Django Developers Mailing List

The preferred venue for discussion about the development of Django itself is the ​Internals category of the Django Forum.

There is also discussion on the older developers mailing list, django-developers@…, which can be accessed via Google's ​web interface to read and post messages.

(The developers mailing list isn't to be confused with the ​Using Django category of the Forum or the older ​django-users, which is for developers who need help creating projects using Django. See UsingTheMailingList).

Been WONTFIX'ed?

If you have been directed to this page, it may be because a core developer has closed a ticket that you are interested in as WONTFIX, which can be disappointing.

A WONTFIX means that the developer currently thinks that, while the suggestion might be good in theory, it lacks enough merit to exceed the cost it will add to the maintenance of Django. Please realize that every API/feature added to Django needs to be maintained across several versions. The more public APIs that are exposed to users, the more difficult it is to refactor and add other features. Changes to existing functionality can also cause breakages for other people, and some changes are just really difficult to implement.

Of course, the developer could be wrong! Since this tends to be a matter of judgement, and not clear cut, we've found the best way to deal with the disagreement, get visibility from more developers and make progress is to start a discussion on the mailing list, rather than re-open the ticket.

Unlike most tickets, the mailing list is read by most of the core developers and many other people with Django experience - but if you're new, there is no reason to be intimidated. We try to be friendly, and we welcome any serious suggestions. If you've got some good reasons why a ticket should be re-opened, we are all ears!

You should be warned that although we are open to change, a WONTFIX usually implies that there are significant hurdles for the suggested change to be implemented. Since Django is a volunteer-run project, the driving force for the change will normally need to be...you! You are probably the most motivated person for your particular problem.

Other approaches include:

• Create a separate library to implement your feature. We are reluctant to add features to Django that could comfortably live outside it. However, with enough use of your library, the merit may be more obvious, especially if it can be seen that having a single de-facto solution provides more value than multiple competing ones.

• Reach out to the Django community to help build the case for the change you want. That community may be best reached on the ​Using Django category of the Forum, the older ​https://groups.google.com/group/django-users, or on IRC at #django on irc.freenode.net.