This tutorial will guide you through the advanced features of Django templates. Django templates are a powerful way to generate dynamic HTML pages with Python code embedded within them.

Overview

  • Django Template Language (DTL): An extension of HTML that allows you to include Python code in your templates.
  • Context Processors: Custom functions that can modify the context data passed to the template.
  • Filters: Functions that can be applied to variables to transform them into different values.
  • Inclusion Tags: Reusable template snippets that can be included in other templates.

Getting Started

Before diving into advanced features, make sure you have Django installed. You can install Django using pip:

pip install django

Basic Template Syntax

Django templates use double curly braces {{ }} to embed Python code. Here's an example:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>{{ site_name }}</title>
</head>
<body>
    <h1>Welcome to {{ site_name }}</h1>
</body>
</html>

Advanced Features

Context Processors

Context processors allow you to add variables to the context of all templates. For example, to add a user variable to all templates, you can create a context_processors.py file in your app directory:

# context_processors.py
def user_processor(request):
    return {'user': request.user}

Then, add this processor to your settings.py:

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        ...
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                ...
                'myapp.context_processors.user_processor',
            ],
        },
    },
]

Filters

Filters are used to modify the output of a variable. For example, the date filter can format a date object:

<p>{{ now|date:"F j, Y" }}</p>

Inclusion Tags

Inclusion tags allow you to include the output of another template within your current template. For example, to include a navigation bar, you can create a navbar.html template:

<!-- navbar.html -->
<nav>
    <ul>
        <li><a href="/">Home</a></li>
        <li><a href="/about/">About</a></li>
        <li><a href="/contact/">Contact</a></li>
    </ul>
</nav>

Then, include it in your main template:

{% include 'navbar.html' %}

Resources

For more information on Django templates, check out the Django documentation.

Conclusion

Django templates provide a flexible and powerful way to generate dynamic HTML pages. By using advanced features like context processors, filters, and inclusion tags, you can create complex templates with ease.

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