Follow these steps to launch the application locally:

✅ STEP 1: Download or Clone the Project

Option A: If you have a ZIP file

1. Extract it to a folder.

2. Open that folder in VS Code:

VS Code → File → Open Folder…

Option B: If using Git clone

git clone https://github.com/username/repository-name.git
cd repository-name
code .

✅ STEP 2: Set Up Virtual Environment

This keeps your project dependencies isolated.

# Create virtual environment (in project folder)
python -m venv venv

# Activate it:
# On Windows:
venv\Scripts\activate

# On macOS/Linux:
source venv/bin/activate

✅ STEP 3: Install Requirements

Most Django projects have a requirements.txt file. Install the packages:

pip install -r requirements.txt

If requirements.txt is missing, you can manually install Django:

pip install django

✅ STEP 4: Configure .env or Settings (If Required)

Some projects require .env files (for secret keys or DB settings).

Check the README or .env.example if present, and create your own .env.

✅ STEP 5: Run Migrations

python manage.py makemigrations
python manage.py migrate

✅ STEP 6: Create Superuser (for Admin Login)

python manage.py createsuperuser

Follow the prompts.

✅ STEP 7: Run the Django Development Server

python manage.py runserver

Open http://127.0.0.1:8000 in your browser.
Use /admin to access the admin panel.

Code Explanation:

📁 1. Model: models.py

from django.db import models

class Shortener(models.Model):
full_url = models.URLField()
short_url = models.CharField(max_length=10, unique=True)

def _str_(self):
return self.full_url

full_url: Stores the original long URL.

short_url: A unique identifier (e.g., “a1b2c3”) used to redirect to the original URL.

_str_ makes it easy to display full URLs in the admin interface.

🧠 2. View Logic: views.py

import random, string
from django.shortcuts import render, redirect, get_object_or_404
from .models import Shortener
from .forms import UrlForm

def generate_short_url():
return ''.join(random.choices(string.ascii_letters + string.digits, k=6))

generate_short_url(): Creates a 6-character alphanumeric code.

This code will be the unique short path for the original URL.

🌐 Main View – Create Short Link

def home(request):
if request.method == 'POST':
form = UrlForm(request.POST)
if form.is_valid():
full_url = form.cleaned_data['full_url']
short_url = generate_short_url()
while Shortener.objects.filter(short_url=short_url).exists():
short_url = generate_short_url()
Shortener.objects.create(full_url=full_url, short_url=short_url)
return render(request, 'url_app/success.html', {'short_url': short_url})
else:
form = UrlForm()
return render(request, 'url_app/index.html', {'form': form})

Handles both GET and POST requests.

On form submission, it generates a unique short URL.

Ensures no duplicate short codes via a while loop.

Saves the mapping and returns the success.html with the shortened link.

🔁 Redirect View

def redirect_url(request, short_url):
link = get_object_or_404(Shortener, short_url=short_url)
return redirect(link.full_url)

Looks up the original URL via the short code.

Redirects the user to the correct full URL.

Uses get_object_or_404 to handle non-existent codes gracefully.

📝 3. Form: forms.py

from django import forms

class UrlForm(forms.Form):
full_url = forms.URLField(label='Enter the URL to shorten')

Simple form that takes a single input: the long URL.

🗺 4. URLs: urls.py

from django.urls import path
from . import views

urlpatterns = [
path('', views.home, name='home'),
path('<str:short_url>', views.redirect_url, name='redirect')
]

Root URL (/) displays the form.

Shortened URLs like /abc123 are handled and redirected appropriately.

🎨 5. Templates

index.html: Displays the form for entering the full URL.

success.html: Shows the shortened link after generation.