Django Todo App

Summary: in this tutorial, you’ll learn how to create a Django Todo App project including:

Create a virtual environment
Install the Django package
Create a new project
Adding static files
Setting up templates
Create the todo app
Create the Task model and apply migrations

You can download the final code for this Django Todo App here.

Creating a virtual environment

Run the following python command to create a virtual environment using the built-in venv module:

python -m venv venvCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

And activate the venv virtual environment using the following command:

venv\scripts\activateCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

If you use macOS and Linux, you can use the following python3 command to create a new virtual environment:

python3 -m venv venv

And activate it using the following command:

source venv/bin/activateCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Install the Django package

Since Django is a third-party package, you need to install it using the following pip command:

pip install djangoCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Creating a new project

To create a new project todo_list, you use the startproject command:

django-admin startproject todo_listCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Adding static files

First, create a static directory inside the project directory:

mkdir staticCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

Second, set the STATICFILES_DIRS to the static directory in the settings.py after the STATIC_URL file so that Django can find the static files in the static directory:

STATIC_URL = 'static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [BASE_DIR / 'static']
Code language: Python (python)

Third, create three directories js, css, and images inside the static directory:

cd static
mkdir css images jsCode language: JavaScript (javascript)

The static directory will look like this:

├── static
|  ├── css
|  ├── images
|  └── jsCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Finally, copy the style.css file and feature.jpg image from the download file to the css and images directories.

Setting up templates

First, create a templates directory inside the project directory:

mkdir templatesCode language: Python (python)

Second, create a base.html template inside the templates directory with the following contents:

{%load static %}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">

    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8">
        <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="{% static 'css/style.css' %}" />
        <title>Todo List</title>
    </head>

    <body>
        <header class="header">
            <div class="container">
            </div>
        </header>
        <main>
            <div class="container">
            </div>
        </main>
        <footer class="footer">
            <div class="container">
               <p>&copy; Copyright {% now "Y" %} by <a href="https://www.pythontutorial.net">Python Tutorial</a></p>
            </div>
        </footer>
    </body>

</html>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

The base.html template uses the style.css file from the static/css directory.

Third, configure the template directory in the TEMPLATES of the settings.py file so that Django can find the base.html template.

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        'DIRS': [BASE_DIR / 'templates' ],
        'APP_DIRS': True,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
                'django.template.context_processors.request',
                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
            ],
        },
    },
]
Code language: Python (python)

Fourth, create the home.html template inside the templates directory:

{%extends 'base.html'%}
{%load static %}
{%block content%}
	<section class="feature">
		<div class="feature-content">
			<h1>Todo</h1>
			<p>Todo helps you more focus, either work or play.</p>	
			<a class="btn btn-primary cta" href="#">Get Started</a>
		</div>
		<img src="{%static 'images/feature.jpg'%}" alt="" class="feature-image">
	</section>
{%endblock content%}Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Creating a todo application

First, create a todo app in the todo_list project using the startapp command:

django-admin startapp todoCode language: Python (python)

Second, register the todo app in the settings.py of the todo_list project by adding it 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',
    'todo',
]
Code language: Python (python)

Third, create the templates directory inside the todo app directory:

cd todo
mkdir templatesCode language: Python (python)

Fourth, create the todo directory inside the templates directory. The directory name must be the same as the app name.

cd templates
mkdir todoCode language: Python (python)

Fifth, define a home() view function inside the views.py of the todo app that renders the home.html template:

from django.shortcuts import render

def home(request):
    return render(request,'home.html')Code language: Python (python)

Sixth, create urls.py file in the todo app and define a route that maps to the home URL with the home() view function:

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.home, name='home'),
]Code language: Python (python)

Seventh, include the urls.py of the todo app in the urls.py of the project:

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

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('',include('todo.urls'))
]
Code language: Python (python)

Eighth, run the Django development server from the todo_list directory:

python manage.py runserverCode language: Python (python)

Finally, open http://127.0.0.1:8000/ on a web browser, you’ll see the blog page that shows the homepage:

Create the Task model

First, define the Task model in the models.py of the todo app:

from django.db import models
from django.contrib.auth.models import User

class Task(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=255)
    description = models.TextField(null=True, blank=True)
    completed = models.BooleanField(default=False)
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    user = models.ForeignKey(User,on_delete=models.CASCADE, null=True, blank=True)
    
    def __str__(self):
        return self.title
    
    class Meta:
        ordering = ['completed']Code language: Python (python)

Second, register the Task model in the admin.py of the todo app so that you can manage it on the admin page:

from django.contrib import admin

from .models import Task

admin.site.register(Task)Code language: Python (python)

Third, make migrations by running the makemigrations command:

python manage.py makemigrationsCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Output:

Migrations for 'todo':
  todo\migrations\0001_initial.py
    - Create model TaskCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Fourth, apply the migrations to the database:

python manage.py migrateCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Output:

Operations to perform:
  Apply all migrations: admin, auth, contenttypes, sessions, todo
Running migrations:
  Applying contenttypes.0001_initial... OK
  Applying auth.0001_initial... OK
  Applying admin.0001_initial... OK
  Applying admin.0002_logentry_remove_auto_add... OK
  Applying admin.0003_logentry_add_action_flag_choices... OK
  Applying contenttypes.0002_remove_content_type_name... OK
  Applying auth.0002_alter_permission_name_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0003_alter_user_email_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0004_alter_user_username_opts... OK
  Applying auth.0005_alter_user_last_login_null... OK
  Applying auth.0006_require_contenttypes_0002... OK
  Applying auth.0007_alter_validators_add_error_messages... OK
  Applying auth.0008_alter_user_username_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0009_alter_user_last_name_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0010_alter_group_name_max_length... OK
  Applying auth.0011_update_proxy_permissions... OK
  Applying auth.0012_alter_user_first_name_max_length... OK
  Applying sessions.0001_initial... OK
  Applying todo.0001_initial... OKCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Fifth, create a superuser by executing the createsuperuser command:

python manage.py createsuperuserCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Output:

Username: john
Email address:
Password:
Password (again):
Superuser created successfully.Code language: plaintext (plaintext)

Sixth, restart the Django development server:

python manage.py runserverCode language: plaintext (plaintext)

Seven, log in to the admin page and create three tasks:

You can download the final code for this Django Todo App here.

Did you find this tutorial helpful ?