Building a web application using Django involves several steps. Here’s a simplified guide to get you started:

Step 1: Set up the Django Project

1. Install Django by running pip install django in your command prompt or terminal.
2. Create a new Django project by running django-admin startproject projectname (replace “projectname” with the name of your project).
3. Change into the project directory using cd projectname.

Step 2: Create a Django App

1. Inside your project directory, create a new Django app by running python manage.py startapp appname (replace “appname” with the name of your app).
2. Open the settings.py file inside the project directory and add your app to the INSTALLED_APPS list.

Step 3: Define Models

1. In your app directory, open models.py. Define your data models using Django’s ORM (Object-Relational Mapping).
2. Each model is represented as a Python class that subclasses django.db.models.Model. Define fields and relationships within the class.

Step 4: Create Database Tables

1. Run python manage.py makemigrations to create migration files based on your model changes.
2. Apply the migrations to create the necessary database tables by running python manage.py migrate.

Step 5: Create Views

1. In your app directory, open views.py. Create view functions or classes to handle HTTP requests.
2. Views return HTTP responses, typically rendered templates or JSON responses.

Step 6: Define URLs

1. Create a urls.py file in your app directory if it doesn’t already exist.
2. Define URL patterns by mapping URLs to your view functions or classes.
3. Optionally, you can create a urls.py file in your project directory and include your app’s URLs using include().

Step 7: Create Templates

1. Inside your app directory, create a folder named templates.
2. Within the templates folder, create HTML templates for your views using Django’s template language.

Step 8: Run the Development Server

1. Start the development server by running python manage.py runserver.
2. Open your web browser and visit http://localhost:8000/ to see your application.

These are the basic steps to get started with Django. From here, you can explore more advanced features such as forms, authentication, and deployment options. Django has excellent documentation available at https://docs.djangoproject.com/ that provides detailed explanations and examples for each topic.