I’ve created a number of Django projects now and the most frustrating thing jumping between projects is inconsistencies in the project layout. So, finally I set out to solve this problem.

It’s called djtemplate and its located here:

https://github.com/dlamotte/djtemplate

It’s README contains instructions on how to use it, but basically, you do something like this (make sure you’re using Django 1.4+):

django-admin.py startproject --template=https://github.com/dlamotte/djtemplate/tarball/master myprojectname

I call it a very opinionated template because it’s aimed at sites with heavier javascript and chooses Backbone.js with Rivets.js among other small libraries I’ve found useful. The layout is also derived from David Cramer’s Settings in Django which I’ve found very useful. The basic design is a typical Twitter Bootstrap site along with HTML5 Boilerplate baked in.

I didn’t suspect it’d take me very long to setup this template honestly, but after doing it and spending the better part of a day plus a few hours, I noticed that even a basic setup like this actually takes quite a bit of time. I’m hoping this template makes my projects much more consistent along with saving me such time in setting up new projects. I have to say, I find putting the pieces together for a new project is very tedious. Now, it’ll be a breeze.

Maybe others will find it useful (or at least as a base for your own personal template). Let me know if you do!

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