.. _ref-contrib-comments-index:

===========================
Django's comments framework
===========================

.. module:: django.contrib.comments
   :synopsis: Django's comment framework

.. highlightlang:: html+django

Django includes a simple, yet customizable comments framework. The built-in
comments framework can be used to attach comments to any model, so you can use
it for comments on blog entries, photos, book chapters, or anything else.

.. note::

    If you used to use Django's older (undocumented) comments framework, you'll
    need to upgrade. See the :ref:`upgrade guide <ref-contrib-comments-upgrade>`
    for instructions.

Quick start guide
=================

To get started using the ``comments`` app, follow these steps:

    #. Install the comments framework by adding ``'django.contrib.comments'`` to    
       :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`.

    #. Run ``manage.py syncdb`` so that Django will create the comment tables.

    #. Add the comment app's URLs to your project's ``urls.py``:
   
       .. code-block:: python

            urlpatterns = patterns('',
                ...
                (r'^comments/', include('django.contrib.comments.urls')),
                ...
            )

    #. Use the `comment template tags`_ below to embed comments in your
       templates.
    
You might also want to examine :ref:`ref-contrib-comments-settings`.
    
Comment template tags
=====================

You'll primarily interact with the comment system through a series of template
tags that let you embed comments and generate forms for your users to post them.

Like all custom template tag libraries, you'll need to :ref:`load the custom
tags <loading-custom-template-libraries>` before you can use them::

    {% load comments %}

Once loaded you can use the template tags below.

Specifying which object comments are attached to
------------------------------------------------

Django's comments are all "attached" to some parent object. This can be any
instance of a Django model. Each of the tags below gives you a couple of
different ways you can specify which object to attach to:

    #. Refer to the object directly -- the more common method. Most of the
       time, you'll have some object in the template's context you want
       to attach the comment to; you can simply use that object.
       
       For example, in a blog entry page that has a variable named ``entry``, 
       you could use the following to load the number of comments::
       
            {% get_comment_count for entry as comment_count %}.
            
    #. Refer to the object by content-type and object id. You'd use this method
       if you, for some reason, don't actually have direct access to the object.
       
       Following the above example, if you knew the object ID was ``14`` but
       didn't have access to the actual object, you could do something like::
       
            {% get_comment_count for blog.entry 14 as comment_count %}
            
       In the above, ``blog.entry`` is the app label and (lower-cased) model
       name of the model class.

.. templatetag:: get_comment_list

Displaying comments
-------------------

To get a the list of comments for some object, use :ttag:`get_comment_list`::

    {% get_comment_list for [object] as [varname] %}

For example::

    {% get_comment_list for event as comment_list %}
    {% for comment in comment_list %}
        ...
    {% endfor %}
    
This returns a list of :class:`~django.contrib.comments.models.Comment` objects;
see :ref:`the comment model documentation <ref-contrib-comments-models>` for
details.

.. templatetag:: get_comment_count

Counting comments
-----------------

To count comments attached to an object, use :ttag:`get_comment_count`::

    {% get_comment_count for [object] as [varname]  %}

For example::

        {% get_comment_count for event as comment_count %}
        
        <p>This event has {{ comment_count }} comments.</p>
        

Displaying the comment post form
--------------------------------

To show the form that users will use to post a comment, you can use
:ttag:`render_comment_form` or :ttag:`get_comment_form`

.. templatetag:: render_comment_form

Quickly rendering the comment form
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The easiest way to display a comment form is by using
:ttag:`render_comment_form`::

    {% render_comment_form for [object] %}

For example::

    {% render_comment_form for event %}

This will render comments using a template named ``comments/form.html``, a
default version of which is included with Django.

.. templatetag:: get_comment_form

Rendering a custom comment form
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you want more control over the look and feel of the comment form, you use use
:ttag:`get_comment_form` to get a :ref:`form object <topics-forms-index>` that
you can use in the template::

    {% get_comment_form for [object] as [varname] %}
    
A complete form might look like::

    {% get_comment_form for event as form %}
    <form action="{% comment_form_target %}" method="POST">
      {{ form }}
      <tr>
        <td></td>
        <td><input type="submit" name="preview" class="submit-post" value="Preview"></td>
      </tr>
    </form>
    
Be sure to read the `notes on the comment form`_, below, for some special
considerations you'll need to make if you're using this approach.

.. templatetag:: comment_form_target

Getting the comment form target
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You may have noticed that the above example uses another template tag --
:ttag:`comment_form_target` -- to actually get the ``action`` attribute of the
form. This will always return the correct URL that comments should be posted to;
you'll always want to use it like above::

    <form action="{% comment_form_target %}" method="POST">

Redirecting after the comment post
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To specify the URL you want to redirect to after the comment has been posted,
you can include a hidden form input called ``next`` in your comment form. For example::
 
    <input type="hidden" name="next" value="{% url my_comment_was_posted %}" />

.. _notes-on-the-comment-form:

Notes on the comment form
-------------------------

The form used by the comment system has a few important anti-spam attributes you
should know about:

    * It contains a number of hidden fields that contain timestamps, information
      about the object the comment should be attached to, and a "security hash"
      used to validate this information. If someone tampers with this data -- 
      something comment spammers will try -- the comment submission will fail.
      
      If you're rendering a custom comment form, you'll need to make sure to
      pass these values through unchanged.
      
    * The timestamp is used to ensure that "reply attacks" can't continue very
      long. Users who wait too long between requesting the form and posting a
      comment will have their submissions refused.
      
    * The comment form includes a "honeypot_" field. It's a trap: if any data is
      entered in that field, the comment will be considered spam (spammers often
      automatically fill in all fields in an attempt to make valid submissions).
      
      The default form hides this field with a piece of CSS and further labels
      it with a warning field; if you use the comment form with a custom
      template you should be sure to do the same.
    
.. _honeypot: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honeypot_(computing)

More information
================

.. toctree::
   :maxdepth: 1

   models
   settings
   signals
   upgrade

