django-comments-dab: Enhancing Commenting Functionality for Django Websites

Are you looking to elevate the commenting experience on your Django-powered websites? Look no further than django-comments-dab! This powerful commenting application allows you to seamlessly integrate commenting functionality with any model, whether it’s blogs, pictures, videos, or anything else you can imagine.

Introduction

django-comments-dab, where “dab” stands for Django-Ajax-Bootstrap, takes commenting to the next level. With its recent update (version 2.0.0), django-comments-dab has transitioned from using Ajax and jQuery to utilizing Vanilla JS and the fetch API. This upgrade ensures better performance and compatibility. In this article, we will explore the features and functionalities of django-comments-dab, as well as its installation, setup, usage, and example implementations.

Features

django-comments-dab offers a comprehensive set of actions that can be performed, empowering users to fully engage with the commenting functionality on your website. Some of the key features include:

1. Posting new comments: Users can post new comments easily, both authenticated and anonymous users can participate.

2. Replying to existing comments: Users have the ability to reply to existing comments, fostering conversation and engagement.

3. Editing comments: Authenticated users who are the owners of a comment can edit their own comments.

4. Deleting comments: Authenticated users who are the owners of a comment, as well as admins, can delete comments.

5. Reacting to comments: Authenticated users can express their reaction to comments, with available reactions including LIKE and DISLIKE. (Note: If you’d like more reactions, you can open a Pull Request to include them in future releases)

6. Reporting flagged comments: Authenticated users can flag comments that violate community guidelines or policies.

7. Managing flagged comments: Admins and moderators have the ability to delete flagged comments.

8. Resolving or rejecting flags: Admins and moderators can resolve or reject flags, determining the appropriate action for flagged comments.

9. Following threads: Authenticated users can follow and unfollow comment threads, allowing them to stay updated on conversations that interest them.

All of these actions are now performed using the Fetch API, starting from version 2.0.0. The comment templates are built with Bootstrap 4.1.1, ensuring a responsive design that adapts to various screen sizes.

Installation and Setup

To get started with django-comments-dab, make sure you have the following requirements:

1. Django version 2.1 or above.
2. Djangorestframework (only required for the API Framework).
3. Bootstrap 4.1.1.

Installation is simple and can be done using either pip or directly from the source on GitHub. Here are the steps:

Via pip:

bash
$ pip install django-comments-dab

Via source on GitHub:

bash
$ git clone https://github.com/radi85/Comment.git
$ cd Comment
$ python setup.py install

After installing django-comments-dab, make sure to add it to the INSTALLED_APPS in your Django project’s settings.py file. Also, define the LOGIN_URL in the settings.

Example settings.py:

“`python
INSTALLED_APPS = (
‘django.contrib.admin’,
‘django.contrib.auth’,
…
‘comment’,
..
)

LOGIN_URL = ‘login’ # or actual url
“`

In your project’s urls.py file, include the comment URLs using the comment.urls pattern. If you are using the API Framework, include the API URLs as well.

Example urls.py:

python
urlpatterns = [
path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
path('comment/', include('comment.urls')),
...
path('api/', include('comment.api.urls')), # only required for API Framework
...
]

After configuring the installation and setup, migrate the comment app using the following command:

bash
$ python manage.py migrate comment

Usage

Using django-comments-dab is straightforward. Here are the basics:

1. Include Bootstrap: If your project is not already using Bootstrap 4.1.1, include the {% include_bootstrap %} template tag in your templates to include the required CSS and JavaScript.

2. Render Comments: In your templates, load the comment_tags template tag and use the {% render_comments obj request %} template tag to render all the comments belonging to the specified object (obj). This will display the comments along with options for actions such as replying, editing, deleting, reacting, and more.

That’s it! With these simple steps, you can start leveraging the powerful commenting functionality provided by django-comments-dab in your Django websites.

For advanced usage, customization options, and more detailed documentation, refer to the full documentation or explore the docs directory in the repository.

Example

To give you a hands-on experience, we have provided an example app that you can play with. We recommend setting up a local virtual environment to run the example. Follow these steps:

bash
$ git clone https://github.com/Radi85/Comment.git
$ cd Comment
$ python3 -m venv local_env # or any name. local_env is in .gitignore
$ source local_env/bin/activate
$ pip install -r test/example/requirements.txt
$ python manage.py migrate
$ python manage.py create_initial_data
$ python manage.py runserver

Alternatively, you can run the example using Docker:

bash
$ git clone https://github.com/Radi85/Comment.git
$ cd Comment
$ docker-compose up

To log in to the example app, use the following credentials:
– Username: test
– Password: test

Note that the comment icons used in django-comments-dab are from Feather. We greatly appreciate their contribution.

The HTML template for emails comes from Responsive HTML Email Template.

Contributing

If you are interested in contributing to the development of django-comments-dab, please refer to the Contributing Guidelines for detailed instructions.

Now that you have a comprehensive understanding of django-comments-dab and its capabilities, you can enhance the commenting functionality on your Django websites. Start by exploring the installation process, setting up the application, and then implementing the powerful features it offers. With django-comments-dab, you can create a rich commenting experience that fosters interaction and engagement among your users. Happy coding!