Registering superadmin Models

 

WEEK 10 – THURSDAY

TOPIC: Registering Models (Showing Data in the Django Admin Panel)

Learning Objectives

At the end of this lesson, students should be able to:

1. Explain what a Django model is.

2. Explain the purpose of the Django Admin Panel.

3. Register a model in the Admin Panel.

4. View and manage model data through the Admin Panel.

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Introduction

In the previous lesson, we created a Student model and stored student information in the MySQL database.

However, even though the data is stored in the database, Django will not display it in the Admin Panel until the model is registered.

Today, we will learn how to register a model so that it appears in the Django Admin Panel.

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What is a Model?

A model is a Python class that represents a table in the database.

For example:

class Student(models.Model):
    full_name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    email = models.EmailField()
    course = models.CharField(max_length=100)

What we are doing

We created a model named Student. Django used this model to create a table named students_student in the database.

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What is the Django Admin Panel?

The Django Admin Panel is a built-in website provided by Django for administrators.

It allows administrators to:

• Add new records

• View records

• Edit records

• Delete records

• Manage users

• Manage registered models

The default Admin Panel address is:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/

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Why Do We Register Models?

By default, Django does not show your models in the Admin Panel.

We register a model to tell Django:

"Display this model in the Admin Panel so administrators can manage its data."

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STEP 1: Open the admin.py File

Open:

students/admin.py

What we are doing

We are opening the file responsible for registering models in the Django Admin Panel.

Initially, the file looks like this:

from django.contrib import admin

# Register your models here.

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STEP 2: Import the Student Model

Add the following line:

from .models import Student

Your file now becomes:

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Student

What we are doing

We are importing the Student model from the models.py file so that Django knows which model we want to register.

Meaning of the code

Code	Meaning
from	Bring something from another file
.	Refers to the current app (students)
models	The models.py file
import	Bring into this file
Student	The model we want to register

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STEP 3: Register the Model

Below the import statements, write:

admin.site.register(Student)

Your complete admin.py file should look like this:

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Student

admin.site.register(Student)

What we are doing

We are telling Django:

"Display the Student model in the Admin Panel."

Meaning of the code

Code	Meaning
admin	Django's administration system
site	Refers to the Django Admin website
register()	Registers a model so it appears in the Admin Panel
Student	The model to be displayed

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STEP 4: Start the Django Server

Run the following command:

python manage.py runserver

What we are doing

We are starting the Django development server so we can access the Admin Panel through a web browser.

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STEP 5: Open the Admin Panel

Open your browser and visit:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/

What we are doing

We are opening Django's built-in administration website.

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STEP 6: Log In

Enter the superuser username and password you created earlier.

Example:

Username: admin
Password: ********

What we are doing

We are signing in as the administrator to access and manage application data.

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STEP 7: View the Student Model

After logging in, you should see a section named Students.

Click Students.

What we are doing

We are opening the Student model to view all student records stored in the database.

If no records have been added yet, the list will be empty.

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STEP 8: Add a New Student

Click Add Student.

Fill in the fields:

• Full Name

• Email

• Course

Click Save.

What we are doing

We are creating a new student record using the Django Admin Panel. Django saves the information directly into the students_student table in the MySQL database.

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STEP 9: Edit a Student Record

Click on any student's name.

Update the information.

Click Save.

What we are doing

We are modifying an existing record in the database.

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STEP 10: Delete a Student Record

Select a student record.

Click Delete and confirm.

What we are doing

We are removing the selected record from the database.

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Summary

Create Student model
        ↓
Open admin.py
        ↓
Import Student model
        ↓
Register the model
        ↓
Run the server
        ↓
Open http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/
        ↓
Log in as superuser
        ↓
Manage student records through the Admin Panel

Class Exercise

1. Register the Student model in admin.py.

2. Log in to the Django Admin Panel.

3. Add three student records.

4. Edit one student's course.

5. Delete one student record.

6. Verify that the changes are reflected in the MySQL database by running:

SELECT * FROM students_student;

This exercise helps students understand how Django's Admin Panel provides a simple interface for managing database records without writing SQL queries manually.