Flask Template

This is a sample Python Flask app with the following features:

• Folder structure that can accomodate medium-sized projects
• MySQL database connection
• Sample routes that serve Jinja templates
• Sample “utility” routes (robots.txt and error pages)
• Base Jinja template that provides a consistent page structure
• Sample CSS styles, including light/dark theming

This template has grown out of boilerplate code from several personal projects, including SingPraises.net and Scripture Tools. Although it’s been tailored to meet my own needs, I hope it will be useful to others.

Set up the project locally

These instructions are for macOS (other systems may vary).

Clone the git repository

1. Open Terminal.

2. Navigate to the folder where you want to download the project:

cd /path/to/folder

3. Clone the repository:

git clone https://github.com/samuelbradshaw/flask-template.git flask-template

If you prefer a GUI for git instead of Terminal, I recommend Sourcetree.

Install Python 3 and MySQL (if needed)

Instructions for installing Python: Installing Python 2 and 3 on macOS

Instructions for installing MySQL: Installing MySQL on macOS

Set up a virtual environment for the project

1. Open Terminal and navigate to the project folder:

cd /path/to/project/folder

2. Set up and activate a virtual environment:

python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate

3. Install Flask and other Python dependencies in the virtual environment:

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Set up a local MySQL database

1. Log on to your MySQL instance. This can be done in Terminal, but I’d recommend using Sequel Ace as a GUI.

   • Host: 127.0.0.1
   • Username: [your-mysql-username]
   • Password: [your-mysql-username]
   • Port: 3306

2. Create a new database for the app to use (for example, sample_database).

Create a project config file

1. Create a new Python file called config.py inside the main folder in the repository (this file isn’t tracked by git, because it contains configuration/credentials that are unique to the user).

2. Add the following lines to the config file, replacing the placeholders with your MySQL username, password, and database name:

SITE_NAME = 'Sample Website'

class DBInfo:
  SERVER = 'localhost'
  USERNAME = '[your-mysql-username]'
  PASSWORD = '[your-mysql-password]'
  DATABASE = '[your-database-name]'
  PORT = 3306

Run the app

1. Navigate to the project folder and start the virtual environment (if it's not already running):

cd /path/to/project/folder
source .venv/bin/activate

2. Run the Python script that loads the site:

python3 run.py

3. Open the app in your browser:
   http://127.0.0.1:8080