Customizing the Admin list_display

The Default List View

Without any customization, the admin's list page for a model shows one column: whatever __str__() returns for each row. That's rarely enough detail at a glance.

Example: The Default List View

With no ModelAdmin customization, Book's list page only shows the __str__ value per row.

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Book

admin.site.register(Book)

Adding Columns with list_display

Setting list_display on a ModelAdmin class adds one column per named field, turning the list page into a proper table.

Example: Adding Columns with list_display

The Book list page now shows title, author, and published_date as separate columns.

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Book

@admin.register(Book)
class BookAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ('title', 'author', 'published_date')

Showing a Computed Value

A method defined on the ModelAdmin (or the model itself) can also appear in list_display, letting you show derived information that isn't a plain field.

Note: Give the method a short_description attribute to control its column header text.

Example: Showing a Computed Value

Adds an 'Recent?' column computed from published_date instead of a stored field.

class BookAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ('title', 'is_recent')

    def is_recent(self, obj):
        return obj.published_date.year >= 2020
    is_recent.short_description = 'Recent?'