Templates and Permissions

lowFAT uses Django templates extensively for rendering views, forms, navigation, and user-specific actions.

Many interface decisions are handled through a combination of:

  • Django views,
  • template conditions,
  • crispy-forms layouts,
  • context processors,
  • and custom template filters.

Django Templates

Templates are primarily located inside the templates/ directories within the Django application.

Templates are used to render:

  • dashboards,
  • funding requests,
  • expense claims,
  • blog posts,
  • staff review pages,
  • forms,
  • navigation elements,
  • and status-dependent actions.

lowFAT uses Django’s template system together with Bootstrap-based styling and crispy-forms.

Crispy Forms

lowFAT uses django-crispy-forms to control form layout and presentation.

Crispy forms are used throughout the project to:

  • organise form fields,
  • structure layouts,
  • add helper text,
  • customise buttons and sections,
  • and improve consistency across forms.

Most form configuration is handled inside the Django form classes.

Context Processors

lowFAT uses Django context processors to expose common information to templates.

For example, templates can directly access the current authenticated user:

{{ user.username }}

Templates may also use conditions such as:

{% if user.is_staff or user.is_superuser %}
...
{% endif %}

Permissions and Rendering Logic

lowFAT uses Django’s built-in authentication system. The Django admin exposes standard permissions, groups, staff status, and superuser status.

In practice, lowFAT currently relies mainly on staff and superuser status, together with view logic, template conditions, and custom template filters. The project does not currently use a fully configured group-based role model.

As the project evolved, reusable template filters and helper logic were introduced to reduce duplication and improve consistency across templates.

Examples include permission-aware filters such as:

  • can_edit_fund
  • can_edit_expense

These filters are used to control the visibility of actions such as edit buttons and status-dependent options.

Template Filters and Tags

Custom template filters and tags are located in the Django templatetags/ modules.

These are used to:

  • simplify template logic,
  • avoid duplicated conditions,
  • and centralise reusable rendering behaviour.
When changing visibility or edit behaviour, check both the view logic and the related templates. Some actions may be hidden in templates while still requiring protection at the view level.
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