18 Jun 2020

Wagtail Gitpod – Wagtail development setup in one click

Do you want to play with Wagtail code, but find it hard to set up? With Wagtail Gitpod you skip the friction.

Coen van der Kamp

Wagtail core team

Setting up a Wagtail project for the first time can be a challenging experience. But it is a hurdle that you have to take before you can make a Wagtail powered website. I’m proud to present Wagtail Gitpod. Onboarding you with a single click.

Prerequisites

You need at least:

A browser.
A Github account.
The desire to play with Wagtail code.

Feeling lucky?

Try it!

What is Gitpod?

Gitpod is a web service that takes code from a Github project and loads it into a code editor and Docker.

Theia Integrated Development Environment (IDE) displays the file structure, file contents, terminals, and a preview. It is a code editor with many useful extras.

Docker makes it easy to run applications. A Docker container runs an application with all of the parts it needs, such as libraries and other dependencies. It is an environment that runs the Wagtail site.

What happens when you push the button?

The button is a simple hyperlink pointing to https://gitpod.io/#https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail-gitpod. Gitpod will:

Get the code from https://github.com/wagtail/wagtail-gitpod.
Open the IDE in a browser tab.
Start a Docker container.
Run the instructions from .gitpod.yml.

That fourth step is the beginning of the Wagtail tutorial. It installs Wagtail, creates a Wagtail project, creates and populates a database, and creates an admin user.

Everything you need for Wagtail development up and running in a single browser tab!

Play, sleep, repeat

We skipped the first part of the Wagtail tutorial. We are now at the fun part: Extending the Homepage model.

Follow the tutorial and experience how satisfying it is to develop a Wagtail site.

You can stop at any moment. Gitpod stores the current state. You can pick up where you left off.

Share your Wagtail setup

There are two ways to share your Gitpod workspace. In the IDE, top right, click your avatar. Choose:

Share Running Workspace, this gives people with the link access to the workspace and your repository. Use this option only with people you trust.
Share Workspace Snapshot, this gives people with the link a complete clone of your workspace. No access or credentials are shared.

The workspace snapshot is perfect for asking for support or submitting a bug report. Create a minimal example illustrating the problem and share it!

Try Wagtail

The quickest way to set up Wagtail is Wagtail Gitpod.
What are you waiting for? Try it!

Note: This post originally appeared on the Four Digits blog.