Correct Design: one app depending on another app

[Random Body Parts]

So I want to realise a small content management system. I want to make an app that allows for the creation of site content. A site content element can be a headline, an image, a block of text, etc... Individual content elements will be associated with a content container, which is essentially a list. A simple blog article would for instance contain a headline and a text block. The site content app will also provide its services for other apps. For instance there will be an archive for media files (images, music in the form of mp3, videos, etc...). So another content container would be a music album. It would be made up of a headline, an image (the cover artwork) and a list of music files. Now here it gets a little bit more complex. The media files will be handled by yet another app. So the content container for a music album would incorporate the headline from the site content app, but it would also incorporate the media files from the media files app, yet it would be displayed by the archive app.

The before mentioned apps don't really have a hierarchical relationship. My instinct tells me that all the content container elements (blog article, music album, image gallery, etc...) should all be living insidethe site content app. However the site content app would then depend on all sorts of models from other apps. So is this the correct way to go about it? I want the site content app to be pluggable by itself. Now for the more complex container elements I need external models. So I'm thinking I would do a conditional import, kinda like this:

try:
    import json
except ImportError:
    import simplejson as json

So then the more complex container models would only be available if the needed apps and their models are present.

Any advice on this design approach is very welcome.

[Andrew C.]

I’m not sure what you mean by content management, so I’m gonna take a guess: website builder like Weebly or Wix. You need a NoSQL database, completely unstructured data. Kind of like a crime file drawer with folders dedicated to each case and all its evidence. Some folders only have one piece of evidence and others a whole lot, right?

By the looks of it, you’re making some revolutionary Weebly or Wix or whatever with some custom features. If so, here’s what I’d recommend:

1) Read up on how jinja is developed. Jinja is the templating thing we use in Django, for example: { if user.is_authenticated}

This will help you layout each individual website.

2) Use an unstructured database, like MongoDB or Cassandra. I almost always tell people you should never have to use a NoSQL db, but in your case, it might work. Take MongoDB’s document-based schema: each document belongs to a single website. Within each document would be the site’s content using keys as a way to input the key’s values on to the website (hopefully that makes sense) using a jinja inspired template.

The thing I’m confused about is your media app. So I’m gonna guess again and hopefully you can clear it up for me if need be. If not, still lemme know.

Let’s say — I’m imagining a website builder like Wix and Weebly right now btw — that a user drags some music container onto his/her website. The user adds music and stuff via a different app? I don’t think that’s necessary unless you code this part in C (for finding the files. Read on for what I mean).

If you’re not using AWS with cookiecutter-django for deployment, I’d recommend you go to The Eye (somewhere on Reddit and Discord or their website) to figure out how to name these uploaded files or make some sort of system to find these files quickly while keeping them private from other users (by replacing uploaded file names with extremely long names. That’s how Dropbox does it I believe). 

The Eye is like an Archive team. They’re lovely and helpful people, especially regarding data hoarding which you’re project might entail in...

I try my best to help completely new Django members with great ideas start their journey or make that giant leap. So if this shit made no sense, don’t feel frustrated when you could simply clarify some stuff for me. Good luck!

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