Django Add Master Template

The extends Tag

In the previous pages we created two templates, one for listing all members, and one for details about a member.

The templates have a set of HTML code that are the same for both templates.

Django provides a way of making a "parent template" that you can include in all pages to do the stuff that is the same in all pages.

Start by creating a template called master.html, with all the necessary HTML elements:

Master

my_tennis_club/members/templates/master.html:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
  <title>{% block title %}{% endblock %}</title>
</head>
<body>

{% block content %}
{% endblock %}

</body>
</html>

Do you see Django block Tag inside the <title> element, and the <body> element?

They are placeholders, telling Django to replace this block with content from other sources.

Modify Templates

Now the two templates (all_members.html and details.html) can use this master.html template.

This is done by including the master template with the {% extends %} tag, and inserting a title block and a content block:

Members

my_tennis_club/members/templates/all_members.html:

{% extends "master.html" %}

{% block title %}
  My Tennis Club - List of all members
{% endblock %}


{% block content %}
  <h1>Members</h1>
  
  <ul>
    {% for x in mymembers %}
      <li><a href="details/{{ x.id }}">{{ x.firstname }} {{ x.lastname }}</a></li>
    {% endfor %}
  </ul>
{% endblock %}

Run Example »

Details

my_tennis_club/members/templates/details.html:

{% extends "master.html" %}

{% block title %}
  Details about {{ mymember.firstname }} {{ mymember.lastname }}
{% endblock %}


{% block content %}
  <h1>{{ mymember.firstname }} {{ mymember.lastname }}</h1>
  
  <p>Phone {{ mymember.phone }}</p>
  <p>Member since: {{ mymember.joined_date }}</p>
  
  <p>Back to <a href="/members">Members</a></p>
  
{% endblock %}

Run Example »

If you have followed all the steps on your own computer, you can see the result in your own browser: 127.0.0.1:8000/members/.

If the server is down, you have to start it again with the runserver command:

py manage.py runserver

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