django-nav-toolbar 0.1.0

Smart navigation tabs for Django Admin

Django Admin Tabs

A Django admin extension that adds smart navigation tabs to help you quickly switch between recently visited admin pages.

Zero Configuration Required - Just add to INSTALLED_APPS and it works!

Features

• Zero Configuration - Works out of the box with just INSTALLED_APPS setup
• Smart Tab Navigation - Automatically maintains a tab bar of your recent admin pages
• Quick Page Switching - Click any tab to instantly jump to that page
• Close Tabs - Remove individual tabs with a click
• Persistent Tabs - Your tabs survive page refreshes (stored in browser)
• Theme Compatible - Automatically adapts to Django Admin's color scheme
• Custom Theme Support - Works with django-admin-interface, django-jazzmin, etc.
• Configurable - Optional settings for customization

Requirements

• Python 3.8+
• Django 3.2+

Installation

pip install django-nav-toolbar

Or install from source:

pip install git+https://github.com/lazyjean/django-nav-toolbar.git

Usage

1. Add to INSTALLED_APPS

Important: Place nav_toolbar before django.contrib.admin in INSTALLED_APPS:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    'nav_toolbar',       # Must come BEFORE django.contrib.admin
    'django.contrib.admin',
    # ... your other apps
]

2. Collect Static Files

python manage.py collectstatic

3. Run Your Project

python manage.py runserver

Navigate to Django admin, and you'll see the tabs bar at the top of the page!

How It Works

As you navigate through different admin pages, Django Admin Tabs automatically maintains a tab bar showing your recent pages. This allows you to:

• Quickly switch between different admin sections without using the back button
• Keep context of where you've been working
• Access previous pages with a single click

The tabs are automatically managed based on your navigation patterns.

Configuration (Optional)

All settings are optional. The package works with zero configuration.

Available Settings

Add to your settings.py:

DJANGO_ADMIN_TABS = {
    'MAX_ITEMS': 20,              # Maximum number of tabs to maintain
    'STORAGE_KEY': 'admin_tabs',  # Browser storage key prefix
}

Configuration Options

Option	Default	Description
MAX_ITEMS	20	Maximum number of tabs to display
STORAGE_KEY	'admin_tabs'	Prefix for browser storage

Technical Details

Template Override Mechanism

This package uses Django's template loading order to automatically extend admin templates:

1. Django's app_directories template loader searches apps in INSTALLED_APPS order
2. By placing nav_toolbar before django.contrib.admin, its template is found first
3. The package's template extends admin/base.html and injects CSS/JS automatically

This approach ensures compatibility with:

• Standard Django Admin
• django-admin-interface
• django-jazzmin
• django-admin-numeric-filter
• Any other admin theme that extends admin/base.html

Styling

The package uses Django Admin's CSS variables to automatically match your admin theme:

• --primary - Primary color for active tabs
• --body-bg - Background color
• --body-fg - Text color
• --border-color - Border color
• --header-link-color - Active tab text color

If you have a custom admin theme with these CSS variables defined, the tabs will automatically match your theme.

Troubleshooting

Tabs not showing

1. Check INSTALLED_APPS order: Ensure nav_toolbar comes before django.contrib.admin
2. Run collectstatic: Make sure static files are collected
3. Clear browser cache: Hard refresh the admin page (Ctrl+F5 or Cmd+Shift+R)

Warning about INSTALLED_APPS order

If you see a warning like:

UserWarning: nav_toolbar should be placed BEFORE django.contrib.admin...

Simply reorder your INSTALLED_APPS as shown in the Usage section above.

Development

Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/lazyjean/nav_toolbar.git
cd nav_toolbar

# Install in development mode
pip install -e .

# Run the example project
cd example
python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Code Quality

# Linting
ruff check nav_toolbar/

# Formatting
ruff format nav_toolbar/

Testing

# Run tests
python -m pytest

# Or with Django's test runner
python manage.py test

License

MIT License - see LICENSE for details.