Existing Project¶

If you already have an existing project that you’d like to integrate DMP into, follow the directions in this section.

Ensure you have Python 3.4+ installed (python3 --version). If you are using virtual environments, be sure to activate that first.

Install Django, Mako, and DMP¶

DMP works with Django 1.9+, including the 2.0 releases.

The following will install all three dependencies:

pip3 install --upgrade django-mako-plus

pip install --upgrade django-mako-plus

If you need to add DMP to an existing Django project, you have two options:

Convert your project to the DMP-style structure. This switches your project over to the layout of a DMP project.
Keep your existing Django-style structure with minimal changes.

This section describes Option 1, which gives you the full benefit of the automatic DMP routing and midleware. If you just need to render templates using the Mako language (e.g. Option 2), jump to :ref:install_as_renderer.

Edit Your `settings.py` File:¶

Add django_mako_plus to the end of your INSTALLED_APPS list:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'django_mako_plus',
]

Add django_mako_plus.RequestInitMiddleware to your MIDDLEWARE list:

MIDDLEWARE = [
    ...
    'django_mako_plus.RequestInitMiddleware',
    ...
]

Add a logger to help you debug (optional but highly recommended!):

DEBUG_PROPAGATE_EXCEPTIONS = DEBUG  # SECURITY WARNING: never set this True on a live site
LOGGING = {
    'version': 1,
    'disable_existing_loggers': False,
    'formatters': {
        'dmp_simple': {
            'format': '%(levelname)s::DMP %(message)s'
        },
    },
    'handlers': {
        'dmp_console':{
            'level':'DEBUG',
            'class':'logging.StreamHandler',
            'formatter': 'dmp_simple'
        },
    },
    'loggers': {
        'django_mako_plus': {
            'handlers': ['dmp_console'],
            'level': 'DEBUG',
            'propagate': False,
        },
    },
}

Add the Django-Mako-Plus engine to the TEMPLATES list. Note that a standard Django project already has the TEMPLATES = line and the ‘django’ template backend. You probably just need to add the django_mako_plus dictionary below.

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'NAME': 'django_mako_plus',
        'BACKEND': 'django_mako_plus.MakoTemplates',
        'OPTIONS': {
            # see the DMP documentation, "configuration options" page for available options
        },
    },
    {
        'NAME': 'django',
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        ...
    },
]

Add the following to serve your static files. Note that a standard Django project already has the first STATIC_URL = line.

STATIC_URL = '/static/'   # you probably already have this
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
    # SECURITY WARNING: this next line must be commented out at deployment
    BASE_DIR,
)
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')

Clean out all the cached template files. This should be done anytime you make a DMP change in settings.py:

python3 manage.py dmp_cleanup

python manage.py dmp_cleanup

Enable the Django-Mako-Plus Router¶

Add the Django-Mako-Plus router in your urls.py file (the default admin is also included here for completeness).

from django.conf.urls import url, include

urlpatterns = [
    url('', include('django_mako_plus.urls')),
]

Create a DMP-Style App¶

Change to your project directory in the terminal/console, then create a new Django-Mako-Plus app with the following:

python3 manage.py dmp_startapp homepage

python manage.py dmp_startapp homepage

After the new homepage app is created, add your new app to the INSTALLED_APPS list in settings.py:

Create a DMP-Style App¶

Create a new Django-Mako-Plus app with the following:

python3 manage.py dmp_startapp homepage

python manage.py dmp_startapp homepage

After the new homepage app is created, open mysite/settings.py in your favorite editor and add to the INSTALLED_APPS list:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    'homepage',
]

Congratulations. You’re ready to go!

Load it Up!¶

Start your web server with the following:

python3 manage.py runserver

python manage.py runserver

If you get a message about unapplied migrations, ignore it for now and continue.

Open your web browser to http://localhost:8000/. You should see a message welcoming you to the homepage app.

Once everything is working, skip ahead to the Tutorial.

Subdirectory: /mysite/¶

This section is for those that need Django is a subdirectory, such as /mysite. If your Django installation is at the root of your domain, skip this section.

In other words, suppose your Django site isn’t the only thing on your server. Instead of the normal url pattern, http://www.yourdomain.com/, your Django installation is at http://www.yourdomain.com/mysite/. All apps are contained within this mysite/ directory.

This is accomplished in the normal Django way. Adjust your urls.py file to include the prefix:

url('^mysite/', include('django_mako_plus.urls')),

Existing Project¶

Install Django, Mako, and DMP¶

Edit Your settings.py File:¶

Enable the Django-Mako-Plus Router¶

Create a DMP-Style App¶

Create a DMP-Style App¶

Load it Up!¶

Subdirectory: /mysite/¶

Edit Your `settings.py` File:¶