Prerequisites
Before starting the project make sure to install the following utilities:
Creating a new Django application
Let's create a fresh Django application so that we can go through all the steps together.
Step 1
Add Python virtual environment.
mkdir my-project
cd my-project
py -3 -m venv venv
mkdir my-project
cd my-project
python -3 -m venv venv
Step 2
Now activate created environment. After this you should see venv catalogue
and in your terminal will be visible (venv) badge.
venv/Scripts/activate
source venv/bin/activate
Step 3
Install Django.
pip install django
Step 4
Create src folder in the root directory and there initialize
Django project.
mkdir src
cd src
django-admin startproject mysite .
Step 5
Create a folder called static in the
src directory. You can place your own CSS files there. Let's
create there a file named input.css. There you can put your own
CSS styles.
Step 6
Navigate to the settings.py in the mysite folder
and update the section with paths for static files.
STATIC_URL = 'static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
BASE_DIR / "static"
]
STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR.parent / "static"
Step 7
Create a folder named templates in the
src directory. Then, open the settings.py file in
the mysite folder and update the section with the template
paths.
TEMPLATES = [
{
...
'DIRS': [BASE_DIR / 'templates'],
...
},
]
Step 8
Create a file named base.html in the
templates directory. This file will be a base for all other
pages. Additionally, within this folder, create new named
pages, and inside it, create a file named
home.html.
{% load static %}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0" />
<link href="{% static 'input.css' %}" rel="stylesheet" />
<title>
{% block head_title %}TWE Django Integration Tutorial{% endblock %}
</title>
</head>
<body>
<div>{% block content %} {% endblock %}</div>
</body>
</html>
{% extends "base.html" %} {% block content %}
<h1>Django application</h1>
{% endblock %}
Step 9
Create views.py file in mysite folder and put in
there render for your home page.
from django.shortcuts import render
def home_view(request):
return render(request, "pages/home.html", {})
Step 10
Then in urls.py file (also located in
mysite folder) add import newly created
views.py file and attach urls for paths with static files.
from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path
from django.conf import settings
from . import views
urlpatterns = [
path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
path('', views.home_view, name='home')
]
if settings.DEBUG:
from django.conf.urls.static import static
urlpatterns += static(settings.STATIC_URL, document_root=settings.STATIC_ROOT)
Step 11
To see if everything works, run the server:
python manage.py runserver
Installing and configuring Tailwind CSS and TW Elements
Step 1
To initialize an npm project, run the following command in the
root
directory:
npm init -y
Step 2
Install Tailwind CSS.
npm install -D tailwindcss postcss autoprefixer
npx tailwindcss init -p
File structure
If you have followed all instructions mentioned earlier, your file structure should look like this:
my-project/
├── node_modules/
├── src/
│ ├── mysite/
│ │ ├── ...
│ │ ├── settings.py
│ │ ├── urls.py
│ │ ├── views.py
│ │ └── ...
│ ├── static/
│ | └── input.css
│ ├── templates/
│ | ├── pages/
│ | | └── home.html
│ | └── base.html
│ └── manage.py
├── venv/
├── package-lock.json
├── package.json
├── postcss.config.js
└── tailwind.config.js
Step 3
Add the paths to all of your template files in your
tailwind.config.js file.
/** @type {import('tailwindcss').Config} */
module.exports = {
content: [
"./src/**/*.{html,js}",
"./node_modules/tw-elements/js/**/*.js",
],
theme: {
extend: {},
},
darkMode: "class",
plugins: [require("tw-elements/plugin.cjs")],
};
Step 4
Replace your own styles in input.css file with Tailwind
directives.
@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Roboto:300,400,500,700,900&display=swap");
@tailwind base;
@layer base {
html {
@apply text-surface;
@apply bg-white;
}
html.dark {
@apply text-neutral-50;
@apply bg-body-dark;
}
}
@tailwind components;
@tailwind utilities;
p {
@apply leading-[1.6];
}
Step 5
Install TW Elements.
npm install tw-elements
Step 6
Go to settings.py file and update section with paths for static
files.
...
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
BASE_DIR / "static",
BASE_DIR.parent / "node_modules",
]
...
Step 7
In the head section of the base.html file,
substitute the href attribute from input.css to
the Tailwind CSS file named output.css, which will be generated
during the Tailwind CLI build process. Furthermore, add a link to the TW
Elements JS at the end of the body tag.
...
<head>
...
<link href="{% static 'output.css' %}" rel="stylesheet" />
...
</head>
<body>
...
<script
src="{% static 'tw-elements/dist/js/tw-elements.umd.min.js' %}"
type="text/javascript"></script>
</body>
...
Step 8
Add the TWE components you intend to use in your project.
{% extends "base.html" %} {% block content %}
<div class="mt-16 flex justify-center">
<p class="text-lg">
Hover the link to see the
<a
href="#"
class="text-primary transition duration-150 ease-in-out hover:text-primary-600 focus:text-primary-600 active:text-primary-700 dark:text-primary-400 dark:hover:text-primary-500 dark:focus:text-primary-500 dark:active:text-primary-600"
data-twe-toggle="tooltip"
title="Hi! I'm tooltip"
>tooltip</a
>
</p>
</div>
{% endblock %}
Step 9
Start the Tailwind CLI build process. Run the CLI tool to scan your template files for classes and build your CSS.
npx tailwindcss -i src/static/input.css -o src/static/output.css --watch
And run the local server. If changes doesn't apply, try hard reload. Awesome! You're all set to dive into using TW Elements for your Django project. Have fun!
python manage.py runserver
Initializing via JS
By default all components have autoinit which means they are initialized by data attributes. But if you want to make init by JavaScript - there is also possibility to do that.
Step 1
Initialize components which are you intend to use.
{% extends "base.html" %} {% block content %}
<div class="mt-16 flex justify-center">
<p class="text-lg">
Hover the link to see the
<a
id="tooltip"
href="#"
class="text-primary transition duration-150 ease-in-out hover:text-primary-600 focus:text-primary-600 active:text-primary-700 dark:text-primary-400 dark:hover:text-primary-500 dark:focus:text-primary-500 dark:active:text-primary-600"
title="Hi! I'm tooltip"
>tooltip</a
>
</p>
</div>
<script type="module">
const myTooltip = new twe.Tooltip(document.getElementById("tooltip"));
</script>
{% endblock %}