C³: Mixing Plone and Django

for explosive results!

The requirements

● a modern e-commerce platform

● with a good contents story

● and advanced community features

Plone alone... will get it done?

a good web CMS like Plone has no clue of:● e-commerce needs● advanced community features

no known Plone extension could convince us and...

we didn't want to start any new Plone project with this needs

The quest for a good solution

The Graal should:● be python based

(we ♥ python!)● not reinvent the wheel● be open source● have a community

behind

(we ♥ happy customers)

Attack of the ponies

We looked at Django:● good and stable since

years● with a strong and

passionate community● had a proven

ecommerce solution and a proven community solution

The evil plan

Satchmo, the e-commerce

http://www.satchmoproject.com/● feature rich● flexible as we needed● with a group of people really

using and improving it

Pinax, the community

http://pinaxproject.com/● a suite of modules for community

purposes● reuse what's already there● good working example projects included

Why Plone then?

talking about web CMSs:● python based

(we ♥ python!)● not reinvent the wheel● open source● with a community behind

(we ♥ happy customers)● "nothing compares to you"

It's a long way to the top

● integration, integration, integration● choices, choices, choices

looking for sustainable and elegant solutions

The Plone and Django dance

a coreographer's job● Don't stomp on each

other's feet● Don't do the same

things twice

The dance steps

● common theming via Diazo● don't store the same data

twice● let one see what the other

does

Ballet's preview

What about the users?

● CMS users are content editors● they do not mix with the

common people

● Users are common across Django apps● but not across Plone

I'm sure I had it somewhere

● Plone needs to read from the database

● sqlalchemy? Duplication of code

To import or not to import django.db.models?

It is nobler in the code to suffer:● The thousand errors of

circular dependencies● Or to take arms against

settings.py, and by fixing that end them

Hamlet did it wrong

Syncronizing the dancers

● Django handles the transaction trasparently via middleware

● Hook up the right methods to Zope's transaction machinery

I've got a fever, and the only cure is... less code!

● Sharing the same logic between Django and Plone views

● Using django templates in Plone

● That's the python, baby (and you just have to enjoy it)

Murphy's impedance

Some things we didn't quite consider● Internationalization and language

selection syncing● Linking content between systems● Paster vs nginx

Building the launch ramps

● Single buildout● Paster+SQLite for

development● Quick, pain-free setup

● PostgreSQL+nginx+uwsgi for deployment● More robust but also more

convoluted

Traps and dark pits

● The Content-Length problem● Aka “Hello nginx, I have

some bytes for you”

● Where's that cookie coming from?● An i18n tale of horrors

The duct-taped parts

● Static files and media files● The slow agony of

settings.py

And in the end... they all lived on github

● djc.recipe● ~collective/collective.django

Towards the infinite, and beyond

● Integrating users (PAS+repoze.who)

● Making development faster

● Managing themes and files easily