diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..54cc7a27cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+*.pyc
+*~
+*.scssc
+*.swp
+*.orig
+*.DS_Store
+database.sqlite
+courseware/static/js/mathjax/*
+db.newaskbot
+db.oldaskbot
+flushdb.sh