``django-notifications`` Documentation
=======================================
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`django-notifications <https://github.com/django-notifications/django-notifications>`_ is a GitHub notification alike app for Django, it was derived from `django-activity-stream <https://github.com/justquick/django-activity-stream>`_
The major difference between ``django-notifications`` and ``django-activity-stream``:
* ``django-notifications`` is for building something like Github "Notifications"
* While ``django-activity-stream`` is for building Github "News Feed"
Notifications are actually actions events, which are categorized by four main components.
* ``Actor``. The object that performed the activity.
* ``Verb``. The verb phrase that identifies the action of the activity.
* ``Action Object``. *(Optional)* The object linked to the action itself.
* ``Target``. *(Optional)* The object to which the activity was performed.
``Actor``, ``Action Object`` and ``Target`` are ``GenericForeignKeys`` to any arbitrary Django object.
An action is a description of an action that was performed (``Verb``) at some instant in time by some ``Actor`` on some optional ``Target`` that results in an ``Action Object`` getting created/updated/deleted.
For example: `justquick <https://github.com/justquick/>`_ ``(actor)`` *closed* ``(verb)`` `issue 2 <https://github.com/justquick/django-activity-stream/issues/2>`_ ``(action_object)`` on `activity-stream <https://github.com/justquick/django-activity-stream/>`_ ``(target)`` 12 hours ago
Nomenclature of this specification is based on the Activity Streams Spec: `<http://activitystrea.ms/specs/atom/1.0/>`_
Requirements
============
- Python 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 3.8
- Django 2.2, 3.0
Installation
============
Installation is easy using ``pip`` and will install all required libraries.
::
$ pip install django-notifications-hq
or get it from source
::
$ git clone https://github.com/django-notifications/django-notifications
$ cd django-notifications
$ python setup.py sdist
$ pip install dist/django-notifications-hq*
Note that `django-model-utils <http://pypi.python.org/pypi/django-model-utils>`_ will be installed: this is required for the pass-through QuerySet manager.
Then to add the Django Notifications to your project add the app ``notifications`` to your ``INSTALLED_APPS`` and urlconf.
The app should go somewhere after all the apps that are going to be generating notifications like ``django.contrib.auth``
::
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.auth',
...
'notifications',
...
)
Add the notifications urls to your urlconf::
import notifications.urls
urlpatterns = [
...
url('^inbox/notifications/', include(notifications.urls, namespace='notifications')),
...
]
The method of installing these urls, importing rather than using ``'notifications.urls'``, is required to ensure that the urls are installed in the ``notifications`` namespace.
To run schema migration, execute ``python manage.py migrate notifications``.
Generating Notifications
=========================
Generating notifications is probably best done in a separate signal.
::
from django.db.models.signals import post_save
from notifications.signals import notify
from myapp.models import MyModel
def my_handler(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
notify.send(instance, verb='was saved')
post_save.connect(my_handler, sender=MyModel)
To generate an notification anywhere in your code, simply import the notify signal and send it with your actor, recipient, and verb.
::
from notifications.signals import notify
notify.send(user, recipient=user, verb='you reached level 10')
The complete syntax is.
::
notify.send(actor, recipient, verb, action_object, target, level, description, public, timestamp, **kwargs)
Arguments:
* **actor**: An object of any type. (Required) Note: Use **sender** instead of **actor** if you intend to use keyword arguments
* **recipient**: A **Group** or a **User QuerySet** or a list of **User**. (Required)
* **verb**: An string. (Required)
* **action_object**: An object of any type. (Optional)
* **target**: An object of any type. (Optional)
* **level**: One of Notification.LEVELS ('success', 'info', 'warning', 'error') (default=info). (Optional)
* **description**: An string. (Optional)
* **public**: An boolean (default=True). (Optional)
* **timestamp**: An tzinfo (default=timezone.now()). (Optional)
Extra data
----------
You can attach arbitrary data to your notifications by doing the following:
* Add to your settings.py: ``DJANGO_NOTIFICATIONS_CONFIG = { 'USE_JSONFIELD': True}``
Then, any extra arguments you pass to ``notify.send(...)`` will be attached to the ``.data`` attribute of the notification object.
These will be serialised using the JSONField's serialiser, so you may need to take that into account: using only objects that will be serialised is a good idea.
Soft delete
-----------
By default, ``delete/(?P<slug>\d+)/`` deletes specified notification record from DB.
You can change this behaviour to "mark ``Notification.deleted`` field as ``True``" by:
* Add to your settings.py: ``DJANGO_NOTIFICATIONS_CONFIG = { 'SOFT_DELETE': True}``
With this option, QuerySet methods ``unread`` and ``read`` contain one more filter: ``deleted=False``.
Meanwhile, QuerySet methods ``deleted``, ``active``, ``mark_all_as_deleted``, ``mark_all_as_active`` are turned on.
See more details in QuerySet methods section.
API
====
QuerySet methods
-----------------
Using ``django-model-utils``, we get the ability to add queryset methods to not only the manager, but to all querysets that will be used, including related objects. This enables us to do things like::
Notification.objects.unread()
which returns all unread notifications. To do this for a single user, we can do::
user = User.objects.get(pk=pk)
user.notifications.unread()
There are some other QuerySet methods, too.
``qs.unsent()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return all of the unsent notifications, filtering the current queryset. (emailed=False)
``qs.sent()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return all of the sent notifications, filtering the current queryset. (emailed=True)
``qs.unread()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return all of the unread notifications, filtering the current queryset.
When ``SOFT_DELETE=True``, this filter contains ``deleted=False``.
``qs.read()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return all of the read notifications, filtering the current queryset.
When ``SOFT_DELETE=True``, this filter contains ``deleted=False``.
``qs.mark_all_as_read()`` | ``qs.mark_all_as_read(recipient)``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark all of the unread notifications in the queryset (optionally also filtered by ``recipient``) as read.
``qs.mark_all_as_unread()`` | ``qs.mark_all_as_unread(recipient)``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark all of the read notifications in the queryset (optionally also filtered by ``recipient``) as unread.
``qs.mark_as_sent()`` | ``qs.mark_as_sent(recipient)``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark all of the unsent notifications in the queryset (optionally also filtered by ``recipient``) as sent.
``qs.mark_as_unsent()`` | ``qs.mark_as_unsent(recipient)``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark all of the sent notifications in the queryset (optionally also filtered by ``recipient``) as unsent.
``qs.deleted()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return all notifications that have ``deleted=True``, filtering the current queryset.
Must be used with ``SOFT_DELETE=True``.
``qs.active()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Return all notifications that have ``deleted=False``, filtering the current queryset.
Must be used with ``DELETE=True``.
``qs.mark_all_as_deleted()`` | ``qs.mark_all_as_deleted(recipient)``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark all notifications in the queryset (optionally also filtered by ``recipient``) as ``deleted=True``.
Must be used with ``DELETE=True``.
``qs.mark_all_as_active()`` | ``qs.mark_all_as_active(recipient)``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark all notifications in the queryset (optionally also filtered by ``recipient``) as ``deleted=False``.
Must be used with ``SOFT_DELETE=True``.
Model methods
-------------
``obj.timesince([datetime])``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wrapper for Django's ``timesince`` function.
``obj.mark_as_read()``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mark the current object as read.
Template tags
-------------
Put `{% load notifications_tags %}` in the template before you actually use notification tags.
``notifications_unread``
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
::
{% notifications_unread %}
Give the number of unread notifications for a user, or nothing (an empty string) for an anonymous user.
Storing the count in a variable for further processing is advised, such as::
{% notifications_unread as unread_count %}
...
{% if unread_count %}
You have <strong>{{ unread_count }}</strong> unread notifications.
{% endif %}
Live-updater API
================
To ensure users always have the most up-to-date notifications, `django-notifications` includes a simple javascript API
for updating specific fields within a django template.
There are two possible API calls that can be made:
1. ``api/unread_count/`` that returns a javascript object with 1 key: ``unread_count`` eg::
{"unread_count":1}
#. ``api/unread_list/`` that returns a javascript object with 2 keys: `unread_count` and `unread_list` eg::
{
"unread_count":1,
"unread_list":[--list of json representations of notifications--]
}
Representations of notifications are based on the django method: ``model_to_dict``
Query string arguments:
- **max** - maximum length of unread list.
- **mark_as_read** - mark notification in list as read.
For example, get ``api/unread_list/?max=3&mark_as_read=true`` returns 3 notifications and mark them read (remove from list on next request).
How to use:
-----------
1. Put ``{% load notifications_tags %}`` in the template before you actually use notification tags.
2. In the area where you are loading javascript resources add the following tags in the order below::
<script src="{% static 'notifications/notify.js' %}" type="text/javascript"></script>
{% register_notify_callbacks callbacks='fill_notification_list,fill_notification_badge' %}
``register_notify_callbacks`` takes the following arguments:
1. ``badge_class`` (default ``live_notify_badge``) - The identifier `class` of the element to show the unread count, that will be periodically updated.
#. ``menu_class`` (default ``live_notify_list``) - The identifier `class` of the element to insert a list of unread items, that will be periodically updated.
#. ``refresh_period`` (default ``15``) - How often to fetch unread items from the server (integer in seconds).
#. ``fetch`` (default ``5``) - How many notifications to fetch each time.
#. ``callbacks`` (default ``<empty string>``) - A comma-separated list of javascript functions to call each period.
#. ``api_name`` (default ``list``) - The name of the API to call (this can be either ``list`` or ``count``).
3. To insert a live-updating unread count, use the following template::
{% live_notify_badge %}
``live_notify_badge`` takes the following arguments:
1. ``badge_class`` (default ``live_notify_badge``) - The identifier ``class`` for the ``<span>`` element that will be created to show the unread count.
4. To insert a live-updating unread list, use the following template::
{% live_notify_list %}
``live_notify_list`` takes the following arguments:
1. ``list_class`` (default ``live_notify_list``) - The identifier ``class`` for the ``<ul>`` element that will be created to insert the list of notifications into.
Using the live-updater with bootstrap
-------------------------------------
The Live-updater can be incorporated into bootstrap with minimal code.
To create a live-updating bootstrap badge containing the unread count, simply use the template tag::
{% live_notify_badge badge_class="badge" %}
To create a live-updating bootstrap dropdown menu containing a selection of recent unread notifications, simply use the template tag::
{% live_notify_list list_class="dropdown-menu" %}
Customising the display of notifications using javascript callbacks
-------------------------------------------------------------------
While the live notifier for unread counts should suit most use cases, users may wish to alter how
unread notifications are shown.
The ``callbacks`` argument of the ``register_notify_callbacks`` dictates which javascript functions are called when
the unread api call is made.
To add a custom javascript callback, simply add this to the list, like so::
{% register_notify_callbacks callbacks='fill_notification_badge,my_special_notification_callback' %}
The above would cause the callback to update the unread count badge, and would call the custom function `my_special_notification_callback`.
All callback functions are passed a single argument by convention called `data`, which contains the entire result from the API.
For example, the below function would get the recent list of unread messages and log them to the console::
function my_special_notification_callback(data) {
for (var i=0; i < data.unread_list.length; i++) {
msg = data.unread_list[i];
console.log(msg);
}
}
Testing the live-updater
------------------------
1. Clone the repo
2. Run `./manage.py runserver`
3. Browse to `yourserverip/test/`
4. Click 'Make a notification' and a new notification should appear in the list in 5-10 seconds.
Serializing the django-notifications Model
==========================================
See here - http://www.django-rest-framework.org/api-guide/relations/#generic-relationships
In this example the target object can be of type Foo or Bar and the appropriate serializer will be used.
::
class GenericNotificationRelatedField(serializers.RelatedField):
def to_representation(self, value):
if isinstance(value, Foo):
serializer = FooSerializer(value)
if isinstance(value, Bar):
serializer = BarSerializer(value)
return serializer.data
class NotificationSerializer(serializers.Serializer):
recipient = PublicUserSerializer(User, read_only=True)
unread = serializers.BooleanField(read_only=True)
target = GenericNotificationRelatedField(read_only=True)
Thanks to @DaWy
``AbstractNotification`` model
------------------------------
In case you need to customize the notification model in order to add field or
customised features that depend on your application, you can inherit and extend
the ``AbstractNotification`` model, example:
.. code-block:: python
#In your_app/models.py
from django.db import models
from notifications.base.models import AbstractNotification
class Notification(AbstractNotification):
# custom field example
category = models.ForeignKey('myapp.Category',
on_delete=models.CASCADE)
class Meta(AbstractNotification.Meta):
abstract = False
You will require to define ``NOTIFICATIONS_NOTIFICATION_MODEL`` setting in `setting.py` as follows:
.. code-block:: python
# In your_project/settings.py
NOTIFICATIONS_NOTIFICATION_MODEL = 'your_app.Notification'
Notes
=====
Email Notification
------------------
Sending email to users has not been integrated into this library. So for now you need to implement it if needed. There is a reserved field `Notification.emailed` to make it easier.
Sample App
----------
A sample app has been implemented in ``notifications/tests/sample_notifications`` that extends ``django-notifications`` with the sole purpose of testing its extensibility.
You can run the SAMPLE APP by setting the environment variable ``SAMPLE_APP`` as follows
.. code-block:: shell
export SAMPLE_APP=1
# Run the Django development server with sample_notifications app installed
python manage.py runserver
# Unset SAMPLE_APP to remove sample_notifications app from list of INSTALLED_APPS
unset SAMPLE_APP
``django-notifications`` Team
==============================
Core contributors (in alphabetical order):
- `Alvaro Leonel <https://github.com/AlvaroLQueiroz>`_
- `Federico Capoano <https://github.com/nemesisdesign>`_
- `Samuel Spencer <https://github.com/LegoStormtroopr>`_
- `Yang Yubo <https://github.com/yangyubo>`_
- `Zhongyuan Zhang <https://github.com/zhang-z>`_
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Contribute
==========
We are looking for contributors, for anyone who'd like to contribute and willing to put time and energy on this project, please contact `Yang Yubo <https://github.com/yangyubo>`_.