Usage

Before you install django-dynamicsites, make sure you have configured at

least 1 site in the admin panel, because once django-dynamicsites is installed, it will try to lookup a site from request.get_host(), and if none exists it will always throw 404

Configuration

1. Add the app to INSTALLED_APPS

   INSTALLED_APPS = (
       ...
       'dynamicsites',
   )
   

2. Add the middleware to MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES

   MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
       ...
       'dynamicsites.middleware.DynamicSitesMiddleware'
   )
   

3. Add the context processor to TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS

   TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = (
       ...
       'dynamicsites.context_processors.current_site',
   )
   

4. Configure dynamicsites by adding SITES_DIR, DEFAULT_HOST, and HOSTNAME_REDIRECTS to settings.py

   SITES_DIR = os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), 'sites')
   DEFAULT_HOST = 'www.your-default-site.com'
   HOSTNAME_REDIRECTS = {
       'redirect-src-1.com':         'www.redirect-dest-1.com',
       ...
   }
   

5. If your local environment (eg. test, dev, staging) uses different hostnames than production, set the ENV_HOSTNAMES map as well

   ENV_HOSTNAMES = {
       'my-site.dev':    'www.your-default-site.com',
       ...
   }
   

6. make sites dir (from the SITES_DIR setting above) and put a __init__.py file inside

7. make a site dir for each site you’re hosting (eg. mkdir sites/{{mysyte}}) <– you’ll put {{mysyte}} in the admin screen when you go to configure mysyte there. Make sure to put an __init__.py file in each site dir as well.

8. run syncdb. If your django_site table fails to modify, you will need to modify the table via sql:

   alter table django_site add column folder_name varchar(255);
   alter table django_site add column subdomains varchar(255);
   

9. go to the admin panel for sites. You should see two fields added now, one for the site folder name (#8 above) and another for which subdomains you wish to support

Debugging

In the current codebase, if you have the django debug toolbar installed and want enable redirect tracking, ie.:

DEBUG_TOOLBAR_CONFIG = {
    'INTERCEPT_REDIRECTS': True,
}

django-dynamicsites will intercept redirects, which is very helpful when dialing in your site config.

There’s also a view included with the codebase which is useful for checking which site dynamicsites thinks you’re seeing. Just add an entry to your urls.py file:

from dynamicsites.views import site_info

urlpatterns += patterns('',
    url(r'^site-info/$', site_info),
)

Notes

• you need to run syncdb after dynamicsites is installed (to be sure the fields folder_name and subdomains is added to the standard Site model)
• in sites folder and each sub folder must have a __init__.py file (except the templates folder)

Settings Keys Explained

SITES_MODULE = 'module.where.sites.live'

• default value: ''
• purpose: define where the sites/* folder exists that are used for subdomain specific overwrites. Such as urls.py etc.
• when to set: only needed if your sites folder does not live in your django root dir