django.contrib.auth assumes all applications are hosted in their top level package

[tiberiu_ichim]

File "django/contrib/auth/models.py", line 283, in get_profile has

app_label, model_name = settings.AUTH_PROFILE_MODULE.split('.')

What if I want my AUTH_PROFILE_MODULE to be

AUTH_PROFILE_MODULE = 'pinax.apps.basic_profiles.Profile'

Of course, it's not possible. Seems like a basic design mistake of that piece of code.

[Russell Keith-Magee]

There's no design mistake here. You need to use AUTH_PROFILE_MODULE="basic_brofiles.Profile", since that is how Django's app index will identify the model. This is exactly what the ​documentation tells you to do.

[tiberiu_ichim]

I appreciate the time taken to point me to the docs. Then, should the ticket be something like "Django only understand applications that are top level packages, not subpackages" ? Nevermind the concept of (setuptools) namespaces...

[Carl Meyer]

No, because that's not true either. Your application would be in INSTALLED_APPS as "pinax.apps.basic_profiles" and your AUTH_PROFILE_MODULE would still be "basic_profiles.Profile". Please take support issues to the mailing list or IRC, not the bug tracker.

[Adam Nelson]

Nonetheless, the OP has a point that the cryptic error message and no clear statement in the docs that AUTH_PROFILE_MODULE has to have one an only one dot are needlessly difficult to divine for a new Python programmer.