Setting Up and Exploring Django's Admin Panel

Django’s admin panel is one of the most powerful and user-friendly features for rapid development. In this guide, we'll walk through setting up a Django project from scratch and explore the Django admin panel. Follow the steps below to create a project, install Django, and start working with the admin panel.

Step 1: Setting Up a Virtual Environment
To begin, let's create a virtual environment in your working directory. Open your terminal and run.

$ python3 -m venv env

Next, activate the virtual environment:

• For Windows:

env\Scripts\activate

• For macOS/Linux:

source env/bin/activate

Step 2: Installing Django
With the virtual environment activated, install Django by running:

pip install django

Step 3: Creating a Django Project
After setting up the virtual environment and installing Django, create a new Django project:

$ django-admin startproject mysite
$ cd mysite

This will create the following project structure:

mysite/
    manage.py
    mysite/
        __init__.py
        settings.py
        urls.py
        asgi.py
        wsgi.py

Step 4: Creating and Connecting an App
Next, create a new app in your Django project. We'll name the app core:

$ python3 manage.py startapp core

To connect the app to your project, add it to the INSTALLED_APPS list in mysite/settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'core',  # Add this line
]

Step 5: Creating Models
Inside the core app, open models.py and define the following Postand Comment models:

from django.db import models

class Post(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    content = models.TextField()
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.title

class Comment(models.Model):
    post = models.ForeignKey(Post, related_name='comments', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    author = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    content = models.TextField()
    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

    def __str__(self):
        return f'Comment by {self.author} on {self.post}'

Step 6: Applying Migrations
After defining the models, run the following commands to create and apply migrations to the database:

$ python3 manage.py makemigrations
$ python3 manage.py migrate

*Step 7: Registering Models in the Admin Panel
*
Now that the models are set up, let's register them in the Django admin panel. Open core/admin.py and add the following code:

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Post, Comment

class CommentInline(admin.TabularInline):
    model = Comment
    extra = 1  # Allows one extra empty comment form

class PostAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ('title', 'created_at', 'updated_at')
    search_fields = ('title',)  # Adds a search bar for the title field
    prepopulated_fields = {'slug': ('title',)}  # Automatically fills in the slug field

admin.site.register(Post, PostAdmin)
admin.site.register(Comment)

Step 8: Creating a Superuser
To access the admin panel, you’ll need to create a superuser. Run the following command:

$ python3 manage.py createsuperuser

You will be prompted for a username, email, and password. Enter your desired credentials:

Username: admin
Email address: admin@gmail.com
Password: **********
Password (again): *********

Step 9: Running the Development Server
With everything in place, start the development server:

$ python3 manage.py runserver

Step 10: Exploring the Django Admin Panel
Now, open your browser and go to the admin URL: http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/. You should see the Django admin login screen:

Log in using the superuser credentials you created with, and you'll be directed to the admin panel:

From here, you can manage your models, view your Post and Comment entries, and use the powerful features Django’s admin interface offers.
Conclusion

Django's admin panel makes it easy to manage your app's models and data without needing to build a custom interface from scratch. Whether you're adding new entries, searching through records, or making modifications, the admin panel is a powerful tool for developers.

For more information, check out Django's official documentation: .
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/5.1/ref/contrib/admin/