admin.py#

What is admin.py?#

admin.py is where you connect your app’s models to Django’s built-in admin panel.

It controls:

What models appear in /admin
How they are displayed
How admins create, edit, search, and filter data

Location:

myapp/admin.py

Summary:: admin.py connects your app’s models to Django’s built-in admin interface and controls how data is managed by administrators.

What is Django Admin?#

Django provides a ready-made admin interface out of the box.

After running:

python manage.py createsuperuser
python manage.py runserver

You can access:

http://127.0.0.1:8000/admin/

➡️ admin.py controls what you see there.

Default admin.py content#

When you create an app, Django generates:

from django.contrib import admin

# Register your models here.

This means:

No models are registered yet
Nothing from this app appears in the admin panel

Registering a model (basic)#

Example model:

# models.py
from django.db import models

class Product(models.Model):
    name = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    price = models.IntegerField()

    def __str__(self):
        return self.name

Register it in admin.py:

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Product

admin.site.register(Product)

Now Product appears in the admin panel

What does admin.site.register() do?#

It tells Django:: “This model should be manageable through the admin interface.”

That’s it. Simple and powerful.

Customizing admin (recommended)#

Instead of plain registration, use ModelAdmin.

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Product

@admin.register(Product)
class ProductAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ("name", "price")
    search_fields = ("name",)
    list_filter = ("price",)

Now the admin panel has:

Columns
Search box
Filters

Common ModelAdmin options#

Option	Purpose
list_display	Columns shown in list view
search_fields	Enables search
list_filter	Sidebar filters
ordering	Default sort order
readonly_fields	Read-only fields
list_per_page	Pagination size

Admin is for WHO?#

Admin is for:

Site owners
Internal staff
Moderators
Content managers

Not for public users

Not a replacement for frontend UI

Should business logic go in admin.py?#

Admin should:

Display data
Manage data

Business logic belongs in:

models.py
services.py (advanced projects)
views.py

What if I delete admin.py?#

Technically Django won’t crash, but:

You lose admin configuration
App models won’t appear in admin
Very bad for productivity

Always keep it.

Real-world mental model#

Think of admin.py as:

🏢 “Back-office control panel”

Just like:

WordPress admin dashboard
Shopify admin panel
Firebase console

admin.py

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