Django Tags
Template logic and control structures
🏷️ What are Django Tags?
Django template tags provide programming logic in templates. Tags are enclosed in curly braces with percent signs and enable loops, conditions, and other dynamic template operations.
<!-- Django tag syntax -->
{% if user.is_authenticated %}
<p>Welcome back!</p>
{% endif %}
Common Django Tags
if/else
Conditional logic in templates
{% if condition %}
...
{% endif %}for
Loop through lists and objects
{% for item in list %}
...
{% endfor %}url
Generate URLs from view names
{% url 'home' %}include
Include other templates
{% include 'header.html' %}🔹 URL Tag
The URL tag generates URLs dynamically based on view names defined in your urls.py file. This prevents hardcoding URLs and makes your templates more maintainable and flexible.
🔸 urls.py
from django.urls import path
from . import views
urlpatterns = [
path('', views.home, name='home'),
path('about/', views.about, name='about'),
path('contact/', views.contact, name='contact'),
]🔸 Template
<nav>
<a href="{% url 'home' %}">Home</a>
<a href="{% url 'about' %}">About</a>
<a href="{% url 'contact' %}">Contact</a>
</nav>Output:
🔹 Block and Extends Tags
Block and extends tags enable template inheritance. Create a base template with blocks that child templates can override, promoting code reuse and consistent layouts across pages.
🔸 Base Template (base.html)
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>{% block title %}My Site{% endblock %}</title>
</head>
<body>
<header>
<h1>My Website</h1>
</header>
{% block content %}
{% endblock %}
<footer>
<p>© 2025 My Site</p>
</footer>
</body>
</html>🔸 Child Template (home.html)
{% extends 'base.html' %}
{% block title %}Home - My Site{% endblock %}
{% block content %}
<h2>Welcome to Home Page</h2>
<p>This is the home page content.</p>
{% endblock %}Output:
My Website
Welcome to Home Page
This is the home page content.
🔹 Static Tag
The static tag loads static files like CSS, JavaScript, and images. It automatically generates the correct path to your static files directory for proper resource loading.
🔸 Template
{% load static %}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="{% static 'css/style.css' %}">
</head>
<body>
<img src="{% static 'images/logo.png' %}" alt="Logo">
<script src="{% static 'js/script.js' %}"></script>
</body>
</html>
Note:
You must use
{% load static %}
at the top of your template before using the static tag.
🔹 CSRF Token Tag
The CSRF token tag protects forms from Cross-Site Request Forgery attacks. Django requires this token in all POST forms to verify request authenticity and enhance security.
<form method="post">
{% csrf_token %}
<input type="text" name="username">
<input type="password" name="password">
<button type="submit">Login</button>
</form>Output:
🔹 Now Tag
The now tag displays the current date and time with custom formatting. It's useful for showing timestamps, copyright years, or any time-sensitive information in templates.
<p>Current date: {% now "Y-m-d" %}</p>
<p>Current time: {% now "H:i:s" %}</p>
<p>Full datetime: {% now "F j, Y, g:i a" %}</p>
<p>Copyright © {% now "Y" %}</p>Output:
Current date: 2025-01-15
Current time: 14:30:45
Full datetime: January 15, 2025, 2:30 p.m.
Copyright © 2025
💡 Important Tips:
-
Tags are enclosed in
{% %}curly braces with percent signs -
Most tags require a closing tag:
{% if %}...{% endif %} -
Use
{% load %}to load custom tag libraries - Tags provide logic without Python code in templates
-
Always include
{% csrf_token %}in POST forms