Film Reference Application

A Django web application for managing a collection of films with details like title, director, year, genre, and poster images.

Project Overview

Film Reference is a web-based application that allows users to:

• Browse a collection of films
• View detailed information about each film
• Add new films to the database
• Edit existing film entries
• Delete films from the collection

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have the following installed:

• Python 3.9+
• pip (Python package manager)
• MySQL Server 8.0+
• Git

Installation

1. Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/otmanetouhami/film_reference.git
cd film_reference

2. Create and activate a virtual environment

# For Windows
python -m venv .venv
.venv\Scripts\activate

# For macOS/Linux
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

3. Install required dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Database Setup

1. Create a MySQL database

CREATE DATABASE film_db CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;

2. Update database configuration

Create an .env file in the project root and add the following:

DB_USERNAME=YOUR_DB_USERNAME
DB_PASSWORD=YOUR_DB_PASSWORD

3. Apply migrations

python manage.py migrate

4. Create a superuser for admin access

python manage.py createsuperuser

Running the Application

1. Start the development server

python manage.py runserver

2. Access the application

• Main site: http://127.0.0.1:8000/
• Admin interface: http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/

Project Structure

• film - Main application with models, views, and templates
• film_reference - Project settings and configuration
• posters - Storage for uploaded film posters
• static-files/ - Compiled static files (generated when deployed)

Features

• Film Management: Create, read, update, and delete film entries
• Image Upload: Upload and display film posters
• Categorization: Organize films by genre, year, and director
• Admin Interface: Powerful Django admin for database management
• Responsive Design: Mobile-friendly interface using TailwindCSS

Troubleshooting

Database Connection Issues

If you encounter MySQL connection problems, ensure:

• MySQL server is running
• Credentials in settings.py are correct
• The database exists and is accessible

Image Upload Problems

If image uploads fail:

• Check that the media directory exists and is writable
• Verify that Pillow is installed correctly
• Make sure the server has sufficient permissions