Django Threaded Discussions

A standalone Django app for threaded discussions with HTMX support. Attach discussions to any model using a simple UUID identifier pattern.

Features

• Zero Coupling: Attach discussions to any model without modifying it
• UUID-Based: Use any unique identifier (UUID, slug, ShortUUID, etc.)
• HTMX Ready: Built-in HTMX templates for dynamic interactions
• SEO Friendly: Server-side rendering support with structured data helpers
• Threaded Comments: Nested comment replies with parent/child relationships
• User Permissions: Built-in authentication and ownership checks
• Spam Protection: Flags for spam detection and moderation
• Lightweight: Minimal dependencies, maximum flexibility

Installation

From PyPI (when published)

pip install django-threaded-discussions

From Source (Development)

# In your workspace directory
git clone https://github.com/directory-platform/django-threaded-discussions.git
cd django-threaded-discussions
pip install -e .

UV Workspace (Recommended for development)

Add to your workspace pyproject.toml:

[tool.uv.workspace]
members = [
    "your-project",
    "django-threaded-discussions",
]

Then run:

uv sync

Quick Start

1. Add to Django Settings

# settings.py
INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # ...
    "django_discussions",
]

2. Run Migrations

python manage.py migrate django_discussions

3. Include URLs

# urls.py
urlpatterns = [
    # ...
    path("discussions/", include("django_discussions.urls")),
]

4. Add to Your Templates

<!-- blog_post_detail.html -->
<div class="discussion-section">
    <!-- HTMX lazy-load discussions -->
    <div hx-get="/discussions/{{ blog_post.uuid }}/"
         hx-trigger="load">
        Loading discussions...
    </div>
</div>

<!-- Or server-render for SEO -->
{% load discussion_tags %}
{% render_discussions_seo discussion_id=blog_post.uuid %}

That's it! No changes to your models required.

How It Works

Django Threaded Discussions uses a simple discussion_id string field to link threads to your content. This means:

• ✅ No ForeignKeys to your models
• ✅ No GenericForeignKey complexity
• ✅ No migrations when adding new model types
• ✅ Works with any unique identifier you already have

Usage Examples

With UUID Field

class BlogPost(models.Model):
    uuid = models.UUIDField(default=uuid.uuid4, unique=True)
    # ... other fields

<div hx-get="/discussions/{{ blog_post.uuid }}/">...</div>

With Slug Field

class Article(models.Model):
    slug = models.SlugField(unique=True)
    # ... other fields

<div hx-get="/discussions/{{ article.slug }}/">...</div>

With ShortUUID

from shortuuid.django_fields import ShortUUIDField

class Product(models.Model):
    short_id = ShortUUIDField(unique=True)
    # ... other fields

<div hx-get="/discussions/{{ product.short_id }}/">...</div>

With Custom Identifier

class Entity(models.Model):
    id = models.AutoField(primary_key=True)

    @property
    def discussion_id(self):
        return f"entity-{self.id}"

<div hx-get="/discussions/{{ entity.discussion_id }}/">...</div>

Authentication & Permissions

Discussions integrate seamlessly with Django's auth system:

Public Views (No Login Required):

• View discussion threads
• View comments
• See thread counts

Authenticated Views (@login_required):

• Create new threads
• Post comments
• Reply to comments

Ownership Checks:

• Delete own threads/comments
• Superusers can delete any content

# Automatically enforced
@login_required
def create_thread(request, discussion_id):
    thread = Thread.objects.create(
        discussion_id=discussion_id,
        author=request.user,  # ← Django's auth
        # ...
    )

SEO Optimization

Server-Side Rendering

Render discussions on first page load for SEO:

# views.py
from django_discussions.models import Thread

def blog_post_detail(request, slug):
    post = get_object_or_404(BlogPost, slug=slug)

    # Get SEO-worthy threads
    seo_threads = Thread.get_seo_threads(
        discussion_id=str(post.uuid),
        max_count=5
    )

    context = {
        'post': post,
        'seo_threads': seo_threads,
    }
    return render(request, 'blog_detail.html', context)

<!-- blog_detail.html -->
<div id="discussions">
    <!-- Server-rendered for SEO -->
    {% for thread in seo_threads %}
        {% include "django_discussions/_thread.html" %}
    {% endfor %}

    <!-- HTMX load more -->
    <div hx-get="/discussions/{{ post.uuid }}/?offset=5">
        Load more...
    </div>
</div>

Structured Data

Add schema.org markup for rich snippets:

{% load discussion_tags %}
{% discussion_structured_data discussion_id=post.uuid %}

Generates:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DiscussionForumPosting",
  "headline": "Thread title",
  "commentCount": 42,
  // ... etc
}

Template Tags

{% load discussion_tags %}

<!-- Render SEO-optimized discussions -->
{% render_discussions_seo discussion_id="abc-123" max_threads=10 %}

<!-- Get thread count -->
{% thread_count discussion_id="abc-123" %}

<!-- Structured data for SEO -->
{% discussion_structured_data discussion_id="abc-123" %}

Models

Thread

class Thread(models.Model):
    discussion_id = CharField(max_length=255)  # Your unique identifier
    title = CharField(max_length=255)
    content = TextField()
    author = ForeignKey(User)
    short_uuid = ShortUUIDField(unique=True)

    # Moderation flags
    is_active = BooleanField(default=True)
    is_spam = BooleanField(default=False)
    is_deleted = BooleanField(default=False)
    is_locked = BooleanField(default=False)

    # Timestamps
    created_at = DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

Comment

class Comment(models.Model):
    thread = ForeignKey(Thread)
    content = TextField()
    author = ForeignKey(User)
    parent = ForeignKey('self', null=True)  # Threaded replies
    short_uuid = ShortUUIDField(unique=True)

    # Moderation flags
    is_active = BooleanField(default=True)
    is_pinned = BooleanField(default=False)
    is_spam = BooleanField(default=False)

    # Timestamps
    created_at = DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    updated_at = DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

Customization

Settings

# settings.py
DISCUSSIONS_SETTINGS = {
    'MAX_THREADS_PER_PAGE': 20,
    'MAX_COMMENTS_PER_THREAD': 100,
    'ALLOW_ANONYMOUS_VIEWING': True,
    'MIN_TITLE_LENGTH': 3,
    'MAX_TITLE_LENGTH': 100,
}

Custom Templates

Override any template by creating templates/django_discussions/ in your project:

your_project/
  templates/
    django_discussions/
      index.html              # Override thread list
      _thread_header.html     # Override thread display
      _comment.html           # Override comment display

Admin Interface

Discussions are registered in Django admin with search and filtering:

# Automatic admin registration
# Access at /admin/django_discussions/thread/
# Access at /admin/django_discussions/comment/

Development

Setup

git clone https://github.com/directory-platform/django-threaded-discussions.git
cd django-threaded-discussions
uv sync --extra dev

Running Tests

make test
# or
PYTHONPATH=. uv run python tests/manage.py test

Code Quality

make lint          # Ruff linting
make format        # Auto-format
make typecheck     # Mypy type checking
make check         # All checks + tests

Requirements

• Python 3.12+
• Django 4.2+
• shortuuid 1.0+

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Please:

1. Fork the repository
2. Create a feature branch (git checkout -b feature/amazing-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -m 'Add amazing feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin feature/amazing-feature)
5. Open a Pull Request

License

MIT License - see LICENSE file for details.

Credits

Built by the Directory Platform team as part of the directory ecosystem.

Links

• Documentation: [Coming soon]
• GitHub: https://github.com/directory-platform/django-threaded-discussions
• Issues: https://github.com/directory-platform/django-threaded-discussions/issues
• PyPI: https://pypi.org/project/django-threaded-discussions/ (after first release)