the commands below.
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::
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mkdir <my project name>/templates
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touch <my project name>/templates/home.html
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Writing the first view
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Now go back to your files and edit the home.html template file so that it looks
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like this.
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.. sourcecode:: html+django
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<html>
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<head>
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<title>My Python Anywhere hosted Django app</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>My Python Anywhere hosted Django app</h1>
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<p>Well, since it's already {{ right_now.minute }} past {{ right_now.hour }} UTC,
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that is as far as we are going to take you in this tutorial.</p>
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<p>What you do next is up to you...</p>
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</body>
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</html>
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The values inside the "{{ }}" are going to be replaced by dynamic content when
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we complete our final task. Which is writing a view.
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Python Anywhere specific tips
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=================================================================================
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Writing the first view
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Views are django functions which take a request and return a response. We are
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going to write a very simple view called home which uses the "home.html" template
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and uses the datetime module to tell us what the time is whenever the page is
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refreshed. The file we need to edit is called views.py and it will be inside
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the <my app name> folder inside the directory containing settings.py.
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Copy the code below into it and save the file.
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.. sourcecode:: python
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from datetime import datetime
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from django.shortcuts import render
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def home(request):
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return render(request, 'home.html', {'right_now':datetime.utcnow()})
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The last step is reloading your web app so that the changes are noticed by the
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web server. Go and do that now.
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If you have followed along with this tutorial you should now have a working,
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dynamic page at <your username>.pythonanywhere.com. You can continue to
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experiment with this by changing the view and the template as well as read
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through the full django documentation https://docs.djangoproject.com to see what
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else is possible.
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::
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import os
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import sys
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## assuming your django settings file is at '/home/myname/mysite/settings.py'
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path = '/home/%s/'
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if path not in sys.path:
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sys.path.append(path)
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os.environ['DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE'] = 'my_test_project.settings'
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import django.core.handlers.wsgi
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application = django.core.handlers.wsgi.WSGIHandler()
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Once your wsgi.py file looks like this we can move on.

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