wagtail/docs/topics/creating_pages.rst

====================
Creating page models
====================

Each page type (a.k.a Content type) in Wagtail is represented by a Django model. All page models must inherit from the :class:`wagtail.wagtailcore.models.Page` class.

As all page types are Django models, you can use any field type that Django provides. See `Model field reference <https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/models/fields/>`_ for a complete list of field types you can use. Wagtail also provides :class:`~wagtail.wagtailcore.fields.RichTextField` which provides a WYSIWYG editor for editing rich-text content.


.. topic:: Django models

    If you're not yet familiar with Django models, have a quick look at the following links to get you started:
    `Creating models <https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/intro/tutorial01/#creating-models>`_
    `Model syntax <https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/db/models/>`_


An example Wagtail Page Model
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This example represents a typical blog post:

.. code-block:: python

    from django.db import models

    from wagtail.wagtailcore.models import Page
    from wagtail.wagtailcore.fields import RichTextField
    from wagtail.wagtailadmin.edit_handlers import FieldPanel, MultiFieldPanel
    from wagtail.wagtailimages.edit_handlers import ImageChooserPanel


    class BlogPage(Page):
        body = RichTextField()
        date = models.DateField("Post date")
        feed_image = models.ForeignKey(
            'wagtailimages.Image',
            null=True,
            blank=True,
            on_delete=models.SET_NULL,
            related_name='+'
        )

        content_panels = Page.content_panels + [
            FieldPanel('date'),
            FieldPanel('body', classname="full"),
        ]

        promote_panels = [
            MultiFieldPanel(Page.promote_panels, "Common page configuration"),
            ImageChooserPanel('feed_image'),
        ]

.. tip::
    To keep track of ``Page`` models and avoid class name clashes, it can be helpful to suffix model class names with "Page" e.g BlogPage, ListingIndexPage. 

In the example above the ``BlogPage`` class defines three properties: ``body``, ``date``, and ``feed_image``. These are a mix of basic Django models (``DateField``), Wagtail fields (:class:`~wagtail.wagtailcore.fields.RichTextField`), and a pointer to a Wagtail model (:class:`~wagtail.wagtailimages.models.Image`).

Below that the ``content_panels`` and ``promote_panels`` lists define the capabilities and layout of the page editing interface in the Wagtail admin. The lists are filled with "panels" and "choosers", which will provide a fine-grain interface for inputting the model's content. The :class:`~wagtail.wagtailimages.edit_handlers.ImageChooserPanel`, for instance, lets one browse the image library, upload new images and input image metadata. The :class:`~wagtail.wagtailcore.fields.RichTextField` is the basic field for creating web-ready website rich text, including text formatting and embedded media like images and video. The Wagtail admin offers other choices for fields, Panels, and Choosers, with the option of creating your own to precisely fit your content without workarounds or other compromises.

Your models may be even more complex, with methods overriding the built-in functionality of the :class:`~wagtail.wagtailcore.models.Page` to achieve webdev magic. Or, you can keep your models simple and let Wagtail's built-in functionality do the work.


Tips
~~~~

Friendly model names
--------------------

Make your model names more friendly to users of Wagtail using Django's internal ``Meta`` class with a ``verbose_name`` e.g

.. code-block:: python
    
    class HomePage(Page):
        ...

        class Meta:
            verbose_name = "Homepage"

When users are given a choice of pages to create, the list of page types is generated by splitting your model names on each of their capital letters. Thus a ``HomePage`` model would be named "Home Page" which is a little clumsy. ``verbose_name`` as in the example above, would change this to read "Homepage" which is slightly more conventional.