Basic user interface for lizard websites
Project description
lizard-ui
Lizard-ui provides a basic Django user interface, so a base Django template and some css + javascript. We designed it at Nelen & Schuurmans for our geographical information websites (with water management information).
Choices, requirements, assumptions
Lizard-ui is opinionated: it makes choices and prescribes (good!) technologies.
Included: the blueprint css framework. It resets css styles so that we’ve got a common base. It fixes common IE layout bugs. It gives a basic typography that’s quite pleasing.
Required: django-staticfiles. For a more verbose description, see Reinout’s blog entry (written with lizard-ui in mind).
Required: django_compressor for combining css/javascript files in production.
Assumption: one screen, using the full width/height of the browser, without scrolling. Our main goal is showing a nice big map with a small header and a sidebar. You don’t want to scroll a map. It is of course possible to have a scrollbar inside that main content area itself.
Assumption: javascript is available. Hey, we’re showing a map so you need javascript. So we liberally use javascript to get the UI right, for instance by detecting and setting the main content area’s width and height.
Included: jquery. Yeah, it is pretty much the standard nowadays. So we use jquery where jquery can be used instead of doing it with generic javascript.
Included: both jqueryui and jquerytools. Visual goodies. Jquerytools for the overlay and tabs, jqueryui for the rest (drag/drop and so).
Included: openlayers as map javascript library. (Lizard-map, sooooon to be released, contains our basic map interaction javascript and python code).
License + licenses
Our own license is GPLv3.
Lizard-ui ships with a couple of external css/javascript libraries.
- Blueprint
Modified MIT
- Jquery and jqueryui
Dual licensed under the MIT or GPL Version 2 licenses. Includes Sizzle.js, released under the MIT, BSD, and GPL Licenses.
- Jquerytools
No copyrights or licenses. Do what you like.
- Openlayers
Clear BSD license.
- Famfamfam icon set
CC attribution license.
- Treeview jquery plugin
MIT/GPL
Django settings
Here’s an excerpt of a settings.py you can use. The media and static root directory setup assumes the use of buildout, but you can translate it to your own filesystem setup:
INSTALLED_APPS = [ 'lizard_ui', 'compressor', 'staticfiles', 'django.contrib.admin', 'django.contrib.auth', 'django.contrib.contenttypes', 'django.contrib.sessions', 'django.contrib.sites', ] # Note: the below settings are more elaborate than needed, # but we want to test django_compressor's compressing which # needs a media url and root and so. # Set COMPRESS to True if you want to test compression when # DEBUG == True. (By default, COMPRESS is the opposite of # DEBUG). COMPRESS = False # SETTINGS_DIR allows media paths and so to be relative to # this settings file instead of hardcoded to # c:\only\on\my\computer. SETTINGS_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.realpath(__file__)) # BUILDOUT_DIR is for access to the "surrounding" buildout, # for instance for BUILDOUT_DIR/var/static files to give # django-staticfiles a proper place to place all collected # static files. BUILDOUT_DIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(SETTINGS_DIR, '..')) # Absolute path to the directory that holds user-uploaded # media. MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BUILDOUT_DIR, 'var', 'media') # Absolute path to the directory where django-staticfiles' # "bin/django build_static" places all collected static # files from all applications' /media directory. STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BUILDOUT_DIR, 'var', 'static') # URL that handles the media served from MEDIA_ROOT. Make # sure to use a trailing slash if there is a path component # (optional in other cases). MEDIA_URL = '/media/' # URL for the per-application /media static files collected # by django-staticfiles. Use it in templates like "{{ # MEDIA_URL }}mypackage/my.css". STATIC_URL = '/static_media/' # URL prefix for admin media -- CSS, JavaScript and # images. Make sure to use a trailing slash. Uses # STATIC_URL as django-staticfiles nicely collects admin's # static media into STATIC_ROOT/admin. ADMIN_MEDIA_PREFIX = STATIC_URL + 'admin/' # Storage engine to be used during compression COMPRESS_STORAGE = "staticfiles.storage.StaticFileStorage" # The URL that linked media will be read from and compressed # media will be written to. COMPRESS_URL = STATIC_URL # The absolute file path that linked media will be read from # and compressed media will be written to. COMPRESS_ROOT = STATIC_ROOT # Used for django-staticfiles TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = ( # Default items. "django.core.context_processors.auth", "django.core.context_processors.debug", "django.core.context_processors.i18n", "django.core.context_processors.media", # Needs to be added for django-staticfiles to allow you # to use {{ STATIC_URL }}myapp/my.css in your templates. 'staticfiles.context_processors.static_url', )
And a suitable apache config hint:
<Location /static_media/> # The css/javascript/image staticfiles are cached in the # browser for a day. ExpiresActive On ExpiresDefault "access plus 1 day" </Location> <Location /static_media/CACHE/> # django_compress's generated timestamp'ed files: # cache forever ExpiresActive On ExpiresDefault "access plus 10 years" </Location> # Static files are hosted by apache itself. # User-uploaded media: MEDIA_URL = '/media/' Alias /media/ ${buildout:directory}/var/media/ # django-staticfiles: STATIC_URL = '/static_media/' Alias /static_media/ ${buildout:directory}/var/static/
Usage
You can mount lizard-ui’s urls, but it contains only live examples. So perhaps you should only mount it in debug mode under /ui. Handy, as it contains reasonably full documentation on how to use it, including available blocks and classes/IDs that you can use.
The base layout is defined in realbase.html. You should however extend lizard_ui/lizardbase.html and then override the blocks that you want.
CSS and javascript should be added to the relevant blocks, but don’t forget to call “block.super”. An example:
{% extends "lizard_ui/lizardbase.html" %} {% block css %} {{ block.super }} <link type="text/css" href="{{ STATIC_URL }}lizard_map/lizard_map.css" media="screen, projection" rel="stylesheet" /> {% endblock css %} {% block javascript %} {{ block.super }} <script type="text/javascript" src="{{ STATIC_URL }}openlayers/OpenLayers.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="{{ STATIC_URL }}lizard_map/jquery.workspace.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="{{ STATIC_URL }}lizard_map/lizard_map.js"></script> {% endblock javascript %} {% block content %} <div id="map"></div> {% endblock content %}
A example of a common task: change the logo. For that, make a media/lizard_ui directory in your django application (or site) and place a logo.png in it. Django-staticfiles’ mechanism will take your logo.png in preference to lizard-ui’s.
Development installation
The first time, you’ll have to run the “bootstrap” script to set up setuptools and buildout:
$> python bootstrap.py
And then run buildout to set everything up:
$> bin/buildout
(On windows it is called bin\buildout.exe).
You’ll have to re-run buildout when you or someone else made a change in setup.py or buildout.cfg.
The current package is installed as a “development package”, so changes in .py files are automatically available (just like with python setup.py develop).
If you want to use trunk checkouts of other packages (instead of released versions), add them as an “svn external” in the local_checkouts/ directory and add them to the develop = list in buildout.cfg.
Tests can always be run with bin/test or bin\test.exe.
TODO
Document all of the available classes/IDs that you can use to get automatic (javascript) behaviour.
Document the javascript code.
Add basic test that the example.html renders without errors.
Add javascript tests for the javascript code, ideally.
Add mechanism for rendering a passed-in (or registered/configured) list of object_tabs and object_actions, including some nice formatting.
Add mechanism for breadcrumbs.
Important: add tests for the login functionality.
Credits
TODO started this library
Changelog of lizard-ui
1.59 (2011-04-28)
Deleted ‘Copyright @ Nelen …’ text.
1.58 (2011-04-27)
Added dacom icon.
Updated tabs css (needed for lizard-map >= 1.71).
1.57 (2011-04-20)
Added new flooding icon flooding2.png.
Updated OpenLayers from 2.8 to 2.10.
Jslint lizard.js.
1.56 (2011-04-14)
Updated Lizard logo.
Added lizard_ui/tabs.css.
Updated jQuery from 1.4.2 to 1.5.2, jQuery UI from 1.8.2 to 1.8.11, jQueryTools from 1.2.2 to 1.2.5. Treeview from 1.4 to 1.4.1.
Added css class for progress animation image
1.55 (2011-04-05)
Added 3di icon.
Added Waterbalance icon.
1.54 (2011-03-18)
Removed width: 100% css for .auto-inserted. It works fine without it. Before the image was slightly scaled horizontally.
Added possibility for a double-height item in the divideVerticalSpaceEqually() method. Just add a “double-vertical-item” class instead of “vertical-item” to the item you want to give double the height.
1.53 (2011-03-09)
Removed setUpWorkspaceAcceptableButtons. The button is now added when a workspace-acceptable is clicked (lizard-map 1.58 and higher).
Adding error message when a “replace-with-image” image is loaded and there’s an error. Instead of an ever-spinning “loading…” icon.
1.52 (2011-02-23)
Centered the progress animation.
Added data-src to progress animation (for debugging purposes).
1.51 (2011-02-15)
Added progress animation to vertical-item / img-use-my-size / replace-with-image.
1.50 (2011-02-15)
Added icons dike and controlnext.
1.36 (2011-02-15)
Added application screens and icons support: added models and views.
1.35 (2011-02-02)
Refactored the window.resize function in lizard.js [Gijs].
1.34 (2011-02-01)
Added breadcrumbs example.
Added new breadcrumbs method. See examples.
Added protovis library.
Added support for portal-tabs, see also the examples page.
1.33 (2011-01-24)
Removed preventDefault in logout function.
1.32 (2011-01-20)
Still trying to fix logout bug.
1.31 (2011-01-20)
Fixed logout bug.
1.30 (2011-01-20)
Added turtle app icon.
After logging out one goes back to “/”.
Improved login function.
Added (empty) login screen with redirect option.
1.29 (2011-01-13)
Added to workspace acceptable button.
1.28 (2011-01-12)
Added setUpWorkspaceAcceptableButtons in lizard.js. The function is in lizard-ui because setUpAccordion needs the function as well.
1.27 (2010-12-08)
Loading accordions re-initializes tree structures.
1.26 (2010-12-06)
Added default 500 and 404 pages.
1.25 (2010-12-01)
Added custom templatetag dutch_timedelta.
Moved tooltip css from lizard_map to here.
Add optional description to tree snippet.
1.24 (2010-11-24)
Added css class action-icon.
1.23 (2010-11-11)
(Re-)initializes tooltips when loading accordion.
Added setUpTooltips() in lizard.js.
1.22 (2010-11-09)
Updated accordion: when an item is clicked, all panes and headers are updated.
1.21 (2010-10-15)
Fix “apple” icon height to 80px.
1.20 (2010-10-15)
Fixed IE7 print problem.
Added exception-logging middleware.
Added app_icons.
Added sidebar and sidebarbox css entries.
Added tree_snippet.html template for creating trees.
1.19 (2010-09-27)
Fixed float problem for IE in login popup.
Fixing visibility of “restore from print view” icon in IE.
1.18 (2010-09-27)
Added automatic print button that also allows you to expand the collapsed-for-printing view again.
Tables now print with a grid and proper left/center/right alignment.
Links don’t print anymore (at least, their url isn’t appended anymore to the link text when printing).
1.17 (2010-09-22)
Add colorpicker js library.
Added createcoverage command.
1.16 (2010-09-08)
Added more tests.
Small layout tweak for popup box.
1.15 (2010-09-03)
Added utility templatetags.
1.14 (2010-08-30)
Importing json via django now.
1.13 (2010-08-30)
Bugfix simplejson.
1.12 (2010-08-27)
Small adjustments to support lizard-map’s new graph popup. (A better separation of lizard-ui and lizard-map is needed later on: after the deadlines :-) ).
1.11 (2010-08-26)
Styled the login form including proper “enter” behaviour and first-field-gets-focus handling.
1.10 (2010-08-26)
Moved some css styling from lizard-map to lizard-ui.
Added initial login support + forms. You need to add lizard-ui’s urls.py to yours if you want to use it.
Better drag/drop visual feedback.
1.8 (2010-08-18)
Javascript syntax fix: added two semicolons and removed another.
1.7 (2010-07-15)
Make “replace-with-image” clickable by using “data-href-click” property.
Add ol.forms css.
1.6 (2010-07-06)
Image replacement looks at “use-my-size” class instead of use-my-width/height.
Added javascript “printPage()” function that prints a webpage that at least doesn’t flow over the right hand side of the physical paper page. Printing uses a combination of a custom print stylesheet and blueprint’s print stylesheet. Printing definitively isn’t perfect yet, but at least usable. Note: you should refresh or resize the page after printing to get the full width again.
1.5 (2010-07-01)
Added generic automatic image resizing (replacing a generic “a href” with an image with the same src as the href and then figuring out the height/width and passing that along as a GET parameter and as attributes on the img tag.
Fixed resize timer by having a global variable for it.
Calculating hiddenStuffHeight (currently: only the date popup hidden div) only once: before the date popup has been opened.. Fixes the bug that you’d get a large empty space at the bottom of the screen.
1.4.1 (2010-06-25)
Updated TODO list.
1.4 (2010-06-25)
We’re now on the python package index, hurray! http://pypi.python.org/pypi/lizard-ui
Updated package metadata.
Big README documentation update.
1.3 (2010-06-23)
Added graph reloading on sidebar collapse/expand.
UI css fixes (overflow:hidden in a couple of places to prevent scrollbars in corner cases, for instance).
1.2 (2010-06-22)
Floating the main content area now and giving it the proper width with javascript. This makes the layout in IE more reliable.
The main body has “overflow: hidden” to get rid of scrollbars once and for all: scrollbars sometimes occur when there’s a small layout bug. A scrollbar takes up space, so the main content float is pushed down. We have an assumption of a single page without scrolling, so hiding scrollbars is perfectly fine. (The main area itself can have scrollbars for textual content).
1.1 (2010-06-18)
IE tweaks.
1.0 (2010-06-17)
Fixed javascript code with jslint.
Added django-compressor for javascript and css compression and combination. You’ll need to add the configuration in http://dpaste.de/xLDU/ to your settings and add “compressor” to your installed apps.
Switched to a separate “javascript” and “css” block instead of the site-head-extras, head-extras and so. Be sure to add {{super.block}} when you override the blocks.
0.12 (2010-06-11)
Upgraded to jqueryui 1.8.2 (from 1.8.1).
Removed jqueryui’s tab component as it conflicts with jquerytools’ implementation. Jquerytools’ implementation is way friendlier to our existing sidebar css.
0.11 (2010-06-08)
Added direct support for a jquery tree. We already contained the base treeview javascript, so lizard-ui was a logical place for setting it up.
0.10 (2010-06-07)
Added fillSidebar() alias for stretchOneSidebarBox().
Splitted title block in sitetitle/subtitle as that’s a common occurrence.
0.9 (2010-06-03)
Using jquery’s live() for “late binding” of events to elements added later through javascript. Saves some couple of lines.
0.8 (2010-06-01)
Added generic accordion handling for the sidebar. Including ajaxy loading.
0.7 (2010-05-18)
Added jquerytools for accordeon behaviour in sidebar.
Layout fixes, mostly for the sidebar. Also fix for the datepicker-placed div at the bottom.
Update to jquery-ui 1.8.1.
0.6 (2010-04-28)
Added collapsible sidebar.
Changed css framework from yui to blueprint: more understandable. The reason for yui was that it had a 100%-width layout. We’re now building up the layout (grid-wise) ourselves due to the collapsible sidebar, so switching back to blueprint is now possible.
Changed layout to match Dirk-Jan’s latest screenshots.
0.5 (2010-04-13)
Layout improvements.
Added documentation (just mount our urls!).
Removed separate icons, leaving only the sprite’d icons.
Added jqueryui. Including it automatically. It also means extjs isn’t included automatically anymore.
Sidebar width is 300px instead of 180px.
0.4 (2010-03-16)
Added extjs javascript library.
Added javascript and css for dividing the vertical space equally.
0.3.1 (2010-03-05)
Bugfix: removed sample breadcrumb content from the template.
0.3 (2010-03-05)
Added openlayers 2.8.
Added famfamfam silk icon set.
Added background to menubar, footer and body.
Removed blueprint and added the YUI css framework.
0.2 (2010-02-12)
Nested our templates in templates/lizard_ui instead of directly in templates. We’re well-behaved now!
0.1 (2010-02-12)
Added lizardbase.html template as base for a lizard user interface.
Added django-staticfiles as a dependency for managing css and javascript resources.
Added blueprint css framework.
Initial structure created by nensskel.
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