Starting with Django?

I’ve been compiling this reference since I started with the Django Framework in hopes that it would prove helpful to other developer/designers. It's an exciting, but potentially confusing time to learn Django. The recent launch of Django 1.0 has produced an abundance of excitement about the project but it has also out dated a lot of reference material written for version .96.

Reference

Django Docs: This is the place to start. The Django team has really knocked out the documentation for the new version.
Irrational Exuberance: Will Larsen’s Django + Unintrusive JavaScript primer is excellent. It gives you some very helpful tips about setting up a development project that you might miss otherwise.
Django Group: I picked up Django during it’s transition from .96 to 1.0 and really the only place to look for info was the mailing list. If your using the SVN build you’ll want to subscribe.

Books

The only book I bought specifically about Django was Practical Django Projects. It’s a great book both in the writing style and information. That said I bought it right before Django transitioned to 1.0 and a lot of thing changed with the update. I would not try following the code examples until the next edition (anything after August 2008).

I also bought Learning Python from O’Rielly, which is a great book but starting out in Django doesn’t really require much Python. When you get into writing your own modules and template tags then you’ll need more of this.

Hosting

The executive summary on this topic is just go to Web Faction
Sorry for the plug, but they are the first hosted service I’ve been totally happy with.

I know you can get Django working on Dreamhost but I think the few bucks you save a month are not worth the sacrifices in time, quality, speed and uptime.

Media Temple recently started offering Django containers on their site. On paper it looks great, but I can't personally vouch for them. I've been burned too many times by Media Temple’s spotty Grid Server uptime and configuration problems on high end servers, so I won't use them again voluntarily. The upside is MT’s support is great, the downside is you’ll probably need it.

There is more hosting info online at DjangoFriendly

Modules

A core tenet of Django development is use of contained modules and clean interaction between modules. That said, where are you supposed to get modules not included with the default build? I haven’t found a single “clearing house” but here is what I check.
Django Plugables The start of a central site for Plugables
Google Code -- Do a search for Django + _ and it finds a lot of stuff.
Git Hub All kinds of projects here, it seems super popular with the Django community

Hopefully that's enough to get started with and not get totally swamped.