Django Learning Dashboard

An interactive web application that teaches Django through hands-on modules. Explore beginner to advanced topics with live demos, a sandboxed code executor, progress tracking, and a gamified achievement system.

Features

• Interactive Learning Modules — Beginner, intermediate, and advanced topics with live demos and code examples
• Sandboxed Code Execution — Run Python code safely in the browser with process isolation, timeouts, and resource limits
• Progress Tracking — Track module completion, view activity timelines, and monitor your learning journey
• Achievements & Leaderboard — Earn badges, climb the leaderboard, and stay motivated through gamification
• REST API — Full API with Swagger and ReDoc documentation powered by Django REST Framework
• Responsive Dark UI — Tailwind CSS dark theme with Alpine.js interactivity and Highlight.js code highlighting

Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	Django 5.0+, Django REST Framework, drf-spectacular
Database	PostgreSQL 16
Caching	Redis 7
Task Queue	Celery
Frontend	Tailwind CSS (CDN), Alpine.js, Highlight.js
Production	Gunicorn, Nginx, Docker, WhiteNoise

Prerequisites

• Python 3.12+
• PostgreSQL 16+ (or use Docker)
• Redis 7+ (or use Docker)
• Docker & Docker Compose (for containerized deployment)

Quick Start (Local Development)

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd django-learning-dashboard

2. Create a virtual environment

   python -m venv venv
   source venv/bin/activate  # Linux/macOS
   venv\Scripts\activate     # Windows

3. Install dependencies

   pip install -r requirements.txt

4. Configure environment variables

   cp .env.example .env

   Edit .env and set your values. For local development with SQLite fallback, the defaults work out of the box. For PostgreSQL, update the DB_* variables.

5. Run migrations

   python manage.py migrate

6. Seed learning modules and badges

   python manage.py seed_beginner_modules
   python manage.py seed_intermediate_modules
   python manage.py seed_advanced_modules
   python manage.py seed_badges
   python manage.py recalculate_leaderboard

7. Create a superuser (optional)

   python manage.py createsuperuser

8. Start the development server

   python manage.py runserver

   Visit http://localhost:8000 to see the dashboard.

Docker Deployment

1. Configure environment

   cp .env.example .env
   # Edit .env with production values (SECRET_KEY, DB credentials, etc.)

2. Build and start all services

   docker-compose up -d --build

3. Run migrations and seed data

   docker-compose exec web python manage.py migrate
   docker-compose exec web python manage.py seed_beginner_modules
   docker-compose exec web python manage.py seed_intermediate_modules
   docker-compose exec web python manage.py seed_advanced_modules
   docker-compose exec web python manage.py seed_badges
   docker-compose exec web python manage.py recalculate_leaderboard

4. Create a superuser

   docker-compose exec web python manage.py createsuperuser

The application will be available at http://localhost (port 80 via Nginx).

Docker Services

Service	Image	Purpose
web	Custom (Dockerfile)	Django app served by Gunicorn
db	postgres:16-alpine	PostgreSQL database
redis	redis:7-alpine	Caching and Celery broker
celery_worker	Custom (Dockerfile)	Async task processing
nginx	nginx:1.25-alpine	Reverse proxy and static files

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE	Settings module path	config.settings.development
SECRET_KEY	Django secret key	Dev key (change in production)
DEBUG	Enable debug mode	True
ALLOWED_HOSTS	Comma-separated allowed hosts	localhost,127.0.0.1
DB_NAME	PostgreSQL database name	django_dashboard
DB_USER	PostgreSQL user	postgres
DB_PASSWORD	PostgreSQL password	postgres
DB_HOST	Database host	db
DB_PORT	Database port	5432
REDIS_URL	Redis connection URL	redis://redis:6379/1
CELERY_BROKER_URL	Celery broker URL	redis://redis:6379/0
NGINX_PORT	Nginx exposed port	80

Project Structure

├── config/                  # Project configuration
│   ├── settings/
│   │   ├── base.py          # Shared settings
│   │   ├── development.py   # Dev overrides
│   │   └── production.py    # Production settings
│   ├── celery.py            # Celery configuration
│   ├── urls.py              # Root URL routing
│   └── wsgi.py / asgi.py
├── apps/
│   ├── core/                # Dashboard home, Module/Category models
│   ├── modules/             # Learning module views and demos
│   │   └── demos/           # Beginner, intermediate, advanced demos
│   ├── progress/            # Progress tracking and activity logging
│   ├── code_executor/       # Sandboxed Python code execution
│   ├── achievements/        # Badges, leaderboard, gamification
│   └── api/                 # REST API viewsets and serializers
├── templates/               # Global templates and components
├── static/                  # Static assets (CSS, JS, images)
├── docker-compose.yml
├── Dockerfile
├── nginx/                   # Nginx configuration
├── requirements.txt
└── manage.py

Management Commands

# Seed learning modules by difficulty level
python manage.py seed_beginner_modules
python manage.py seed_intermediate_modules
python manage.py seed_advanced_modules

# Seed achievement badges
python manage.py seed_badges

# Recalculate leaderboard rankings
python manage.py recalculate_leaderboard

API Documentation

The REST API is available at /api/v1/ with interactive documentation:

URL	Description
/api/docs/	Swagger UI — interactive API explorer
/api/redoc/	ReDoc — clean API reference
/api/schema/	OpenAPI 3.0 schema (JSON)
/api/	Built-in API explorer page

Running Tests

# Run all tests
python manage.py test

# Run tests for a specific app
python manage.py test apps.core
python manage.py test apps.modules
python manage.py test apps.progress
python manage.py test apps.code_executor
python manage.py test apps.achievements
python manage.py test apps.api

# Run with verbosity
python manage.py test -v 2

Contributing

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/your-feature)
3. Make your changes and add tests
4. Run the test suite to confirm everything passes
5. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add your feature')
6. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/your-feature)
7. Open a Pull Request

License

This project is provided for educational purposes. See LICENSE for details.