Add settings management tool

[sobolevn]

This project is an awesome starter template. Thanks!

Problem

Maybe it would be a good idea to add some kind of library to handle your environment to activate different settings? Some popular examples: django-configurations and django-split-settings.

Solution

Here's a brief example, how to use django-split-settings. We will need new settings package structure:

your_project/settings/
├── __init__.py
├── components
│   ├── __init__.py
│   ├── database.py
│   ├── common.py
└── environments
    ├── __init__.py
    ├── development.py
    ├── local.py.template
    ├── production.py
    └── testing.py

And here's settings/__init__.py:

"""
This is a django-split-settings main file.
For more information read this:
https://github.com/sobolevn/django-split-settings

Default environment is `development`. To run app:
`python manage.py runserver`

To change the settings file:
`DJANGO_ENV=testing python manage.py runserver`
"""

from os import environ
from split_settings.tools import optional, include

ENV = environ.get('DJANGO_ENV') or 'development'

base_settings = [
    'components/common.py',  # standard django settings
    'components/database.py',  # database setup
    'components/email.py',  # smtp
    # and any other components you need
    
    # Select the right env:
    'environments/%s.py' % ENV,
    # Optionally override some settings:
    optional('environments/local.py'),
]

# Include settings:
include(*base_settings)

So after that it would be crystal-clear for users where to put extra configurations like: django-debug-toolbar and other which are used for development or testing only.

Conclusion

Pros:

• Clear settings structure
• No refactoring and no effect on the end user
• Multiple possible environments with reasonable default

Cons:

• Extra dependency

Maybe I am missing any cons, please correct me if I am wrong.

Further readings

Here's a detailed article I wrote on this topic: https://medium.com/wemake-services/managing-djangos-settings-e2b7f496120d

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So, what do you think?