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Django Unfold uses Chart.js for rendering interactive charts and data visualizations. While Unfold doesn’t provide a dedicated chart component template, it includes Chart.js in its dependencies for building custom visualizations.

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Chart.js Integration

Unfold includes Chart.js as part of its JavaScript dependencies. You can create custom charts in your admin templates.

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Basic Setup

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Template Structure

{% extends "unfold/layouts/base.html" %}
{% load static %}

{% block content %}
  {% component "unfold/components/card.html" with title="Sales Chart" %}
    <canvas id="myChart"></canvas>
  {% endcomponent %}
{% endblock %}

{% block scripts %}
  <script>
    document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
      const ctx = document.getElementById('myChart').getContext('2d');
      const myChart = new Chart(ctx, {
        type: 'line',
        data: {
          labels: {{ labels|safe }},
          datasets: [{
            label: 'Sales',
            data: {{ data|safe }},
            borderColor: 'rgb(59, 130, 246)',
            backgroundColor: 'rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.1)',
            tension: 0.4
          }]
        },
        options: {
          responsive: true,
          maintainAspectRatio: false,
          plugins: {
            legend: {
              position: 'top',
            }
          }
        }
      });
    });
  </script>
{% endblock %}

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Python View

from django.contrib import admin
from django.views.generic import TemplateView
from unfold.admin import ModelAdmin
from unfold.views import UnfoldModelAdminViewMixin
import json

class ChartView(UnfoldModelAdminViewMixin, TemplateView):
    title = "Sales Dashboard"
    template_name = "admin/charts/sales.html"
    
    def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
        context = super().get_context_data(**kwargs)
        
        # Prepare chart data
        context['labels'] = json.dumps(['Jan', 'Feb', 'Mar', 'Apr', 'May'])
        context['data'] = json.dumps([12, 19, 3, 5, 2])
        
        return context

@admin.register(MyModel)
class MyModelAdmin(ModelAdmin):
    def get_urls(self):
        from django.urls import path
        urls = super().get_urls()
        custom_urls = [
            path('charts/', 
                 self.admin_site.admin_view(ChartView.as_view(model_admin=self)),
                 name='charts'),
        ]
        return custom_urls + urls

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Chart Types

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Line Chart

const lineChart = new Chart(ctx, {
  type: 'line',
  data: {
    labels: ['January', 'February', 'March', 'April'],
    datasets: [{
      label: 'Revenue',
      data: [12000, 19000, 15000, 17000],
      borderColor: 'rgb(59, 130, 246)',
      tension: 0.4
    }]
  },
  options: {
    responsive: true
  }
});

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Bar Chart

const barChart = new Chart(ctx, {
  type: 'bar',
  data: {
    labels: ['Product A', 'Product B', 'Product C'],
    datasets: [{
      label: 'Sales',
      data: [65, 59, 80],
      backgroundColor: [
        'rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.5)',
        'rgba(16, 185, 129, 0.5)',
        'rgba(249, 115, 22, 0.5)'
      ]
    }]
  }
});

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Pie Chart

const pieChart = new Chart(ctx, {
  type: 'pie',
  data: {
    labels: ['Active', 'Pending', 'Inactive'],
    datasets: [{
      data: [300, 50, 100],
      backgroundColor: [
        'rgb(34, 197, 94)',
        'rgb(234, 179, 8)',
        'rgb(239, 68, 68)'
      ]
    }]
  }
});

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Doughnut Chart

const doughnutChart = new Chart(ctx, {
  type: 'doughnut',
  data: {
    labels: ['Desktop', 'Mobile', 'Tablet'],
    datasets: [{
      data: [450, 320, 100],
      backgroundColor: [
        'rgb(59, 130, 246)',
        'rgb(16, 185, 129)',
        'rgb(249, 115, 22)'
      ]
    }]
  }
});

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Dark Mode Support

Adapt chart colors for dark mode: 
const isDarkMode = document.documentElement.classList.contains('dark');

const chart = new Chart(ctx, {
  type: 'line',
  data: {
    // ... data
  },
  options: {
    plugins: {
      legend: {
        labels: {
          color: isDarkMode ? '#e5e7eb' : '#1f2937'
        }
      }
    },
    scales: {
      x: {
        ticks: {
          color: isDarkMode ? '#9ca3af' : '#6b7280'
        },
        grid: {
          color: isDarkMode ? '#374151' : '#e5e7eb'
        }
      },
      y: {
        ticks: {
          color: isDarkMode ? '#9ca3af' : '#6b7280'
        },
        grid: {
          color: isDarkMode ? '#374151' : '#e5e7eb'
        }
      }
    }
  }
});

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Complete Dashboard Example

# admin.py
from django.db.models import Count, Sum
from django.utils import timezone
from datetime import timedelta
import json

class DashboardView(UnfoldModelAdminViewMixin, TemplateView):
    title = "Analytics Dashboard"
    template_name = "admin/dashboard.html"
    
    def get_context_data(self, **kwargs):
        context = super().get_context_data(**kwargs)
        
        # Get last 7 days data
        today = timezone.now().date()
        dates = [(today - timedelta(days=i)).strftime('%Y-%m-%d') 
                 for i in range(6, -1, -1)]
        
        # Aggregate orders per day
        orders_data = Order.objects.filter(
            created_at__date__gte=today - timedelta(days=6)
        ).values('created_at__date').annotate(
            count=Count('id')
        ).order_by('created_at__date')
        
        orders_by_date = {str(item['created_at__date']): item['count'] 
                          for item in orders_data}
        
        context['chart_labels'] = json.dumps(dates)
        context['chart_data'] = json.dumps([
            orders_by_date.get(date, 0) for date in dates
        ])
        
        return context

{# templates/admin/dashboard.html #}
{% extends "unfold/layouts/base.html" %}
{% load unfold %}

{% block content %}
<div class="container mx-auto">
  <div class="grid grid-cols-1 lg:grid-cols-2 gap-4">
    {% component "unfold/components/card.html" with title="Orders This Week" %}
      <canvas id="ordersChart" height="200"></canvas>
    {% endcomponent %}
    
    {% component "unfold/components/card.html" with title="Revenue Breakdown" %}
      <canvas id="revenueChart" height="200"></canvas>
    {% endcomponent %}
  </div>
</div>
{% endblock %}

{% block scripts %}
<script>
  document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
    // Orders chart
    new Chart(document.getElementById('ordersChart'), {
      type: 'line',
      data: {
        labels: {{ chart_labels|safe }},
        datasets: [{
          label: 'Orders',
          data: {{ chart_data|safe }},
          borderColor: 'rgb(59, 130, 246)',
          backgroundColor: 'rgba(59, 130, 246, 0.1)',
          fill: true,
          tension: 0.4
        }]
      },
      options: {
        responsive: true,
        maintainAspectRatio: false
      }
    });
  });
</script>
{% endblock %}

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Best Practices

  1. Responsive Design: Set responsive: true and use maintainAspectRatio: false for flexible sizing
  2. Data Serialization: Use json.dumps() in Python and |safe filter in templates
  3. Color Consistency: Use Unfold’s color palette (primary-600, etc.)
  4. Dark Mode: Detect and adapt to dark mode theme
  5. Performance: Limit data points for large datasets

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Styling with Tailwind

Chart containers can use Tailwind CSS classes: 
{% component "unfold/components/card.html" with title="Chart" %}
  <div class="h-64 lg:h-96">
    <canvas id="myChart"></canvas>
  </div>
{% endcomponent %}
  • Card - Wrap charts in cards
  • Progress - Simple progress indicators
  • Tracker - Activity grid visualizations

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External Resources

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