About 6 months ago I spent a few days looking at Satchmo, and have now
spent another day. so if it sounds like I have no clue what I am
talking about, I don't.
I am looking over http://satchmoproject.com/docs/svn/new_installation.html
which
says "Advanced users can modify..." which implies it is meant for
beginners. But then there are choices:
"You may choose to copy this file and use as a template for
settings.py or use the notes below to configure your existing one. "
# This file is helpful if you have an existing Django project.
http://www.satchmoproject.com/trac/browser/satchmo/trunk/satchmo/loca...
From what I can tell, the 2nd really isn't really a choice, given that
you need those regardless of if you have an existing project.
There seem to be some other choices or branches that all depend on a
single choice: alone or part of other project. I have a feeling
removing the "alone" choice will make the setup instructions easier to
write (no need to address the choices) follow (user doesn't need to
blindly make a choice), and I 'think' is the right thing to do in all
cases anyway. Even if you don't have additional projects now, I
would think it would be best to be setup for them.
I think there are some other adjustments that can be made so that
beginners are taught the 'right way' right from the start. (or
perhaps 'a' right way, as opposed to an easy way that just leads to
problems later.) (I am bringing this up now because I am looking at
it now. If I wait till I am an expert in all this, it may never
happen.)
For instance, I am pretty sure it is a bad idea to use local_settings
the way that is suggested. local_settings should be used for settings
that differ from box to box, like test/QA/production, but at least
some of what is in there looks like it should be part of what gets
checked into source control, like CUSTOM_NEWSLETTER_MODULES. I will
agree that settings.py management is a complicated subject, and can
differ depending on the situation, and the stock django install/
instructions doesn't really address this. But I think it might help
Satchmo if the docs dictated a system that might actually be
appropriate for 'real' use. (from what I understand, it is expected
that everyone figure out how to manage their settings.py) I don't
really think Satchmo docs should start addressing generic django
things, so here is what I would suggest:
Get your Django settings setup to this point:
http://www.djangoproject.com/documentation/tutorial01/#the-developmen...
“Welcome to Django”, then add these items to
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES,INSTALLED_APPS and add "from satchmo_settings
import *" (my guess on what is 'good' but thats another thing I
haven't quite figured it out yet either.)
OK, I'll stop and get back to bringing up a Satchmo store.
