Implementing User Authentication and Authorization in Django:

Authentication vs Authorization

1.​ Authentication:
○​ Authentication is the process of verifying the identity of a user.
○​ The goal is to ensure that the user is who they say they are.
○​ Typically, this involves the user providing credentials (like a username/email and
password) which are checked against a stored set of data (e.g., a database).
2.​ Authorization:
○​ Authorization is the process of granting or denying access to resources or
actions based on the authenticated user's roles or permissions.
○​ Once a user is authenticated, authorization determines what they can do within
the application (e.g., view a specific page, edit data, or delete something).

User Authentication and Authorization in Django:

●​ Django provides a built-in authentication system inside the django.contrib.auth

module, making it easy to secure your application.
●​ Ensure the following apps and middlewares are included in your settings.py:

INSTALLED_APPS = [

...

'django.contrib.auth', # Core authentication framework

'django.contrib.contenttypes', # Required for permissions

'django.contrib.sessions', # Manages sessions (critical for

logged-in users)

'django.contrib.messages', # For displaying messages (e.g.,

login success/failure)
 ]

MIDDLEWARE = [

...

'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware', #
Enables sessions

'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware', #
Associates users with requests

'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware', #
Handles messages

●​ The AuthenticationMiddleware ties users to requests and enables the request.user

object, which is essential for authentication checks.

User Model

●​ Django provides a default user model django.contrib.auth.models.User that contains

fields like:
○​ username
○​ password
○​ email
○​ first_name,
○​ last_name
○​ is_active, (Boolean: determines if the user account is active)
○​ is_staff, (Boolean: determines if the user can access Django Admin)
○​ is_superuser (Boolean: determines if the user has all permissions)
Different between is_staff and is_superuser:

is_staff

●​ Determines whether a user can access the Django admin panel.

●​ If is_staff = True, the user can log in to the Django admin site.
●​ However, they do not have full permissions unless explicitly assigned.
●​ This user can log in to the Django admin panel but cannot modify objects unless given
specific permissions.

is_superuser

●​ Grants full access to all parts of the Django admin site.

●​ If is_superuser = True, the user automatically has all permissions, regardless of what is
assigned.
●​ This user has complete control over the admin panel and all models.

Example:

●​ Create a new django project called: AuthProject1

django-admin startproject AuthProject1

●​ Move inside the Project folder:

​ cd AuthProject1

●​ Perform the migrations (to create inbuilt application related tables)

​ python manage.py makemigrations

​ python manage.py migrate

●​ Verify the created tables inside the db.sqlite3 database.

●​ Open the Django shell:
 python manage.py shell

●​ Create a super user using the django shell:

from django.contrib.auth.models import User

>>> user1= User.objects.create(username= 'ratan', email='ratan@gmail.com')

>>> user1.set_password('123')

>>> user1.is_superuser=True

>>> user1.is_staff=True

>>> user1.save()

>>>user1

●​ Here set_password() method will hash the password and store it inside the table
●​ Verify the auth_user table. (check the user created record inside the table)
●​ Perform the authentication in django shell:

>>> from django.contrib.auth import authenticate

>>> user = authenticate(username='ratan', password='123')

>>> user

<User: ratan>

>>> if user is not None:

print('login successful')

else:

print('invalid username or password')

>>> exit()
Example:
●​ Create a new Project called ProductAuthProject

​ ​ django-admin startproject ProductAuthProject

●​ Mode inside the Project folder

​ cd ProductAuthProject

●​ Create a new application inside the project called ProductApp

​ ​ python manage.py startapp AuthApp

●​ Register the application inside the settings.py file.

●​ Perform the migrations to create the built-in applications related tables

​ ​ python manage.py makemigrations

​ ​ python manage.py migrate

●​ Define following view functions inside the AuthApp/view.py file

AuthApp/views.py

from django.shortcuts import render, redirect

from django.contrib import messages

from django.contrib.auth.models import User

from django.contrib.auth import authenticate, login, logout

from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required

def home_view(request):
 return render(request, 'home.html')

def register_view(request):

if request.method == 'POST':

username = request.POST.get('username')

email = request.POST.get('email')

password = request.POST.get('password')

cpassword = request.POST.get('cpassword')

if password != cpassword:

messages.error(request, 'Passwords do not match')

elif User.objects.filter(username=username).exists():

messages.error(request, 'Username already exists')

elif User.objects.filter(email=email).exists():

messages.error(request, 'Email already used')

else:

user = User.objects.create_user(

username=username, email=email, password=password)

messages.success(

request, 'Registration successful! You can now login.')

return redirect('login')

return render(request, 'register.html')

def login_view(request):

if request.method == 'POST':

username = request.POST.get('username')

password = request.POST.get('password')

user = authenticate(request, username=username, password=password)

if user:

login(request, user)

return redirect('dashboard')

else:

messages.error(request, 'Invalid username or password')

return render(request, 'login.html',)

@login_required

def dashboard_view(request):

return render(request, 'dashboard.html')

@login_required

def logout_view(request):

logout(request)

return redirect('home')

Explanation:
login(request, user):

●​ The login() function authenticates and logs in a user, creating a session for them.
●​ It stores the user’s ID in the session.
●​ Sets request.user to the authenticated user object.
●​ This allows you to access {{ user.username }} in templates and request.user
in views.
●​ authenticate() does not log the user in. It only verifies credentials. You must use
login() to actually log them in.

logout(request):

●​ The logout() function ends the current user’s session.

●​ Clears all session data related to the authenticated user.
●​ request.user becomes AnonymousUser again.

@login_required:

●​ The @login_required decorator protects a view so that only authenticated users can
access it.
●​ If an unauthenticated user tries to access it, they will be redirected to the login page.

●​ Specify the following statement inside the settings.py file.

# Redirect to the url if any unauthenticated user tries to access

protected route

LOGIN_URL = 'login'
 ●​ Define the url patterns for the above view functions inside the AuthApp/urls.py file.

AuthApp/urls.py

from django.urls import path

from . import views

urlpatterns = [

path('', views.home_view, name='home'),

path('register/', views.register_view, name='register'),

path('login/', views.login_view, name='login'),

path('dashboard/', views.dashboard_view, name='dashboard'),

path('logout/', views.logout_view, name='logout')

●​ Include the above urls.py file at the project level urls.py file
from django.contrib import admin

from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [

path('admin/', admin.site.urls),

path('', include('AuthApp.urls'))

]
 ●​ Create the following HTML files inside the AuthApp/templates folder.

base.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>

<meta charset="UTF-8">

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">

<title>{% block title_block %} HTMLFormProject {% endblock %}</title>

<link
href="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.3/dist/css/bootstrap.min.
css" rel="stylesheet"
integrity="sha384-QWTKZyjpPEjISv5WaRU9OFeRpok6YctnYmDr5pNlyT2bRjXh0JMhjY6h
W+ALEwIH" crossorigin="anonymous">

<style>

body {

margin: 0;

padding: 0;

header {

height: 10vh;

background-color: rgb(139, 210, 26)

main {
 height: 80vh;

background-color: aquamarine;

footer {

height: 10vh;

background-color: rgb(36, 188, 208);

</style>

</head>

<body>

<header>

<nav class="nav justify-content-end">

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'home' %}">Product App</a>

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'register' %}">Register</a>

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'login' %}">Login</a>

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'logout' %}">Logout</a>

</nav>

</header>

<main class="overflow-auto">

{% if messages %}

{% for message in messages %}

<div class="alert alert-warning alert-dismissible fade show"

role="alert">

{{message}}
 <button type="button" class="btn-close"
data-bs-dismiss="alert" aria-label="Close"></button>

</div>

{% endfor %}

​ {% endif %}

{% block main_block %}

{% endblock %}

</main>

<footer>

<p class="text-center">&copy; This is the footer section</p>

</footer>

<script
src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/bootstrap@5.3.3/dist/js/bootstrap.bundle
.min.js"
integrity="sha384-YvpcrYf0tY3lHB60NNkmXc5s9fDVZLESaAA55NDzOxhy9GkcIdslK1eN
7N6jIeHz" crossorigin="anonymous"></script>

</body>

</html>

home.html

{% extends "base.html" %}

{% block title_block %} Home Page {% endblock %}

 {% block main_block %}

<h3 class="text-center">Welcome to Home page</h3>

{% endblock %}

register.html

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Registration Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h2 class="text-center">Register a User</h2>

<div class="container">

<form method="POST">

{% csrf_token %}

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="username" class="form-label">Enter

Username</label>

<input type="text" name="username" id="username"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="email" class="form-label">Enter Email</label>

<input type="email" name="email" id="email"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">
 <label for="password" class="form-label">Enter
Password</label>

<input type="password" name="password" id="password"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="cpassword" class="form-label">Confirm

Password</label>

<input type="password" name="cpassword" id="cpassword"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<input type="submit" value="Register" class="btn btn-primary">

</form>

<p><a href="{% url 'login' %}">Already have an account? Login</a></p>

</div>

{% endblock %}

login.html:

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Login Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h1 class="text-center">Login Page</h1>

<div class="container">

<form method="POST">

{% csrf_token %}

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="username" class="form-label">Enter

Username:</label>

<input type="text" name="username" id="username"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="password" class="form-label">Enter

Password:</label>

<input type="password" name="password" id="password"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<input type="submit" value="Login" class="btn btn-primary">

</form>

<p><a href="{% url 'register' %}">New User? Register</a></p>

</div>

{% endblock %}

dashboard.html

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Dashboard Page {% endblock %}

 {% block main_block %}

<h1 class="text-center">Welcome to Dashboard</h1>

<h2>Welcome, {{ user.username }}</h2>

{% endblock %}

●​ Run the server and access the application:

​ python manage.py runserver

​ http://127.0.0.1:8000/

●​ Modify the header part of base.html file to show the links based on the
user authentication:

base.html

<header>

<nav class="nav justify-content-end">

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'home' %}">Product App</a>

{% if user.is_authenticated %}

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'dashboard'

%}">Dashboard</a>
 <a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'logout' %}">Logout</a>

{% else %}

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'register'

%}">Register</a>

<a class="nav-link" href="{% url 'login' %}">Login</a>

{% endif %}

</nav>

</header>

user.is_authenticated

●​ user.is_authenticated is a property of the request.user object in Django.

●​ It returns True if the current user is logged in, and False if the user is anonymous (not
logged in).
●​ Django sets request.user for every request. If the user is
○​ logged in → request.user is a User object.
○​ If not → it's an AnonymousUser.

Managing Users via Django Admin:

●​ To manage all users in your Django application, you can create a superuser using the
following command:

​ python manage.py createsuperuser

●​ Once created, you can log in to the Django admin interface at:

​ http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/

●​ From the admin panel, you can:

○​ View and manage all registered users
○​ Edit user information (username, email, password, etc.)
○​ Promote any user to an admin by setting:
 ●​ is_staff = True → Gives access to the admin panel
●​ is_superuser = True → Gives all permissions in the application​

●​ This interface is a powerful tool for admins to monitor, control, and customize user
access across the application.

Applying password validation:

●​ To Enforce the password validation inside the above application (applying inbuilt
password validator)
●​ Modify the register_view function inside the AuthApp/views.py file as follows:

from django.contrib.auth.password_validation import validate_password

from django.core.exceptions import ValidationError

def register_view(request):

if request.method == 'POST':

username = request.POST.get('username')

email = request.POST.get('email')

password = request.POST.get('password')

cpassword = request.POST.get('cpassword')

if password != cpassword:

messages.error(request, 'Passwords do not match')

elif User.objects.filter(username=username).exists():

messages.error(request, 'Username already exists')

 elif User.objects.filter(email=email).exists():

messages.error(request, 'Email already used')

else:

try:

validate_password(password)

user = User.objects.create_user(

username=username, email=email, password=password)

messages.success(

request, 'Registration successful! You can now

login.')

return redirect('login')

except ValidationError as e:

for error in e:

messages.error(request, error)

return render(request, 'register.html')

Implementing the User Authorization:

●​ Creating a functionality called view profile which can be visible and accessible only if
the logged in user is super user(admin)

●​ Modify the login.html to accept the role from the user:

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Login Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h1 class="text-center">Login Page</h1>

<div class="container">

<form method="POST">

{% csrf_token %}

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="username" class="form-label">Enter

Username:</label>

<input type="text" name="username" id="username"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="password" class="form-label">Enter

Password:</label>

<input type="password" name="password" id="password"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="role">Choose Role:</label>

<select name="role" class="form-control" required>

<option value="" disabled selected>Choose Role</option>

 <option value="user">User</option>

<option value="admin">Admin</option>

</select>

</div>

<input type="submit" value="Login" class="btn btn-primary">

</form>

<p><a href="{% url 'register' %}">New User? Register</a></p>

</div>

{% endblock %}

●​ Modify the login_view function inside the AuthApp/view.py file as follows:

def login_view(request):

if request.method == 'POST':

username = request.POST.get('username')

password = request.POST.get('password')

selected_role = request.POST.get('role')

user = authenticate(request, username=username, password=password)

if user:

# Determine if the role matches the actual user status

if (selected_role == 'admin' and user.is_superuser) or

(selected_role == 'user' and not user.is_superuser):
 login(request, user)

return redirect('dashboard')

else:

messages.error(request, "Invalid credentials: Role

mismatch")

else:

messages.error(request, 'Invalid username or password')

return render(request, 'login.html',)

●​ Define a view function inside the AuthApp/views.py file to render

user_profile.html

@login_required

def view_profile(request):

if not request.user.is_superuser:

messages.error(request, "Access denied: You are not

authorized to view this page.")

return redirect('dashboard') # Redirect to dashboard or

home instead of showing raw 403

return render(request, 'user_profile.html')

●​ Specify the url for the above view function inside the AuthApp/urls.py
file:

​ path('view-profile/', views.view_profile, name='view_profile'),

●​ Create user_profile.html file inside AuthApp/templates folder

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Profile Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h2>Superuser Profile</h2>

<p><strong>Username:</strong> {{ user.username }}</p>

<p><strong>Email:</strong> {{ user.email }}</p>

<p><strong>Is Superuser:</strong> {{ user.is_superuser }}</p>

<a href="{% url 'dashboard' %}" class="btn btn-secondary">Back to

Dashboard</a>

{% endblock %}

●​ Update the dashboard.html to include a View Profile link for the super
user:

{% extends 'base.html' %}
 {% block title_block %} Login Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h1 class="text-center">Welcome to Dashboard</h1>

<h2>Welcome, {{ user.username }}</h2>

{% if user.is_superuser %}

<a href="{% url 'view_profile' %}" class="btn btn-info">View

Profile</a>

{% endif %}

{% endblock %}

Implementing User Specific Product Management: (CRUD Operations)

●​ Create another application inside the above ProductAuthProject with the name
called ProductApp.

python manage.py startapp ProductApp

●​ Register this ProductApp inside the settings.py file.

●​ Define the following mode class inside the ProductApp/models.py file

from django.db import models

from django.contrib.auth.models import User

class Product(models.Model):

CATEGORY_CHOICES = [

('Electronics', 'Electronics'),

('Stationary', 'Stationary'),
 ('HomeApplience', 'HomeApplience'),

# Specifying one to many relationship with User to Product

user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)

name = models.CharField(max_length=100)

price = models.IntegerField()

quantity = models.IntegerField()

category = models.CharField(max_length=20, choices=CATEGORY_CHOICES)

created_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)

updated_at = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

def __str__(self):

return self.name

class Meta:

# ensures unique product name per user

unique_together = ('user', 'name')

●​ Register the above model inside the admin.py file to manage products from the admin
interface.

from django.contrib import admin

from .models import Product # Import your Product model

class ProductAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):

list_display = ['id', 'name', 'price',

 'quantity', 'category', 'user', 'created_at']

list_filter = ['category', 'created_at']

admin.site.register(Product, ProductAdmin)

●​ Run the server and login to the admin interface and add some products for a specific
user.

​ ​ python manage.py runserver

​ ​ http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin

●​ Define the following view functions inside the ProductApp/views.py file

from django.shortcuts import render

from ProductApp.models import Product

from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required

@login_required

def add_product_view(request):

# Fetch all products if superuser, else only their own

if request.user.is_superuser:

products = Product.objects.all()

else:

products = Product.objects.filter(user=request.user)

return render(request, 'addproduct.html', context={'products':

products})
●​ Create addproduct.html file inside the ProductApp/template folder.

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Add Product {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h2 class="text-center">Add a Product</h2>

<div class="container">

<form method="POST">

{% csrf_token %}

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="product_name" class="form-label">Enter

Product Name</label>

<input type="text" name="product_name" id="product_name"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="price" class="form-label">Enter

Price</label>

<input type="number" name="price" id="price"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="quantity" class="form-label">Enter

Quantity</label>
 <input type="number" name="quantity" id="quantity"
class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="category">Choose Category:</label>

<select name="category" class="form-control" required>

<option value="" disabled selected>Choose

Category</option>

<option value="Electronics">Electronics</option>

<option value="Stationary">Stationary</option>

<option value="HomeApplience">HomeApplience</option>

</select>

</div>

<input type="submit" value="Add Product" class="btn

btn-success">

</form>

</div>

{% if products %}

<h2 class="text-center">All Product Details</h2>

<hr>

<div class="container">

<table class="table table-dark">

<tr>

<th>ProductId</th>
 <th>ProductName</th>

<th>Price</th>

<th>Quantity</th>

<th>Category</th>

<th>Created At</th>

<th>Updated At</th>

{% if user.is_superuser %}

<th>Added By</th>

{% endif %}

<th>Action</th>

</tr>

{% for product in products %}

<tr>

<td>{{product.id}}</td>

<td>{{product.name}}</td>

<td>{{product.price}}</td>

<td>{{product.quantity}}</td>

<td>{{product.category}}</td>

<td>{{product.created_at}}</td>

<td>{{product.updated_at}}</td>

{% if user.is_superuser %}
 <td>{{ product.user.username }}</td>

{% endif %}

<td>

<a href="#" class="btn btn-success

btn-sm">UPDATE</a>

<a href="#" class="btn btn-danger btn-sm">DELETE</a>

</td>

</tr>

{% endfor %}

</table>

</div>

{% endif %}

{% endblock %}

●​ Define the url pattern for the above add_product_view inside the
ProductApp/urls.py file.

from django.urls import path

from . import views

urlpatterns = [
 path('', views.add_product_view, name='addproduct')

●​ Include the above urls.py of the Product App inside the project level urls.py file.

from django.contrib import admin

from django.urls import path, include

urlpatterns = [

path('admin/', admin.site.urls),

path('', include('AuthApp.urls')),

path('products/', include('ProductApp.urls'))

●​ Modify the dashboard.html of AuthApp and include a link to manage the product.

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Login Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h1 class="text-center">Welcome to Dashboard</h1>

<h2>Welcome, {{ user.username }}</h2>

<a href="{% url 'addproduct' %}" class="btn btn-primary">Manage

Products</a>

{% if user.is_superuser %}
 <a href="{% url 'view_profile' %}" class="btn btn-info">View
Profile</a>

{% endif %}

{% endblock %}

●​ Run the server and access the application up to this point by logging as a user

​ ​ python manage.py runserver

​ ​ http://127.0.0.1:8000/

●​ Modify the the add_product_view to handle the add product form data

from django.shortcuts import render, redirect

from ProductApp.models import Product

from django.contrib.auth.decorators import login_required

from django.contrib import messages

@login_required

def add_product_view(request):

if request.method == 'POST':

name = request.POST.get('product_name')

price = request.POST.get('price')

quantity = request.POST.get('quantity')

category = request.POST.get('category')
 # Check if product already exists for this user

if Product.objects.filter(user=request.user,
name=name).exists():

messages.error(request, 'Product with this name already

exists.')

else:

Product.objects.create(

user=request.user,

name=name,

price=price,

quantity=quantity,

category=category

messages.success(request, 'Product added successfully!')

return redirect('addproduct')

# Fetch all products if superuser, else only their own

if request.user.is_superuser:

products = Product.objects.all()

else:

products = Product.objects.filter(user=request.user)

return render(request, 'addproduct.html', context={'products':

products})
Implementing Delete Product functionality:​

●​ Define the following view function inside the ProductApp/views.py file

@login_required

def delete_product_view(request, product_id):

product = Product.objects.get(id=product_id)

# Check if the product belongs to the logged-in user or if user

is superuser

if request.user == product.user or request.user.is_superuser:

product.delete()

messages.success(request, 'Product deleted successfully!')

else:

messages.error(

request, 'You are not authorized to delete this

product.')

return redirect('addproduct')

●​ Define the url pattern for the above view function inside ProductApp/urls.py file

from django.urls import path

from . import views

urlpatterns = [

path('', views.add_product_view, name='addproduct'),

 path('delete/<int:product_id>/',

views.delete_product_view, name='deleteproduct'),

●​ Update the Delete Link in addproduct.html

<a href="{% url 'deleteproduct' product.id %}" class="btn btn-danger

btn-sm" onclick="return confirm('Are you sure you want to delete
this product?');">DELETE</a>

Implementing Update Product functionality:​

●​ Define the following view function inside the ProductApp/views.py file

@login_required

def update_product_view(request, product_id):

product = Product.objects.get(id=product_id)

# Authorization: Only the product owner or a superuser can update

if request.user != product.user and not request.user.is_superuser:

messages.error(

request, "You are not authorized to update this product.")

return redirect('addproduct')
 if request.method == 'POST':

product.name = request.POST.get('product_name')

product.price = request.POST.get('price')

product.quantity = request.POST.get('quantity')

product.category = request.POST.get('category')

# Ensure unique product name per user

if Product.objects.filter(user=product.user,
name=product.name).exclude(id=product_id).exists():

messages.error(request, "Product with this name already

exists.")

else:

product.save()

messages.success(request, "Product updated successfully!")

return redirect('addproduct')

return render(request, 'updateproduct.html', {'product': product})

●​ Define the url pattern for the above view function inside the
ProductApp/urls.py file:

from django.urls import path

 from . import views

urlpatterns = [

path('', views.add_product_view, name='addproduct'),

path('delete/<int:product_id>/',

views.delete_product_view, name='deleteproduct'),

path('update/<int:product_id>/',

views.update_product_view, name='updateproduct'),

●​ Update the Update Link in addproduct.html

<a href="{% url 'updateproduct' product.id %}" class="btn btn-success

btn-sm">UPDATE</a>

●​ Create the updateproduct.html file inside ProductApp/templates folder

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %}Update Product{% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h2 class="text-center">Update Product</h2>

<div class="container">

<form method="POST">

{% csrf_token %}

<div class="mb-3">

<label class="form-label">Product Name</label>

<input type="text" name="product_name" class="form-control"

value="{{ product.name }}" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label class="form-label">Price</label>

<input type="number" name="price" class="form-control"

value="{{ product.price }}" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label class="form-label">Quantity</label>

<input type="number" name="quantity" class="form-control"

value="{{ product.quantity }}" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label class="form-label">Category</label>

<select name="category" class="form-control" required>

<option value="Electronics" {% if product.category ==

"Electronics" %}selected{% endif %}>Electronics

</option>
 <option value="Stationary" {% if product.category ==
"Stationary" %}selected{% endif %}>Stationary

</option>

<option value="HomeApplience" {% if product.category ==

"HomeApplience" %}selected{% endif %}>

HomeApplience</option>

</select>

</div>

<input type="submit" value="Update Product" class="btn

btn-primary">

</form>

</div>

{% endblock %}

Customizing the Inbuilt User model:

Why Customize the User Model?

Django's default User model is sufficient for many cases, but sometimes you need to add extra
fields (like gender, phone number) or change the authentication method (e.g., using email
instead of username). Customizing the User model allows you to:

●​ Add custom fields (e.g., name, gender, phone number).

●​ Use email as the unique identifier for authentication instead of a username.
●​ Extend functionality for superusers, staff, or regular users.
●​ Manage users through the Django admin panel.
Step 1: Create a new custom user model along with custom User Manager
class inside the AuthApp/models.py file

from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractUser, BaseUserManager

from django.db import models

class AppUserManager(BaseUserManager):

def create_user(self, email, name,phone, address, gender,

password=None, **extra_fields):

if not email:

raise ValueError('The Email field is mandatory')

# converting email with lower case

email= self.normalize_email(email)

user = self.model(

email=email,

name=name,

phone=phone,

address= address,

gender= gender,

**extra_fields

user.set_password(password)

user.save(using=self._db)

return user
 def create_superuser(self, email, name, phone, address, gender,
password=None, **extra_fields):

extra_fields.setdefault('is_staff', True)

extra_fields.setdefault('is_superuser', True)

extra_fields.setdefault('is_active', True)

if not password:

raise ValueError("Superusers must have a password.")

if extra_fields.get('is_staff') is not True:

raise ValueError("Superuser must have is_staff=True.")

if extra_fields.get('is_superuser') is not True:

raise ValueError("Superuser must have is_superuser=True.")

return self.create_user(email, name, phone, address, gender,

password, **extra_fields)

class AppUser(AbstractUser):

GENDER_CHOICES = (

('Male', 'Male'),

('Female', 'Female'),

('Other', 'Other'),

# redefine the email to be unique

 email = models.EmailField(unique=True)

# Adding extra field inside the custom user class

name = models.CharField(max_length=100)

phone = models.CharField(max_length=15)

address = models.TextField()

gender = models.CharField(max_length=10, choices=GENDER_CHOICES)

# removing the username field

username= None

objects = AppUserManager()

USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'

REQUIRED_FIELDS = ['name', 'phone', 'address', 'gender']

def __str__(self):

return self.email

Explanation:

AppUserManager (Custom User Manager)

This class inherits from BaseUserManager, which provides helper methods to manage user
creation.

create_user(...)

●​ This method creates a regular user.​

●​ Check if an email is provided.​

 ●​ Normalizes the email (lowercase).​

●​ Fills in required fields (email, name, phone, address, gender).​

●​ Sets the password securely using set_password.​

●​ Saves the user to the database.

●​ Inside a custom manager like BaseUserManager, self._db refers to the current
database connection being used by the manager.

This is especially useful when you're:

○​ Using multiple databases in your Django project.​

○​ Ensuring compatibility with Django’s multi-database routing system.

create_superuser(...)

●​ This method creates a superuser with additional privileges.​

●​ Ensures is_staff, is_superuser, and is_active are set to True.​

●​ Validates that a password is provided.​

●​ Calls create_user internally with these fields.​

Why a custom manager? Django needs it to properly handle createsuperuser with email
as the unique field.

AppUser (Custom User Model)

This class inherits from AbstractUser to retain useful fields like:

●​ is_active, is_staff, is_superuser​

●​ Password and group/permissions handling​

Customizations:

●​ username = None
 ○​ Removes default username field from AbstractUser.​

●​ email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
○​ Makes email the unique identifier.

USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'

●​ Tells Django to use email as the login identifier.​

REQUIRED_FIELDS = [...]

●​ Fields required when creating a superuser using the command line.​

objects = AppUserManager()

●​ Uses your custom manager for user creation logic.​

Step2: Specify the above created AppUser model class inside the settings.py
file to tell Django to use this AppUser class instead of using default User class.

settings.py file:

​ AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'AuthApp.AppUser'

Step3: Modify the model class inside the ProductApp/models.py file to refer to
the AppUser instead of using the User class.

from django.conf import settings

user = models.ForeignKey(settings.AUTH_USER_MODEL,
on_delete=models.CASCADE)
Step 4: Perform the migrations

​ python manage.py makemigrations

​ python manage.py migrate

Step5: Verify the created tables inside the db.sqlite3 database

Step6: Create a superuser from the command prompt:

​ python manage.py createsuperuser

Step7: Register AppUser class along with its Admin class inside the
AuthApp/admin.py file to manage the users from the admin interface:

from django.contrib import admin

from django.contrib.auth.admin import UserAdmin

from .models import AppUser

class AppUserAdmin(UserAdmin):

model = AppUser

list_display = ('email', 'name', 'is_staff', 'is_superuser', 'gender',

'address', 'phone')

ordering = ('email',)

fieldsets = (

(None, {'fields': ('email', 'password')}),

 ('Personal Info', {'fields': ('name', 'phone', 'address',
'gender')}),

('Permissions', {'fields': ('is_active', 'is_staff',

'is_superuser', 'groups', 'user_permissions')}),

('Important dates', {'fields': ('last_login',)}),

# Fields visible when creating a new user

add_fieldsets = (

(None, {

'classes': ('wide',),

'fields': ('email', 'name', 'phone', 'address', 'gender',

'password1', 'password2'),

}),

admin.site.register(AppUser, AppUserAdmin)

Step8: Run the server and access the admin interface to manage the users.

​ python manage.py runserver

​ http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/
Step9: Modify the register.html file and login.html inside the
AuthApp/templates folder for the registration and login.

register.html:

{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Registration Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h2 class="text-center">Register a User</h2>

<div class="container">

<form method="POST">

{% csrf_token %}

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="name" class="form-label">Enter Full Name</label>

<input type="text" name="name" id="name" class="form-control"

required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="email" class="form-label">Enter Email</label>

<input type="email" name="email" id="email"

class="form-control" required>

</div>
 <div class="mb-3">

<label for="phone" class="form-label">Enter Phone

Number</label>

<input type="text" name="phone" id="phone"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="address" class="form-label">Enter Address</label>

<textarea name="address" id="address" class="form-control"

rows="3" required></textarea>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="gender" class="form-label">Select Gender</label>

<select name="gender" id="gender" class="form-select"

required>

<option value="" disabled selected>--Select

Gender--</option>

<option value="Male">Male</option>

<option value="Female">Female</option>

<option value="Other">Other</option>

</select>

</div>
 <div class="mb-3">

<label for="password" class="form-label">Enter

Password</label>

<input type="password" name="password" id="password"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="cpassword" class="form-label">Confirm

Password</label>

<input type="password" name="cpassword" id="cpassword"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<input type="submit" value="Register" class="btn btn-primary">

</form>

<p class="mt-3">

<a href="{% url 'login' %}">Already have an account? Login</a>

</p>

</div>

{% endblock %}

login.html:
{% extends 'base.html' %}

{% block title_block %} Login Page {% endblock %}

{% block main_block %}

<h1 class="text-center">Login Page</h1>

<div class="container">

<form method="POST">

{% csrf_token %}

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="email" class="form-label">Enter Email:</label>

<input type="email" name="email" id="email"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="password" class="form-label">Enter

Password:</label>

<input type="password" name="password" id="password"

class="form-control" required>

</div>

<div class="mb-3">

<label for="role" class="form-label">Choose Role:</label>

 <select name="role" class="form-control" required>

<option value="" disabled selected>Choose Role</option>

<option value="user">User</option>

<option value="admin">Admin</option>

</select>

</div>

<input type="submit" value="Login" class="btn btn-primary">

</form>

<p class="mt-3">

<a href="{% url 'register' %}">New User? Register</a>

</p>

</div>

{% endblock %}

Step10: Modify the register_view function inside the AuthApp/views.py file

accordingly.

from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model

User = get_user_model() # Use your custom user model

def register_view(request):

if request.method == 'POST':
name = request.POST.get('name')

email = request.POST.get('email')

phone = request.POST.get('phone')

address = request.POST.get('address')

gender = request.POST.get('gender')

password = request.POST.get('password')

cpassword = request.POST.get('cpassword')

if password != cpassword:

messages.error(request, 'Passwords do not match')

elif User.objects.filter(email=email).exists():

messages.error(request, 'Email already registered')

else:

try:

validate_password(password)

User.objects.create_user(

email=email,

name=name,

phone=phone,

address=address,

gender=gender,

password=password

)
 messages.success(request, 'Registration successful! You
can now login.')

return redirect('login')

except ValidationError as e:

for error in e:

messages.error(request, error)

return render(request, 'register.html')

●​ Modify the login_view function inside the AuthApp/views.py file

accordingly

def login_view(request):

if request.method == 'POST':

email = request.POST.get('email')

password = request.POST.get('password')

selected_role = request.POST.get('role')

user = authenticate(request, email=email, password=password)

if user:

# Determine if the role matches the actual user status

if (selected_role == 'admin' and user.is_superuser) or

(selected_role == 'user' and not user.is_superuser):

login(request, user)

return redirect('dashboard')
 else:

messages.error(request, "Invalid credentials: Role

mismatch")

else:

messages.error(request, 'Invalid username or password')

return render(request, 'login.html',)

●​ Update the dashboard.html file

​ ​ <h2>Welcome, {{ user.name }}</h2>

●​ Update the user_profile.html file:

​ ​ <p><strong>Username:</strong> {{ user.name }}</p>

●​ Update the addproduct.html file:

<td>{{ product.user.name }}</td>