django-guest-user 0.2.0

A Django app that lets visitors interact with your site without registration.

django-guest-user

A Django app that allows visitors to interact with your site as a guest user without requiring registration.

Largely inspired by django-lazysignup and rewritten for Django 3.1+ and Python 3.7+.

Requirements

The tests cover the following versions:

• Python 3.7, 3.8, 3.9
• Django 3.1, 3.2 and main

Installation

Install the package with your favorite package manager from PyPI:

pip install django-guest-user

Add the app to your INSTALLED_APPS and AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    ...
    "guest_user",
]

AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = [
    "django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend",
    "guest_user.backends.GuestBackend",
]

Add the patterns to your URL config:

urlpatterns = [
    ...
    path("convert/", include("guest_user.urls")),
]

Don't forget to run migrations:

python manage.py migrate

How to use

Guest users are not created for every unauthenticated request. Instead, use the @allow_guest_user decorator on a view to enable that view to be accessed by a temporary guest user.

from guest_user.decorators import allow_guest_user

@allow_guest_user
def my_view(request):
    # Will always be either a registered a guest user.
    username = request.user.username
    return HttpResponse(f"Hello, {username}!")

Each time an anonymous user requests this view, the decorator will create a new temporary guest user and automatically create a session for them.

If some parts of the application should not be used by guests, you can use the @require_regular_user decorator to disable guest access.

At any point in time, the guest user may choose to permanently register with the website by using the conversion view.

API

Decorators

Module: guest_user.decorators

@allow_guest_user

View decorator that will create a temporary guest user in the event that the decorated view is accessed by an unauthenticated visitor.

Takes no arguments.

@guest_user_required

View decorator that only allows guest users. Anonymous or registered users will be redirected to their respective redirect targets.

@guest_user_required(anonymous_url="/login/", registered_url="/dashboard/")
def only_for_guests(request):
    pass

Arguments:

• anonymous_url: Redirect target for anonymous users. Defaults to the GUEST_USER_REQUIRED_ANON_URL setting.
• registered_url: Redirect target for registered users. Defaults to the GUEST_USER_REQUIRED_USER_URL setting.

@regular_user_required

Decorator that will not allow guest users to access the view. Will redirect to the conversion page to allow a guest user to fully register.

@regular_user_required(login_url="/login/", convert_url="/convert/")
def only_for_real_users(request):
    pass

Arguments:

• login_url: Redirect target for anonymous users. Defaults to the GUEST_USER_REQUIRED_ANON_URL setting.
• convert_url: Redirect target for guest users. Defaults to the GUEST_USER_REQUIRED_USER_URL setting.
• redirect_field_name: URL parameter used to redirect to the origin page. Defaults to django.contrib.auth.REDIRECT_FIELD_NAME ("next").

Functions

Module: guest_user.functions

is_guest_user(user)

Check wether the given user instance is a temporary guest.

Returns bool.

Signals

Module: guest_user.signals

guest_created(user, request)

Signal dispatched when a visitor accessed a view that created a guest user.

Provides user and request arguments.

converted(user)

Signal dispatched when a guest user is converted to a regular user.

Provides user and request arguments.

Template Tags

is_guest_user

A filter to use in templates to check if the user object is a guest.

{% load guest_user %}

{% if user|is_guest_user %}
  Hello guest.
{% endif %}

Settings

Various settings are provided to allow customization of the guest user behavior.

GUEST_USER_ENABLED

bool. If False, the @allow_guest_user decorator will not create guest users. Defaults to True.

GUEST_USER_MODEL

str. The swappable model identifier to use as the guest model. Defaults to "guest_user.Guest".

GUEST_USER_NAME_GENERATOR

str. Import path to a function that will generate a username for a guest user. Defaults to "guest_user.functions.generate_uuid_username".

Included with the package are two alternatives:

"guest_user.functions.generate_numbered_username": Will create a random four digit number prefixed by GUEST_USER_NAME_PREFIX.

"guest_user.functions.generate_friendly_username": Creates a friendly and easy to remember username by combining an adjective, noun and number. Requires random_username to be installed.

GUEST_USER_NAME_PREFIX

str. A prefix to use with the generate_numbered_username generator. Defaults to "Guest".

GUEST_USER_MAX_AGE

int. Seconds to keep a guest user before expiring. Defaults to settings.SESSION_COOKIE_AGE.

GUEST_USER_CONVERT_FORM

str. Import path for the guest conversion form. Must implement get_credentials to be passed to Django's authenticate function. Defaults to "guest_user.forms.UserCreationForm".

GUEST_USER_CONVERT_PREFILL_USERNAME

bool. Set the generated username as initial value on the conversion form. Defaults to False.

GUEST_USER_CONVERT_URL

str. URL name for the convert view. Defaults to "guest_user_convert".

GUEST_USER_CONVERT_REDIRECT_URL

str. URL name to redirect to after conversion, unless a redirect parameter was provided. Defaults to "guest_user_convert_success".

GUEST_USER_REQUIRED_ANON_URL

str. URL name to redirect to when an anonymous visitor tries to access a view with the @guest_user_required decorator. Defaults to settings.LOGIN_URL.

GUEST_USER_REQUIRED_USER_URL

str. URL name to redirect to when a registered user tries to access a view with the @guest_user_required decorator. Defaults to settings.LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL.

GUEST_USER_BLOCKED_USER_AGENTS

list[str]. Web crawlers and other user agents to block from becoming guest users. The list will be combined into a regular expression. Default includes a number of well known bots and spiders.

Status

This project is still under development. But thanks to previous work it is largely functional.

I decided to rewrite the project since the original project hasn't seen any larger updates for a few years now. The initial code base was written a long time ago as well.