Using Django Offline: Tips for Working Without Internet

Sometimes, if you are a Django developer, you may want to create a Django project without an internet connection. This post will answer the question can Django be used offline and if it does, how can one do it?

Table of Contents: Use Django Offline

• Can Django be used offline?
• How to Use Django Offline?
  • Step 1: Install Django(Requires you to be Online)
  • Step 2: Running the Django development server offline
  • Step 3: Styling your Django project offline
  • Step 4: Installing other apps and packages
• Disadvantages of Using Django Offline
• Conclusion:

Can Django be used offline?

Yes. Django can be used offline. Meaning, you can create a Django project from start to finish without an internet connection. To use Django offline, you have to install it globally into the system of your computer so you won’t have to install it every time you start a new Django project.

Although this has some disadvantages – which I will cover in the later section – It can also be a great way to get started with Django and know its features before creating production-level projects.

How to Use Django Offline?

Follow these steps to use Django offline:

Step 1: Install Django(Requires you to be Online)

To use Django offline, first, install Django globally to the system of your computer; You have to be connected to the internet for this first step:

Open your terminal and run the following command

$ pip install django

Note that unlike when using a virtual environment, there are no brackets with the name of the virtual environment to show that Django is being installed globally.

When Django is installed globally on your computer, this means that you can access it from any path on your terminal. Therefore, whenever you want to start a new Django project, just open your terminal and change the directory into any folder, and start a new project as you want.

Step 2: Running the Django development server offline

Running the Django development server does not require you to be connected to the internet either. This is because, by default, the server is run on the localhost meaning the computer itself.

To run the Django development server, run the following command in the directory that contains your manage.py :

$ python manage.py runserver

This will start the server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/. Navigate to that address in your browser and you should see your Django website rendering just as fine (even if you’re not connected to the internet).

This also applies to all commands that are provided by manage.py file like startapp to create a Django app or the create superuser to create an admin user for your Django project.

Step 3: Styling your Django project offline

To style your website using Bootstrap, you can download Bootstrap’s source code and use it in your Django project. In that case, you’ll need to configure the source code as static files of your Django project.

Step 4: Installing other apps and packages

The only problem you may face is when you want to install other apps or packages – like the Django rest framework – into your Django project. That requires you to have an internet connection. If you know the apps and packages you’ll need to install in your project, you can just install them globally along with Django when you still have an internet connection.

Disadvantages of Using Django Offline

The main disadvantage of using Django offline is that you’re not using a virtual environment. This means that all the Django projects you create on that computer will be using the same Django version. When you install other packages, they are going to be installed globally, not for a single project.

Conclusion:

Although working with Django offline is possible and easy to do, I recommend you only use it for learning purposes. If you’re creating a Django project that you will deploy to the internet, using virtual environments like venv or containers like Docker is the recommended way.