diff --git a/project/settings.py b/project/settings.py
index 99c6b624..8855547e 100644
--- a/project/settings.py
+++ b/project/settings.py
@@ -1,23 +1,23 @@
 """
 Django settings for this project.
 
-Generated by 'django-admin startproject' using Django 1.8.1.
+Generated by 'django-admin startproject' using Django 1.11.6.
 
 For more information on this file, see
-https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/topics/settings/
+https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/topics/settings/
 
 For the full list of settings and their values, see
-https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/ref/settings/
+https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/ref/settings/
 """
 
-# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
 import os
 
+# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
 BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
 
 
 # Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
-# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/deployment/checklist/
+# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/deployment/checklist/
 
 # SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
 # The SECRET_KEY is provided via an environment variable in OpenShift
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']
 
 # Application definition
 
-INSTALLED_APPS = (
+INSTALLED_APPS = [
     'django.contrib.admin',
     'django.contrib.auth',
     'django.contrib.contenttypes',
@@ -44,19 +44,19 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = (
     'django.contrib.staticfiles',
     'debug_toolbar',
     'welcome',
-)
+]
 
-MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
+MIDDLEWARE = [
+    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
     'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
     'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
-    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
     'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
-    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
     'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
-)
+    'debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware',
+]
 
 ROOT_URLCONF = 'project.urls'
 
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ WSGI_APPLICATION = 'wsgi.application'
 
 
 # Database
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/ref/settings/#databases
+# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/ref/settings/#databases
 
 from . import database
 
@@ -89,8 +89,27 @@ DATABASES = {
 }
 
 
+# Password validation
+# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/ref/settings/#auth-password-validators
+
+AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
+    {
+        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator',
+    },
+    {
+        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator',
+    },
+    {
+        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator',
+    },
+    {
+        'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator',
+    },
+]
+
+
 # Internationalization
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/topics/i18n/
+# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/topics/i18n/
 
 LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
 
@@ -104,9 +123,11 @@ USE_TZ = True
 
 
 # Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
-# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/static-files/
+# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/static-files/
 
 STATIC_URL = '/static/'
 STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')
 
 STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'
+
+INTERNAL_IPS = ['127.0.0.1']
diff --git a/project/urls.py b/project/urls.py
index 7165878d..5c6a8e36 100644
--- a/project/urls.py
+++ b/project/urls.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.conf.urls import include, url
 from django.contrib import admin
 
@@ -12,3 +13,9 @@ urlpatterns = [
     url(r'^health$', health),
     url(r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
 ]
+
+if settings.DEBUG:
+    import debug_toolbar
+    urlpatterns = [
+        url(r'^__debug__/', include(debug_toolbar.urls)),
+    ] + urlpatterns
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index 08db2890..4885bf17 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-django>=1.8,<1.9
-django-debug-toolbar==1.5
+django>=1.11,<1.12
+django-debug-toolbar==1.8
 gunicorn==19.4.5
 psycopg2==2.7.3.1
-whitenoise==3.0
+whitenoise==3.3.1
diff --git a/welcome/templates/welcome/index.html b/welcome/templates/welcome/index.html
index 5c5bafef..5357f9bd 100644
--- a/welcome/templates/welcome/index.html
+++ b/welcome/templates/welcome/index.html
@@ -263,14 +263,14 @@ $ git push</pre>
                   </ol>
                   <p>
                     Now it is time to add your own code.
-                    Follow along the <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/intro/tutorial01/">Django tutorial</a> to learn more about Django.
+                    Follow along the <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/intro/tutorial01/">Django tutorial</a> to learn more about Django.
                   </p>
                   <p>
                     If you are running Django's development server in your local host, you can see more information
                     about this request using the toolbar on the right.<br>
                     Please note that by default your Django settings have <code>DEBUG = True</code> and that is not appropriate for production use,
                     but very handy during development.<br>
-                    Refer to the <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/deployment/checklist/">Deployment Checklist</a>
+                    Refer to the <a href="https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/deployment/checklist/">Deployment Checklist</a>
                     before taking this project into a production environment.
                   </p>
 
diff --git a/wsgi.py b/wsgi.py
index 7c2f625e..2ef9a16d 100644
--- a/wsgi.py
+++ b/wsgi.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ WSGI config for project project.
 It exposes the WSGI callable as a module-level variable named ``application``.
 
 For more information on this file, see
-https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/deployment/wsgi/
+https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/deployment/wsgi/
 """
 
 import os