Explore the django-var-cms Demo Application

The django-var-cms source repository includes a fully working demo Django app that showcases every major feature: role-based permissions, Quill rich-text editing, image/media handling, regex validators, custom object actions, and branding configuration. It is the fastest way to see everything in action before wiring up your own project.

Setup

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/rahul-baberwal/django-var-cms.git
cd django-var-cms

Install dependencies

uv sync

pip

pip install -e ".[dev]"

Run migrations

Initialize the SQLite database with all required tables:

python manage.py migrate

Seed demo data

The seed_demo management command creates groups, test user accounts, sample categories, articles, pages, and media asset records in one step:

python manage.py seed_demo

Start the development server

python manage.py runserver

Open the CMS dashboard

Navigate to http://127.0.0.1:8000/var-cms/ and log in with any of the demo accounts below.

Demo user accounts

The seed_demo command creates five ready-to-use accounts covering every permission tier:

Username	Password	Role	Permissions
admin	admin	superuser	Full unrestricted access
editor	editor	editor	Add + Edit (no delete)
author	author	author	Add + Edit limited fields (no delete)
viewer	viewer	viewer	List + View records only
alice	alice	viewer	Viewer group + per-user delete override

alice is a member of the viewer group but has a UserPermission override applied directly on the Article model that grants her add, edit, and delete rights. This demonstrates how UserPermission can extend or override group permissions on a per-user, per-model basis.

Demo models

The demo app registers four models that together exercise the full feature surface of django-var-cms.

Field	Type	Notes
`name`	`CharField`	Display name
`slug`	`SlugField`	Unique; regex-validated (`^[a-z0-9-]+$`)
`description`	`TextField`	Optional
`is_active`	`BooleanField`	Toggled via a custom object action
`created_at`	`DateTimeField`	Auto-set on creation

Article

The primary content model. Demonstrates Quill editor, FK relationships, and multi-role editable field restrictions.

Field	Type	Notes
`title`	`CharField`	Max 255 chars
`slug`	`SlugField`	Unique
`category`	`ForeignKey` → `Category`	Nullable
`author`	`CharField`	Plain text author name
`body`	`TextField`	Rendered with Quill.js (`html_fields = ["body"]`)
`status`	`CharField` (choices)	`draft` / `published` / `archived`
`is_featured`	`BooleanField`	—
`view_count`	`PositiveIntegerField`	Read-only
`rating`	`DecimalField`	Nullable, 1 decimal place
`created_at`	`DateTimeField`	Auto-set on creation
`updated_at`	`DateTimeField`	Auto-updated on save

MediaAsset

Demonstrates ImageField, FileField, modal-based previews, and the built-in image cropper.

Field	Type	Notes
`title`	`CharField`	Max 200 chars
`asset_type`	`CharField` (choices)	`image` / `video` / `audio` / `document` / `other`
`image`	`ImageField`	Uploaded to `var_cms/images/%Y/%m/`
`file`	`FileField`	Uploaded to `var_cms/files/%Y/%m/`
`alt_text`	`CharField`	Optional accessibility label
`description`	`TextField`	Optional
`tags`	`CharField`	Comma-separated tag string
`created_at`	`DateTimeField`	Auto-set on creation

Page

Hierarchical CMS page model with self-referential parent FK and Quill body.

Field	Type	Notes
`title`	`CharField`	Max 255 chars
`slug`	`SlugField`	Unique
`meta_desc`	`CharField`	Max 160 chars, for SEO
`body`	`TextField`	Quill editor (`html_fields = ["body"]`)
`parent`	`ForeignKey` → `self`	Nullable self-reference for page tree
`is_published`	`BooleanField`	—
`show_in_nav`	`BooleanField`	—
`sort_order`	`PositiveSmallIntegerField`	Controls ordering
`created_at`	`DateTimeField`	Auto-set on creation

Complete `var_cms_admin.py` reference

The full registration file from the demo app is reproduced below. It is auto-discovered by var_cms at startup — no explicit import or INSTALLED_APPS entry is needed beyond adding "demo" to your app list.

demo/var_cms_admin.py

"""
demo/var_cms_admin.py
=====================
Auto-discovered by var_cms on startup.
Demonstrates all registration options including role-based permissions.
"""

from var_cms.registry import var_cms_site, VarCMSModelAdmin
from var_cms.permissions import RolePermission, UserPermission
from .models import Article, Category, MediaAsset, Page


class CategoryAdmin(VarCMSModelAdmin):
    list_display  = ["name", "slug", "is_active", "created_at"]
    list_filter   = ["is_active"]
    search_fields = ["name", "slug", "description"]
    readonly_fields = ["created_at"]
    ordering = ["name"]
    icon = "folder"
    dashboard_card = True
    regex_validators = {
        "slug": (r"^[a-z0-9-]+$", "Slug must consist of lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only.")
    }

    permissions = [
        RolePermission("superuser", add=True,  list=True, view=True, edit=True,  delete=True),
        RolePermission("editor",    add=True,  list=True, view=True, edit=True,  delete=False),
        RolePermission("viewer",    add=False, list=True, view=True, edit=False, delete=False),
    ]
    role_editable_fields = {
        "superuser": "__all__",
        "editor":    ["name", "description", "is_active"],
    }
    custom_object_actions = [
        {
            "name": "toggle_active",
            "label": "Toggle Active",
            "class": "btn-blue",
            "icon": "shuffle",
            "action_fn": "toggle_active_status"
        }
    ]

    def toggle_active_status(self, request, obj):
        from django.contrib import messages
        obj.is_active = not obj.is_active
        obj.save()
        messages.success(request, f"Category '{obj.name}' active status toggled to {obj.is_active}.")
        return None


class ArticleAdmin(VarCMSModelAdmin):
    list_display  = ["title", "category", "author", "status", "is_featured", "view_count", "created_at"]
    list_filter   = ["status", "is_featured", "category"]
    search_fields = ["title", "body", "author"]
    readonly_fields = ["created_at", "updated_at", "view_count"]
    ordering = ["-created_at"]
    list_per_page = 20
    html_fields = ["body"]
    icon = "file-text"
    dashboard_card = True
    card_buttons = [
        {"label": "All Articles", "action": "list"},
        {"label": "Write Draft", "action": "add"}
    ]

    permissions = [
        RolePermission("superuser", add=True,  list=True, view=True, edit=True,  delete=True),
        RolePermission("editor",    add=True,  list=True, view=True, edit=True,  delete=False),
        RolePermission("author",    add=True,  list=True, view=True, edit=True,  delete=False),
        RolePermission("viewer",    add=False, list=True, view=True, edit=False, delete=False),
        # Per-user override — "alice" can delete even as a viewer
        UserPermission("alice",     add=True,  list=True, view=True, edit=True,  delete=True),
    ]
    role_editable_fields = {
        "superuser": "__all__",
        "editor":    ["title", "slug", "body", "status", "category", "is_featured"],
        "author":    ["title", "body", "status"],   # authors can't touch slug/category
        "*":         [],  # all other roles: no edits
    }


class MediaAssetAdmin(VarCMSModelAdmin):
    list_display  = ["title", "asset_type", "image", "file", "tags", "created_at"]
    list_filter   = ["asset_type"]
    search_fields = ["title", "alt_text", "tags", "description"]
    readonly_fields = ["created_at"]
    icon = "image"
    dashboard_card = True

    permissions = [
        RolePermission("superuser", add=True, list=True, view=True, edit=True, delete=True),
        RolePermission("editor",    add=True, list=True, view=True, edit=True, delete=True),
        RolePermission("viewer",    add=False,list=True, view=True, edit=False,delete=False),
    ]
    role_editable_fields = {
        "superuser": "__all__",
        "editor":    "__all__",
    }


class PageAdmin(VarCMSModelAdmin):
    list_display  = ["title", "slug", "parent", "is_published", "show_in_nav", "sort_order"]
    list_filter   = ["is_published", "show_in_nav"]
    search_fields = ["title", "slug", "body", "meta_desc"]
    readonly_fields = ["created_at"]
    ordering = ["sort_order", "title"]
    html_fields = ["body"]
    icon = "book-open"
    dashboard_card = True

    permissions = [
        RolePermission("superuser", add=True, list=True, view=True, edit=True, delete=True),
        RolePermission("editor",    add=True, list=True, view=True, edit=True, delete=False),
        RolePermission("viewer",    add=False,list=True, view=True, edit=False,delete=False),
    ]
    role_editable_fields = {
        "superuser": "__all__",
        "editor":    ["title", "body", "meta_desc", "is_published", "show_in_nav", "sort_order"],
    }


var_cms_site.register(Category,   CategoryAdmin)
var_cms_site.register(Article,    ArticleAdmin)
var_cms_site.register(MediaAsset, MediaAssetAdmin)
var_cms_site.register(Page,       PageAdmin)

About `seed_demo`

python manage.py seed_demo is idempotent — re-running it will not duplicate records. It uses get_or_create throughout, so it is safe to run multiple times or after resetting individual tables. It seeds:

Groups: editor, author, viewer
Users: the five accounts listed above (skipped if already present)
Categories: Technology, Design, Business, Science
Articles: 12 sample articles across all statuses and categories
Pages: Home, About Us, Contact, Privacy Policy
Media assets: 4 placeholder records (no actual files — upload via the CMS)

Get Started

Model Registration

Permissions

Features

Integrations

Explore the django-var-cms Demo Application

Setup

Demo user accounts

Demo models

Category

Article

MediaAsset

Page

Complete `var_cms_admin.py` reference

About `seed_demo`

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Model Registration

Permissions

Features

Integrations

Documentation Index

​Setup

​Demo user accounts

​Demo models

​Category

​Article

​MediaAsset

​Page

​Complete var_cms_admin.py reference

​About seed_demo

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Setup

Demo user accounts

Demo models

Category

Article

MediaAsset

Page

Complete `var_cms_admin.py` reference

About `seed_demo`