Adding attributes to base.html BODY tag from child template

Using Django
1

HI,

I am new to Python and Django so please forgive me if I am asking a dumb question but I am wondering if it is possible to add and attribute to the BODY tag from a child template. I am developing a project where the login page will have a background graphic but other than that it can have the same base template as all the other pages. To do that I want to add a class attribute to the BODY tag but not sure how to do it, if indeed it is possible. I don’t think using super. works as BODY is outside of the block.

If I can’t do it then I guess the alternatives would be to use a div inside my login template or perhaps another dedicated template for login but I wanted to keep all my nav bar code without having to replicate it.

What’s the best practice design pattern for this type of requirement?

Thanks very much

Jeremy

2

You don’t add to the template from a child template. The “parent” template is rendered with the same context as the child template extending it.
This means that you can include a context variable in your base template, and it will be rendered with the current context.
(Also remember that templates don’t throw errors if a variable doesn’t exist, so if you add a variable to your BODY tag, it’s ok if not every page defines something for it.)

Ken

3

Thanks for the reply Ken.

So basically I would need to put something like " in the base.html and then in the view for the login page have something like

from django.template.response import TemplateResponse

def login(request, template_name="myapp/login.html"):
    args = {}
    class = "loginBackground"
    args['myclass'] = class
    return TemplateResponse(request, template_name, args)

Or is it even more simple?
4

Unfortunately, you didn’t ‘escape’ the HTML in your first sentence, so I can only assume that what you wrote is correct.

But yes, if your parent template had something like:
<div class="{{ myclass }}">, then that would work.

If you prefer more terse code, you could even do this:

def login(request, template_name="myapp/login.html"):
    return TemplateResponse(
        request, template_name, {'myclass': "loginBackground"}
    )
1 Like
5

Yes - sorry for lack of escaped code but it was essentially what you wrote.

Very helpful!