This tutorial begins where Tutorial 7 left off. We’ve\nbuilt our web-poll application and will now look at third-party packages. One of\nDjango’s strengths is the rich ecosystem of third-party packages. They’re\ncommunity developed packages that can be used to quickly improve the feature set\nof an application.
\nThis tutorial will show how to add Django Debug Toolbar, a commonly used third-party\npackage. The Django Debug Toolbar has ranked in the top three most used\nthird-party packages in the Django Developers Survey in recent years.
\n\nDjango Debug Toolbar is a useful tool for debugging Django web applications.\nIt’s a third-party package maintained by the Jazzband organization. The toolbar helps you understand how your\napplication functions and to identify problems. It does so by providing panels\nthat provide debug information about the current request and response.
\nTo install a third-party application like the toolbar, you need to install\nthe package by running the below command within an activated virtual\nenvironment. This is similar to our earlier step to install Django.
\nLinux / macOS
$ python -m pip install django-debug-toolbar\nWindows
...\\> py -m pip install django-debug-toolbar\nThird-party packages that integrate with Django need some post-installation\nsetup to integrate them with your project. Often you will need to add the\npackage’s Django app to your INSTALLED_APPS setting. Some packages\nneed other changes, like additions to your URLconf (urls.py).
Django Debug Toolbar requires several setup steps. Follow them in its\ninstallation guide.\nThe steps are not duplicated in this tutorial, because as a third-party\npackage, it may change separately to Django’s schedule.
\nOnce installed, you should be able to see the DjDT “handle” on the right side\nof the browser window when you refresh the polls application. Click it to open\nthe debug toolbar and use the tools in each panel. See the panels\ndocumentation page for more\ninformation on what the panels show.
\nAt some point you will run into a problem, for example the\ntoolbar may not render. When this happens and you’re unable to\nresolve the issue yourself, there are options available to you.
\nIf the problem is with a specific package, check if there’s a\ntroubleshooting of FAQ in the package’s documentation. For example the\nDjango Debug Toolbar has a Tips section that\noutlines troubleshooting options.
Search for similar issues on the package’s issue tracker. Django Debug\nToolbar’s is on GitHub.
Consult the Django Forum.
Join the Django Discord server.
Join the #Django IRC channel on Libera.chat.
There are many more third-party packages, which you can find using the\nfantastic Django resource, Django Packages.
\nIt can be difficult to know what third-party packages you should use. This\ndepends on your needs and goals. Sometimes it’s fine to use a package that’s\nin its alpha state. Other times, you need to know it’s production ready.\nAdam Johnson has a blog post that outlines\na set of characteristics that qualifies a package as “well maintained”.\nDjango Packages shows data for some of these characteristics, such as when the\npackage was last updated.
\nAs Adam points out in his post, when the answer to one of the questions is\n“no”, that’s an opportunity to contribute.
\nThe beginner tutorial ends here. In the meantime, you might want to check out\nsome pointers on where to go from here.
\nIf you are familiar with Python packaging and interested in learning how to\nturn polls into a “reusable app”, check out Advanced tutorial: How to\nwrite reusable apps.
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