Publications Development Notes
Data Model (publications/models.py)
PDFFile captures metadata, upload, and access flags. slug auto-fills from title if left blank and is guaranteed unique by generate_unique_slug().file uses PublicFileField, which supports S3/alternative storage. When USE_S3 is false, delete() removes the local file manually.is_public and requires_login are independent flags; a PDF can be hidden entirely or visible-but-gated.
Admin (publications/admin.py)
- Custom
PDFFileAdmin prepopulates slugs for new objects, exposes access controls, and locks the file field when editing to avoid accidental replacements.
- Fieldsets group metadata, access control, and timestamps for clarity.
Views/URLs (publications/views.py)
pdf_list paginates 10 items per page, filtering by login status:
- Anonymous users:
is_public=True and requires_login=False.
- Authenticated users: any
is_public=True file (even if requires_login=True).
pdf_view enforces the same checks and redirects unauthenticated users to login if necessary. Non-public files always return HTTP 403.
Templates
publications/list.html expects page_obj and drives pagination controls.publications/viewer.html embeds the PDF via pdf_url.
Extending
- For download tracking, introduce a
PDFDownload model and increment in pdf_view before rendering.
- To support categories/tags, relate
PDFFile to a taxonomy model and extend filters inside pdf_list.
- Consider caching
pdf_list output if the library grows large; current implementation hits the database on every request.