Waitlist App 🚀 (hands on next js)

A simple, aesthetic waitlist application built with Django Ninja API (backend) and Shadcn UI in Next.js (frontend). This project marks my journey from Django’s Jinja templates to the power of Next.js, driven by the beautiful Shadcn UI.

🖥️ Tech Stack

• Backend: Django Ninja API
• Frontend: Next.js + Shadcn UI
• Database: Neon Serverless PostgreSQL
• Deployment: Hosted on Railway

✨ Features

1. User Registration: Allow users to join a waitlist with essential details.
2. View Waitlist: Admin access to see the list of registered users.
3. Aesthetic UI: Leveraging Shadcn’s beautiful components for a smooth, modern user experience.

📚 Motivation

The major motivation behind using Shadcn UI is its aesthetic appeal, making it far more enjoyable to design interfaces. Transitioning from Django’s Jinja templates to Next.js has been an exciting challenge, and Shadcn UI has made it well worth the effort.

🛠️ Setup

1. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/ARYANK-08/django-nextjs.git
cd src

2. Backend Setup (Django):

• Configure Neon PostgreSQL:
  • Sign up at Neon and create a new project.
  • Get your PostgreSQL connection URL from Neon and add it to your Django settings:

    DATABASES = {
        'default': {
            'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
            'NAME': 'your_database_name',
            'USER': 'your_username',
            'PASSWORD': 'your_password',
            'HOST': 'your_neon_host',
            'PORT': 'your_neon_port',
        }
    }

• Install dependencies and run migrations:

  cd backend
  python -m venv env
  source env/bin/activate
  pip install -r requirements.txt
  python manage.py migrate
  python manage.py runserver

3. Frontend Setup (Next.js):

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

🚀 Deployment

Backend on Railway:

• Sign up at Railway and create a new project.
• Connect your GitHub repository and add your Django app.
• Add environment variables for Django (e.g., DATABASE_URL for Neon PostgreSQL and SECRET_KEY).
• Deploy your app, and Railway will manage the hosting and scaling.

Frontend on Vercel (or continue with Railway):

• If preferred, deploy the Next.js frontend on Vercel for streamlined deployment.
• Vercel offers automatic Next.js optimizations and deploys directly from GitHub.

🖼️ UI Preview

Shadcn UI in action gives a modern, polished feel to the waitlist application. Run both servers locally and visit localhost:3000 to preview, or check out the live site on Vercel.

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