Create an alternative tutorial targeted at those familar with HTML/CSS rather than Python

[Daniele Procida]

Our tutorial is excellent, but I think we need to be able to address a wider audience with it.

Our tutorial works much better for people who have some programming experience than for those who are coming from a web design background.

I want it to be an entry point for someone who knows HTML and CSS (but not Python, or even programming in general), and wants to move on from static sites or using other people's applications to building their own applications.

Part of PHP's success has been the ease with which it allows HTML/CSS developers to enter into programming by starting with the things that they are already familiar and comfortable with. We'll never be able to match that with Python, but I think we can get much closer to it.

At the same time I want to make the effort/result cycle in the tutorial much tighter than it is now, particularly from the point of view of the very novice or non-programmer.

Proposed approach

I don't propose to replace the existing tutorial, but will add to it - in fact, creating an alternative entry-point that takes a different approach, and converges on the same outcome, rejoining the flow of the existing tutorial at a later point.

The tutorial will diverge from the existing tutorial after ​https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/intro/tutorial01/#creating-the-polls-app, and rejoin it at ​https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/intro/tutorial05/ (with some minor reshuffling to make it all work together properly).

I'll do the work in two tranches

• some changes to the application that the existing tutorial creates, to make it more suited to the new tutorial
• the addition of the new material

For the future I envisage the possibility of adding further entry-points or paths through the tutorial (for example, a path aimed at PHP programmers, or one for JavaScript developers who want learn how they might add Django backend applications to their JS projects), so part of the work will be to open up the tutorial to this sort of extension.

[Tim Graham]

To avoid duplicating effort in the community, I'm attracted to the alternative of pointing to other tutorials (like ​DjangoGirls) that target non-programmers, but to help make a decision, I don't mind looking at what you prepare.

[Asif Saifuddin Auvi]

Replying to timgraham:

To avoid duplicating effort in the community, I'm attracted to the alternative of pointing to other tutorials (like ​DjangoGirls) that target non-programmers, but to help make a decision, I don't mind looking at what you prepare.

+1 for your thought

[Yash Goyal]

I think the current tutorial is much better than which was there when this ticket was created and there are now a lot more resources for beginners and new to programming audience then there was that time.