Django-Diary is a project to create an easy-to-use desk diary and scheduling tool for use in a fast-paced retail environment. The aim is to be able to schedule and manage client bookings with available resources as quickly and easily as possible with no fuss.
While the data model is very simple, some effort has been put into making the UI slick and intuitive, with ajax enabling drag-and-drop and updates of modal displays on the diary grid, and Bootstrap-compatible widgets used on the forms.
An additional management command is included to permit routine administration of email reminders (see Administration_).
The diary model has deliberately been made very simple. It is built on the foundation of practical experience manning the front desk of a health clinic. It needs to be easy and fast to use.
The core concept is a diary Entry, which records the date and time of an appointment with a Customer, which may use a time-allocated Resource. The Duration of each booking is determined by the type of Treatment to be administered.
There are no repeating entries; while it is expected that customers will make repeat bookings, it is assumed the repeat bookings will not follow any simple rule. So, to avoid complexity that will not actually be useful, all diary entries are considered as unique and unrelated occurrences. This is in stark contrast to popular (and very fine) calendar/scheduling apps like django-schedule and django-calendarium.
Entries are allowed to overlap in time, provided there are no resource conflicts. If a resource is assigned to an entry, no other entry can use the same resource at the same time. Entries that have been cancelled do not count when evaluating resource conflicts.
There are two categories of User. The standard admin Users are retained for administrative functions, and typically have at least is_staff privilege.
Customers are also Users of the system (they are in fact a subclass of User). While they have no administrative privileges, they have additional attributes. In keeping with the health clinic paradigm, they have demographic and health-related information associated with them, contact details, and of course their treatment history, which can be derived from their historical record of appointments. Customers have the choice to opt out of email appointment reminders and appointment change notifications.
In the interests of confidentiality, Customers may only see and alter their own details and appointments. Staff Users are able to see and alter the details of all entries.
A complete sample project is available on GitHub <https://github.com/BobBowles/django-diary> for forking or clone/download, but for use as a standalone app install from PyPi <https://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-diary/> using pip.
Install django-diary and its dependencies using pip::
pip install django-diaryFor versions >= 2 this may need to be a two-stage process due to references to package forks not in Pypi (TBA)::
pip install django-diary --no-deps # installs the app by itself
pip install django-diary # installs the dependenciesdiary and datetimewidget underneath your main project app in ``settings.py``
::
INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'diary',
'datetimewidget',
...
]crispy_forms and its template pack for Bootstrap 3 to your INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py::
INSTALLED_APPS = [
...
'crispy_forms',
'crispy-bootstrap3'
...
]
CRISPY_TEMPLATE_PACK = 'bootstrap3'settings.py for Django >= 3.2::
...
DEFAULT_AUTO_FIELD='django.db.models.AutoField'
...::
./manage.py migrateCustomer subclass of User. Add the following to settings.py (NB This is different for Django<2, check the documentation in the v1 branch of this project.):::
# User customisation
AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = (
'diary.backends.CustomerAuthBackend',
'django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend',
)diary app's urls, and (if you want to use the customer administration) the administration urls. In your root urls.py you need the following urlpatterns:::
from django.contrib.auth import views as auth_views
...
url(r'^admin/', admin.site.urls),
url(r'^accounts/login/$', auth_views.LoginView.as_view(), name='login'),
url(r'^accounts/logout/$', # Stop using class view to force logout by post (Django 5)
views.logout,
name='logout',
),
url(r'^accounts/password_reset/$',
auth_views.PasswordResetView.as_view(),
name = 'password_reset',
),
url(r'^accounts/password_reset/password_reset_done/$',
auth_views.PasswordResetDoneView.as_view(),
name = 'password_reset_done',
),
url(r'^accounts/password_reset_confirm/(?P<uidb64>[0-9A-Za-z]+)-(?P<token>.+)/$',
auth_views.PasswordResetConfirmView.as_view(),
name = 'password_reset_confirm',
),
url(r'^accounts/password_reset_complete/$',
auth_views.PasswordResetCompleteView.as_view(),
name = 'password_reset_complete',
),
url(r'^diary/', include('diary.urls', namespace='diary')),::
python -m smtpd -n -c DebuggingServer localhost:1025
(or just use the bash script checked into the `GitHub project <https://github.com/BobBowles/django-diary>`_). Alternatively, and even more easily, ``Django`` provides a console email backend that can be implemented in place of the default smtp backend in ``settings.py`` as follows:
::
# test email server console backend
if DEBUG:
EMAIL_BACKEND = "django.core.mail.backends.console.EmailBackend"
In your ``settings.py`` add your email server's details. The following snippet links to the dummy email server described above:
::
# test email server setup
if DEBUG:
EMAIL_HOST = 'localhost'
EMAIL_PORT = 1025
EMAIL_HOST_USER = ''
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = ''
EMAIL_USE_TLS = False
DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = 'testing@example.com'
ADMINS = [
('Admin 1', 'admin1@example.com'),
('Admin 2', 'admin2@example.com'),
]
Configuring the ``ADMINS`` list enables monitoring of diary entries via email. This is a useful feature to keep track of ``customer``-initiated changes in the diary. If not wanted, leave the ``ADMINS`` list empty or null.After installation you should have 'something-that-works' but it will look ugly round the edges and the behaviour will need fine-tuning to your business requirements.
Override templates/diary/main_base.html to customise layout and styling for your site. main_base.html (and/or its parents) need to provide the following five blocks:
=================== ========================================================
Block Description
=================== ========================================================
head_extra for adding elements to the document head. Add Bootstrap
css links here if they are not already in your template
header.
diary_nav for navigating between diary views. The nav-bar itself
can be completely re-written to your tastes, subject
only to providing link placeholders described in the
example implementation provided.
diary_content attachment point for the diary content.
diary_title attachment point for the page title.
diary_sidebar (Optional) attachment point for reminders / ticker
information if required. This block should include the
html snippet diary/reminders.html (which may also be
overridden if required).
=================== ========================================================
settings.py. The test email service described in the Installation section above provides a ready-made template for the required parameters. Make sure you connect to your provider's SMTP service port. Below is an example for a Google account:::
EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.gmail.com'
EMAIL_PORT = 587
EMAIL_USE_TLS = True
DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL = 'webmaster@mygoogledomain.com'
EMAIL_HOST_USER = os.environ['EMAIL_HOST_USER']
EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = os.environ['EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD']
ADMINS = os.environ['ADMINS']
(Note the use of environment variables to keep sensitive information out of your revision control system. There are other ways to do this but this is pretty cool and simple).settings.py:=========================== =========== =========== ========================
Parameter Default Type Description
=========================== =========== =========== ========================
``DIARY_FIRST_DAY_OF_WEEK`` ``0`` int The first day of the
week for month views and
calendar widgets
(``0='Monday'``.
For Sunday as first day
set to ``6``).
``DIARY_MULTI_DAY_NUMBER`` ``3`` int The number of days to
show in the multi-day
view. ``3`` is a
minimum.
The practical maximum is
``7``.
``DIARY_SHOW_MERIDIAN`` ``False`` bool Enable display of times
in meridian format.
**NB**: If ``True`` some
additional configuration
is needed to enable
*input* of meridian
times (see below).
``DIARY_MIN_TIME`` ``08:00`` time The earliest time to
display in ``day`` and
``multi_day`` views.
``DIARY_MAX_TIME`` ``18:00`` time The latest time to
display in ``day`` and
``multi_day`` views.
``DIARY_TIME_INC`` ``00:30`` duration The size of time slots
for ``day`` and
``multi_day`` views.
``DIARY_OPENING_TIMES`` dict Dictionary of opening
times keyed on weekday
number. Default is 09:00
all week.
``DIARY_CLOSING_TIMES`` dict Dictionary of closing
times keyed on weekday
number. Default is 17:00
all week.
``DIARY_MIN_BOOKING`` ``0`` int Minimum advance booking
time for customers in
days. ``0`` means there
is no minimum period.
``DIARY_SITE_NAME`` ``Django- str Name of site for use
Diary`` in emails.
``DIARY_CONTACT_PHONE`` ``''`` str Contact phone number for
use in emails.
``DIARY_XXXXX`` ``xx`` xx **TODO**: Template
for ``DIARY_XXXXX``.
=========================== =========== =========== ========================settings.py enables the localisation to find the overrides for the Python defaults:::
# To use meridian time in Django 4+ we have to provide custom overrides for the localisation
FORMAT_MODULE_PATH = [
"diary.formats",
]A custom command has been added to help maintain the database. clean_entries deletes all diary entries older than a given age, or earlier than a given date, to help reduce bloat. Usage::
> python manage.py clean_entries [-a|--age n][-b|--before=<yyyy-mm-dd>]A custom command has been added to enable easy implementation of the routine task of sending out email reminders. At the moment configuration settings for this are kept to a minimum, requiring a name for the site, given as DIARY_SITE_NAME, and an optional contact phone number DIARY_CONTACT_PHONE, plus the correct configuration of the email facility itself.
To make administration of the site easier the resource and treatment objects have been made editable inline since Version 4.2.2.
Most of the email configuration is covered in the Installation and Configuration sections. To make use of administration notifications, two email settings are needed in settings.py, for ADMINS and SERVER_EMAIL. The ADMINS receive reports on the email reminders, and the SERVER_EMAIL is the email account used for the mail-out. For example::
# list of tuples of administrator names and emails
ADMINS = [
('Boss 1', 'boss1@example.com),
('Boss 2', 'boss2@example.com),
]
# server email address
SERVER_EMAIL = 'webmaster@example.com'Additionally, make sure the DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL refers to a mailbox that can be replied to.
The code assumes reminders are required only for those Customers with emails who have an Entry in the diary for the following day.
To run the email reminders from the command line, in the root project directory type::
./manage.py email_reminderThe simplest way to schedule reminders for regular use is via a daily cron job on your server.
At the fundamental level the dependencies of this app are recorded in the requirements.txt file.
The styling, layout, widgets, and javascript all utilize Twitter Bootstrap and jQuery. The Javascript dependencies are self-contained, but obviously it is more harmonious if your project as a whole is designed around Bootstrap. If the Bootstrap styling css is not already declared in your template's header you will need to add it.
I have made no effort to write this for Python 2.7, targeting Python 3 from the outset, initially Python 3.4. From V0.3.5 the target Python is 3.8, and support for Python 3.4 has now been dropped. Python 3.8 is maintained for maintenance branches v1, v2, and v3. From maintenance v4 and ongoing development at time of writing the target is the latest version of Python 3.12.
Going forward I intend to support a maintenance-only release for each major version of Django, plus new features to be added for the latest Django.
The recommended Python/Django package dependencies are as follows for the different versions.
::
Django>=1.11.29, <2
django-datetime-widget==0.9.3
django-model-utils==3.2.0
pytz==2020.1::
Django>=2.2.13, <3
django-datetime-widget2>=0.9.4
pytz>=2020.1::
Django>=3.0.7, <3.1
django-datetime-widget2>=0.9.5
pytz>=2020.1::
Django==3.1.14
django-datetime-widget2>=0.9.5
pytz>=2023.3::
Django==3.2.20
django-datetime-widget2>=0.9.5
pytz>=2023.3::
Django==4.2.16, <5
django-datetime-widget2>=0.9.5
DateTime>=5.2
crispy_forms>=2.1
crispy-bootstrap3>=2022.1::
Django>=5.0, <6
django-datetime-widget2>=0.9.5
DateTime>=5.2
crispy_forms>=2.1
crispy-bootstrap3>=2022.1Although they are listed here as strict requirements, they are probably more accurately minimum requirements. However, while I am continuing to develop the code I am opting for a simple life...
Django
is self-explanatory. Up to V0.3.5 the target was Django 1.8. Following versions drop support for Django 1.8. Planned maintenance releases will cover Django 1.11.29 (v1.x), Django 2.2.13 (v2.x), Django 3.2.20 (v3.x), Django 4.2.16 (v4.x). The development stream is expected to upgrade to Django 5 when there is a stable version available.
django-datetime-widget
is a project to provide some nice Bootstrap date and time widgets for Django. It needs to be added as an app in the settings file. To use meridian time, the time formats also need to be added to the settings, as the Django defaults ignore meridian (see the Configuration section). The original version (0.9.3) available in Pypi is fine for Django<2.1, but for Django>=2.1 an updated version due to Erwin Gelissen has been published as django-datetime-widget2.
django-model-utils
is a project that provides a number of useful tools for manipulating models. It is primarily used here for facilitating subclassing of User. It is not needed for Django>=2.0.
DateTime
is needed for date and time manipulation in Django 5 and above. This pulls in other modules such as pytz.
At this early stage reusability is an aspiration rather than a reality. To achieve this the following considerations have been/need to be made:
settings.py file exists in the diary which provides default values for a few parameters that can be overridden in the project's settings file. For easy discrimination, all configurable parameters have names of the form DIARY_XXXXX. The parameter names will be chosen to be reasonably self-explanatory, and (eventually) will be documented somewhere.User for Customer. It is noted the modern Django approach makes subclassing User almost de rigeur.Ease of use by end users is paramount, because it is intended the application will be used by people unversed in software. Use of the app needs to be simple and intuitive, even more so than ease of installation and deployment.
Web deployment was decided upon at an early stage, because this enables use of the app from more than one location. The web server may be local or on the internet. One use case I had in mind was being able to check/modify the diary when at home, as well as at work. Web deployment allows customers as well as staff to use the app.
The decision for web deployment, coupled with a preference for Python as the main language, led naturally to using Django as the framework. This also gives flexibility of choice for the database engine, as the Django settings automatically take care of that, provided appropriate Python drivers are installed.
Django-Calendarium was initially chosen as the calendar/diary engine after some consideration of the options available. However, although hooks are available, they were not located in what I regarded as convenient places to do what I wanted to do. I tentatively played with some other calendar/scheduling apps, and reluncantly decided I needed to brew my own to get what I wanted.
I found a tutorial by LightBird. Although the code was terrible and outdated, it gave me a model workflow to follow as I both developed a calendar app and learned Django, JavaScript, CSS, HTML5, and other necessary technologies.
I eventually decided to subclass User to make a custom user class called Customer. I did that to enable a tight relationship between customers as users and diary entries in the simplest possible way. Other options seemed to involve jumping through too many database join hoops. This may work against reusability of this app, but I think the tweaks I have put into the admin backend (thanks to django-model-utils) may mitigate this. In principle the admin backend in this app should be able to accommodate other custom users, but I may not have given enough attention to that possibility in my own code. It will be interesting to get feedback about that from devs, so keep me posted!
To make the UI fast and intuitive to use, some effort has been put into applying drag-and-drop and modal displays of selected data using ajax. However, most features that involve changes to database content continue to be displayed and updated via conventional GET and POST of forms. In this way, an Entry can be quickly updated with a new time or date by simply dragging it to an appropriate place on the diary grid. Where time is less critical the more robust approach of conventional Django forms takes over.
To avoid complications with constantly changing dates and times during tests some of the tests of the Entry functionality make use of freezegun, so that tests that depend on time of day, etc, can be performed reliably and repeatably. After struggling with the Python built-in unittest.mock suite I found freezegun super-easy to use (like, one-line-of-code easy) and I recommend it to anyone who needs to test any code that uses or manipulates time-dependent phenomena.
Freezegun introduces some additional dependencies above those needed to run django-diary. These are recorded in dev-requirements.txt which should be used in place of requirements.txt for setting up testing and development environments from git clones.
======= ====== ======= ========================================================= Version Python Django Description ======= ====== ======= ========================================================= <=v0.35 3.4 1.8 Original development versions. EOL. v0.4 3.8 1.11.29 Base Python 3.8 implementation. v1.x 3.8 1.11.29 Django 1 bugfix releases. django-model-utils==3.2.0 v2.x 3.8 2.2.13 Django 2 bugfix releases. django-model-utils==4.0.0 v3.x 3.8 3.2.20 Django 3 bugfix releases. v4.x 3.11 4.2.14 Django 4 bugfix releases. v5.x 3.11+ 5.x Django 5 development stream (TBA). ======= ====== ======= =========================================================
This started out as a series of experimental projects built on top of Django tutorials, and explorations of existing Django calendar apps, Django snippets and other Django projects on Github:
Django Project Tutorial <https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/intro/tutorial01/>_Django Girls <https://djangogirls.org/>_LightBird Calendar Tutorial <http://lightbird.net/dbe/cal1.html>_Django Scheduler <https://github.com/llazzaro/django-scheduler>_Django Calendarium <https://github.com/bitmazk/django-calendarium>_Django User Customisation <http://scottbarnham.com/blog/2008/08/21/extending-the-django-user-model-with-inheritance/>_Freezegun <https://github.com/spulec/freezegun/>_Django Model Utilities <https://github.com/carljm/django-model-utils>_