Step-by-Step Guide: User Registration and Authentication in Django
Step 1: Set Up a Django Project and App
1. Start a new project and app:
django-admin startproject myauthproject
cd myauthproject
python manage.py startapp accounts
2. Add 'accounts' to INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py
Step 2: Configure URLs
In myauthproject/urls.py:
from django.contrib import admin
from django.urls import path, include
urlpatterns = [
path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
path('accounts/', include('accounts.urls')),
Step 3: Create Forms for Registration and Login
In accounts/forms.py:
from django import forms
from django.contrib.auth.models import User
from django.contrib.auth.forms import AuthenticationForm
class RegisterForm(forms.ModelForm):
password = forms.CharField(widget=forms.PasswordInput)
class Meta:
model = User
fields = ['username', 'email', 'password']
# Optionally use AuthenticationForm for login
Step 4: Create Views for Register, Login, and Logout
In accounts/views.py:
from django.shortcuts import render, redirect
from django.contrib.auth import authenticate, login, logout
from .forms import RegisterForm
def register_view(request):
if request.method == 'POST':
form = RegisterForm(request.POST)
if form.is_valid():
user = form.save(commit=False)
user.set_password(form.cleaned_data['password'])
user.save()
return redirect('login')
else:
form = RegisterForm()
return render(request, 'accounts/register.html', {'form': form})
def login_view(request):
if request.method == 'POST':
username = request.POST['username']
password = request.POST['password']
user = authenticate(request, username=username, password=password)
if user is not None:
login(request, user)
return redirect('home')
return render(request, 'accounts/login.html')
def logout_view(request):
logout(request)
return redirect('login')
Step 5: Create Templates for Registration and Login
Create templates in accounts/templates/accounts/
register.html:
<form method='post'>{% csrf_token %}{{ form.as_p }}<button
type='submit'>Register</button></form>
login.html:
<form method='post'>{% csrf_token %}
Username: <input type='text' name='username'><br>
Password: <input type='password' name='password'><br>
<button type='submit'>Login</button></form>
Step 6: Create URL Patterns in App
In accounts/urls.py:
from django.urls import path
from .views import register_view, login_view, logout_view
urlpatterns = [
path('register/', register_view, name='register'),
path('login/', login_view, name='login'),
path('logout/', logout_view, name='logout'),
Step 7: Optional - Create a Home View
In views.py:
from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required
@login_required
def home_view(request):
return render(request, 'accounts/home.html')
Step 8: Run and Test the App
1. Run migrations:
python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate
2. Run the development server:
python manage.py runserver
3. Visit /accounts/register/ to create a user
4. Visit /accounts/login/ to log in
Summary
✔ User registration via ModelForm
✔ Secure password hashing
✔ User login using Django's authentication system
✔ Logout and optional login protection using @login_required
