=====================
The Django admin site
=====================

.. module:: django.contrib.admin
   :synopsis: Django's admin site.

One of the most powerful parts of Django is the automatic admin interface. It
reads metadata in your model to provide a powerful and production-ready
interface that content producers can immediately use to start adding content to
the site. In this document, we discuss how to activate, use and customize
Django's admin interface.

Overview
========

There are seven steps in activating the Django admin site:

    1. Add ``'django.contrib.admin'`` to your :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`
       setting.

    2. Admin has three dependencies - :mod:`django.contrib.auth`,
       :mod:`django.contrib.contenttypes` and :mod:`django.contrib.messages`.
       If these applications are not in your :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS` list,
       add them.

    3. Add ``django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages`` to
       :setting:`TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS` and
       :class:`~django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware` to
       :setting:`MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES`.

    4. Determine which of your application's models should be editable in the
       admin interface.

    5. For each of those models, optionally create a ``ModelAdmin`` class that
       encapsulates the customized admin functionality and options for that
       particular model.

    6. Instantiate an ``AdminSite`` and tell it about each of your models and
       ``ModelAdmin`` classes.

    7. Hook the ``AdminSite`` instance into your URLconf.

Other topics
------------

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1

   actions
   admindocs

.. seealso::

    For information about serving the static files (images, JavaScript, and
    CSS) associated with the admin in production, see :ref:`serving-files`.

``ModelAdmin`` objects
======================

.. class:: ModelAdmin

    The ``ModelAdmin`` class is the representation of a model in the admin
    interface. These are stored in a file named ``admin.py`` in your
    application. Let's take a look at a very simple example of
    the ``ModelAdmin``::

        from django.contrib import admin
        from myproject.myapp.models import Author

        class AuthorAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            pass
        admin.site.register(Author, AuthorAdmin)

    .. admonition:: Do you need a ``ModelAdmin`` object at all?

        In the preceding example, the ``ModelAdmin`` class doesn't define any
        custom values (yet). As a result, the default admin interface will be
        provided. If you are happy with the default admin interface, you don't
        need to define a ``ModelAdmin`` object at all -- you can register the
        model class without providing a ``ModelAdmin`` description. The
        preceding example could be simplified to::

            from django.contrib import admin
            from myproject.myapp.models import Author

            admin.site.register(Author)

``ModelAdmin`` options
----------------------

The ``ModelAdmin`` is very flexible. It has several options for dealing with
customizing the interface. All options are defined on the ``ModelAdmin``
subclass::

    class AuthorAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        date_hierarchy = 'pub_date'

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.actions

    A list of actions to make available on the change list page. See
    :doc:`/ref/contrib/admin/actions` for details.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.actions_on_top
.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.actions_on_bottom

    Controls where on the page the actions bar appears. By default, the admin
    changelist displays actions at the top of the page (``actions_on_top = True;
    actions_on_bottom = False``).

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.actions_selection_counter

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    Controls whether a selection counter is display next to the action dropdown.
    By default, the admin changelist will display it
    (``actions_selection_counter = True``).

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.date_hierarchy

    Set ``date_hierarchy`` to the name of a ``DateField`` or ``DateTimeField``
    in your model, and the change list page will include a date-based drilldown
    navigation by that field.

    Example::

        date_hierarchy = 'pub_date'

    .. versionadded:: 1.3

    This will intelligently populate itself based on available data,
    e.g. if all the dates are in one month, it'll show the day-level
    drill-down only.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.exclude

    This attribute, if given, should be a list of field names to exclude from
    the form.

    For example, let's consider the following model::

        class Author(models.Model):
            name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
            title = models.CharField(max_length=3)
            birth_date = models.DateField(blank=True, null=True)

    If you want a form for the ``Author`` model that includes only the ``name``
    and ``title`` fields, you would specify ``fields`` or ``exclude`` like
    this::

        class AuthorAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            fields = ('name', 'title')

        class AuthorAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            exclude = ('birth_date',)

    Since the Author model only has three fields, ``name``, ``title``, and
    ``birth_date``, the forms resulting from the above declarations will
    contain exactly the same fields.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.fields

    If you need to achieve simple changes in the layout of fields in the forms
    of the "add" and "change" pages like only showing a subset of the available
    fields, modifying their order or grouping them in rows you can use the
    ``fields`` option (for more complex layout needs see the
    :attr:`~ModelAdmin.fieldsets` option described in the next section). For
    example, you could define a simpler version of the admin form for the
    ``django.contrib.flatpages.FlatPage`` model as follows::

        class FlatPageAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            fields = ('url', 'title', 'content')

    In the above example, only the fields ``url``, ``title`` and ``content``
    will be displayed, sequentially, in the form.

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    ``fields`` can contain values defined in :attr:`ModelAdmin.readonly_fields`
    to be displayed as read-only.

    .. versionadded:: 1.4

    To display multiple fields on the same line, wrap those fields in their own
    tuple. In this example, the ``url`` and ``title`` fields will display on the
    same line and the ``content`` field will be displayed below them in its
    own line::

        class FlatPageAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            fields = (('url', 'title'), 'content')

    .. admonition:: Note

        This ``fields`` option should not be confused with the ``fields``
        dictionary key that is within the :attr:`~ModelAdmin.fieldsets` option,
        as described in the next section.

    If neither ``fields`` nor :attr:`~ModelAdmin.fieldsets` options are present,
    Django will default to displaying each field that isn't an ``AutoField`` and
    has ``editable=True``, in a single fieldset, in the same order as the fields
    are defined in the model.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.fieldsets

    Set ``fieldsets`` to control the layout of admin "add" and "change" pages.

    ``fieldsets`` is a list of two-tuples, in which each two-tuple represents a
    ``<fieldset>`` on the admin form page. (A ``<fieldset>`` is a "section" of
    the form.)

    The two-tuples are in the format ``(name, field_options)``, where ``name``
    is a string representing the title of the fieldset and ``field_options`` is
    a dictionary of information about the fieldset, including a list of fields
    to be displayed in it.

    A full example, taken from the :class:`django.contrib.flatpages.FlatPage`
    model::

        class FlatPageAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            fieldsets = (
                (None, {
                    'fields': ('url', 'title', 'content', 'sites')
                }),
                ('Advanced options', {
                    'classes': ('collapse',),
                    'fields': ('enable_comments', 'registration_required', 'template_name')
                }),
            )

    This results in an admin page that looks like:

        .. image:: _images/flatfiles_admin.png

    If neither ``fieldsets`` nor :attr:`~ModelAdmin.fields` options are present,
    Django will default to displaying each field that isn't an ``AutoField`` and
    has ``editable=True``, in a single fieldset, in the same order as the fields
    are defined in the model.

    The ``field_options`` dictionary can have the following keys:

        * ``fields``
            A tuple of field names to display in this fieldset. This key is
            required.

            Example::

                {
                'fields': ('first_name', 'last_name', 'address', 'city', 'state'),
                }

            Just like with the :attr:`~ModelAdmin.fields` option, to display
            multiple fields on the same line, wrap those fields in their own
            tuple. In this example, the ``first_name`` and ``last_name`` fields
            will display on the same line::

                {
                'fields': (('first_name', 'last_name'), 'address', 'city', 'state'),
                }

            .. versionadded:: 1.2

            ``fields`` can contain values defined in
            :attr:`~ModelAdmin.readonly_fields` to be displayed as read-only.

        * ``classes``
            A list containing extra CSS classes to apply to the fieldset.

            Example::

                {
                'classes': ['wide', 'extrapretty'],
                }

            Two useful classes defined by the default admin site stylesheet are
            ``collapse`` and ``wide``. Fieldsets with the ``collapse`` style
            will be initially collapsed in the admin and replaced with a small
            "click to expand" link. Fieldsets with the ``wide`` style will be
            given extra horizontal space.

        * ``description``
            A string of optional extra text to be displayed at the top of each
            fieldset, under the heading of the fieldset.

            Note that this value is *not* HTML-escaped when it's displayed in
            the admin interface. This lets you include HTML if you so desire.
            Alternatively you can use plain text and
            ``django.utils.html.escape()`` to escape any HTML special
            characters.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.filter_horizontal

    By default, a :class:`~django.db.models.ManyToManyField` is displayed in
    the admin site with a ``<select multiple>``. However, multiple-select boxes
    can be difficult to use when selecting many items. Adding a
    :class:`~django.db.models.ManyToManyField` to this list will instead use
    a nifty unobtrusive JavaScript "filter" interface that allows searching
    within the options. The unselected and selected options appear in two boxes
    side by side. See :attr:`~ModelAdmin.filter_vertical` to use a vertical
    interface.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.filter_vertical

    Same as :attr:`~ModelAdmin.filter_horizontal`, but uses a vertical display
    of the filter interface with the box of unselected options appearing above
    the box of selected options.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.form

    By default a ``ModelForm`` is dynamically created for your model. It is
    used to create the form presented on both the add/change pages. You can
    easily provide your own ``ModelForm`` to override any default form behavior
    on the add/change pages.

    For an example see the section `Adding custom validation to the admin`_.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.formfield_overrides

    This provides a quick-and-dirty way to override some of the
    :class:`~django.forms.Field` options for use in the admin.
    ``formfield_overrides`` is a dictionary mapping a field class to a dict of
    arguments to pass to the field at construction time.

    Since that's a bit abstract, let's look at a concrete example. The most
    common use of ``formfield_overrides`` is to add a custom widget for a
    certain type of field. So, imagine we've written a ``RichTextEditorWidget``
    that we'd like to use for large text fields instead of the default
    ``<textarea>``. Here's how we'd do that::

        from django.db import models
        from django.contrib import admin

        # Import our custom widget and our model from where they're defined
        from myapp.widgets import RichTextEditorWidget
        from myapp.models import MyModel

        class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            formfield_overrides = {
                models.TextField: {'widget': RichTextEditorWidget},
            }

    Note that the key in the dictionary is the actual field class, *not* a
    string. The value is another dictionary; these arguments will be passed to
    :meth:`~django.forms.Field.__init__`. See :doc:`/ref/forms/api` for
    details.

    .. warning::

        If you want to use a custom widget with a relation field (i.e.
        :class:`~django.db.models.ForeignKey` or
        :class:`~django.db.models.ManyToManyField`), make sure you haven't
        included that field's name in ``raw_id_fields`` or ``radio_fields``.

        ``formfield_overrides`` won't let you change the widget on relation
        fields that have ``raw_id_fields`` or ``radio_fields`` set. That's
        because ``raw_id_fields`` and ``radio_fields`` imply custom widgets of
        their own.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.get_changelist

    .. versionchanged:: 1.2

    Returns the Changelist class to be used for listing. By default,
    ``django.contrib.admin.views.main.ChangeList`` is used. By inheriting this
    class you can change the behavior of the listing.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.inlines

    See :class:`InlineModelAdmin` objects below.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.list_display

    Set ``list_display`` to control which fields are displayed on the change
    list page of the admin.

    Example::

        list_display = ('first_name', 'last_name')

    If you don't set ``list_display``, the admin site will display a single
    column that displays the ``__unicode__()`` representation of each object.

    You have four possible values that can be used in ``list_display``:

        * A field of the model. For example::

              class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
                  list_display = ('first_name', 'last_name')

        * A callable that accepts one parameter for the model instance. For
          example::

              def upper_case_name(obj):
                  return ("%s %s" % (obj.first_name, obj.last_name)).upper()
              upper_case_name.short_description = 'Name'

              class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
                  list_display = (upper_case_name,)

        * A string representing an attribute on the ``ModelAdmin``. This
          behaves same as the callable. For example::

              class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
                  list_display = ('upper_case_name',)

                  def upper_case_name(self, obj):
                    return ("%s %s" % (obj.first_name, obj.last_name)).upper()
                  upper_case_name.short_description = 'Name'

        * A string representing an attribute on the model. This behaves almost
          the same as the callable, but ``self`` in this context is the model
          instance. Here's a full model example::

              class Person(models.Model):
                  name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
                  birthday = models.DateField()

                  def decade_born_in(self):
                      return self.birthday.strftime('%Y')[:3] + "0's"
                  decade_born_in.short_description = 'Birth decade'

              class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
                  list_display = ('name', 'decade_born_in')

    A few special cases to note about ``list_display``:

        * If the field is a ``ForeignKey``, Django will display the
          ``__unicode__()`` of the related object.

        * ``ManyToManyField`` fields aren't supported, because that would
          entail executing a separate SQL statement for each row in the table.
          If you want to do this nonetheless, give your model a custom method,
          and add that method's name to ``list_display``. (See below for more
          on custom methods in ``list_display``.)

        * If the field is a ``BooleanField`` or ``NullBooleanField``, Django
          will display a pretty "on" or "off" icon instead of ``True`` or
          ``False``.

        * If the string given is a method of the model, ``ModelAdmin`` or a
          callable, Django will HTML-escape the output by default. If you'd
          rather not escape the output of the method, give the method an
          ``allow_tags`` attribute whose value is ``True``.

          Here's a full example model::

              class Person(models.Model):
                  first_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
                  last_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
                  color_code = models.CharField(max_length=6)

                  def colored_name(self):
                      return '<span style="color: #%s;">%s %s</span>' % (self.color_code, self.first_name, self.last_name)
                  colored_name.allow_tags = True

              class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
                  list_display = ('first_name', 'last_name', 'colored_name')

        * If the string given is a method of the model, ``ModelAdmin`` or a
          callable that returns True or False Django will display a pretty
          "on" or "off" icon if you give the method a ``boolean`` attribute
          whose value is ``True``.

          Here's a full example model::

              class Person(models.Model):
                  first_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
                  birthday = models.DateField()

                  def born_in_fifties(self):
                      return self.birthday.strftime('%Y')[:3] == '195'
                  born_in_fifties.boolean = True

              class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
                  list_display = ('name', 'born_in_fifties')


        * The ``__str__()`` and ``__unicode__()`` methods are just as valid in
          ``list_display`` as any other model method, so it's perfectly OK to
          do this::

              list_display = ('__unicode__', 'some_other_field')

        * Usually, elements of ``list_display`` that aren't actual database
          fields can't be used in sorting (because Django does all the sorting
          at the database level).

          However, if an element of ``list_display`` represents a certain
          database field, you can indicate this fact by setting the
          ``admin_order_field`` attribute of the item.

          For example::

            class Person(models.Model):
                first_name = models.CharField(max_length=50)
                color_code = models.CharField(max_length=6)

                def colored_first_name(self):
                    return '<span style="color: #%s;">%s</span>' % (self.color_code, self.first_name)
                colored_first_name.allow_tags = True
                colored_first_name.admin_order_field = 'first_name'

            class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
                list_display = ('first_name', 'colored_first_name')

          The above will tell Django to order by the ``first_name`` field when
          trying to sort by ``colored_first_name`` in the admin.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.list_display_links

    Set ``list_display_links`` to control which fields in ``list_display``
    should be linked to the "change" page for an object.

    By default, the change list page will link the first column -- the first
    field specified in ``list_display`` -- to the change page for each item.
    But ``list_display_links`` lets you change which columns are linked. Set
    ``list_display_links`` to a list or tuple of fields (in the same
    format as ``list_display``) to link.

    ``list_display_links`` can specify one or many fields. As long as the
    fields appear in ``list_display``, Django doesn't care how many (or
    how few) fields are linked. The only requirement is: If you want to use
    ``list_display_links``, you must define ``list_display``.

    In this example, the ``first_name`` and ``last_name`` fields will be
    linked on the change list page::

        class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            list_display = ('first_name', 'last_name', 'birthday')
            list_display_links = ('first_name', 'last_name')

    .. _admin-list-editable:

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.list_editable

    Set ``list_editable`` to a list of field names on the model which will
    allow editing on the change list page. That is, fields listed in
    ``list_editable`` will be displayed as form widgets on the change list
    page, allowing users to edit and save multiple rows at once.

    .. note::

        ``list_editable`` interacts with a couple of other options in
        particular ways; you should note the following rules:

            * Any field in ``list_editable`` must also be in ``list_display``.
              You can't edit a field that's not displayed!

            * The same field can't be listed in both ``list_editable`` and
              ``list_display_links`` -- a field can't be both a form and
              a link.

        You'll get a validation error if either of these rules are broken.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.list_filter

    .. versionchanged:: 1.4

    Set ``list_filter`` to activate filters in the right sidebar of the change
    list page of the admin, as illustrated in the following screenshot:

        .. image:: _images/users_changelist.png

    ``list_filter`` should be a list of elements, where each element should be
    of one of the following types:

        * a field name, where the specified field should be either a
          ``BooleanField``, ``CharField``, ``DateField``, ``DateTimeField``,
          ``IntegerField``, ``ForeignKey`` or ``ManyToManyField``, for example::

              class PersonAdmin(ModelAdmin):
                  list_filter = ('is_staff', 'company')

          .. versionadded:: 1.3

          Field names in ``list_filter`` can also span relations
          using the ``__`` lookup, for example::

              class PersonAdmin(UserAdmin):
                  list_filter = ('company__name',)

        * a class inheriting from :mod:`django.contrib.admin.SimpleListFilter`,
          which you need to provide the ``title`` and ``parameter_name``
          attributes to and override the ``lookups`` and ``queryset`` methods,
          e.g.::

               from django.utils.translation import ugettext_lazy as _
               from django.contrib.admin import SimpleListFilter

               class DecadeBornListFilter(SimpleListFilter):
                   # Human-readable title which will be displayed in the
                   # right admin sidebar just above the filter options.
                   title = _('decade born')

                   # Parameter for the filter that will be used in the URL query.
                   parameter_name = 'decade'

                   def lookups(self, request, model_admin):
                       """
                       Returns a list of tuples. The first element in each
                       tuple is the coded value for the option that will
                       appear in the URL query. The second element is the
                       human-readable name for the option that will appear
                       in the right sidebar.
                       """
                       return (
                           ('80s', _('in the eighties')),
                           ('90s', _('in the nineties')),
                       )

                   def queryset(self, request, queryset):
                       """
                       Returns the filtered queryset based on the value
                       provided in the query string and retrievable via
                       `self.value()`.
                       """
                       # Compare the requested value (either '80s' or 'other')
                       # to decide how to filter the queryset.
                       if self.value() == '80s':
                           return queryset.filter(birthday__year__gte=1980,
                                                   birthday__year__lte=1989)
                       if self.value() == '90s':
                           return queryset.filter(birthday__year__gte=1990,
                                                  birthday__year__lte=1999)

               class PersonAdmin(ModelAdmin):
                   list_filter = (DecadeBornListFilter,)

          .. note::

              As a convenience, the ``HttpRequest`` object is passed to the
              ``lookups`` and ``queryset`` methods, for example::

                  class AuthDecadeBornListFilter(DecadeBornListFilter):

                      def lookups(self, request, model_admin):
                          if request.user.is_superuser:
                              return super(AuthDecadeBornListFilter,
                                  self).lookups(request, model_admin)

                      def queryset(self, request, queryset):
                          if request.user.is_superuser:
                              return super(AuthDecadeBornListFilter,
                                  self).queryset(request, queryset)

              Also as a convenience, the ``ModelAdmin`` object is passed to
              the ``lookups`` method, for example if you want to base the
              lookups on the available data::

                  class AdvancedDecadeBornListFilter(DecadeBornListFilter):

                      def lookups(self, request, model_admin):
                          """
                          Only show the lookups if there actually is
                          anyone born in the corresponding decades.
                          """
                          qs = model_admin.queryset(request)
                          if qs.filter(birthday__year__gte=1980,
                                        birthday__year__lte=1989).exists():
                              yield ('80s', _('in the eighties'))
                          if qs.filter(birthday__year__gte=1990,
                                        birthday__year__lte=1999).exists():
                              yield ('90s', _('in the nineties'))

        * a tuple, where the first element is a field name and the second
          element is a class inheriting from
          :mod:`django.contrib.admin.FieldListFilter`, for example::

              from django.contrib.admin import BooleanFieldListFilter

              class PersonAdmin(ModelAdmin):
                  list_filter = (
                      ('is_staff', BooleanFieldListFilter),
                  )

          .. note::

              The ``FieldListFilter`` API is currently considered internal
              and prone to refactoring.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.list_per_page

    Set ``list_per_page`` to control how many items appear on each paginated
    admin change list page. By default, this is set to ``100``.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.list_select_related

    Set ``list_select_related`` to tell Django to use
    :meth:`~django.db.models.QuerySet.select_related` in retrieving the list of
    objects on the admin change list page. This can save you a bunch of
    database queries.

    The value should be either ``True`` or ``False``. Default is ``False``.

    Note that Django will use :meth:`~django.db.models.QuerySet.select_related`,
    regardless of this setting if one of the ``list_display`` fields is a
    ``ForeignKey``.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.ordering

    Set ``ordering`` to specify how lists of objects should be ordered in the
    Django admin views. This should be a list or tuple in the same format as a
    model's :attr:`~django.db.models.Options.ordering` parameter.

    If this isn't provided, the Django admin will use the model's default
    ordering.

    .. versionadded:: 1.4

    If you need to specify a dynamic order (for example depending on user or
    language) you can implement a :meth:`~ModelAdmin.get_ordering` method.

    .. versionchanged:: 1.4

    Django honors all elements in the list/tuple; before 1.4, only the first
    was respected.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.paginator

    .. versionadded:: 1.3

    The paginator class to be used for pagination. By default,
    :class:`django.core.paginator.Paginator` is used. If the custom paginator
    class doesn't have the same constructor interface as
    :class:`django.core.paginator.Paginator`, you will also need to
    provide an implementation for :meth:`ModelAdmin.get_paginator`.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.prepopulated_fields

    Set ``prepopulated_fields`` to a dictionary mapping field names to the
    fields it should prepopulate from::

        class ArticleAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            prepopulated_fields = {"slug": ("title",)}

    When set, the given fields will use a bit of JavaScript to populate from
    the fields assigned. The main use for this functionality is to
    automatically generate the value for ``SlugField`` fields from one or more
    other fields. The generated value is produced by concatenating the values
    of the source fields, and then by transforming that result into a valid
    slug (e.g. substituting dashes for spaces).

    ``prepopulated_fields`` doesn't accept ``DateTimeField``, ``ForeignKey``,
    nor ``ManyToManyField`` fields.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.radio_fields

    By default, Django's admin uses a select-box interface (<select>) for
    fields that are ``ForeignKey`` or have ``choices`` set. If a field is
    present in ``radio_fields``, Django will use a radio-button interface
    instead. Assuming ``group`` is a ``ForeignKey`` on the ``Person`` model::

        class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            radio_fields = {"group": admin.VERTICAL}

    You have the choice of using ``HORIZONTAL`` or ``VERTICAL`` from the
    ``django.contrib.admin`` module.

    Don't include a field in ``radio_fields`` unless it's a ``ForeignKey`` or has
    ``choices`` set.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.raw_id_fields

    By default, Django's admin uses a select-box interface (<select>) for
    fields that are ``ForeignKey``. Sometimes you don't want to incur the
    overhead of having to select all the related instances to display in the
    drop-down.

    ``raw_id_fields`` is a list of fields you would like to change
    into an ``Input`` widget for either a ``ForeignKey`` or
    ``ManyToManyField``::

        class ArticleAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            raw_id_fields = ("newspaper",)

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.readonly_fields

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    By default the admin shows all fields as editable. Any fields in this
    option (which should be a ``list`` or ``tuple``) will display its data
    as-is and non-editable. This option behaves nearly identical to
    :attr:`ModelAdmin.list_display`. Usage is the same, however, when you
    specify :attr:`ModelAdmin.fields` or :attr:`ModelAdmin.fieldsets` the
    read-only fields must be present to be shown (they are ignored otherwise).

    If ``readonly_fields`` is used without defining explicit ordering through
    :attr:`ModelAdmin.fields` or :attr:`ModelAdmin.fieldsets` they will be
    added last after all editable fields.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.save_as

    Set ``save_as`` to enable a "save as" feature on admin change forms.

    Normally, objects have three save options: "Save", "Save and continue
    editing" and "Save and add another". If ``save_as`` is ``True``, "Save
    and add another" will be replaced by a "Save as" button.

    "Save as" means the object will be saved as a new object (with a new ID),
    rather than the old object.

    By default, ``save_as`` is set to ``False``.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.save_on_top

    Set ``save_on_top`` to add save buttons across the top of your admin change
    forms.

    Normally, the save buttons appear only at the bottom of the forms. If you
    set ``save_on_top``, the buttons will appear both on the top and the
    bottom.

    By default, ``save_on_top`` is set to ``False``.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.search_fields

    Set ``search_fields`` to enable a search box on the admin change list page.
    This should be set to a list of field names that will be searched whenever
    somebody submits a search query in that text box.

    These fields should be some kind of text field, such as ``CharField`` or
    ``TextField``. You can also perform a related lookup on a ``ForeignKey`` or
    ``ManyToManyField`` with the lookup API "follow" notation::

        search_fields = ['foreign_key__related_fieldname']

    For example, if you have a blog entry with an author, the following
    definition would enable search blog entries by the email address of the
    author::

        search_fields = ['user__email']

    When somebody does a search in the admin search box, Django splits the
    search query into words and returns all objects that contain each of the
    words, case insensitive, where each word must be in at least one of
    ``search_fields``. For example, if ``search_fields`` is set to
    ``['first_name', 'last_name']`` and a user searches for ``john lennon``,
    Django will do the equivalent of this SQL ``WHERE`` clause::

        WHERE (first_name ILIKE '%john%' OR last_name ILIKE '%john%')
        AND (first_name ILIKE '%lennon%' OR last_name ILIKE '%lennon%')

    For faster and/or more restrictive searches, prefix the field name
    with an operator:

    ``^``
        Matches the beginning of the field. For example, if ``search_fields``
        is set to ``['^first_name', '^last_name']`` and a user searches for
        ``john lennon``, Django will do the equivalent of this SQL ``WHERE``
        clause::

            WHERE (first_name ILIKE 'john%' OR last_name ILIKE 'john%')
            AND (first_name ILIKE 'lennon%' OR last_name ILIKE 'lennon%')

        This query is more efficient than the normal ``'%john%'`` query,
        because the database only needs to check the beginning of a column's
        data, rather than seeking through the entire column's data. Plus, if
        the column has an index on it, some databases may be able to use the
        index for this query, even though it's a ``LIKE`` query.

    ``=``
        Matches exactly, case-insensitive. For example, if
        ``search_fields`` is set to ``['=first_name', '=last_name']`` and
        a user searches for ``john lennon``, Django will do the equivalent
        of this SQL ``WHERE`` clause::

            WHERE (first_name ILIKE 'john' OR last_name ILIKE 'john')
            AND (first_name ILIKE 'lennon' OR last_name ILIKE 'lennon')

        Note that the query input is split by spaces, so, following this
        example, it's currently not possible to search for all records in which
        ``first_name`` is exactly ``'john winston'`` (containing a space).

    ``@``
        Performs a full-text match. This is like the default search method but
        uses an index. Currently this is only available for MySQL.

Custom template options
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The `Overriding Admin Templates`_ section describes how to override or extend
the default admin templates.  Use the following options to override the default
templates used by the :class:`ModelAdmin` views:

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.add_form_template

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    Path to a custom template, used by :meth:`add_view`.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.change_form_template

    Path to a custom template, used by :meth:`change_view`.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.change_list_template

    Path to a custom template, used by :meth:`changelist_view`.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.delete_confirmation_template

    Path to a custom template, used by :meth:`delete_view` for displaying a
    confirmation page when deleting one or more objects.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.delete_selected_confirmation_template

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    Path to a custom template, used by the :meth:`delete_selected`
    action method for displaying a confirmation page when deleting one
    or more objects. See the :doc:`actions
    documentation</ref/contrib/admin/actions>`.

.. attribute:: ModelAdmin.object_history_template

    Path to a custom template, used by :meth:`history_view`.


.. _model-admin-methods:

``ModelAdmin`` methods
----------------------

.. warning::

    :meth:`ModelAdmin.save_model` and :meth:`ModelAdmin.delete_model` must
    save/delete the object, they are not for veto purposes, rather they allow
    you to perform extra operations.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.save_model(self, request, obj, form, change)

    The ``save_model`` method is given the ``HttpRequest``, a model instance,
    a ``ModelForm`` instance and a boolean value based on whether it is adding
    or changing the object. Here you can do any pre- or post-save operations.

    For example to attach ``request.user`` to the object prior to saving::

        class ArticleAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def save_model(self, request, obj, form, change):
                obj.user = request.user
                obj.save()

.. method:: ModelAdmin.delete_model(self, request, obj)

    .. versionadded:: 1.3

    The ``delete_model`` method is given the ``HttpRequest`` and a model
    instance. Use this method to do pre- or post-delete operations.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.save_formset(self, request, form, formset, change)

    The ``save_formset`` method is given the ``HttpRequest``, the parent
    ``ModelForm`` instance and a boolean value based on whether it is adding or
    changing the parent object.

    For example to attach ``request.user`` to each changed formset
    model instance::

        class ArticleAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def save_formset(self, request, form, formset, change):
                instances = formset.save(commit=False)
                for instance in instances:
                    instance.user = request.user
                    instance.save()
                formset.save_m2m()

.. method:: ModelAdmin.get_ordering(self, request)

    .. versionadded:: 1.4

    The ``get_ordering`` method takes a``request`` as parameter and
    is expected to return a ``list`` or ``tuple`` for ordering similiar
    to the :attr:`ordering` attribute. For example::

        class PersonAdmin(ModelAdmin):

            def get_ordering(self, request):
                if request.user.is_superuser:
                    return ['name', 'rank']
                else:
                    return ['name']

.. method:: ModelAdmin.save_related(self, request, form, formsets, change)

    .. versionadded:: 1.4

    The ``save_related`` method is given the ``HttpRequest``, the parent
    ``ModelForm`` instance, the list of inline formsets and a boolean value
    based on whether the parent is being added or changed. Here you can do any
    pre- or post-save operations for objects related to the parent. Note
    that at this point the parent object and its form have already been saved.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.get_readonly_fields(self, request, obj=None)

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    The ``get_readonly_fields`` method is given the ``HttpRequest`` and the
    ``obj`` being edited (or ``None`` on an add form) and is expected to return
    a ``list`` or ``tuple`` of field names that will be displayed as read-only,
    as described above in the :attr:`ModelAdmin.readonly_fields` section.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.get_prepopulated_fields(self, request, obj=None)

    .. versionadded:: 1.4

    The ``get_prepopulated_fields`` method is given the ``HttpRequest`` and the
    ``obj`` being edited (or ``None`` on an add form) and is expected to return
    a ``dictionary``, as described above in the :attr:`ModelAdmin.prepopulated_fields`
    section.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.get_list_display(self, request)

    .. versionadded:: 1.4

    The ``get_list_display`` method is given the ``HttpRequest`` and is
    expected to return a ``list`` or ``tuple`` of field names that will be
    displayed on the changelist view as described above in the
    :attr:`ModelAdmin.list_display` section.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.get_urls(self)

    The ``get_urls`` method on a ``ModelAdmin`` returns the URLs to be used for
    that ModelAdmin in the same way as a URLconf.  Therefore you can extend
    them as documented in :doc:`/topics/http/urls`::

        class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def get_urls(self):
                urls = super(MyModelAdmin, self).get_urls()
                my_urls = patterns('',
                    (r'^my_view/$', self.my_view)
                )
                return my_urls + urls

            def my_view(self, request):
                # custom view which should return an HttpResponse
                pass

    .. note::

        Notice that the custom patterns are included *before* the regular admin
        URLs: the admin URL patterns are very permissive and will match nearly
        anything, so you'll usually want to prepend your custom URLs to the
        built-in ones.

        In this example, ``my_view`` will be accessed at
        ``/admin/myapp/mymodel/my_view/`` (assuming the admin URLs are included
        at ``/admin/``.)

    However, the ``self.my_view`` function registered above suffers from two
    problems:

      * It will *not* perform any permission checks, so it will be accessible
        to the general public.
      * It will *not* provide any header details to prevent caching. This means
        if the page retrieves data from the database, and caching middleware is
        active, the page could show outdated information.

    Since this is usually not what you want, Django provides a convenience
    wrapper to check permissions and mark the view as non-cacheable. This
    wrapper is :meth:`AdminSite.admin_view` (i.e.
    ``self.admin_site.admin_view`` inside a ``ModelAdmin`` instance); use it
    like so::

        class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def get_urls(self):
                urls = super(MyModelAdmin, self).get_urls()
                my_urls = patterns('',
                    (r'^my_view/$', self.admin_site.admin_view(self.my_view))
                )
                return my_urls + urls

    Notice the wrapped view in the fifth line above::

        (r'^my_view/$', self.admin_site.admin_view(self.my_view))

    This wrapping will protect ``self.my_view`` from unauthorized access and
    will apply the ``django.views.decorators.cache.never_cache`` decorator to
    make sure it is not cached if the cache middleware is active.

    If the page is cacheable, but you still want the permission check to be
    performed, you can pass a ``cacheable=True`` argument to
    :meth:`AdminSite.admin_view`::

        (r'^my_view/$', self.admin_site.admin_view(self.my_view, cacheable=True))

.. method:: ModelAdmin.formfield_for_foreignkey(self, db_field, request, **kwargs)

    The ``formfield_for_foreignkey`` method on a ``ModelAdmin`` allows you to
    override the default formfield for a foreign keys field. For example, to
    return a subset of objects for this foreign key field based on the user::

        class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def formfield_for_foreignkey(self, db_field, request, **kwargs):
                if db_field.name == "car":
                    kwargs["queryset"] = Car.objects.filter(owner=request.user)
                return super(MyModelAdmin, self).formfield_for_foreignkey(db_field, request, **kwargs)

    This uses the ``HttpRequest`` instance to filter the ``Car`` foreign key
    field to only display the cars owned by the ``User`` instance.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.formfield_for_manytomany(self, db_field, request, **kwargs)

    Like the ``formfield_for_foreignkey`` method, the
    ``formfield_for_manytomany`` method can be overridden to change the
    default formfield for a many to many field. For example, if an owner can
    own multiple cars and cars can belong to multiple owners -- a many to
    many relationship -- you could filter the ``Car`` foreign key field to
    only display the cars owned by the ``User``::

        class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def formfield_for_manytomany(self, db_field, request, **kwargs):
                if db_field.name == "cars":
                    kwargs["queryset"] = Car.objects.filter(owner=request.user)
                return super(MyModelAdmin, self).formfield_for_manytomany(db_field, request, **kwargs)

.. method:: ModelAdmin.formfield_for_choice_field(self, db_field, request, **kwargs)

    Like the ``formfield_for_foreignkey`` and ``formfield_for_manytomany``
    methods, the ``formfield_for_choice_field`` method can be overridden to
    change the default formfield for a field that has declared choices. For
    example, if the choices available to a superuser should be different than
    those available to regular staff, you could proceed as follows::

        class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def formfield_for_choice_field(self, db_field, request, **kwargs):
                if db_field.name == "status":
                    kwargs['choices'] = (
                        ('accepted', 'Accepted'),
                        ('denied', 'Denied'),
                    )
                    if request.user.is_superuser:
                        kwargs['choices'] += (('ready', 'Ready for deployment'),)
                return super(MyModelAdmin, self).formfield_for_choice_field(db_field, request, **kwargs)

.. method:: ModelAdmin.has_add_permission(self, request)

    Should return ``True`` if adding an object is permitted, ``False``
    otherwise.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.has_change_permission(self, request, obj=None)

    Should return ``True`` if editing obj is permitted, ``False`` otherwise.
    If obj is ``None``, should return ``True`` or ``False`` to indicate whether
    editing of objects of this type is permitted in general (e.g., ``False``
    will be interpreted as meaning that the current user is not permitted to
    edit any object of this type).

.. method:: ModelAdmin.has_delete_permission(self, request, obj=None)

    Should return ``True`` if deleting obj is permitted, ``False`` otherwise.
    If obj is ``None``, should return ``True`` or ``False`` to indicate whether
    deleting objects of this type is permitted in general (e.g., ``False`` will
    be interpreted as meaning that the current user is not permitted to delete
    any object of this type).

.. method:: ModelAdmin.queryset(self, request)

    The ``queryset`` method on a ``ModelAdmin`` returns a
    :class:`~django.db.models.QuerySet` of all model instances that can be
    edited by the admin site. One use case for overriding this method is
    to show objects owned by the logged-in user::

        class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            def queryset(self, request):
                qs = super(MyModelAdmin, self).queryset(request)
                if request.user.is_superuser:
                    return qs
                return qs.filter(author=request.user)

.. method:: ModelAdmin.message_user(request, message)

    Sends a message to the user. The default implementation creates a message
    using the :mod:`django.contrib.messages` backend. See the
    :ref:`custom ModelAdmin example <custom-admin-action>`.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.get_paginator(queryset, per_page, orphans=0, allow_empty_first_page=True)

    .. versionadded:: 1.3

    Returns an instance of the paginator to use for this view. By default,
    instantiates an instance of :attr:`paginator`.

Other methods
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

.. method:: ModelAdmin.add_view(self, request, form_url='', extra_context=None)

    Django view for the model instance addition page. See note below.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.change_view(self, request, object_id, extra_context=None)

    Django view for the model instance edition page. See note below.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.changelist_view(self, request, extra_context=None)

    Django view for the model instances change list/actions page. See note
    below.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.delete_view(self, request, object_id, extra_context=None)

    Django view for the model instance(s) deletion confirmation page. See note
    below.

.. method:: ModelAdmin.history_view(self, request, object_id, extra_context=None)

    Django view for the page that shows the modification history for a given
    model instance.

Unlike the hook-type ``ModelAdmin`` methods detailed in the previous section,
these five methods are in reality designed to be invoked as Django views from
the admin application URL dispatching handler to render the pages that deal
with model instances CRUD operations. As a result, completely overriding these
methods will significantly change the behavior of the admin application.

One common reason for overriding these methods is to augment the context data
that is provided to the template that renders the view. In the following
example, the change view is overridden so that the rendered template is
provided some extra mapping data that would not otherwise be available::

    class MyModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):

        # A template for a very customized change view:
        change_form_template = 'admin/myapp/extras/openstreetmap_change_form.html'

        def get_osm_info(self):
            # ...
            pass

        def change_view(self, request, object_id, extra_context=None):
            my_context = {
                'osm_data': self.get_osm_info(),
            }
            return super(MyModelAdmin, self).change_view(request, object_id,
                extra_context=my_context)

.. versionadded:: 1.4

These views now return :class:`~django.template.response.TemplateResponse`
instances which allow you to easily customize the response data before
rendering. For more details, see the
:doc:`TemplateResponse documentation </ref/template-response>`.

``ModelAdmin`` media definitions
--------------------------------

There are times where you would like add a bit of CSS and/or JavaScript to
the add/change views. This can be accomplished by using a Media inner class
on your ``ModelAdmin``::

    class ArticleAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        class Media:
            css = {
                "all": ("my_styles.css",)
            }
            js = ("my_code.js",)

.. versionchanged:: 1.3

The :doc:`staticfiles app </ref/contrib/staticfiles>` prepends
:setting:`STATIC_URL` (or :setting:`MEDIA_URL` if :setting:`STATIC_URL` is
``None``) to any media paths. The same rules apply as :ref:`regular media
definitions on forms <form-media-paths>`.

Django admin Javascript makes use of the `jQuery`_ library. To avoid
conflict with user scripts, Django's jQuery is namespaced as
``django.jQuery``. If you want to use jQuery in your own admin
JavaScript without including a second copy, you can use the
``django.jQuery`` object on changelist and add/edit views.

.. _jQuery: http://jquery.com

Adding custom validation to the admin
-------------------------------------

Adding custom validation of data in the admin is quite easy. The automatic
admin interface reuses :mod:`django.forms`, and the ``ModelAdmin`` class gives
you the ability define your own form::

    class ArticleAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        form = MyArticleAdminForm

``MyArticleAdminForm`` can be defined anywhere as long as you import where
needed. Now within your form you can add your own custom validation for
any field::

    class MyArticleAdminForm(forms.ModelForm):
        class Meta:
            model = Article

        def clean_name(self):
            # do something that validates your data
            return self.cleaned_data["name"]

It is important you use a ``ModelForm`` here otherwise things can break. See
the :doc:`forms </ref/forms/index>` documentation on :doc:`custom validation
</ref/forms/validation>` and, more specifically, the
:ref:`model form validation notes <overriding-modelform-clean-method>` for more
information.

.. _admin-inlines:

``InlineModelAdmin`` objects
============================

.. class:: InlineModelAdmin
.. class:: TabularInline
.. class:: StackedInline

    The admin interface has the ability to edit models on the same page as a
    parent model. These are called inlines. Suppose you have these two models::

         class Author(models.Model):
            name = models.CharField(max_length=100)

         class Book(models.Model):
            author = models.ForeignKey(Author)
            title = models.CharField(max_length=100)

    You can edit the books authored by an author on the author page. You add
    inlines to a model by specifying them in a ``ModelAdmin.inlines``::

        class BookInline(admin.TabularInline):
            model = Book

        class AuthorAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
            inlines = [
                BookInline,
            ]

    Django provides two subclasses of ``InlineModelAdmin`` and they are:

        * :class:`~django.contrib.admin.TabularInline`
        * :class:`~django.contrib.admin.StackedInline`

    The difference between these two is merely the template used to render
    them.

``InlineModelAdmin`` options
-----------------------------

``InlineModelAdmin`` shares many of the same features as ``ModelAdmin``, and
adds some of its own (the shared features are actually defined in the
``BaseModelAdmin`` superclass). The shared features are:

- :attr:`~InlineModelAdmin.form`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.fieldsets`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.fields`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.exclude`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.filter_horizontal`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.filter_vertical`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.prepopulated_fields`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.radio_fields`
- :attr:`~InlineModelAdmin.raw_id_fields`
- :meth:`~ModelAdmin.formfield_for_foreignkey`
- :meth:`~ModelAdmin.formfield_for_manytomany`

.. versionadded:: 1.2

- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.readonly_fields`
- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.formfield_overrides`

.. versionadded:: 1.3

- :attr:`~ModelAdmin.ordering`
- :meth:`~ModelAdmin.queryset`

The ``InlineModelAdmin`` class adds:

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.model

    The model in which the inline is using. This is required.

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.fk_name

    The name of the foreign key on the model. In most cases this will be dealt
    with automatically, but ``fk_name`` must be specified explicitly if there
    are more than one foreign key to the same parent model.

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.formset

    This defaults to ``BaseInlineFormSet``. Using your own formset can give you
    many possibilities of customization. Inlines are built around
    :ref:`model formsets <model-formsets>`.

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.form

    The value for ``form`` defaults to ``ModelForm``. This is what is passed
    through to ``inlineformset_factory`` when creating the formset for this
    inline.

    .. _ref-contrib-admin-inline-extra:

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.extra

    This controls the number of extra forms the formset will display in
    addition to the initial forms. See the
    :doc:`formsets documentation </topics/forms/formsets>` for more
    information.

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    For users with JavaScript-enabled browsers, an "Add another" link is
    provided to enable any number of additional inlines to be added in addition
    to those provided as a result of the ``extra`` argument.

    The dynamic link will not appear if the number of currently displayed forms
    exceeds ``max_num``, or if the user does not have JavaScript enabled.

    .. _ref-contrib-admin-inline-max-num:

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.max_num

    This controls the maximum number of forms to show in the inline. This
    doesn't directly correlate to the number of objects, but can if the value
    is small enough. See :ref:`model-formsets-max-num` for more information.

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.raw_id_fields

    By default, Django's admin uses a select-box interface (<select>) for
    fields that are ``ForeignKey``. Sometimes you don't want to incur the
    overhead of having to select all the related instances to display in the
    drop-down.

    ``raw_id_fields`` is a list of fields you would like to change into a
    ``Input`` widget for either a ``ForeignKey`` or ``ManyToManyField``::

        class BookInline(admin.TabularInline):
            model = Book
            raw_id_fields = ("pages",)


.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.template

    The template used to render the inline on the page.

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.verbose_name

    An override to the ``verbose_name`` found in the model's inner ``Meta``
    class.

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.verbose_name_plural

    An override to the ``verbose_name_plural`` found in the model's inner
    ``Meta`` class.

.. attribute:: InlineModelAdmin.can_delete

    Specifies whether or not inline objects can be deleted in the inline.
    Defaults to ``True``.


Working with a model with two or more foreign keys to the same parent model
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

It is sometimes possible to have more than one foreign key to the same model.
Take this model for instance::

    class Friendship(models.Model):
        to_person = models.ForeignKey(Person, related_name="friends")
        from_person = models.ForeignKey(Person, related_name="from_friends")

If you wanted to display an inline on the ``Person`` admin add/change pages
you need to explicitly define the foreign key since it is unable to do so
automatically::

    class FriendshipInline(admin.TabularInline):
        model = Friendship
        fk_name = "to_person"

    class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        inlines = [
            FriendshipInline,
        ]

Working with many-to-many models
--------------------------------

.. versionadded:: 1.2

By default, admin widgets for many-to-many relations will be displayed
on whichever model contains the actual reference to the
:class:`~django.db.models.ManyToManyField`. Depending on your ``ModelAdmin``
definition, each many-to-many field in your model will be represented by a
standard HTML ``<select multiple>``, a horizontal or vertical filter, or a
``raw_id_admin`` widget. However, it is also possible to replace these
widgets with inlines.

Suppose we have the following models::

    class Person(models.Model):
        name = models.CharField(max_length=128)

    class Group(models.Model):
        name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
        members = models.ManyToManyField(Person, related_name='groups')

If you want to display many-to-many relations using an inline, you can do
so by defining an ``InlineModelAdmin`` object for the relationship::

    class MembershipInline(admin.TabularInline):
        model = Group.members.through

    class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        inlines = [
            MembershipInline,
        ]

    class GroupAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        inlines = [
            MembershipInline,
        ]
        exclude = ('members',)

There are two features worth noting in this example.

Firstly - the ``MembershipInline`` class references ``Group.members.through``.
The ``through`` attribute is a reference to the model that manages the
many-to-many relation. This model is automatically created by Django when you
define a many-to-many field.

Secondly, the ``GroupAdmin`` must manually exclude the ``members`` field.
Django displays an admin widget for a many-to-many field on the model that
defines the relation (in this case, ``Group``). If you want to use an inline
model to represent the many-to-many relationship, you must tell Django's admin
to *not* display this widget - otherwise you will end up with two widgets on
your admin page for managing the relation.

In all other respects, the ``InlineModelAdmin`` is exactly the same as any
other. You can customize the appearance using any of the normal
``ModelAdmin`` properties.

Working with many-to-many intermediary models
---------------------------------------------

When you specify an intermediary model using the ``through`` argument to a
:class:`~django.db.models.ManyToManyField`, the admin will not display a
widget by default. This is because each instance of that intermediary model
requires more information than could be displayed in a single widget, and the
layout required for multiple widgets will vary depending on the intermediate
model.

However, we still want to be able to edit that information inline. Fortunately,
this is easy to do with inline admin models. Suppose we have the following
models::

    class Person(models.Model):
        name = models.CharField(max_length=128)

    class Group(models.Model):
        name = models.CharField(max_length=128)
        members = models.ManyToManyField(Person, through='Membership')

    class Membership(models.Model):
        person = models.ForeignKey(Person)
        group = models.ForeignKey(Group)
        date_joined = models.DateField()
        invite_reason = models.CharField(max_length=64)

The first step in displaying this intermediate model in the admin is to
define an inline class for the ``Membership`` model::

    class MembershipInline(admin.TabularInline):
        model = Membership
        extra = 1

This simple example uses the default ``InlineModelAdmin`` values for the
``Membership`` model, and limits the extra add forms to one. This could be
customized using any of the options available to ``InlineModelAdmin`` classes.

Now create admin views for the ``Person`` and ``Group`` models::

    class PersonAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        inlines = (MembershipInline,)

    class GroupAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        inlines = (MembershipInline,)

Finally, register your ``Person`` and ``Group`` models with the admin site::

    admin.site.register(Person, PersonAdmin)
    admin.site.register(Group, GroupAdmin)

Now your admin site is set up to edit ``Membership`` objects inline from
either the ``Person`` or the ``Group`` detail pages.

.. _using-generic-relations-as-an-inline:

Using generic relations as an inline
------------------------------------

It is possible to use an inline with generically related objects. Let's say
you have the following models::

    class Image(models.Model):
        image = models.ImageField(upload_to="images")
        content_type = models.ForeignKey(ContentType)
        object_id = models.PositiveIntegerField()
        content_object = generic.GenericForeignKey("content_type", "object_id")

    class Product(models.Model):
        name = models.CharField(max_length=100)

If you want to allow editing and creating ``Image`` instance on the ``Product``
add/change views you can use ``GenericTabularInline`` or
``GenericStackedInline`` (both subclasses of ``GenericInlineModelAdmin``)
provided by ``django.contrib.contenttypes.generic``, they implement tabular and
stacked visual layouts for the forms representing the inline objects
respectively just like their non-generic counterparts and behave just like any
other inline. In your ``admin.py`` for this example app::

    from django.contrib import admin
    from django.contrib.contenttypes import generic

    from myproject.myapp.models import Image, Product

    class ImageInline(generic.GenericTabularInline):
        model = Image

    class ProductAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
        inlines = [
            ImageInline,
        ]

    admin.site.register(Product, ProductAdmin)

See the :doc:`contenttypes documentation </ref/contrib/contenttypes>` for more
specific information.

Overriding admin templates
==========================

It is relatively easy to override many of the templates which the admin module
uses to generate the various pages of an admin site. You can even override a
few of these templates for a specific app, or a specific model.

Set up your projects admin template directories
-----------------------------------------------

The admin template files are located in the ``contrib/admin/templates/admin``
directory.

In order to override one or more of them, first create an ``admin`` directory
in your project's ``templates`` directory. This can be any of the directories
you specified in :setting:`TEMPLATE_DIRS`.

Within this ``admin`` directory, create sub-directories named after your app.
Within these app subdirectories create sub-directories named after your models.
Note, that the admin app will lowercase the model name when looking for the
directory, so make sure you name the directory in all lowercase if you are
going to run your app on a case-sensitive filesystem.

To override an admin template for a specific app, copy and edit the template
from the ``django/contrib/admin/templates/admin`` directory, and save it to one
of the directories you just created.

For example, if we wanted to add a tool to the change list view for all the
models in an app named ``my_app``, we would copy
``contrib/admin/templates/admin/change_list.html`` to the
``templates/admin/my_app/`` directory of our project, and make any necessary
changes.

If we wanted to add a tool to the change list view for only a specific model
named 'Page', we would copy that same file to the
``templates/admin/my_app/page`` directory of our project.

Overriding vs. replacing an admin template
------------------------------------------

Because of the modular design of the admin templates, it is usually neither
necessary nor advisable to replace an entire template. It is almost always
better to override only the section of the template which you need to change.

To continue the example above, we want to add a new link next to the ``History``
tool for the ``Page`` model. After looking at ``change_form.html`` we determine
that we only need to override the ``object-tools`` block. Therefore here is our
new ``change_form.html`` :

.. code-block:: html+django

    {% extends "admin/change_form.html" %}
    {% load i18n %}
    {% block object-tools %}
    {% if change %}{% if not is_popup %}
      <ul class="object-tools">
        <li><a href="history/" class="historylink">{% trans "History" %}</a></li>
        <li><a href="mylink/" class="historylink">My Link</a></li>
        {% if has_absolute_url %}
            <li><a href="../../../r/{{ content_type_id }}/{{ object_id }}/" class="viewsitelink">
                {% trans "View on site" %}</a>
            </li>
        {% endif%}
      </ul>
    {% endif %}{% endif %}
    {% endblock %}

And that's it! If we placed this file in the ``templates/admin/my_app``
directory, our link would appear on every model's change form.

Templates which may be overridden per app or model
--------------------------------------------------

Not every template in ``contrib/admin/templates/admin`` may be overridden per
app or per model. The following can:

    * ``app_index.html``
    * ``change_form.html``
    * ``change_list.html``
    * ``delete_confirmation.html``
    * ``object_history.html``

For those templates that cannot be overridden in this way, you may still
override them for your entire project. Just place the new version in your
``templates/admin`` directory. This is particularly useful to create custom 404
and 500 pages.

.. note::

    Some of the admin templates, such as ``change_list_request.html`` are used
    to render custom inclusion tags. These may be overridden, but in such cases
    you are probably better off creating your own version of the tag in
    question and giving it a different name. That way you can use it
    selectively.

Root and login templates
------------------------

If you wish to change the index, login or logout templates, you are better off
creating your own ``AdminSite`` instance (see below), and changing the
:attr:`AdminSite.index_template` , :attr:`AdminSite.login_template` or
:attr:`AdminSite.logout_template` properties.

``AdminSite`` objects
=====================

.. class:: AdminSite(name=None)

    A Django administrative site is represented by an instance of
    ``django.contrib.admin.sites.AdminSite``; by default, an instance of
    this class is created as ``django.contrib.admin.site`` and you can
    register your models and ``ModelAdmin`` instances with it.

    If you'd like to set up your own administrative site with custom
    behavior, however, you're free to subclass ``AdminSite`` and override
    or add anything you like. Then, simply create an instance of your
    ``AdminSite`` subclass (the same way you'd instantiate any other
    Python class), and register your models and ``ModelAdmin`` subclasses
    with it instead of using the default.

    When constructing an instance of an ``AdminSite``, you are able to provide
    a unique instance name using the ``name`` argument to the constructor. This
    instance name is used to identify the instance, especially when
    :ref:`reversing admin URLs <admin-reverse-urls>`. If no instance name is
    provided, a default instance name of ``admin`` will be used.

``AdminSite`` attributes
------------------------

Templates can override or extend base admin templates as described in
`Overriding Admin Templates`_.

.. attribute:: AdminSite.index_template

    Path to a custom template that will be used by the admin site main index
    view.

.. attribute:: AdminSite.login_template

    Path to a custom template that will be used by the admin site login view.

.. attribute:: AdminSite.login_form

    .. versionadded:: 1.3

    Subclass of :class:`~django.contrib.auth.forms.AuthenticationForm` that
    will be used by the admin site login view.

.. attribute:: AdminSite.logout_template

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    Path to a custom template that will be used by the admin site logout view.

.. attribute:: AdminSite.password_change_template

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    Path to a custom template that will be used by the admin site password
    change view.

.. attribute:: AdminSite.password_change_done_template

    .. versionadded:: 1.2

    Path to a custom template that will be used by the admin site password
    change done view.

Hooking ``AdminSite`` instances into your URLconf
-------------------------------------------------

The last step in setting up the Django admin is to hook your ``AdminSite``
instance into your URLconf. Do this by pointing a given URL at the
``AdminSite.urls`` method.

In this example, we register the default ``AdminSite`` instance
``django.contrib.admin.site`` at the URL ``/admin/`` ::

    # urls.py
    from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
    from django.contrib import admin

    admin.autodiscover()

    urlpatterns = patterns('',
        (r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
    )

Above we used ``admin.autodiscover()`` to automatically load the
:setting:`INSTALLED_APPS` admin.py modules.

In this example, we register the ``AdminSite`` instance
``myproject.admin.admin_site`` at the URL ``/myadmin/`` ::

    # urls.py
    from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
    from myproject.admin import admin_site

    urlpatterns = patterns('',
        (r'^myadmin/', include(admin_site.urls)),
    )

There is really no need to use autodiscover when using your own ``AdminSite``
instance since you will likely be importing all the per-app admin.py modules
in your ``myproject.admin`` module.

Multiple admin sites in the same URLconf
----------------------------------------

It's easy to create multiple instances of the admin site on the same
Django-powered Web site. Just create multiple instances of ``AdminSite`` and
root each one at a different URL.

In this example, the URLs ``/basic-admin/`` and ``/advanced-admin/`` feature
separate versions of the admin site -- using the ``AdminSite`` instances
``myproject.admin.basic_site`` and ``myproject.admin.advanced_site``,
respectively::

    # urls.py
    from django.conf.urls.defaults import *
    from myproject.admin import basic_site, advanced_site

    urlpatterns = patterns('',
        (r'^basic-admin/', include(basic_site.urls)),
        (r'^advanced-admin/', include(advanced_site.urls)),
    )

``AdminSite`` instances take a single argument to their constructor, their
name, which can be anything you like. This argument becomes the prefix to the
URL names for the purposes of :ref:`reversing them<admin-reverse-urls>`. This
is only necessary if you are using more than one ``AdminSite``.

Adding views to admin sites
---------------------------

Just like :class:`ModelAdmin`, :class:`AdminSite` provides a
:meth:`~django.contrib.admin.ModelAdmin.get_urls()` method
that can be overridden to define additional views for the site. To add
a new view to your admin site, extend the base
:meth:`~django.contrib.admin.ModelAdmin.get_urls()` method to include
a pattern for your new view.

.. note::
    Any view you render that uses the admin templates, or extends the base
    admin template, should provide the ``current_app`` argument to
    :class:`~django.template.RequestContext` or :class:`~django.template.Context`
    when rendering the template.  It should be set to either ``self.name`` if
    your view is on an ``AdminSite`` or ``self.admin_site.name`` if your view
    is on a ``ModelAdmin``.

.. _admin-reverse-urls:

Reversing admin URLs
====================

When an :class:`AdminSite` is deployed, the views provided by that site are
accessible using Django's :ref:`URL reversing system <naming-url-patterns>`.

The :class:`AdminSite` provides the following named URL patterns:

    ======================  ========================  =============
    Page                    URL name                  Parameters
    ======================  ========================  =============
    Index                   ``index``
    Logout                  ``logout``
    Password change         ``password_change``
    Password change done    ``password_change_done``
    i18n javascript         ``jsi18n``
    Application index page  ``app_list``              ``app_label``
    ======================  ========================  =============

Each :class:`ModelAdmin` instance provides an additional set of named URLs:

    ======================  ===============================================   =============
    Page                    URL name                                          Parameters
    ======================  ===============================================   =============
    Changelist              ``{{ app_label }}_{{ model_name }}_changelist``
    Add                     ``{{ app_label }}_{{ model_name }}_add``
    History                 ``{{ app_label }}_{{ model_name }}_history``      ``object_id``
    Delete                  ``{{ app_label }}_{{ model_name }}_delete``       ``object_id``
    Change                  ``{{ app_label }}_{{ model_name }}_change``       ``object_id``
    ======================  ===============================================   =============

These named URLs are registered with the application namespace ``admin``, and
with an instance namespace corresponding to the name of the Site instance.

So - if you wanted to get a reference to the Change view for a particular
``Choice`` object (from the polls application) in the default admin, you would
call::

    >>> from django.core import urlresolvers
    >>> c = Choice.objects.get(...)
    >>> change_url = urlresolvers.reverse('admin:polls_choice_change', args=(c.id,))

This will find the first registered instance of the admin application
(whatever the instance name), and resolve to the view for changing
``poll.Choice`` instances in that instance.

If you want to find a URL in a specific admin instance, provide the name of
that instance as a ``current_app`` hint to the reverse call. For example,
if you specifically wanted the admin view from the admin instance named
``custom``, you would need to call::

    >>> change_url = urlresolvers.reverse('custom:polls_choice_change', args=(c.id,))

For more details, see the documentation on :ref:`reversing namespaced URLs
<topics-http-reversing-url-namespaces>`.