Media Journal

This is the self-hosted media tracker app I always wanted to have. From now on I will use it and keep it maintained. I will never ask for donations or try to monetize the app in any form. People using it is more than enough!

Note: I added the open source AGPL license to make contributing easier, hoping nobody would try to monetize the app with the "commercial use" clause. I personally disapprove of that.

Features

• Separate lists for movies, tv shows, games, anime, manga, books and music.
• Track progress, ratings, status, and notes.
• Home page shows stats, recent activity and favorites (including actors and characters).
• Multiple rating systems (3 faces, 5 stars, 1-10, 1-100).
• You can play your saved songs through a YouTube music player while navigating the site.
• Automated check for sequels and new seasons (tv shows, anime, manga).
• Get status for planned movies, tv shows, anime, manga.

Demo - Youtube Demo

Home	Movies

History	Discover

Details	Edit

Setup for Docker

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/mihail-pop/media-journal

2. Open a terminal in the project folder and start the app with:

   docker-compose up -d

The application will be available at http://localhost:8090.

3. Inside the app, navigate to Settings → API Keys.
   You will need to add your own API keys. In that section there are instructions on how to obtain them.

Configuration

The application can be configured using environment variables.

• CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS: A comma-separated list of trusted origins for POST requests. This is necessary if you are accessing the application from a different domain.

  For example, in docker-compose.yml:

  environment:
    - CSRF_TRUSTED_ORIGINS=https://your-domain.com,https://another-domain.com

Setup for Windows - Youtube Tutorial

1. Download Python 3.13.0.

   During installation check the option: “Add Python to PATH”.

2. Open a terminal inside the folder where you want the app installed:

   Right-click inside your folder → Select Open in Terminal.

3. Clone the repository (download GIT):

   git clone https://github.com/mihail-pop/media-journal

   Then open a terminal in the newly created folder.

4. Install the dependencies:

   pip install -r requirements.txt

5. Create the database:

   python manage.py migrate

6. Generate static files (required after every update):

   python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

7. Start the app:

   python manage.py runserver --noreload

8. Open the app in your browser at: http://localhost:8000

9. Inside the app navigate to Settings → API Keys. You will need to add your own API keys. In that section there are instructions on how to obtain them.

Optional Tips

• To access the app from your phone or other devices on the same network, run the server using this command:

  python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload

  Then on your other devices you can access it using your machine's IPv4 address. You can find your IPv4 address by running ipconfig in the terminal.

• For windows, to automatically start the app, you can create a .bat file that runs the runserver command and a .vbs file in the shell:startup folder to start that bat file at startup.

Example .bat file:

@echo off
cd /d "C:\***path to your folder***\media-journal"
set PY="C:\***path to your python***\Python\Python313\python.exe"
%PY% manage.py migrate
%PY% manage.py collectstatic --noinput
%PY% manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --noreload

Example .vbs file:

Set WshShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
WshShell.Run """C:\***path to your bat file***\run_journal.bat""", 0
Set WshShell = Nothing

• Some YouTube videos (especially music) may show “Video unavailable, watch on YouTube” if you use a numeric URL (e.g., http://127.0.0.1:8000). Those videos work on http://localhost:8000 or a custom URL (e.g., http://myapp.mediajournal:8000). To use a custom URL across devices, you need local DNS, which many routers don’t support. The other option is hosting a local DNS app on your machine, but it would always have to be turned on.