Django Chat App

Django Chat App is a real-time chat application built using Python, Django, Tailwind CSS, Django-channels, WebSocket, and Redis as the channels layer. This app allows users to create public and private chat rooms, and communicate with other users in real-time.

What I Learned

During the development of this project, I learned how to:

• Integrate Websocket and Django to build real-time chat applications.
• Use Django Channels and Redis as the channels layer to handle WebSocket - requests and push messages to the clients in real-time.
• Build responsive and modern user interfaces using Tailwind CSS. (Yay! I know that not good. not a Frontend guy.)
• Implement user authentication and authorization using Django's built-in - authentication system.
• Use Django ORM to implement CRUD operations for the chat rooms.
• Build a feature to create public and private chat rooms.

Features

• Sign-up, sign-in, and sign-out functionality
• Create and join public and private chat rooms
• Real-time communication using Websocket and Redis
• Edit and delete rooms
• View a list of all public and private rooms
• Responsive design using Tailwind CSS

Requirements

• Python 3.x (I used 3.10.9)
• Django 3.x (I used 3.2.18)
• Channels(I used 3.0.5)
• Tweak(I used 1.4.12)

❗ This is very important

NOTE: Before running the app, please ensure the following steps:

If you are running the app on a development server, please comment out the Postgres database setting and Redis channel layer in the settings.py file and uncomment the In-Memory Channel Layer and SQLite3 database settings.

If you are using a .env file, please ensure that you provide important environment variables such as SECRET_KEY, DEBUG, and ALLOWED_HOSTS. If you want to use the environment variables directly, please comment out all the os.environ.get functions in the settings.py file and provide all the environment variables directly.

By following these steps, you will be able to run the app smoothly without any errors related to database or environment variables.

Support

If you need any help or have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the chat application is a useful tool for facilitating communication between users in real-time. The application makes use of various technologies such as Django, Channels, and Redis to provide a seamless experience for users. The different components of the application, such as the URL patterns and HTML templates, work together to create a functional and aesthetically pleasing user interface. However, before running the application, it is important to ensure that the necessary environment variables are properly configured, especially if using a .env file. By following the instructions and best practices provided, developers can create a reliable and secure chat application that meets the needs of their users.

Fun Section

The demo web site is up and running at here but it may be temporarily down because the developer needs a coffee break. If you find the app helpful, feel free to buy the developer a coffee! here

Authors

Balaji Jethliya - Initial work - GitHub, Twitter