Django: proper way to get context data from another view

Question

I have a menu that its content is obtained from a view, and that menu is in every view. Is there a proper way to get its context data to all my views without having to code again the same thing in every view?

I was thinking returning that context on a JsonResponse of another view and parse it in every template with JavaScript like an API, but is it a good practice?

Use a context processor: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/3.0/ref/templates/api/#built-in-template-context-processors — Willem Van Onsem, Jul 18 '20 at 21:55

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 18 '20 at 21:59

You can make use of context processors [Django-doc] to pass values to the context in every view.

You can define a context processor in any app, for example in an app named app:

# app/context_processors.py

def menuitems(request):
    return {
        'menuitems': ['item1', 'item2', 'item3']
    }

Next you can register the context processor in the settings.py:

# settings.py

# …

TEMPLATES = [
    {
        # …
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                # …
                'app.context_processors.menuitems'
            ]
        }
        # …
    }
]

and then you can use the menuitems variables in all template:

<!-- all views -->
<ul>
{% for menuitem in menuitems %}
    <li>{{ menuitem }}</li>
{% endfor %}
</ul>

Django: proper way to get context data from another view

1 Answers1