Making a beta code for a public django site
authentication, django, django-authentication, python
Solution
Start with this Django snippet, but modify it to check `request.session['has_beta_access']`. If they don't have it, then have it return a redirect to a "enter beta code" page that, when posted to with the right code, sets that session variable to `True`.
Making it a public beta then just consists of removing that middleware from your `MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES` setting.
Problem
I'm about to put a beta version of the site I'm working on up on the web. It needs to have a beta code to restrict access. The site is written in django. I don't want to change the fundamental Auth system to accommodate a beta code, and I don't care particularly that the security of the beta code is iron-clad, just that it's a significant stumbling block. How should I do this? It's a fairly large project, so adding code to every view is far from ideal. That solution works well. The Middleware Class I ended up with this this: ``` from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect class BetaMiddleware(object): """ Require beta code session key in order to view any page. """ def process_request(self, request): if request.path != '/beta/' and not request.session.get('in_beta'): return HttpResponseRedirect('%s?next=%s' % ('/beta/', request.path)) ```