Study-Room

A modern community-driven discussion platform built with Django, allowing users to create topic-based rooms, participate in conversations, exchange knowledge, and manage personalized profiles.

This project was developed as part of an in-depth journey into Django development, covering real-world concepts such as authentication, authorization, database relationships, custom user models, media uploads, password recovery, and introductory REST API development.

The goal was not only to build a functional application, but also to gain a solid understanding of how modern Django applications are structured and maintained.

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Application Preview

Home Page

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Discussion Room

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User Profile

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Edit user information

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Create / Update Room

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Password Reset

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Core Features

Authentication & Security

• User Registration
• User Login & Logout
• Email-Based Authentication
• Password Reset via Email
• Protected Views using Authentication Decorators
• Ownership-Based Authorization
• Password Validation
• Environment Variable Protection

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Custom User System

The project uses a custom Django User model extending AbstractUser, allowing future scalability and customization.

Features include:

• Custom User Model
• Unique Email Address
• User Biography
• User Avatar
• Custom Authentication Field
• Editable Profile Information

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User Profiles

Users can:

• Upload Profile Pictures
• Update Personal Information
• Edit Username
• Edit Email Address
• Add Personal Biography
• View Personal Activity

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Discussion Rooms

Users can:

• Create Rooms
• Update Rooms
• Delete Rooms
• Organize Rooms by Topics
• Search Rooms
• View Room Participants
• Join Discussions

Each room contains:

• Host User
• Topic
• Participants
• Messages
• Creation Timestamp
• Last Update Timestamp

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Messaging System

The application includes a complete room-based messaging system.

Features:

• Post Messages
• Delete Own Messages
• Room Conversations
• Recent Activity Feed
• Human-Friendly Time Display

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Participants System

The platform tracks room participation through a Many-to-Many relationship between users and rooms.

Features:

• Automatic Participant Registration
• Participant Listing
• Room Membership Tracking

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Search System

Users can search rooms by:

• Topic Name
• Room Name
• Host Username
• Room Description

The search functionality is powered by Django ORM and Q Objects.

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Database Design

The project demonstrates practical usage of relational database design through Django ORM.

One-to-Many Relationships

User  → Room
Topic → Room
User  → Message
Room  → Message

Implemented using:

models.ForeignKey()

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Many-to-Many Relationships

User ↔ Room (Participants)

Implemented using:

models.ManyToManyField()

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REST API (Introduction)

This project includes the first steps toward REST API development using Django REST Framework.

Implemented endpoints:

GET /api/
GET /api/rooms/
GET /api/rooms/<id>/

Implemented concepts:

• Django REST Framework
• Function-Based API Views
• Serializers
• JSON Responses
• API Routing

This serves as the foundation for future API expansion across the entire application.

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Media Handling

The application supports user-uploaded media using Django's media system.

Features:

• Avatar Uploads
• Default Profile Images
• Dynamic Media Serving
• Media Storage Configuration

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Technologies Used

• Python 3
• Django 6.0.5
• Django REST Framework
• SQLite
• HTML5
• CSS3
• JavaScript
• Pillow
• SMTP Email Services
• Python Dotenv

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What I Learned

Throughout this project I gained hands-on experience with:

• Django Models
• Django ORM
• QuerySets
• Authentication & Authorization
• Custom User Models
• ModelForms
• Form Validation
• Database Relationships
• Media Uploads
• Password Recovery Systems
• REST APIs
• URL Routing
• Function-Based Views
• Project Structure Organization

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Installation

1. Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/Study-Room.git

cd Study-Room

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2. Create a Virtual Environment

Linux / macOS

python -m venv .venv

source .venv/bin/activate

Windows

python -m venv .venv

.venv\Scripts\activate

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3. Install Dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

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Environment Variables

Create a file named:

.env

Add the following values:

SECRET_KEY=your_secret_key

EMAIL_USER=your_email

EMAIL_PASS=your_email_password

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Database Setup

Apply migrations:

python manage.py migrate

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Create Admin User

python manage.py createsuperuser

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Run the Development Server

python manage.py runserver

Open:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/

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Project Structure

Study-Room/
│
├── base/
│   ├── api/
│   ├── migrations/
│   ├── templates/
│   ├── models.py
│   ├── forms.py
│   ├── views.py
│   └── urls.py
│
├── static/
├── templates/
├── StudyRooms/
│   ├── settings.py
│   ├── urls.py
│   └── wsgi.py
│
├── db.sqlite3
├── manage.py
├── .env
└── requirements.txt

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Future Improvements

Planned future enhancements include:

• Complete REST API Coverage
• JWT Authentication
• Room Join / Leave Workflow
• Notification System
• Direct Messaging
• Real-Time Chat using WebSockets
• Docker Support
• Production Deployment
• Automated Testing

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Author

Mohammed Albasha

This project represents a practical exploration of Django development, focusing on building real-world applications while understanding the framework from the ground up.

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License

This project is open-source and intended for educational and learning purposes.