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 # RMG Website - A Django-powered website for RMG
 
-This repository contains the source code that powers the RMG website, which 
-runs at http://rmg.mit.edu/. The RMG website itself uses the 
-[Django](http://www.djangoproject.com/) web framework.
+This repository contains the source code that powers the RMG website, which runs at http://rmg.mit.edu/.
+The RMG website itself uses the [Django](http://www.djangoproject.com/) web framework.
 
 ## User Setup
 
-If you only wish to *use* the RMG website, no setup is required! Simply point
-your favorite web browser to http://rmg.mit.edu/ to get started. Some parts of
-the web site require that Javascript be enabled.
+If you only wish to *use* the RMG website, no setup is required!
+Simply point your favorite web browser to http://rmg.mit.edu/ to get started.
+Some parts of the web site require that Javascript be enabled.
 
 ## Developer Setup
 
-Running RMG-website requires a working installation of 
-[RMG-Py](http://github.com/ReactionMechanismGenerator/RMG-Py). 
-Development of the website closely mirrors that of RMG-Py, and you will 
-generally need to update the RMG-Py repository whenever you update 
-this repository.
+Running RMG-website requires a working installation of [RMG-Py](http://github.com/ReactionMechanismGenerator/RMG-Py). 
+Development of the website closely mirrors that of RMG-Py, and you will generally need to update the RMG-Py repository whenever you update this repository.
+
+### 1. Setup Dependencies
+Clone the `RMG-website` repo into your local folder.  
+
+The following command will update your `rmg_env` environment and install the necessary packages for RMG-website
+```
+cd RMG-website
+conda env update -f environment.yml
+pip install git+https://github.com/bp-kelley/descriptastorus
+```
+
+### 2. Configure the Webserver
+In order to get the webserver running, you must first create a `secretsettings.py` file.
+This file is intended to hold settings that are specific to a particular installation.
+An example file is provided in `rmgweb/secretsettings.py.example`.
+Make a copy of that file named `secretsettings.py`.
+
+Django uses a secret key for cryptographic signing, which is set in `secretsettings.py`.
+A dummy key is provided in the example file, which will work for basic use.
+For production environments, it is strongly recommended to generate a custom key.
+Instructions to generate a key using Python are provided in the example file, or you can use an online tool.
+
+You also need to add `'127.0.0.1'` to `ALLOWED_HOSTS` in `secretsettings.py` to run RMG-website locally.
+
+### 3. Run the Website
+If running the website for the first time, enter the commands
+```
+cd RMG-website
+python manage.py migrate
+python manage.py runserver
+```
+
+You may be prompted to create a superuser account, which you will need to access admin features on the website.
+
+Now the website should appear on your localhost, you can visit it in any browser using the URL: http://127.0.0.1:8000/.
+The website may take some time to load, as the RMG database must be loaded from the disk every time the webserver is restarted.
+
+### 4. Usage Notes
+When you rebuild any `Model` class within a models.py file, you have to modify the sql tables via Django's migration model.
+This can be done as follows:
+
+1. In the ``RMG-website`` directory, run:
+
+    ```
+    python manage.py makemigrations
+    python manage.py migrate
+    python manage.py collectstatic --clear --noinput
+    ```
+
+2. If in a development environment, commit these migrations along with your other changes. This is not needed in production.
 
-For detailed instructions on setting up a local version of RMG-website, 
-please see the [wiki page](https://github.com/ReactionMechanismGenerator/RMG-Py/wiki/Setting-up-RMG-website) 
-in RMG-Py. 
 
 ## Credits
 - [Professor William H. Green's research group](http://cheme.scripts.mit.edu/green-group/) at the 
@@ -30,5 +73,4 @@ in RMG-Py.
 
 ## How to Give Feedback
 
-Please post any issues you may have to the [issues page](https://github.com/ReactionMechanismGenerator/RMG-website/issues/) 
-or email [rmg_dev@mit.edu](mailto:rmg_dev@mit.edu) if you have questions.
+Please post any issues you may have to the [issues page](https://github.com/ReactionMechanismGenerator/RMG-website/issues/) or email [rmg_dev@mit.edu](mailto:rmg_dev@mit.edu) if you have questions.