Configure Django

The Right Way

Django Basic Project Configuration

mysite/
    manage.py

    polls/

    templates/

    mysite/       
        __init__.py
        settings.py
        urls.py
        wsgi.py

Default Django Settings File

BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))


SECRET_KEY = '^cdp3l)$6$s&a8_uas$nx6qhn6040o0hlb(0c#70@avh6m%3sn'


INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'django.contrib.admin',
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',
    'polls',
]

Default Django Settings File

MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = [
    'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
]

ROOT_URLCONF = 'mysite.urls'

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        'DIRS': [os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')],
        'APP_DIRS': True,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
                'django.template.context_processors.request',
                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
            ],
        },
    },
]

Default Django Settings File

WSGI_APPLICATION = 'mysite.wsgi.application'


# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.9/ref/settings/#databases

DATABASES = {
    'default': {
        'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
        'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'mysite.db'),
    }
}

Improve the Project Configuration

mysite/
    manage.py
    config/
        __init__.py

        settings/
          __init__.py

          common.py

          local.py

          production.py

        urls.py

        wsgi.py
    mysite/

        polls/
        static/

        templates/

Splitting the Settings

from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals

import environ

ROOT_DIR = environ.Path(__file__) - 3  # (/a/b/myfile.py - 3 = /)
APPS_DIR = ROOT_DIR.path('mysite')

env = environ.Env()

# APP CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DJANGO_APPS = (
    # Default Django apps:
    'django.contrib.auth',
    'django.contrib.contenttypes',
    'django.contrib.sessions',
    'django.contrib.sites',
    'django.contrib.messages',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles',

    # Useful template tags:
    # 'django.contrib.humanize',

    # Admin
    'django.contrib.admin',
)
THIRD_PARTY_APPS = (
    'crispy_forms',  # Form layouts
    'allauth',  # registration
    'allauth.account',  # registration
    'allauth.socialaccount',  # registration
)

# Apps specific for this project go here.
LOCAL_APPS = (
    'mysite_cookiecutter.users',  # custom users app
    # Your stuff: custom apps go here
)

# See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#installed-apps
INSTALLED_APPS = DJANGO_APPS + THIRD_PARTY_APPS + LOCAL_APPS

# MIDDLEWARE CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
    # Make sure djangosecure.middleware.SecurityMiddleware is listed first
    'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
    'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
    'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
)

# See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#databases
DATABASES = {
    # Raises ImproperlyConfigured exception if DATABASE_URL not in os.environ
    'default': env.db("DATABASE_URL", default="postgres:///mysite_cookiecutter"),
}
DATABASES['default']['ATOMIC_REQUESTS'] = True



# TEMPLATE CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#templates
TEMPLATES = [
    {
        # See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#std:setting-TEMPLATES-BACKEND
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        # See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#template-dirs
        'DIRS': [
            str(APPS_DIR.path('templates')),
        ],
        'OPTIONS': {
            # See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#template-debug
            'debug': DEBUG,
            # See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#template-loaders
            # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/templates/api/#loader-types
            'loaders': [
                'django.template.loaders.filesystem.Loader',
                'django.template.loaders.app_directories.Loader',
            ],
            # See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#template-context-processors
            'context_processors': [
                'django.template.context_processors.debug',
                'django.template.context_processors.request',
                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
                'django.template.context_processors.i18n',
                'django.template.context_processors.media',
                'django.template.context_processors.static',
                'django.template.context_processors.tz',
                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
                # Your stuff: custom template context processors go here
            ],
        },
    },
]

common.py

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
'''
Local settings

- Run in Debug mode
- Use console backend for emails
- Add Django Debug Toolbar
- Add django-extensions as app
'''

from .common import *  # noqa

# DEBUG
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEBUG = env.bool('DJANGO_DEBUG', default=True)
TEMPLATES[0]['OPTIONS']['debug'] = DEBUG

# SECRET CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#secret-key
# Note: This key only used for development and testing.
SECRET_KEY = env("DJANGO_SECRET_KEY", default='6k)99gt46yk7sijw!&8dz&*@n8r7lezsw^kfg@0o3@lk-ssvn2')

# Mail settings
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
EMAIL_HOST = 'localhost'
EMAIL_PORT = 1025
EMAIL_BACKEND = env('DJANGO_EMAIL_BACKEND',
                    default='django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend')

# CACHING
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CACHES = {
    'default': {
        'BACKEND': 'django.core.cache.backends.locmem.LocMemCache',
        'LOCATION': ''
    }
}

# django-debug-toolbar
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES += ('debug_toolbar.middleware.DebugToolbarMiddleware',)
INSTALLED_APPS += ('debug_toolbar', )

INTERNAL_IPS = ('127.0.0.1', '10.0.2.2',)

DEBUG_TOOLBAR_CONFIG = {
    'DISABLE_PANELS': [
        'debug_toolbar.panels.redirects.RedirectsPanel',
    ],
    'SHOW_TEMPLATE_CONTEXT': True,
}

# django-extensions
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLED_APPS += ('django_extensions', )

# TESTING
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TEST_RUNNER = 'django.test.runner.DiscoverRunner'

# Your local stuff: Below this line define 3rd party library settings

local.py

# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
'''
Production Configurations

- Use djangosecure
- Use Amazon's S3 for storing static files and uploaded media
- Use mailgun to send emails
- Use Redis on Heroku


'''
from __future__ import absolute_import, unicode_literals

from boto.s3.connection import OrdinaryCallingFormat
from django.utils import six


from .common import *  # noqa

# SECRET CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#secret-key
# Raises ImproperlyConfigured exception if DJANGO_SECRET_KEY not in os.environ
SECRET_KEY = env("DJANGO_SECRET_KEY")

# This ensures that Django will be able to detect a secure connection
# properly on Heroku.
SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER = ('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO', 'https')

# django-secure
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INSTALLED_APPS += ("djangosecure", )

SECURITY_MIDDLEWARE = (
    'djangosecure.middleware.SecurityMiddleware',
)


# Make sure djangosecure.middleware.SecurityMiddleware is listed first
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = SECURITY_MIDDLEWARE + MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES

# set this to 60 seconds and then to 518400 when you can prove it works
SECURE_HSTS_SECONDS = 60
SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS = env.bool(
    "DJANGO_SECURE_HSTS_INCLUDE_SUBDOMAINS", default=True)
SECURE_FRAME_DENY = env.bool("DJANGO_SECURE_FRAME_DENY", default=True)
SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF = env.bool(
    "DJANGO_SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF", default=True)
SECURE_BROWSER_XSS_FILTER = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = False
SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = env.bool("DJANGO_SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT", default=True)

# SITE CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Hosts/domain names that are valid for this site
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/ref/settings/#allowed-hosts
ALLOWED_HOSTS = env.list('DJANGO_ALLOWED_HOSTS', default=['example.com'])
# END SITE CONFIGURATION

INSTALLED_APPS += ("gunicorn", )

# STORAGE CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Uploaded Media Files
# ------------------------
# See: http://django-storages.readthedocs.org/en/latest/index.html
INSTALLED_APPS += (
    'storages',
)
DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE = 'storages.backends.s3boto.S3BotoStorage'

AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID = env('DJANGO_AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID')
AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = env('DJANGO_AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY')
AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME = env('DJANGO_AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME')
AWS_AUTO_CREATE_BUCKET = True
AWS_QUERYSTRING_AUTH = False
AWS_S3_CALLING_FORMAT = OrdinaryCallingFormat()

# AWS cache settings, don't change unless you know what you're doing:
AWS_EXPIRY = 60 * 60 * 24 * 7

# TODO See: https://github.com/jschneier/django-storages/issues/47
# Revert the following and use str after the above-mentioned bug is fixed in
# either django-storage-redux or boto
AWS_HEADERS = {
    'Cache-Control': six.b('max-age=%d, s-maxage=%d, must-revalidate' % (
        AWS_EXPIRY, AWS_EXPIRY))
}

# URL that handles the media served from MEDIA_ROOT, used for managing
# stored files.
MEDIA_URL = 'https://s3.amazonaws.com/%s/' % AWS_STORAGE_BUCKET_NAME

# Static Assets
# ------------------------
STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.django.GzipManifestStaticFilesStorage'


# EMAIL
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = env('DJANGO_DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL',
                         default='mysite_cookiecutter <noreply@example.com>')
EMAIL_BACKEND = 'django_mailgun.MailgunBackend'
MAILGUN_ACCESS_KEY = env('DJANGO_MAILGUN_API_KEY')
MAILGUN_SERVER_NAME = env('DJANGO_MAILGUN_SERVER_NAME')
EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX = env("DJANGO_EMAIL_SUBJECT_PREFIX", default='[mysite_cookiecutter] ')
SERVER_EMAIL = env('DJANGO_SERVER_EMAIL', default=DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL)


# TEMPLATE CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# See:
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/templates/api/#django.template.loaders.cached.Loader
TEMPLATES[0]['OPTIONS']['loaders'] = [
    ('django.template.loaders.cached.Loader', [
        'django.template.loaders.filesystem.Loader', 'django.template.loaders.app_directories.Loader', ]),
]

# DATABASE CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Raises ImproperlyConfigured exception if DATABASE_URL not in os.environ
DATABASES['default'] = env.db("DATABASE_URL")

# CACHING
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# Heroku URL does not pass the DB number, so we parse it in
CACHES = {
    "default": {
        "BACKEND": "django_redis.cache.RedisCache",
        "LOCATION": "{0}/{1}".format(env('REDIS_URL', default="redis://127.0.0.1:6379"), 0),
        "OPTIONS": {
            "CLIENT_CLASS": "django_redis.client.DefaultClient",
            "IGNORE_EXCEPTIONS": True,  # mimics memcache behavior.
                                        # http://niwinz.github.io/django-redis/latest/#_memcached_exceptions_behavior
        }
    }
}


# LOGGING CONFIGURATION
# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
# See: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#logging
# A sample logging configuration. The only tangible logging
# performed by this configuration is to send an email to
# the site admins on every HTTP 500 error when DEBUG=False.
# See http://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/logging for
# more details on how to customize your logging configuration.
LOGGING = {
    'version': 1,
    'disable_existing_loggers': False,
    'filters': {
        'require_debug_false': {
            '()': 'django.utils.log.RequireDebugFalse'
        }
    },
    'formatters': {
        'verbose': {
            'format': '%(levelname)s %(asctime)s %(module)s '
                      '%(process)d %(thread)d %(message)s'
        },
    },
    'handlers': {
        'mail_admins': {
            'level': 'ERROR',
            'filters': ['require_debug_false'],
            'class': 'django.utils.log.AdminEmailHandler'
        },
        'console': {
            'level': 'DEBUG',
            'class': 'logging.StreamHandler',
            'formatter': 'verbose',
        },
    },
    'loggers': {
        'django.request': {
            'handlers': ['mail_admins'],
            'level': 'ERROR',
            'propagate': True
        },
        'django.security.DisallowedHost': {
            'level': 'ERROR',
            'handlers': ['console', 'mail_admins'],
            'propagate': True
        }
    }
}

# Custom Admin URL, use {% url 'admin:index' %}
ADMIN_URL = env('DJANGO_ADMIN_URL')

# Your production stuff: Below this line define 3rd party library settings

production.py