• 1. Change to your project’s directory
• 2. Install VirtualEnv

sudo easy_install -U virtualenv

• 3. Initialize the virtual environment for your project (substitute your own directory for “ve” if you want)

virtualenv --no-site-packages ve/

• 4. Activate the virtual environment

source ve/bin/activate

• 5. Install Pip (UPDATE: this is only required if you want to update to the latest version, since Pip is included with VirtualEnv)

easy_install -U pip

• 6. Install Django

pip install Django

• 7. Install MySQL bindings for python

pip install MySQL-python
sudo apt-get install libmysqlclient-dev

• 8. Install Django-South, if you use it

pip install south

• 9. Create your Django project, application, etc.

I’ve tried different approaches (including Vagrant), but I like this method because it is very simple. How do you go about a new Django setup? Anything that can be improved?

UPDATE: Thanks to Doug Warren for some pointers on what to improve. Further changes coming soon.

• 1. Install Apache 2 via synaptic or apt-get (package: apache2).
• 2. Create the following folders (change the location to your liking) and copy your website files to the “root” folder:

/home/user/www/website1/
/home/user/www/website1/root/
/home/user/www/website1/logs/

• 3. Create new site configuration file (e.g. “website1″) in /etc/apache2/sites-available/ with the following contents:

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerAdmin website1@localhost
    ServerName website1.dev
    DocumentRoot "/home/user/www/website1/root/"
    ErrorLog /home/user/www/website1/logs/error.log
    CustomLog /home/user/www/website1/logs/access.log combined
</VirtualHost>

• 4. Add the following line to your /etc/hosts file:

127.0.0.1    website1.dev

• 5. Set permissions so that Apache can access the website by running the following on the command line:

sudo chgrp -R www-data /home/user/www/website1/
sudo chmod -R g+w /home/user/www/website1/

• 6. Enable the new website by running the following on the command line:

sudo a2ensite website1

• 7. Restart Apache by running the following on the command line:

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

Code

• Official Django Documentation: This is where it all starts. Here you will find all the awesome features Django offers. Sometimes the code examples could be slightly better, but we can go to other places for that.
• Official Python Documentation: If you don’t know Python yet, you will need to learn it too, since Django is based on Python. But don’t worry, Python is awesome! (link thanks to Dougal Matthews)
• Django Snippets: If you need a solution for a specific problem, odds are someone has posted a code snippet for exactly that scenario.
• Django Packages: Apps and tools for your Django website (thanks to Kyl1 for the link)
• South: Django migrations made easy
• Pinax: A collection of Django apps that extend Django to provide you with virtually any functionality you need.
• StackOverflow: This site isn’t Django-specific, but if you have an issue in Django that you can’t solve, there are some very friendly Django coders who will try to help you.

Blogs

• Django Reddit: The latest and greatest in the world of Django
• Gigantuan: The personal blog of Kenneth Love
• AraeCode: The blog of Andrew Godwin
• Alex Gaynor’s Blago-blog: All about Django and Python
• Django Dose: Articles, screencasts, and podcasts about Django
• Django Advent: A collection of excellent articles by noted Django community members

Books

• The Definitive Guide to Django: Web Development Done Right, Second Edition
• Practical Django Projects, Second Edition

Inspiration

• Django Community: a number of resources in the Django community
• DjangoSites: Browse a large database of Django-powered sites
• DjangoPeople: Connect with other Django developers

Just for fun

• DjangoPony: The official Django mascot
• My Little Django: Customize your own Django pony

Well, that’s it. I hope these sites help you become a Django pro quickly. Enjoy!

Hope to see you back here soon.