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Django Material

Open-source Django Starter coded on top Argon Dashboard design (Free Version).

Open-source Django Template generated by AppSeed on top of a modern design. Material Dashboard is a free and open source Bootstrap 5 Design from Creative-Tim.

v1.0.15 - release date 2024-05-18, See CHANGELOG

✅ Features​

  • Up-to-date Dependencies
  • UI Theme: Material Dashboard BS5
    • can be used in any Django project (new or legacy)
  • Authentication: Django.contrib.AUTH, Registration
  • Deployment
    • CI/CD flow via Render

Material Dashboard - Full-Stack Starter generated by AppSeed.

✅ Environment​

To use the starter, Python3 should be installed properly in the workstation. If you are not sure if Python is installed, please open a terminal and type python --version. Here is the full list with dependencies and tools required to build the app:

  • Python3 - the programming language used to code the app
  • GIT - used to clone the source code from the Github repository
  • Basic development tools (g++ compiler, python development libraries ..etc) used by Python to compile the app dependencies in your environment.
  • (Optional) Docker - a popular virtualization software

✅ Start in Docker​

👉 Step 1 - Download the code from the GH repository (using GIT)

$ git clone https://github.com/app-generator/django-material-dashboard.git
$ cd django-material-dashboard

👉 Step 2 - Start the APP in Docker

$ docker-compose up --build

Visit http://localhost:5085 in your browser. The app should be up & running.

✅ Manual Build​

Download the code

$ git clone https://github.com/app-generator/django-material-dashboard.git
$ cd django-material-dashboard

👉 Set Up for Unix, MacOS​

Install modules via VENV

$ virtualenv env
$ source env/bin/activate
$ pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Set Up Database

$ python manage.py makemigrations
$ python manage.py migrate

Start the app

$ python manage.py runserver

At this point, the app runs at http://127.0.0.1:8000/.

👉 Set Up for Windows​

Install modules via VENV (windows)

$ virtualenv env
$ .\env\Scripts\activate
$ pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Set Up Database

$ python manage.py makemigrations
$ python manage.py migrate

Start the app

$ python manage.py runserver

At this point, the app runs at http://127.0.0.1:8000/.

✅ Manage App Users​

By default, the starter is not provided with users. To access the private pages and the admin section (reserved for superusers) follow up the next sections.

👉 Create Superusers​

To access the admin section, Django requires superuser privilegies. Let's create a new superuser and access the admin section of the project:

$ python manage.py createsuperuser

Once the superuser is successfully created, we can access the admin section:

http://localhost:8000/admin/

✅ Codebase structure​

The project is coded using a simple and intuitive structure presented below:

< PROJECT ROOT >
   |
   |-- core/                            
   |    |-- settings.py                  # Project Configuration  
   |    |-- urls.py                      # Project Routing
   |
   |-- home/
   |    |-- views.py                     # APP Views 
   |    |-- urls.py                      # APP Routing
   |    |-- models.py                    # APP Models 
   |    |-- tests.py                     # Tests  
   |    |-- templates/                   # Theme Customisation 
   |         |-- includes                # 
   |              |-- custom-footer.py   # Custom Footer      
   |     
   |
   |-- requirements.txt                  # Project Dependencies
   |
   |-- env.sample                        # ENV Configuration (default values)
   |-- manage.py                         # Start the app - Django default start script
   |
   |-- ************************************************************************

✅ How to Customize​

When a template file is loaded, Django scans all template directories starting from the ones defined by the user, and returns the first match or an error in case the template is not found. The theme used to style this starter provides the following files: 

# This exists in ENV: LIB/admin_material
< UI_LIBRARY_ROOT >                      
   |
   |-- templates/                     # Root Templates Folder 
   |    |          
   |    |-- accounts/       
   |    |    |-- login.html           # Sign IN Page
   |    |    |-- register.html        # Sign UP Page
   |    |
   |    |-- includes/       
   |    |    |-- footer.html          # Footer component
   |    |    |-- sidebar.html         # Sidebar component
   |    |    |-- navigation.html      # Navigation Bar
   |    |    |-- scripts.html         # Scripts Component
   |    |
   |    |-- layouts/       
   |    |    |-- base.html            # Masterpage
   |    |    |-- base-auth.html       # Masterpage for Auth Pages
   |    |
   |    |-- pages/       
   |         |-- index.html           # Dashboard Page
   |         |-- profile.html         # Profile Page
   |         |-- *.html               # All other pages
   |    
   |-- ************************************************************************

When the project requires customization, we need to copy the original file that needs an update (from the virtual environment) and place it in the template folder using the same path.

For instance, if we want to customize the footer.html these are the steps:

  • ✅ Step 1: create the templates DIRECTORY inside the home app
  • ✅ Step 2: configure the project to use this new template directory
    • core/settings.py TEMPLATES section
  • ✅ Step 3: copy the footer.html from the original location (inside your ENV) and save it to the home/templates DIR
    • Source PATH: <YOUR_ENV>/LIB/admin_material/template/includes/footer.html
    • Destination PATH: <PROJECT_ROOT>home/templates/includes/footer.html

To speed up all these steps, the codebase is already configured (Steps 1, and 2) and a custom footer can be found at this location:

home/templates/includes/custom_footer.html

By default, this file is unused because the theme expects footer.html (without the custom- prefix).

In order to use it, simply rename it to footer.html. Like this, the default version shipped in the library is ignored by Django.

In a similar way, all other files and components can be customized easily.

✅ Deploy on Render​

  • Create a Blueprint instance
  • Click New Blueprint Instance button.
  • Connect your repo which you want to deploy.
  • Fill the Service Group Name and click on Update Existing Resources button.
  • After that your deployment will start automatically.

At this point, the product should be LIVE.

✅ Resources​