Django Lesson 7: Admin Panel

Django’s built-in admin panel lets you manage all your data without writing a single line of admin UI code. It’s incredibly powerful.

Setup

# Create admin superuser
python manage.py createsuperuser
# Enter: username, email, password

# Visit: http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin
# Login with your superuser credentials

Register Models

# posts/admin.py
from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Post, Category

# Basic registration
admin.site.register(Category)

# Advanced registration with customization
@admin.register(Post)
class PostAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ["title", "author", "status", "created_at"]
    list_filter = ["status", "created_at", "author"]
    search_fields = ["title", "content"]
    prepopulated_fields = {"slug": ("title",)}  # auto-fill slug from title
    raw_id_fields = ["author"]  # better than dropdown for large tables
    date_hierarchy = "created_at"
    ordering = ["-created_at"]
    
    # Inline editing
    # inlines = [CommentInline]