How to set initial data for Django admin model add instance form?

Question

How can I set an initial value of a field in the automatically generated form for adding a Django model instance, before the form is displayed? I am using Django 1.3.1. My model is the following: ``` class Foo(models.Model): title = models.CharField(max_length=50) description = models.TextField() ``` and the current admin form is really nothing special ``` class FooAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin): ordering = ('title',) ``` When I use the admin page to add a new instance of Foo, I get a nice form with empty fields for title and description. What I would like is that the description field is set with a template that I obtain by calling a function. My current best attempt at getting there is this: ``` def get_default_content(): return 'this is a template for a Foo description' class FooAdminForm(django.forms.ModelForm): class Meta: model = Foo def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs): kwargs['initial'].update({'description': get_default_content()}) super(FooAdminForm, self).__init__(self, *args, **kw…

Accepted Answer

You need to include `self` as the first argument in your `__init__` method definition, but should not include it when you call the superclass' method.

```
def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
    # We can't assume that kwargs['initial'] exists! 
    if 'initial' not in kwargs:
        kwargs['initial'] = {}
    kwargs['initial'].update({'description': get_default_content()})
    super(FooAdminForm, self).__init__(*args, **kwargs)
```

Having said that, a model field can take a callable for its default, so you may not have to define a custom admin form at all.

```
class Foo(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=50)
    description = models.TextField(default=get_default_content)
```

How to set initial data for Django admin model add instance form?

Solution

Problem