Today I have posted a new tutorial on djangorocks.com ‘Creating a Custom Authentication Backend‘.
The example created allows you to login to your Django application using your IMAP mail server to check your username & password. Perfect if you are creating a webmail client or address book – and more I’m sure.
The tutorial is not as long as I would have hoped, but its rather difficult to add to when it really is quite a simple thing to implement. Hope it helps.
Django 1.2 is now out, along with a bug-fix release for 1.1. It looks like a bug has already been found, but that’s to be expected as the audience grows. Better these problems are found early on.
Django 1.2 has a bunch of new features;
- Support for multiple databases
- Model validation
- Improved CSRF protection
- Messages framework
- Object-level permissions
- Permissions for anonymous users
- Relaxed requirements for usernames
- E-mail backends
- “Smart” if tag
- Template caching
- Natural keys in fixtures
- Fast failure for tests
- BigIntegerField
- Improved localization
- readonly_fields in ModelAdmin
- Customizable syntax highlighting
- Syndication feeds as views
- GeoDjango
- JavaScript-assisted handling of inline related objects in the admin
- New now template tag format specifier characters: c and u
Over the last few weeks, Django contributors have been working hard finding and fixing bugs from 1.2 Beta 1. The RC release has been set at around May 3, and final release May 10. There are a couple of patches still to be completed, more here.
That being said, it also means that I am only a few weeks (hopefully) from completing one of my sites, mentioned in my last news post. Although the site is not yet finished and there is still quote a lot to do, a lot of the code is in place, so I can start writing the tutorials.
A design is being completed and finalised by a friend of mine. He doesn’t yet have his own site, but when he does and if I remember, I will add a link. Things that will be used in this site;
This is the first site I have coded using the 960 grid system (although 2nd version) and this is also the first design Oli has done using it, if he gets some time, hopefully he will get me a quick post explaining some of the design process.
Also, Facebook connect code has been completed……for Django 1.1. Although there should be no need to change much, there maybe some things I change, ie use of the new Messages framework. This will be decided in the near future.
So far, I have been impressed by the beta for Django 1.2. With the official version due later this month I was ready to try out some of it for a site I’m working on. By the time I’m finished, 1.2 will be officially out so I can just update it then and make any changes necessary from the beta to full version.
I wrote a quick post on Django Rocks earlier mention 3 key features I have been testing. Here it is. There is also a mention do the Django debug toolbar, which I highly recommend everyone use during development.
As a side note, I’d also like to announce I will soon be setting up another blog for myself (now available at piggeh.net). Not technical at all, just the other parts of my life which really don’t join at all with the development side. It’s all Anime, Games, Movies maybe stuff on music. They relate to some of the other sites I have built, currently own, or am building.
