User Model | Authentication

Introduction

The user model in Django is at the core of the authentication system. It stores the user data and manages user authentication. This tutorial will guide you through the essential aspects of Django's user model from scratch with detailed explanations and examples.

Creating a Custom User Model

By default, Django comes with a built-in user model, but it's a common practice to create a custom user model to extend its functionalities. To create a custom user model, follow these steps:

First, create a new Django app:

python manage.py startapp accounts

In the accounts/models.py file, define the custom user model:

from django.contrib.auth.models import AbstractBaseUser, BaseUserManager
from django.db import models

class CustomUserManager(BaseUserManager):
    def create_user(self, email, password=None, **extra_fields):
        if not email:
            raise ValueError('The Email field must be set')
        email = self.normalize_email(email)
        user = self.model(email=email, **extra_fields)
        user.set_password(password)
        user.save(using=self._db)
        return user

    def create_superuser(self, email, password=None, **extra_fields):
        extra_fields.setdefault('is_staff', True)
        extra_fields.setdefault('is_superuser', True)

        return self.create_user(email, password, **extra_fields)

class User(AbstractBaseUser):
    email = models.EmailField(unique=True)
    first_name = models.CharField(max_length=30)
    last_name = models.CharField(max_length=30)
    is_active = models.BooleanField(default=True)
    is_staff = models.BooleanField(default=False)
    is_superuser = models.BooleanField(default=False)

    objects = CustomUserManager()

    USERNAME_FIELD = 'email'
    REQUIRED_FIELDS = ['first_name', 'last_name']

    def __str__(self):
        return self.email

Updating Settings

Next, you need to update your settings to use the custom user model. Open the settings.py file and add the following line:

AUTH_USER_MODEL = 'accounts.User'

Creating and Applying Migrations

After defining the custom user model, create and apply migrations to update the database schema.

Run the following commands:

python manage.py makemigrations

python manage.py migrate

Creating a Superuser

To create a superuser for your application, run the following command:

python manage.py createsuperuser

Follow the prompts to enter the superuser details.

Using the User Model

Now that you have set up the custom user model, you can use it in your views and forms. Here is an example of how to create a user programmatically:

from accounts.models import User

user = User.objects.create_user(
    email='user@example.com',
    password='password123',
    first_name='John',
    last_name='Doe'
)

You can also authenticate users using the custom user model:

from django.contrib.auth import authenticate

user = authenticate(email='user@example.com', password='password123')
if user is not None:
    # User is authenticated
    pass
else:
    # Authentication failed
    pass

Conclusion

In this tutorial, we covered the basics of Django's user model, including how to create a custom user model, update settings, apply migrations, create a superuser, and use the custom user model in your application. By following these steps, you can extend and customize the user model to fit the needs of your Django project.

Django User Model Tutorial