In-Class Activity 1: Intro to Django:

Objective: Discover how to create a project by installing Django, creating a database and starting the development server.

Description: Build a Django project and look at what it creates.


  1. Create a new folder named, Activity1-Django_Intro. After the activity is completed, take a screenshot matching the solution image below and submit it to the first quiz question on Canvas.
  2. After installing Django, create a new project by issuing the following command in the terminal.
1django-admin startproject code_journal .
  • Don’t forget the dot (period) at the end of the command, which tells Django to create the project in the current directory!!
  1. In the code_journal project, create a database.
  2. Make sure the project is set up correctly by referencing the structure below. Your project should contain the following files and directories:
Activity1-Django_Intro/ 
      code_journal/
          __init__.py
          asgi.py
          settings.py
          urls.py
          wsgi.py
      db.sqlite3
      manage.py
  1. Ensure the Django project is running locally and confirm it is set up correctly by opening Google Chrome and entering the URL http://localhost:8000. You should see a web page similar to the below:

Google Chrome browser window displaying the default Django welcome page on localhost 127.0.0.1:8000. A teal rocket rises above clouds in the center of a mostly white page. The page text reads The install worked successfully! Congratulations! View release notes for Django 6.0. You are seeing this page because DEBUG=True is in your settings file and you have not configured any URLs. The Django logo appears below, with links near the bottom for Django Documentation, Tutorial: A Polling App, and Django Community. The overall tone is clean, reassuring, and celebratory.