eLearning Platform

Features

Authentication & Roles

Custom user model with role-based access (Student / Teacher) Separate registration flows for students and teachers Profile photo upload during registration Secure login/logout with Django's built-in authentication

For Teachers

Create courses with title, description, and uploadable materials Manage enrollments — view enrolled students, remove or block/unblock students Receive notifications when a student enrolls in their course Search users — filter by role, name, or email with pagination and optional blocked-user exclusion Mark all notifications as read in one click

For Students

Browse available courses and enroll with a single click View enrolled courses and access course details and materials Leave feedback on courses they are enrolled in Blocked student handling — students blocked from a course cannot re-enroll

Real-Time Course Chat

WebSocket-powered group chat per course using Django Channels Only the course teacher and enrolled students can access the chat room Join/leave system messages broadcast to the group Backed by Redis as the channel layer for message brokering

Additional

Flash message notifications with Bootstrap styling

Tech Stack

LayerTechnologyBackendPython, Django 4+Real-TimeDjango Channels, Daphne, WebSocketsMessage BrokerRedisDatabaseSQLite (development)FrontendHTML, Bootstrap 5, JavaScriptAPI (future)Django REST FrameworkFile HandlingPillow (image uploads) Status update system (24-hour rolling window, one active status per user) Django REST Framework installed for future API expansion Responsive UI built with Bootstrap 5 and Bootstrap Icons

Installation

Clone the repository git clone https://github.com/YOUR_USERNAME/elearning-platform.git cd elearning-platform/elearning_platform

Create and activate a virtual environment

python -m venv venv source venv/bin/activate # macOS/Linux venv\Scripts\activate # Windows

Install dependencies

pip install -r requirements.txt

Apply database migrations

python manage.py migrate

Create a superuser (optional, for admin access)

python manage.py createsuperuser

Terminal 1 — Start Redis

redis-server

Terminal 2 — Start the Django development server

python manage.py runserver

With daphne in INSTALLED_APPS, Django automatically uses the ASGI server, enabling WebSocket support for the chat feature. Open your browser and navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/login to access the login page.

Key Design Decisions

Custom User Model — extends Django's AbstractUser with an is_teacher flag and optional photo field, enabling clean role-based access control throughout the app. Course Blocking — a separate CourseBlock model ensures blocked students cannot re-enroll, with teachers able to block/unblock at the course level. WebSocket Authentication — the chat consumer uses AuthMiddlewareStack to verify the user's session, and checks enrollment status before allowing access to the chat room. 24-Hour Status Window — status updates auto-expire after 24 hours, keeping the dashboard clean without requiring manual cleanup.