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Voting System Project Using Django Framework

Last Updated : 06 Jan, 2025
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Project Title: Pollster (Voting System) web application using Django framework
Type of Application (Category): Web application.

Introduction: We will create a pollster (voting system) web application using Django. This application will conduct a series of questions along with many choices. A user will be allowed to vote for that question by selecting a choice. Based on the answer the total votes will be calculated and it will be displayed to the user. Users can also check the result of the total votes for specific questions on the website directly. We will also build the admin part of this project. Admin user will be allowed to add questions and manage questions in the application. 

pollster-web-app

Pre-requisite: Knowledge of Python and basics of Django Framework. Python should be installed in the system. Visual studio code or any code editor to work on the application. 

Technologies used in the project: Django framework and SQLite database which comes by default with Django.  

Implementation of the Project

Creating Project

Step-1: Create an empty folder pollster_project in your directory.

Step-2: open your command prompt using window+r key
Step-3: Now switch to your folder using

cd pollster_project

cd pollster_project

step-4: and create a virtual environment in this folder using the following command. 

pip install pipenv
pipenv shell


Step-3: A Pipfile will be created in your folder from the above step. Now install Django in your folder using the following command. 

pipenv install django


Step-4: Now we need to establish the Django project. Run the following command in your folder and initiate a Django project. 

django-admin startproject pollster

A New Folder with name pollster will be created. Switch to the pollster folder using the following command. 

cd pollster

The folder structure will look something like this. 

Here you can start the server using the following command and check if the application running or not using your http://127.0.0.1:8000/ in your browser. 

python manage.py runserver

Step-5: Create an app ‘polls‘ using the following command  

python manage.py startapp polls

Below is the folder structure after creating ”polls’ app in the project.  

polls-app

Create Models

Step-1: In your models.py file write the code given below to create two tables in your database. One is ‘Question‘ and the other one is ‘Choice‘. ‘Question’ will have two fields of ‘question_text’ and a ‘pub_date’. Choice has three fields: ‘question’, ‘choice_text’, and ‘votes’. Each Choice is associated with a Question. 

Python 
from django.db import models

# Create your models here.


class Question(models.Model):
    question_text = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    pub_date = models.DateTimeField('date published')

    def __str__(self):
        return self.question_text


class Choice(models.Model):
    question = models.ForeignKey(Question, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    choice_text = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    votes = models.IntegerField(default=0)

    def __str__(self):
        return self.choice_text

Step-2:Go to the settings.py file and in the list, INSTALLED_APPS write down the code below to include the app in our project. This will refer to the polls -> apps.py -> PollsConfig class. 

Python 
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'polls.apps.PollsConfig',
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
]

Step-3: We have made changes in our database and created some tables but in order to reflect these changes we need to create migration here and then Django application will stores changes to our models. Run the following command given below to create migrations. 

python manage.py makemigrations polls

Inside polls->migrations a file 0001_initial.py will be created where you can find the database tables which we have created in our models.py file. Now to insert all the tables in our database run the command given below…  

python manage.py migrate

Create an Admin User

Step-1: Run the command given below to create a user who can login to the admin site. 

python manage.py createsuperuser

It will prompt username which we need to enter. 

Username: geeks123

Now it will prompt an email address which again we need to enter here.  

Email address: [email protected]

The final step is to enter the password. We need to enter the password twice, the second time as a confirmation of the first.  

Password: ******
Password (again): ******
Superuser created successfully.

Now we can run the server using the same command python manage.py runserver and we can check our admin panel browsing the URL http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin .  

admin-panel

Step-2: In the admin.py file we will write the code given below to map each question with choices to select. Also, we will write the code to change the site header, site title, and index_title. Once this is done we can add questions and choices for the question from the admin panel.  

Python 
from django.contrib import admin
# Register your models here.
from .models import Question, Choice

# admin.site.register(Question)
# admin.site.register(Choice)

admin.site.site_header = "Pollster Admin"
admin.site.site_title = "Pollster Admin Area"
admin.site.index_title = "Welcome to the Pollster Admin Area"


class ChoiceInLine(admin.TabularInline):
    model = Choice
    extra = 3


class QuestionAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    fieldsets = [(None, {'fields': ['question_text']}), ('Date Information', {
        'fields': ['pub_date'], 'classes': ['collapse']}), ]
    inlines = [ChoiceInLine]


admin.site.register(Question, QuestionAdmin)

question-choices

Note: We can test the application here by adding some questions and choices for those questions. 

Create Views

Now we will create the view of our application that will fetch the data from our database and will render the data in the ‘template‘ (we will create ‘template’ folder and the files inside this folder in the next section) of our application to display it to the user. 

Step-1 Open views.py file and write down the code given below. 

Python 
from django.template import loader
from django.http import HttpResponse, HttpResponseRedirect, Http404
from django.shortcuts import get_object_or_404, render
from django.urls import reverse
from .models import Question, Choice

# Get questions and display them
def index(request):
    latest_question_list = Question.objects.order_by('-pub_date')[:5]
    context = {'latest_question_list': latest_question_list}
    return render(request, 'polls/index.html', context)

# Show specific question and choices
def detail(request, question_id):
    try:
        question = Question.objects.get(pk=question_id)
    except Question.DoesNotExist:
        raise Http404("Question does not exist")
    return render(request, 'polls/detail.html', {'question': question})

# Get question and display results
def results(request, question_id):
    question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id)
    return render(request, 'polls/results.html', {'question': question})

# Vote for a question choice
def vote(request, question_id):
    question = get_object_or_404(Question, pk=question_id)
    try:
        selected_choice = question.choice_set.get(pk=request.POST['choice'])
    except (KeyError, Choice.DoesNotExist):
        # Redisplay the question voting form.
        return render(request, 'polls/detail.html', {
            'question': question,
            'error_message': "You didn't select a choice.",
        })
    else:
        selected_choice.votes += 1
        selected_choice.save()
        # Always return an HttpResponseRedirect after successfully dealing
        # with POST data. This prevents data from being posted twice if a
        # user hits the Back button.
        return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse('polls:results', args=(question.id,)))

Step-2: Create a file urls.py inside the pollster->polls folder to define the routing for all the methods we have implemented in views.py file (don’t get confused with the file inside the pollster->pollster->urls.py file). Below is the code of urls.py file… 

Python 
from django.urls import path
from . import views

app_name = 'polls'
urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.index, name='index'),
    path('<int:question_id>/', views.detail, name='detail'),
    path('<int:question_id>/results/', views.results, name='results'),
    path('<int:question_id>/vote/', views.vote, name='vote'),
]

Create Templates

Step-1: Follow the steps given below to create the front layout of the page. 

  • Create a folder ‘templates‘ in top-level pollster folder (alongside of polls and pollster) i.e. pollster-> templates.
  • Create ‘base.html‘ file inside the template folder. We will define the head, body and navigation bar of our application in this file.
  • In the ‘templates’ folder create another folder ‘polls‘. In ‘polls’ folder create three files ‘index.html‘, ‘results.html‘ and ‘detail.html‘.

The folder structure will look like the image given below (we have highlighted the files which we have created in ‘create views i.e urls.py’ and ‘create template’ section)… 

templates

Step-2: By default Django will search the ‘template’ inside the ‘polls’ app but we have created a global ‘template’ folder which is outside the polls app. So in order to make it work, we need to define the ‘template’ folder path inside the settings.py file. Open settings.py file and add the code given below in the list ‘TEMPLATES’. In order to make the given code work add “import os” in settings.py.

Python 
TEMPLATES = [
    {
        # make changes in DIRS[].
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        'DIRS': [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')],
        'APP_DIRS': True,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
                'django.template.context_processors.request',
                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
            ],
        },
    },
]

Step-3: Open index.html file and write the code given below. This file will display the list of questions which are stored in our database. Also, two buttons will be displayed to the user. One for the voting (we will create a detail.html file for voting) and the other one is to check the results (we will create results.html file for results). 

Python 
{% extends 'base.html' % }
{% block content % }
<h1 class = "text-center mb-3" > Poll Questions < /h1 >
{% if latest_question_list % }
{% for question in latest_question_list % }
<div class = "card-mb-3" >
   <div class = "card-body" >
        <p class = "lead" > {{question.question_text}} < /p >
        <a href = "{% url 'polls:detail' question.id %}" class = "btn btn-primary btn-sm" > Vote Now < /a >
        <a href = "{% url 'polls:results' question.id %}" class = "btn btn-secondary btn-sm" > Results < /a >
    </div >
</div >
{ % endfor % }
{ % else % }
<p > No polls available < /p>
{ % endif % }
{ % endblock % }

Step-4: Open detail.html file and write the code given below. This file will be responsible for voting on specific questions. Whatever question a user will select for voting from the list of the question (index.html file), that specific question and the choices for the question will be displayed on this page. A user will be allowed to select one choice and give voting by clicking on the vote button. 

Python 
{ % extends 'base.html' % }
{ % block content % }
<a class = "btn btn-secondary btn-sm mb-3" href = "{% url 'polls:index' %}" > Back To Polls < /a >
<h1 class = "text-center mb-3" > {{question.question_text}} < /h1 >

{ % if error_message % }
<p class = "alert alert-danger" >
<strong > {{error_message}} < /strong >
</p >
{ % endif % }

<form action = "{% url 'polls:vote' question.id %}" method = "post" >
    { % csrf_token % }
    { % for choice in question.choice_set.all % }
    <div class = "form-check" >
    <input type = "radio" name = "choice" class = "form-check-input" id = "choice{{ forloop.counter }}"
    value = "{{ choice.id }}" / >
    <label for = "choice{{ forloop.counter }}" > {{choice.choice_text}} < /label >
    </div >
    { % endfor % }
    <input type = "submit" value = "Vote" class = "btn btn-success btn-lg btn-block mt-4" / >
</form >
{ % endblock % }

Step-5: Open results.html file and write the code given below. This file will display the result of total votes on a specific question whatever question the user will select (from the index.html file) to check the result. 

Python 
{ % extends 'base.html' % }
{ % block content % }
<h1 class = "mb-5 text-center" > {{question.question_text}} < /h1 >

<ul class = "list-group mb-5" >
    { % for choice in question.choice_set.all % }
    <li class = "list-group-item" >
    {{choice.choice_text}} < span class = "badge badge-success float-right" > {{choice.votes}}
    vote{{choice.votes | pluralize}} < /span >
    </li >
    { % endfor % }
</ul >

<a class = "btn btn-secondary" href = "{% url 'polls:index' %}" > Back To Polls < /a >
<a class = "btn btn-dark" href = "{% url 'polls:detail' question.id %}" > Vote again?< /a >
{ % endblock % }

Step-6: Let’s create the navigation bar for our application. Create a folder ‘partials‘ inside the folder ‘templates’ and then create a file ‘_navbar.html‘ inside the ‘partial’ folder. File structure will be templates->partials->_navbar.html. Write the code given below in this file. 

Python 
<nav class = "navbar navbar-dark bg-primary mb-4" >
   <div class = "container" >
        <a class = "navbar-brand" href = "/" > Pollster < /a >
    </div >
</nav >

Step-7: We haven’t included the head and body tag in every single HTML file we have created till now. We can write these codes in just one single file base.html and we can give the layout to our page. We will also bring our navigation bar(_navbar.html file) on this page. So open base.html file inside the ‘template’ folder and write down the code given below. 

Python 
<!DOCTYPE html >
<html lang = "en" >

<head >
    <link rel = "stylesheet" href = "https://stackpath.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/4.4.1/css/bootstrap.min.css"
        integrity = "sha384-Vkoo8x4CGsO3+Hhxv8T/Q5PaXtkKtu6ug5TOeNV6gBiFeWPGFN9MuhOf23Q9Ifjh" crossorigin = "anonymous" >
    <title > Pollster { % block title % }{ % endblock % } < /title >
</head >

<body >
<!--NavBar-->
    { % include 'partials/_navbar.html'%}
    <div class = "container" >
       <div class = "row" >
           <div class = ".col-md-6 m-auto" >
                { % block content % }{ % endblock%}
            </div >
        </div >
    </div >
</body >

</html >

Create Landing Page

The URL http://127.0.0.1:8000/ should display a landing page for our web application. So to create a landing page we will follow the step given below. 

Step-1 Switch to the top-level pollster folder and run the command given below to create an app ‘pages‘. 

python manage.py startapp pages


Below is the folder structure once the ‘pages’ app will be created. 

pages


Step-2 Open ‘views.py‘ inside ‘pages’ folder i.e. pages->views.py. Write down the code given below to visit on landing page. 

Python 
from django.shortcuts import render

# Create your views here.


def index(request):
    return render(request, 'pages / index.html')

Step-3 Create urls.py file inside the ‘pages’ folder i.e. pages->urls.py. Write the code given below to define the routing of pages->index.html file (check step-1). 

Python 
from django.urls import path

from . import views

urlpatterns = [
    path('', views.index, name='index'),
]

Step-4 Create a folder ‘pages‘ inside ‘template’ folder. Now inside ‘pages’ folder create a file index.html. Write down the code given below to display the landing page to the users. 

Python 
{% extends 'base.html' % }
{% block content % }

<div class = "card text-center" >
   <div class = "card-body" >
        <h1 > Welcome To Pollster!< /h1 >
        <p > This is an Polling Web Application built with Django < /p >
        <a class = "btn btn-dark" href = "{% url 'polls:index' %}" >
           View Available Polls < /a >
    </div >
</div >
{ % endblock % }

Create routing inside the main urls.py file of the application

We have created two apps in our application ‘polls‘ and ‘pages‘. We need to define the routing of these two apps inside the main urls.py file which is pollster->pollster->urls.py file. So open the main urls.py file inside the pollster folder and write down the code given below to define the routing of these two apps(‘polls’ and ‘pages’). 

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

urlpatterns = [
    path('', include('pages.urls')),
    path('polls/', include('polls.urls')),
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
]

Testing of the Application

Admin Frontend

Step-1 Run the server using the command python manage.py runserver and browse the URL http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/. Now enter the username and password to login into the system. 

admin-login


Step-2 Click on ‘add’ button next to the ‘Questions’. 

add-questions

Step-2 Now add question and choices for those questions. Also, mention the date and time and then click on the ‘save’ button. You can add as many questions as you want. You will see a list of questions added in the database. 

question-choice-image

User Frontend

Step-1: Browse the URL http://127.0.0.1:8000/ and you will see the landing page of the application. Click on the “View Available Polls” 

landing-page


Step-2: You will see list of questions with two options ‘Vote Now’ and ‘Results’. From here you need to select one question and click on the ‘Vote Now’ button. 

poll-questions


Step-3: Once this is done select any one choice and click on ‘Vote’ button. You can also go to the previous menu using the ‘Back to Polls’ button on the top. 

vote


You will see the total voting result for the question you have selected. 

results


You can also check the total votes for any question using the option ‘Results’ from the ‘Poll Questions’ page. 

Project Repository Link

https://github.com/anuupadhyay/pollster-django-crash



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