First, choose a name for your app that is descriptive and short, since you will be typing it and using it frequently. For example, if you are implementing the prisoner’s dilemma, you can choose the name prisoner. If you are implementing the public goods game, you can choose the name publicgoods.
At your command line, go inside your project directory (the same directory as manage.py), and run this command, where <app_name> is the name you have chosen for your app:
django-admin.py startapp --template=http://is.gd/ptree_app <app_name>
This will create a new app based on a pTree template, with most of the structure already set up for you.
Think of this as a skeleton to which you can add as much as you want. You can add your own classes, functions, methods, and attributes, or import any 3rd-party modules.
Launch PyCharm, and select “Open Directory”. Navigate to the outer ptree_experiments directory (not the subfolder that has the same name) and click OK. When the project opens, on the left-hand site you should see a directory tree that expands to the following:
ptree_experiments/
manage.py
ptree_experiments/
__init__.py
settings.py
urls.py
wsgi.py
<your_app_name>
management/
static/
templates/
__init__.py
admin.py
forms.py
models.py
utilities.py
views.py
Go to ptree_experiments/settings.py and append your app’s name (as a string) to PTREE_EXPERIMENT_APPS, like this:
PTREE_EXPERIMENT_APPS = ('myappname',)
(Note the trailing comma, which is necessary.)
Each of the files/folders in your app directory holds one component of your app. They are explained in the following pages: