Django Student CRUD Application (Complete Reference)

This guide walks through building a simple Django Student Management application with CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) functionality.

---

Step 1: Create Project

django-admin startproject school

Go inside the project.

cd school

---

Step 2: Create App

python manage.py startapp student

Project structure becomes:

school/
│
├── manage.py
├── school/
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   └── ...
│
└── student/
    ├── admin.py
    ├── apps.py
    ├── forms.py
    ├── migrations/
    ├── models.py
    ├── templates/
    │   └── student/
    ├── urls.py
    └── views.py

---

Step 3: Register the App

Open school/settings.py

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    "student",
]

---

Step 4: Configure Templates

If using only app templates:

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        "BACKEND": "django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates",
        "DIRS": [],
        "APP_DIRS": True,
        "OPTIONS": {
            "context_processors": [
                "django.template.context_processors.request",
                "django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth",
                "django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages",
                "django.template.context_processors.debug",
            ],
        },
    },
]

Recommended project structure:

school/
│
├── templates/
│   └── base.html
│
├── student/
│   └── templates/
│       └── student/
│           ├── student_list.html
│           ├── student_form.html
│           ├── student_detail.html
│           └── student_confirm_delete.html

Then configure

from pathlib import Path

BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        "BACKEND": "django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates",
        "DIRS": [BASE_DIR / "templates"],
        "APP_DIRS": True,
    },
]

---

Step 5: Create Model

student/models.py

from django.db import models


class Student(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    school = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    location = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    contact = models.CharField(max_length=20)

    created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

    class Meta:
        ordering = ["-created_at"]

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

Explanation

• CharField stores text.
• auto_now_add stores creation time.
• ordering displays latest record first.
• __str__ makes the object readable in Django Admin.

---

Step 6: Register Model in Admin

student/admin.py

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Student


@admin.register(Student)
class StudentAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):

    list_display = (
        "name",
        "school",
        "location",
        "contact",
        "created_at",
    )

    search_fields = (
        "name",
        "school",
        "location",
        "contact",
    )

    list_filter = (
        "school",
        "location",
    )

    ordering = ("-created_at",)

Explanation

• list_display → columns shown in admin.
• search_fields → enables searching.
• list_filter → sidebar filters.
• ordering → latest first.

---

Step 7: Create ModelForm

student/forms.py

from django import forms
from .models import Student


class StudentForm(forms.ModelForm):

    class Meta:
        model = Student
        fields = [
            "name",
            "school",
            "location",
            "contact",
        ]

Explanation

Instead of manually creating HTML inputs and validation, ModelForm automatically generates them using the model.

---

Step 8: Create Views

student/views.py

from django.shortcuts import render, redirect, get_object_or_404

from .forms import StudentForm
from .models import Student


def student_list(request):
    students = Student.objects.all()

    return render(
        request,
        "student/student_list.html",
        {"students": students},
    )


def student_detail(request, pk):
    student = get_object_or_404(Student, pk=pk)

    return render(
        request,
        "student/student_detail.html",
        {"student": student},
    )


def student_create(request):

    if request.method == "POST":

        form = StudentForm(request.POST)

        if form.is_valid():
            form.save()
            return redirect("student_list")

    else:
        form = StudentForm()

    return render(
        request,
        "student/student_form.html",
        {"form": form},
    )


def student_update(request, pk):

    student = get_object_or_404(Student, pk=pk)

    if request.method == "POST":

        form = StudentForm(
            request.POST,
            instance=student,
        )

        if form.is_valid():
            form.save()
            return redirect("student_list")

    else:
        form = StudentForm(instance=student)

    return render(
        request,
        "student/student_form.html",
        {"form": form},
    )


def student_delete(request, pk):

    student = get_object_or_404(Student, pk=pk)

    if request.method == "POST":
        student.delete()
        return redirect("student_list")

    return render(
        request,
        "student/student_confirm_delete.html",
        {"student": student},
    )

Explanation

student_list()

Shows every student.

student_detail()

Shows one student's information.

student_create()

Creates a new student.

student_update()

Edits an existing student.

student_delete()

Deletes a student after confirmation.

---

Step 9: App URLs

student/urls.py

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path("", views.student_list, name="student_list"),
    path("create/", views.student_create, name="student_create"),
    path("<int:pk>/", views.student_detail, name="student_detail"),
    path("<int:pk>/edit/", views.student_update, name="student_update"),
    path("<int:pk>/delete/", views.student_delete, name="student_delete"),
]

Explanation

students/
students/create/
students/1/
students/1/edit/
students/1/delete/

---

Step 10: Project URLs

school/urls.py

from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import include, path

urlpatterns = [
    path("admin/", admin.site.urls),
    path("students/", include("student.urls")),
]

Explanation

This connects your student app to the main project.

---

Step 11: Templates

base.html

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html>

<head>
    <title>Student Management</title>
</head>

<body>

<h1>Student Management</h1>

<hr>

<a href="{% url 'student_list' %}">Home</a>

|

<a href="{% url 'student_create' %}">Add Student</a>

<hr>

{% block content %}

{% endblock %}

</body>

</html>

---

student_list.html

{% extends "base.html" %}

{% block content %}

<h2>Students</h2>

<table border="1">

<tr>
    <th>Name</th>
    <th>School</th>
    <th>Location</th>
    <th>Contact</th>
    <th>Action</th>
</tr>

{% for student in students %}

<tr>

<td>{{ student.name }}</td>
<td>{{ student.school }}</td>
<td>{{ student.location }}</td>
<td>{{ student.contact }}</td>

<td>

<a href="{% url 'student_detail' student.id %}">View</a>

|

<a href="{% url 'student_update' student.id %}">Edit</a>

|

<a href="{% url 'student_delete' student.id %}">Delete</a>

</td>

</tr>

{% empty %}

<tr>
<td colspan="5">No students found.</td>
</tr>

{% endfor %}

</table>

{% endblock %}

---

student_form.html

{% extends "base.html" %}

{% block content %}

<h2>Student Form</h2>

<form method="post">

{% csrf_token %}

{{ form.as_p }}

<button type="submit">
Save
</button>

</form>

{% endblock %}

---

student_detail.html

{% extends "base.html" %}

{% block content %}

<h2>Student Details</h2>

<p>Name : {{ student.name }}</p>

<p>School : {{ student.school }}</p>

<p>Location : {{ student.location }}</p>

<p>Contact : {{ student.contact }}</p>

<a href="{% url 'student_update' student.id %}">
Edit
</a>

{% endblock %}

---

student_confirm_delete.html

{% extends "base.html" %}

{% block content %}

<h2>Delete Student</h2>

<p>

Are you sure you want to delete

<strong>{{ student.name }}</strong> ?

</p>

<form method="post">

{% csrf_token %}

<button type="submit">
Yes Delete
</button>

</form>

{% endblock %}

---

Step 12: Create Database

python manage.py makemigrations

Explanation

Creates migration files from your models.

---

python manage.py migrate

Explanation

Creates database tables.

---

Step 13: Create Superuser

python manage.py createsuperuser

Follow the prompts for:

• Username
• Email
• Password

---

Step 14: Run the Server

python manage.py runserver

Open

http://127.0.0.1:8000/students/

Admin

http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/

---

CRUD Flow

Create
   ↓
Stored in Database
   ↓
List View
   ↓
Detail View
   ↓
Update
   ↓
Delete

---

Common Errors

ImportError: cannot import StudentForm

Cause

forms.py not saved

or

StudentForm missing

---

NoReverseMatch

Usually caused by incorrect URL names.

Check

student_list
student_create
student_update
student_delete
student_detail

---

TemplateDoesNotExist

Check

student/
    templates/
        student/

or configure

"DIRS": [BASE_DIR / "templates"]

---

No module named student

Forgot to add

"student"

to

INSTALLED_APPS

---

What You Learned

• Creating a Django project and app
• Defining models
• Registering models in the admin
• Using ModelForm for form generation and validation
• Writing function-based CRUD views
• Configuring app and project URLs
• Organizing templates
• Running migrations
• Using the Django admin interface
• Common troubleshooting tips

This project provides a solid foundation for learning Django CRUD operations and can be extended with features like Bootstrap styling, authentication, search, pagination, and class-based views.