This free sample explains how to create from scratch a new Django project, add authentication and improve the UI by installing Soft Dashboard, a modern BS5 design from Creative-Tim.

👉 Create the directory

$ mkdir my-django-project
$ cd my-django-project

👉 Install the dependencies

$ virtualenv env
$ source env/bin/activate
$ pip install Django

👉 Create the Django project

$ django-admin startproject core . 

Set Up the database

$ python manage.py makemigrations
$ python manage.py migrate

👉 Start the app

$ python manage.py runserver

👉 Create a superuser

$ python manage.py createsuperuser

At this point we can access the admin section that uses a minimal style.

👉 Install the PyPi package

$ pip install django-admin-soft-dashboard

👉 Configure Django to use the new design

Add admin_soft application to the INSTALLED_APPS setting of your Django project settings.py file (note it should be before django.contrib.admin):

    INSTALLED_APPS = (
        ...
        'admin_soft.apps.AdminSoftDashboardConfig',
        'django.contrib.admin',
    )

👉 Start the app and access the new admin design

$ python manage.py runserver

This section explains how to add a minimal app that handles ordinary users registration.

👉 Create the new app

$ django-admin startapp authentication

Update the app settings (INSTALLED_APPS section)

# core/python.py (truncated content)
...
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'admin_soft.apps.AdminSoftDashboardConfig',
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'authentication',                # <-- NEW
]
... 

👉 Start the project and access the new admin design

$ python manage.py runserver

Django, How to Install Soft Dashboard Theme - Open-source sample provided by AppSeed