Getting started
===============

Wagtail is built on the `Django web framework <https://www.djangoproject.com/>`_, so this document assumes you've already got the essentials installed. But if not, those essentials are:

 * `Python <https://www.python.org/downloads/>`_
 * `pip <https://pip.pypa.io/en/latest/installing.html>`_ (Note that pip is included by default with Python 3.4 and later)

We'd also recommend Virtualenv, which provides isolated Python environments:

 * `Virtualenv <https://virtualenv.pypa.io/en/latest/installation.html>`_

.. important::
   Before installing Wagtail, it is necessary to install the **libjpeg** and **zlib** libraries, which provide support for working with JPEG, PNG and GIF images (via the Python **Pillow** library). The way to do this varies by platform - see Pillow's `platform-specific installation instructions <http://pillow.readthedocs.org/en/latest/installation.html#external-libraries>`_.

With the above installed, the quickest way to install Wagtail is:

*If you are using Virtualenv, run*

.. code-block:: console

    $ virtualenv env -p python3
    $ source env/bin/activate


.. code-block:: console

    $ pip install wagtail

(``sudo`` may be required if installing system-wide or without virtualenv)

Once installed, Wagtail provides a command similar to Django's ``django-admin startproject`` which stubs out a new site/project:

.. code-block:: console

    $ wagtail start mysite

This will create a new folder ``mysite``, based on a template containing all you need to get started. More information on that template is available :doc:`here </reference/project_template>`.

Inside your ``mysite`` folder, we now just run the setup steps necessary for any Django project:

.. code-block:: console

    $ pip install -r requirements.txt
    $ ./manage.py migrate
    $ ./manage.py createsuperuser
    $ ./manage.py runserver

Your site is now accessible at ``http://localhost:8000``, with the admin backend available at ``http://localhost:8000/admin/``.

This will set you up with a new stand-alone Wagtail project. If you'd like to add Wagtail to an existing Django project instead, see :doc:`integrating_into_django`.

There are a few optional packages which are not installed by default but are recommended to improve performance or add features to Wagtail, including:

 * :doc:`Elasticsearch </advanced_topics/performance>`.
 * :ref:`image_feature_detection`.


.. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1

    tutorial
    demo_site
    integrating_into_django
    the_zen_of_wagtail