========== Django FAQ ========== General questions ================= Why does this project exist? ---------------------------- Django grew from a very practical need: in our fast-paced newsroom, we often have only a matter of hours to take a complicated Web application from concept to public launch. Django was designed to not only allow us to build Web applications quickly, but to allow us to build them right. Django would not be possible without a whole host of open-source projects -- `Apache`_, `Python`_, and `PostgreSQL`_ to name a few -- and we're thrilled to be able to give something back to the open-source community. .. _Apache: http://httpd.apache.org/ .. _Python: http://www.python.org/ .. _PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org/ What does "Django" mean, and how do you pronounce it? ----------------------------------------------------- Django is named after `Django Reinhardt`_, a gypsy jazz guitarist from the 1930s to early 1950s. To this day, he's considered one of the best guitarists of all time. Listen to his music. You'll like it. According to Wikipedia_, "Django is pronounced **zhane**-go (with a long 'a')." .. _Django Reinhardt: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt .. _Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Django_Reinhardt Is Django stable? ----------------- We've been using Django for almost two years. Sites built on Django have weathered traffic spikes of over one million hits an hour, and at least one Slashdotting. Yes, it's quite stable. Does Django scale? ------------------ Yes. Compared to development time, hardware is cheap, and so Django is designed to take advantage of as much hardware as you can throw at it. Django ships with clean separation of the database layer from the application layer and a simple-yet-powerful `cache framework`_. .. _`cache framework`: http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/cache/ Who's behind this? ------------------ Django was developed at `World Online`_, the Web department of a newspaper in Lawrence, Kansas, USA. `Adrian Holovaty`_ Adrian is a gypsy-jazz virtuoso, an amateur Beatles historian and a proud Chicagoan. He's also a pretty decent programmer, with a knack for whipping data into shape and putting it to work for the good of his fellow man. Adrian is the lead developer at World Online and the man behind the code at `chicagocrime.org`_. `Simon Willison`_ Simon is a well-respected Web developer from England. He had a one-year stint at World Online, during which time he and Adrian developed Django from scratch. He's enthusiastic, he's passionate about best practices in Web development, and he really likes squirrels. Probably to a fault. He went back to England to finish his degree and is poised to continue doing big, exciting things on the Web. Read his weblog at `simon.incutio.com`_. `Jacob Kaplan-Moss`_ Jacob is a whipper-snapper from California who spends equal time coding and cooking. He does Web development for World Online and actively hacks on various cool side projects. He's contributed to the Python-ObjC bindings and was the first guy to figure out how to write Tivo apps in Python. Lately he's been messing with Python on the PSP. `Wilson Miner`_ Wilson's design-fu makes us all look like rock stars. When not sneaking into apartment complex swimming pools he is the Commercial Development Director for World Online, which means he makes the money that pays all our paychecks. .. _`World Online`: http://code.djangoproject.com/wiki/WorldOnline .. _`Adrian Holovaty`: http://www.holovaty.com/ .. _`chicagocrime.org`: http://www.chicagocrime.org/ .. _`Simon Willison`: http://simon.incutio.com/ .. _`simon.incutio.com`: http://simon.incutio.com/ .. _`Jacob Kaplan-Moss`: http://www.jacobian.org/ .. _`Wilson Miner`: http://www.wilsonminer.com/live/ Using Django ============ How do I get started? --------------------- We're working on this documentation as you read this. What are Django's prerequisites? -------------------------------- Django requires Python_ 2.3 or later, Apache2_, and mod_python_. You'll also need a database engine; PostgreSQL_ is recommended, and MySQL_ is supported. We're currently working on expanding those options: WSGI_ support is in the works (which will allow Django to run under CGI, FCGI, etc.), as is support for a number of other database backends. .. _Python: http://www.python.org/ .. _Apache2: http://httpd.apache.org/ .. _mod_python: http://www.modpython.org/ .. _PostgreSQL: http://www.postgresql.org/ .. _MySQL: http://www.mysql.com/ .. _WSGI: http://www.python.org/peps/pep-0333.html The admin interface =================== The dynamically-generated admin site is ugly! How can I change it? ------------------------------------------------------------------ We think it's very purty, but if you don't agree, you can modify the admin site's presentation by editing the CSS stylesheet and/or associated image files. The site is built using semantic HTML, so any changes you'd like to make should be possible by editing the CSS stylesheet. We've got a `guide to the CSS used in the admin`_ to get you started. .. _`guide to the CSS used in the admin`: http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/admin_css/