Django Demo Project

A production-ready Django application template optimized for VPS hosting deployment. This project serves as a foundation for testing VPS deployment workflows and can be used as a template for future Django projects.

✨ Features

• Minimal Dependencies: Clean, lightweight setup with only essential packages
• Environment Configuration: Production settings managed via environment variables
• Database Flexible: Works with SQLite for development and PostgreSQL for production
• Static Files Handling: Configured with WhiteNoise for efficient static file serving
• Contact Form: Functional contact form with email validation
• Simple Blog System: Basic blog functionality with admin interface
• Bootstrap UI: Responsive design using Bootstrap 5
• Production Security: Security headers, HTTPS support, and production optimizations
• VPS Deployment: Complete deployment scripts and configuration files

🛠 Tech Stack

• Backend: Django 4.2.7
• Database: SQLite (development) / PostgreSQL (production)
• Web Server: Gunicorn + Nginx
• Frontend: Bootstrap 5, Vanilla JavaScript
• Static Files: WhiteNoise
• Configuration: python-decouple

🚀 Quick Start (Development)

1. Clone and setup:

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd hostinger-django-demo
   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

2. Configure environment:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with your settings
   

3. Initialize database:

   python manage.py migrate
   python manage.py createsuperuser
   python manage.py collectstatic
   

4. Run development server:

   python manage.py runserver
   

5. Access the application:

   • Homepage: http://127.0.0.1:8000
   • Admin: http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin

🌐 VPS Deployment

Prerequisites

• Ubuntu 20.04+ VPS
• Root or sudo access
• Domain name (optional, can use IP address)

Automated Deployment

1. Upload project files to your VPS:

   scp -r . user@your-vps-ip:/home/ubuntu/django-demo
   

2. Run deployment script:

   cd /home/ubuntu/django-demo
   sudo bash deploy/deploy.sh
   

3. Configure your settings:

   • Edit .env file with production settings
   • Update domain in deploy/nginx.conf
   • Restart services: sudo systemctl restart django-demo nginx

Manual Deployment Steps

If you prefer manual setup, follow these steps:

1. Install system packages:

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip nginx postgresql postgresql-contrib
   

2. Setup project:

   cd /home/ubuntu/django-demo
   python3 -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate
   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

3. Configure environment:

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with production settings
   

4. Setup database and static files:

   python manage.py migrate
   python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
   python manage.py createsuperuser
   

5. Configure services:

   sudo cp deploy/systemd.service /etc/systemd/system/django-demo.service
   sudo cp deploy/nginx.conf /etc/nginx/sites-available/django-demo
   sudo ln -s /etc/nginx/sites-available/django-demo /etc/nginx/sites-enabled/
   sudo systemctl enable django-demo
   sudo systemctl start django-demo
   sudo systemctl restart nginx
   

⚙️ Configuration

Environment Variables

Create a .env file based on .env.example:

# Required
SECRET_KEY=your-super-secret-key-here
DEBUG=False
ALLOWED_HOSTS=yourdomain.com,www.yourdomain.com

# Database (choose one method)
# Method 1: DATABASE_URL
DATABASE_URL=postgresql://username:password@hostname:port/database_name

# Method 2: Individual settings
USE_POSTGRES=True
DB_NAME=demo_db
DB_USER=demo_user
DB_PASSWORD=your_password
DB_HOST=localhost
DB_PORT=5432

# Security
SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT=True  # Set to True if using HTTPS

Database Options

1. SQLite (Development): Default, no additional setup required
2. PostgreSQL (Production): Set USE_POSTGRES=True or provide DATABASE_URL

🔧 Management Commands

Development

python manage.py runserver          # Start development server
python manage.py migrate           # Apply database migrations
python manage.py createsuperuser   # Create admin user
python manage.py collectstatic     # Collect static files

Production

sudo systemctl restart django-demo # Restart Django service
sudo systemctl status django-demo  # Check service status
sudo journalctl -u django-demo -f  # View live logs
sudo bash deploy/update.sh         # Deploy updates

📁 Project Structure

django-demo/
├── core/                   # Main Django app
│   ├── templates/          # HTML templates
│   ├── static/            # CSS, JS files
│   ├── models.py          # Database models
│   ├── views.py           # View functions
│   ├── forms.py           # Django forms
│   └── admin.py           # Admin configuration
├── demo_project/          # Django project settings
│   ├── settings.py        # Main settings
│   ├── urls.py            # URL configuration
│   └── wsgi.py            # WSGI application
├── deploy/                # Deployment files
│   ├── deploy.sh          # Deployment script
│   ├── update.sh          # Update script
│   ├── gunicorn.conf.py   # Gunicorn configuration
│   ├── nginx.conf         # Nginx configuration
│   └── systemd.service    # Systemd service file
├── requirements.txt       # Python dependencies
├── .env.example          # Environment variables template
└── README.md             # This file

🔍 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

1. Static files not loading:

   python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
   sudo systemctl restart django-demo
   

2. Database connection errors:

   • Check .env file database settings
   • Ensure PostgreSQL is running: sudo systemctl status postgresql

3. Permission errors:

   sudo chown -R www-data:www-data /home/ubuntu/django-demo
   

4. Service not starting:

   sudo journalctl -u django-demo -f  # Check logs
   sudo systemctl status django-demo   # Check status
   

Log Files

• Django logs: sudo journalctl -u django-demo -f
• Nginx access: /var/log/nginx/access.log
• Nginx errors: /var/log/nginx/error.log
• Custom Django logs: /var/log/django/

🔒 Security Considerations

• Change SECRET_KEY in production
• Set DEBUG=False in production
• Use HTTPS in production (SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT=True)
• Regularly update dependencies
• Configure firewall (UFW) properly
• Use strong passwords for database users

🚀 Deployment Checklist

• Update .env with production settings
• Set DEBUG=False
• Configure proper ALLOWED_HOSTS
• Set strong SECRET_KEY
• Configure database settings
• Update domain in nginx configuration
• Set up SSL certificate (recommended)
• Configure firewall rules
• Test all functionality

📝 License

This project is open source and available under the MIT License.

🤝 Contributing

This is a demo project, but improvements are welcome! Please feel free to submit issues and pull requests.