How can i pass data to django layouts (like 'base.html') without having to provide it through every view? How can i pass data to django layouts (like 'base.html') without having to provide it through every view? django django

How can i pass data to django layouts (like 'base.html') without having to provide it through every view?


Use a context processor, which is made exactly for that purpose. Create a file context_processors.py in one of your app directories, then in the file define a function that return a dictionary of variables to insert in every template context, something like this:

def add_variable_to_context(request):    return {        'testme': 'Hello world!'    }

Enable your context processor in the settings (django>=1.8):

TEMPLATES = [    {        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',        'DIRS': [root('templates'),],        'APP_DIRS': True,        'OPTIONS': {            'context_processors': [                'django.template.context_processors.debug',                'django.template.context_processors.request',                'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',                'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',                'yourapp.context_processors.add_variable_to_context',            ],        },    },]

Then in every template you can write

{{ testme }}

And it will render as

Hello world!

More info in the Django documentation


If you need this data in (almost) every template, then it makes sense to use a context processor. From the django docs:

The context_processors option is a list of callables – called context processors – that take a request object as their argument and return a dictionary of items to be merged into the context.

Django docs on Writing your own context processors