Proper way to handle multiple forms on one page in Django

Handling Multiple Forms on One Page in Django: A Simple Solution

🤔 Have you ever been stuck when trying to handle multiple forms on one page in Django? It can be quite a challenge to let the view know which form was submitted and process only that specific form. But worry not! We have a simple solution for you.

The Problem

🔍 Imagine a scenario where you have a template page that expects two forms. You've already handled a single form successfully, but now you're facing the issue of handling multiple forms simultaneously.

if request.method == 'POST':
    form = AuthorForm(request.POST,)
    if form.is_valid():
        form.save()
        # do something.
else:
    form = AuthorForm()

❗️So, the question is: How do you let the view know which form was submitted and only process that specific form?

The Solution

🎉 The solution lies within the code snippet provided below. Let's break it down step by step and understand how it works.

if request.method == 'POST':
    if 'bannedphrase' in request.POST:
        bannedphraseform = BannedPhraseForm(request.POST, prefix='banned')
        if bannedphraseform.is_valid():
            bannedphraseform.save()
        expectedphraseform = ExpectedPhraseForm(prefix='expected')
    elif 'expectedphrase' in request.POST:
        expectedphraseform = ExpectedPhraseForm(request.POST, prefix='expected')
        if expectedphraseform.is_valid():
            expectedphraseform.save() 
        bannedphraseform = BannedPhraseForm(prefix='banned')
else:
    bannedphraseform = BannedPhraseForm(prefix='banned')
    expectedphraseform = ExpectedPhraseForm(prefix='expected')

🔑 The key here is to rely on the submit button's name to identify which form was submitted. In our example, we have two forms named "expectedphrase" and "bannedphrase". By checking if the name is present in the request.POST data, we can determine which form was submitted.

⚙️ Let's take a closer look at the code:

1. If the submit button with the name "bannedphrase" is present in request.POST, it means the user submitted the "bannedphraseform". We create an instance of the BannedPhraseForm with the data from request.POST and prefix it with "banned". If it's valid, we save the form's data and move forward. Then, we instantiate the ExpectedPhraseForm with the prefix "expected".

2. If the submit button with the name "expectedphrase" is present in request.POST, it means the user submitted the "expectedphraseform". We create an instance of the ExpectedPhraseForm with the data from request.POST and prefix it with "expected". If it's valid, we save the form's data and proceed. Then, we instantiate the BannedPhraseForm with the prefix "banned".

3. If neither of the submit buttons is present in request.POST, it means the user accessed the page without submitting any form. In this case, we simply instantiate both forms without any data or prefixes.

The Call-to-Action

💡 Handling multiple forms in Django doesn't have to be complicated. With this simple solution at hand, you can now confidently handle multiple forms on a single page. Give it a try in your own Django project and let us know how it worked out for you.

📢 Have you ever faced any challenges with Django forms or any other aspect of web development? Share your experiences with us in the comments below! We'd love to hear from you and help you out.

🌐 Happy coding!