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Customizing the Django admin interface

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Django's dynamic admin interface gives you a fully-functional admin for free

with no hand-coding required. The dynamic admin is designed to be

production-ready, not just a starting point, so you can use it as-is on a real

site. While the underlying format of the admin pages is built in to Django, you

can customize the look and feel by editing the admin stylesheet and images.

Here's a quick and dirty overview some of the main styles and classes used in

the Django admin CSS.

Modules

=======

The ``.module`` class is a basic building block for grouping content in the

admin. It's generally applied to a ``div`` or a ``fieldset``. It wraps the content

group in a box and applies certain styles to the elements within. An ``h2``

within a ``div.module`` will align to the top of the ``div`` as a header for the

whole group.

.. image:: http://media.djangoproject.com/img/doc/admincss/module.gif

   :alt: Example use of module class on admin homepage

Column Types

============

.. admonition:: Note

    All admin pages (except the dashboard) are fluid-width. All fixed-width

    classes from previous Django versions have been removed.

The base template for each admin page has a block that defines the column

structure for the page. This sets a class on the page content area

(``div#content``) so everything on the page knows how wide it should be. There

are three column types available.

colM

    This is the default column setting for all pages. The "M" stands for "main".

    Assumes that all content on the page is in one main column

    (``div#content-main``).

colMS

    This is for pages with one main column and a sidebar on the right. The "S"

    stands for "sidebar". Assumes that main content is in ``div#content-main``

    and sidebar content is in ``div#content-related``. This is used on the main

    admin page.

colSM

    Same as above, with the sidebar on the left. The source order of the columns

    doesn't matter.

For instance, you could stick this in a template to make a two-column page with

the sidebar on the right::

    {% block coltype %}colMS{% endblock %}

Text Styles

===========

Font Sizes

----------

Most HTML elements (headers, lists, etc.) have base font sizes in the stylesheet

based on context. There are three classes are available for forcing text to a

certain size in any context.

small

    11px

tiny

    10px

mini

    9px (use sparingly)

Font Styles and Alignment

-------------------------

There are also a few styles for styling text.

.quiet

    Sets font color to light gray. Good for side notes in instructions. Combine

    with ``.small`` or ``.tiny`` for sheer excitement.

.help

    This is a custom class for blocks of inline help text explaining the

    function of form elements. It makes text smaller and gray, and when applied

    to ``p`` elements within ``.form-row`` elements (see Form Styles below),

    it will offset the text to align with the form field. Use this for help

    text, instead of ``small quiet``. It works on other elements, but try to

    put the class on a ``p`` whenever you can.

.align-left

    It aligns the text left. Only works on block elements containing inline

    elements.

.align-right

    Are you paying attention?

.nowrap

    Keeps text and inline objects from wrapping. Comes in handy for table

    headers you want to stay on one line.

Floats and Clears

-----------------

float-left

    floats left

float-right

    floats right

clear

    clears all

Object Tools

============

Certain actions which apply directly to an object are used in form and

changelist pages. These appear in a "toolbar" row above the form or changelist,

to the right of the page. The tools are wrapped in a ``ul`` with the class

``object-tools``. There are two custom tool types which can be defined with an

additional class on the ``a`` for that tool. These are ``.addlink`` and

``.viewsitelink``.

Example from a changelist page::

    <ul class="object-tools">

      <li><a href="/stories/add/" class="addlink">Add redirect</a></li>

    </ul>

.. image:: http://media.djangoproject.com/img/doc/admincss/objecttools_01.gif

   :alt: Object tools on a changelist page

and from a form page::

    <ul class="object-tools">

     <li><a href="/history/303/152383/">History</a></li>

     <li><a href="/r/303/152383/" class="viewsitelink">View on site</a></li>

    </ul>

.. image:: http://media.djangoproject.com/img/doc/admincss/objecttools_02.gif

   :alt: Object tools on a form page

Form Styles

===========

Fieldsets

---------

Admin forms are broken up into groups by ``fieldset`` elements. Each form fieldset

should have a class ``.module``. Each fieldset should have a header ``h2`` within the

fieldset at the top (except the first group in the form, and in some cases where the

group of fields doesn't have a logical label).

Each fieldset can also take extra classes in addition to ``.module`` to apply

appropriate formatting to the group of fields.

.aligned

    This will align the labels and inputs side by side on the same line.

.wide

    Used in combination with ``.aligned`` to widen the space available for the

    labels.

Form Rows

---------

Each row of the form (within the ``fieldset``) should be enclosed in a ``div``

with class ``form-row``. If the field in the row is required, a class of

``required`` should also be added to the ``div.form-row``.

.. image:: http://media.djangoproject.com/img/doc/admincss/formrow.gif

   :alt: Example use of form-row class

Labels

------

Form labels should always precede the field, except in the case

of checkboxes and radio buttons, where the ``input`` should come first. Any

explanation or help text should follow the ``label`` in a ``p`` with class

``.help``.