How to set up a cloned Django project

This article is easy to follow even if you don't have experience working with Django or Git

When working on a Django project with git, developers will likely want git to ignore some files and folders. The `env/` folder in your Django project is one of those folders that git should ignore.

The `env/` folder isolates project-specific dependencies and manages Python packages.

Cloning such projects into your PC will require you to set up a virtual environment on your computer to manage some dependencies that the project needs.

Cloning a Django project can be confusing sometimes, especially for a Python developer who is new to Django.

Below are step-by-step guides on how to solve this problem.

1. Clone the project

git clone https://github.com/<username>/<project-name>.git

2. Change directory into the cloned project

cd <project-name>/

3. Create a virtual environment to manage dependencies

Python -m venv env && source env/Scripts/activate

The commands above will create and activate a virtual environment on your machine. The virtual environment will store all the required dependencies that your project needs.

4. Install Python packages needed for the project

pip install <package1> <package2> <package3>

`pip install` is used to install Python packages into your project. An example of such a package is `Django`.

5. Change directory into Django App

cd <django-app-name>

6. Run the Django project on the server

python manage.py runserver

After running the command above, hold `ctrl` on your

keyboard and click on the local host link in your terminal to view your application in your browser.