You want to Extend the User Model in Django!

Introducing a comprehensive exploration of Django’s versatility, this post will share knowledge of 7 Ways to Extend the User Model in Django.  There are many methods or strategies you can follow to achieve functionality as you want.

In this guide, you will get complete about extending or enhancing the User Model in Django Sometimes you want to extend it to include more attributes.

You know that Django is a complete system for those who want to create web applications with Python language. I also started an academy to teach about web development but not with Python. I did not have any experience in Python.

But now I have experience with how you can create web apps with Python. So In this post, your concept will be clear about extending the user model in Django because it is necessary to do so when you need it.

A little bit of introduction to UserModel in Django

What is UserModel in Django, django is the most famous framework for developing websites with easy steps. This model contains different information related to the User for example:

• username
• password
• email
• first_name
• last_name
• date_joined
• is_staff
• is_active
• is_superuser
• last_login
• groups
• user_permissions

Model refers to a database table in Django, actually Model is the class that we create to store some entity information. That information may be attributes or properties fo that specify real-world entities like a chair, student, pen, laptop, etc.

So in Django, UserModel refers to the User table in the default database of Django, which contains different attributes by default, which is limited. But sometimes we need to add more columns and attributes to enhance the table. because it depends upon our requirements and needs.

So in this post, I have to share different techniques and strategies you have to follow to extend UserModel in Django to work properly to fulfill your requirements.

Extend the Django User model in Different ways

You know that, Django is an advanced library that has many options to customize your website as you want. Recently I created a website on Django for my client, I used such features to extend my Djngoa user model. It helped me to manage user records. Many times I used these techniques to achieve functionality as a developer wants.

Serial Number	Extending Way	Status
01	Custom User Model Technique	Discussed
02	One-to-One Link Technique	Discussed
03	django-allauth Technique	Discussed
04	Using Signals Technique	Discussed
05	django-registration Technique (3rd party package)	Discussed
06	Using More Third-Party Packages Technique	Discussed

Here I discussed different methods that were used to extend the Django user model properly, with full explanation and providing source code. That source you can use in your project for different uses.

I will recommend making some modifications to our source code, you will get different outputs according to your project.

Method 01: Custom User Model Technique

First of all, you need to understand what means to create a custom user model. This means that you are creating another model with another name for example ‘MyModel’, ‘Student’ etc.

This will be your custom model. You are not using the Django model but you have to inherit Django using the model class. In your custom model, you can include different extra fields, that and not included in the default Django model.

For example, if you want to include the birthday of the user, you have to include this attribute in your custom model because such an attribute is not present in the Django model.

You did not need to write another attribute like first name, last name, or email because you are inheriting the Django model that contains already these attributes.

Coding Example:

Another option is that while creating a custom user model without inheriting a class, you have to create a custom model fully independently. You need to design everything like a model with complete attributes first name, last name, email, password, etc. This will create a new table in your database having no relation with your Django default mode.

Do you want to understand how to do this? Please put your comment I will share it with you!

When to use Custom Model in Django?

It depends upon your needs and requirements when you want you can use it. But sometimes Django doesn’t allow adding more fields in your default Django model. Then this is the method you can use to add extra fields to achieve your functionality using Djnago.

Method 02: One-to-One Link Technique

One to One is the relationship type that is discussed in the database development chapter. In college, I have already discussed this topic with students. How one relationship works between tables in the database, has already been discussed.

As you know databases have tables, and tables have records when one record of any specific table is associated with one record with another table record, that is a one-to-one relationship. This method you can use to combine two tables to achieve extending user information in Django.

For example, if you have a user django model that contains basic information about a student, and you want to add more information like profile picture, dob, education, salary, etc. You can create another model independently and link that model with your Djngao model using one relationship. How you can do this? i want to share an example.

Code Example:

In this example, UserProfiel is your custom table name, which is the class name. Inside () you have to inherit the Django Model class to create the model in Django. userID attribute is used to make one-to-one relationship with the default Django ID. because every user will have only one profile, and due to that, we used one-to-one relationship. user_status is another attribute, same as this, you can add more attributes as you want.

When to use One-to-One Link technique

You can use this technique to extend the user model in Django just when you want to make an extra and separate table to avoid mixing. Also, this technique you can when you want to add more fields but want to maintain modularity in your Django project to manage properly.

Method 04: django-allauthTechnique

This is the third-party program that will help you create users and extend that model to add more fields and attributes. You need to install it first and then you will be able to use it in your Django project. Its purpose is to provide an authentication system that makes it easy to authenticate users while logging and methods to create regulations for users and their management.

When to use django-allauth technique?

When you need a full-featured system for authentication system for your project you have to try this program. I am sure it help you about managing user authentication and account info.

Coding Example:

I have a detailed coding example, if you need I can share it with you on your request. When you need to you can put your request in the comment section I will share it with you.

Method 05: Using Signals Technique

I shared different techniques above sections you can use. But if you want to use signlas techniques then read this complete. Actually in Django signlas work when any operations are performed. For example, when a user creates, the profile will be created. When the transaction is successful, your account will be affected. So when any action is performed, the signal will work.

But how you can use signals techniques to extend your Django User model, these are different techniques I would like to share with you with cod example.

I want to share some steps you have to follow if you want to use signal techniques. 

• Import necessary modules for working with signals.
• You need to define a signal handler function.
• Connect the signal handler to the signal in the ready() method of your app’s apps.py file.
• You have to update models if needed.
• Migrate command for new changes in the database.
• Test the signal.

Code Example:

If you need detailed code examples for signal techniques to extend your Django User model, you can put a comment requesting signal code. Don’t worry I will share with you with detailed explanation for free.

When to use Signals Technique

The basic requirement is to extend the Django user model, but if you want to make more advancements in your project then use it. Also when you need to create cross a communication system you need to use a signal technique to extend the user. If you are a beginner then don’t use it.

Method 06: django-registration Technique (3rd party package)

Different techniques present in Django I shared with you, these are the third-party packages I want to share with you. How you can use it in your Django project. I will not be able to share complete tutorials on Django registration technology but basic ideas i will mention. Because this post will become more complicated and extended, I will create another post to share complete knowledge about such a package.

First of all, you need to install it before using it. The following command you can use to install the Django registration package:

pip install django-registration

In this package, you can handle the user, authentication system, user registration, login, logout, and others related to the authentication system. I have already used such a package first time when I learned Django.

After Installaign you have to include this package information in your project settings.py file to inform Django engine to use such an app also.

Method 07: Using More Third-Party Packages Technique

There are different techniques I shared with you, I am sure that you will use those techniques to extend your Django model properly. After reading that you follow the last option for you because here I shared some important third-party packages that are used to extend your user with an authentication system. You can read both systems deeply from their official documentation properly.

If you want to know more about these programs you can drop your comment and I will explain to you.

• django-allauth
• django-crispy-forms
• django-registration
• django-simple-captcha
• django-rest-auth
• django-userena
• django-guardian

Video Helps for better understanding

Would you like to watch the video to understand best? here is a Video in which each and everything is mentioned you want, to extend users in the Django model. If you have any queries you can directly into the comment box.

Last but important for you!

If you are reading this post, it means that you are interested in Django, now I will suggest you learn the Django framework from its fundamental concepts from its official documentation page. When you follow its official documentation you will get everything about its related concepts.

On this blog, you will get Python-related materials, help, support, tutorials, etc but not a complete focus on only Django. Would you like my opinion for you?

Conclusion

In this post, I have discussed how you can extend UserModel in Django with different strategies and techniques. I shared a lot of knowledge with you with proper coding examples. I hope you have read and understand today’s topic in depth. If you want to know more, you can drop a comment.

Are you a Django Developer? How much experience in Django?

Please Answer!

FAQ

Why need to extend the user model in Django?

Sometimes we need to add more fields and attributes to User mode, but unfortunately default Django model has no such extra attributes because it has limited attributes for example username, first name, last name, etc.

What is the Django model?

The Django model is a class that has some attributes and methods, it turns into a database table that has a column name to store entity information. To write model classes for any entity, you have to use models.py file in your Django application.

Is it good practice to extend the Django model?

Yes, it depends on the developer’s needs and requirements. According to requirements, it needs to extend the default model to add more attributes to store extra information like profile pictures, date of birth, marital status, country, etc.

Is there a course on Django by Faisal Zamir?

At this time, we did not create course on Django, but it is our plan to create courses on web development with Python including Django.