News Feed hidden from users who aren't administrators

Question

On my social media platform, the news feed (called post_list) seems to be hidden from any user that isn't an admin .

Even when text is entered into the box and 'post' is pressed, the page refreshes but the text box isn't emptied and no posts appear belowhand .

If I log in as an admin, the feed appears immediately and so do all the posts that I just posted from the non-admin account that didn't appear on the non-admin account. As shown here .

I have just recently added the ability to share posts, so maybe that has influenced this issue in some manner.

(The news feed) post_list.html :

> {% extends 'landing/base.html' %} {% load crispy_forms_tags %}
> 
> {% block content %} <div class="container">
>     <div class="row justify-content-center mt-3">
>         <div class="col-md-5 col-sm-12 border-bottom">
>             <h5>Create a Post</h5>
>         </div>
>     </div>
> 
>     <div class="row justify-content-center mt-3">
>         <div class="col-md-5 col-sm-12 border-bottom">
>             <form method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">
>                 {% csrf_token %}
>                 {{ form | crispy }}
>                 <div class="d-grid gap-2">
>                     <button class="btn btn-light" style="background-color: #CC64C3; mt-3 mb-5">Post</button>
>                 </div>
>             </form>
>         </div>
>     </div>
> 
>     {% for post in post_list %}
>     <div class="row justify-content-center mt-3">
>         <div class="col-md-5 col-sm-12 border-bottom position-relative">
>             <div>
>                 <a href="{% url 'profile' post.author.profile.pk %}">
>                     <img class="rounded-circle post-img" height="30" width="30" src="{{ post.author.profile.picture.url }}" />
>                 </a>
>                 <p class="post-text">
>                     <a class="text-primary post-link" href="{% url 'profile' post.author.profile.pk %}">@{{ post.author }}</a> {{
> post.created_on }}
>                 </p>
>             </div>
>             <div class="position-relative">
>                  <p>{{ post.body }}</p>
>                  <a href="{% url 'post-detail' post.pk %}" class="stretched-link"></a>
>                  {% if post.image.count > 0 %}
>                    <div class="row">
>                        {% for img in post.image.all %}
>                            <div class="col-md-4 col-xs-12">
>                                <img src="{{ img.image.url }}" class="post-image" />
>                            </div>
>                        {% endfor %}
>                     </div>
>                  {% endif %}
>                 <form method="POST" action="{% url 'share-post' post.pk %}" class="d-none" id="{{ post.pk }}">
>                     {% csrf_token %}
>                     {{ shareform | crispy }}
>                     <div class="d-grid gap-2">
>                         <button class="btn btn-light" style="background-color: #CC64C3; mt-3 mb-5">Share</button>
>                     </div>
>                 </form>
>             </div>
> 
>             <div class="d-flex flex-row">
>                 <form method="POST" action="{% url 'like' post.pk %}">
>                     {% csrf_token %}
>                     <input type="hidden" name="next" value="{{ request.path }}">
>                     <button class="remove-default-btn" type="submit">
>                         <i class="far fa-thumbs-up"><span>{{ post.likes.all.count }}</span></i>
>                     </button>
>                 </form>
> 
>                 <form method="POST" action="{% url 'dislike' post.pk %}">
>                     {% csrf_token %}
>                     <input type="hidden" name="next" value="{{ request.path }}">
>                     <button class="remove-default-btn" type="submit">
>                         <i class="far fa-thumbs-down"><span>{{ post.dislikes.all.count }}</span></i>
>                     </button>
>                 </form>
>                 <span onclick="shareToggle('{{ post.pk }}')"><i class="far fa-share-square share-btn"></i></span>
>         </div>
>     </div>
>     {% endfor %} </div> {% endblock content %}

views.py :

from django.shortcuts import render, redirect
from django.db.models import Q
from django.utils import timezone
from django.urls import reverse_lazy
from django.shortcuts import redirect
from django.contrib import messages
from django.contrib.auth.models import User
from django.http import HttpResponseRedirect, HttpResponse
from django.contrib.auth.mixins import UserPassesTestMixin, LoginRequiredMixin
from django.views import View
from django.views.generic.edit import UpdateView, DeleteView
from .models import MessageModel, Post, Comment, UserProfile, Notification, ThreadModel, MessageModel, Image
from .forms import PostForm, CommentForm,ThreadForm, MessageForm, ShareForm

class PostListView(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        logged_in_user = request.user
        posts = Post.objects.filter(
            author__profile__followers__in=[logged_in_user.id]
        ).order_by('-created_on')
        form = PostForm()
        share_form = ShareForm()

        context = {
            'post_list': posts,
            'shareform': share_form,
            'form': form,
        }
        return render(request, 'social/post_list.html', context)

    def post(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        logged_in_user = request.user
        posts = Post.objects.filter(
            author__profile__followers__in=[logged_in_user.id]
        ).order_by('-created_on')
        form = PostForm(request.POST, request.FILES)
        files = request.FILES.getlist('image')
        share_form = ShareForm()

        if form.is_valid():
            new_post = form.save(commit=False)
            new_post.author = request.user
            new_post.save()

            for f in files:
                img = Image(image=f)
                img.save()
                new_post.image.add(img)

            new_post.save()

        context = {
            'post_list': posts,
            'share_form': share_form,
            'form': form,
        }
        return render(request, 'social/post_list.html', context)

class PostDetailView(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def get(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        post = Post.objects.get(pk=pk)
        form = CommentForm()
        comments = Comment.objects.filter(post=post).order_by('-created_on')

        context = {
            'post': post,
            'form': form,
            'comments': comments,
        } 
        return render(request, 'social/post_detail.html', context)

    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        post = Post.objects.get(pk=pk)
        form = CommentForm(request.POST)

        if form.is_valid():
            new_comment = form.save(commit=False)
            new_comment.author = request.user
            new_comment.post = post
            new_comment.save()

        comments = Comment.objects.filter(post=post).order_by('-created_on')

        notification = Notification.objects.create(notification_type=2, from_user=request.user, to_user=post.author, post=post)

        context = {
            'post': post,
            'form': form,
            'comments': comments,
        }
        
        return render(request, 'social/post_detail.html', context)

class CommentReplyView(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def post(self, request, post_pk, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        post = Post.objects.get(pk=post_pk)
        parent_comment = Comment.objects.get(pk=pk)
        form = CommentForm(request.POST)

        if form.is_valid():
            new_comment = form.save(commit=False)
            new_comment.author = request.user
            new_comment.post = post
            new_comment.parent = parent_comment
            new_comment.save()

        notification = Notification.objects.create(notification_type=2, from_user=request.user, to_user=parent_comment.author, comment=new_comment)

        return redirect('post-detail', pk=post_pk)

class PostEditView(LoginRequiredMixin, UserPassesTestMixin, UpdateView):
    model = Post
    fields =['body']
    template_name = 'social/post_edit.html'

    def get_success_url(self):
        pk = self.kwargs['pk']
        return reverse_lazy('post-detail', kwargs={'pk': pk})

    def test_func(self):
        post = self.get_object()
        return self.request.user == post.author

class PostDeleteView(LoginRequiredMixin, UserPassesTestMixin, DeleteView):
    model = Post
    template_name = 'social/post_delete.html'
    success_url = reverse_lazy('post-list')

    def test_func(self):
        post = self.get_object()
        return self.request.user == post.author

class CommentDeleteView(LoginRequiredMixin, UserPassesTestMixin, DeleteView):
    model = Comment
    template_name = 'social/comment_delete.html'

    def get_success_url(self):
        pk = self.kwargs['post_pk']
        return reverse_lazy('post-detail', kwargs={'pk': pk})

    def test_func(self):
        post = self.get_object()
        return self.request.user == post.author

class ProfileView(View):
    def get(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        profile = UserProfile.objects.get(pk=pk)
        user = profile.user
        post = Post.objects.filter(author=user).order_by('-created_on')

        followers = profile.followers.all()

        if len(followers) == 0:
            is_following = False

        for follower in followers:
            if follower == request.user:
                is_following = True
                break
            else:
                is_following = False
    
        number_of_followers = len(followers)

        context = {
            'user': user,
            'profile': profile,
            'posts': post,
            'number_of_followers': number_of_followers,
            'is_following': is_following,
        }

        return render(request, 'social/profile.html', context)

class ProfileEditView(LoginRequiredMixin, UserPassesTestMixin, UpdateView):
    model = UserProfile
    fields = ['name', 'bio', 'birth_date','location','picture']
    template_name = 'social/profile_edit.html'

    def get_success_url(self):
        pk = self.kwargs['pk']
        return reverse_lazy('profile', kwargs={'pk':pk})

    def test_func(self):
        profile = self.get_object()
        return self.request.user == profile.user

class AddFollower(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        profile = UserProfile.objects.get(pk=pk)
        profile.followers.add(request.user)

        notification = Notification.objects.create(notification_type=3, from_user=request.user, to_user=profile.user)

        return redirect('profile', pk=profile.pk)

class RemoveFollower(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        profile = UserProfile.objects.get(pk=pk)
        profile.followers.remove(request.user)

        return redirect('profile', pk=profile.pk)

class AddLike(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        post = Post.objects.get(pk=pk)

        is_dislike = False

        for dislike in post.dislikes.all():
            if dislike == request.user:
                is_dislike = True
                break

        if is_dislike:
            post.dislikes.remove(request.user)

        is_like = False

        for like in post.likes.all():
            if like == request.user:
                is_like = True
                break

        if not is_like:
            post.likes.add(request.user)
            notification = Notification.objects.create(notification_type=1, from_user=request.user, to_user=post.author, post=post)

        if is_like:
            post.likes.remove(request.user)

        next = request.POST.get('next', '/')
        return HttpResponseRedirect(next)

class AddDislike(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        post = Post.objects.get(pk=pk)

        is_like = False

        for like in post.likes.all():
            if like == request.user:
                is_like = True
                break

        if is_like:
            post.likes.remove(request.user)

        is_dislike = False

        for dislike in post.dislikes.all():
            if dislike == request.user:
                is_dislike = True
                break

        if not is_dislike:
            post.dislikes.add(request.user)

        if is_dislike: 
            post.dislikes.remove(request.user)

        next = request.POST.get('next', '/')
        return HttpResponseRedirect(next)

class AddCommentLike(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        comment = Comment.objects.get(pk=pk)

        is_dislike = False

        for dislike in comment.dislikes.all():
            if dislike == request.user:
                is_dislike = True
                break

        if is_dislike:
            comment.dislikes.remove(request.user)

        is_like = False

        for like in comment.likes.all():
            if like == request.user:
                is_like = True
                break

        if not is_like:
            comment.likes.add(request.user)
            notification = Notification.objects.create(notification_type=1, from_user=request.user, to_user=comment.author, comment=comment)

        if is_like:
            comment.likes.remove(request.user)

        next = request.POST.get('next', '/')
        return HttpResponseRedirect(next)

class AddCommentDislike(LoginRequiredMixin, View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        comment = Comment.objects.get(pk=pk)

        is_like = False

        for like in comment.likes.all():
            if like == request.user:
                is_like = True
                break

        if is_like:
            comment.likes.remove(request.user)

        is_dislike = False

        for dislike in comment.dislikes.all():
            if dislike == request.user:
                is_dislike = True
                break

        if not is_dislike:
            comment.dislikes.add(request.user)

        if is_dislike: 
            comment.dislikes.remove(request.user)

        next = request.POST.get('next', '/')
        return HttpResponseRedirect(next)

class SharedPostView(View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        original_post = Post.objects.get(pk=pk)
        form = ShareForm(request.POST)

        if form.is_valid():
            new_post = Post(
                shared_body=self.request.POST.get('body'),
                body=original_post.body,
                author=original_post.author,
                created_on=original_post.created_on,
                shared_user=request.user,
                shared_on=timezone.now(),
            )
            new_post.save()

            for img in original_post.image.all():
                new_post.image.add(img)
            new_post.save()
        return redirect ('post-list')

class UserSearch(View):
    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        query = self.request.GET.get('query')
        profile_list = UserProfile.objects.filter(
            Q(user__username__icontains=query)
        )

        context = {
            'profile_list': profile_list,
        }

        return render(request, 'social/search.html', context)

class ListFollowers(View):
    def get(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        profile = UserProfile.objects.get(pk=pk)
        followers = profile.followers.all()

        context = {
            'profile': profile,
            'followers': followers,
        }

        return render(request, 'social/followers_list.html', context)

class PostNotification(View):
    def get(self, request, notification_pk, post_pk, *args, **kwargs):
        notification = Notification.objects.get(pk=notification_pk)
        post = Post.objects.get(pk=post_pk)

        notification.user_has_seen = True
        notification.save()

        return redirect('post-detail', pk=post_pk)
        
class FollowNotification(View):
    def get(self, request, notification_pk, profile_pk, *args, **kwargs):
        notification = Notification.objects.get(pk=notification_pk)
        profile = UserProfile.objects.get(pk=profile_pk)

        notification.user_has_seen = True
        notification.save()

        return redirect('profile', pk=profile_pk)

class ThreadNotification(View):
    def get(self, request, notification_pk, object_pk, *args, **kwargs):
        notification = Notification.objects.get(pk=notification_pk)
        thread = ThreadModel.objects.get(pk=object_pk)

        notification.user_has_seen = True
        notification.save()

        return redirect('thread', pk=object_pk)

class RemoveNotification(View):
    def delete(self, request, notification_pk, *args, **kwargs):
        notification = Notification.objects.get(pk=notification_pk)

        notification.user_has_seen = True
        notification.save()

        return HttpResponse('Success', content_type='text/plain')

class ListThreads(View):
    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        threads = ThreadModel.objects.filter(Q(user=request.user) | Q(receiver=request.user))

        context = {
            'threads': threads
        }

        return render(request, 'social/inbox.html', context)

class CreateThread(View):
    def get(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        form = ThreadForm()

        context = {
            'form': form
        }

        return render(request, 'social/create_thread.html', context)

    def post(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
        form = ThreadForm(request.POST)

        username = request.POST.get('username')

        try:
            receiver = User.objects.get(username=username)
            if ThreadModel.objects.filter(user=request.user, receiver=receiver).exists():
                thread = ThreadModel.objects.filter(user=request.user, receiver=receiver)[0]
                return redirect('thread', pk=thread.pk)
            elif ThreadModel.objects.filter(user=receiver, receiver=request.user).exists():
                thread = ThreadModel.objects.filter(user=receiver, receiver=request.user)[0]
                return redirect('thread', pk=thread.pk)

            if form.is_valid():
                thread = ThreadModel(
                    user=request.user,
                    receiver=receiver
                )
                thread.save()

                return redirect('thread', pk=thread.pk)
        except: 
            messages.error(request, 'User not found')
            return redirect('create-thread')

class ThreadView(View):
    def get(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        form = MessageForm()
        thread = ThreadModel.objects.get(pk=pk)
        message_list = MessageModel.objects.filter(thread__pk__contains=pk)
        context = {
            'thread': thread,
            'form': form,
            'message_list': message_list,
        }

        return render(request, 'social/thread.html', context)

class CreateMessage(View):
    def post(self, request, pk, *args, **kwargs):
        form = MessageForm(request.POST, request.FILES)
        thread = ThreadModel.objects.get(pk=pk)
        if thread.receiver == request.user:
            receiver = thread.user
        else:
            receiver = thread.receiver

        if form.is_valid():
            message = form.save(commit=False)
            message.thread = thread
            message.sender_user = request.user
            message.receiver_user = receiver
            message.save()

        notification = Notification.objects.create(
            notification_type=4,
            from_user=request.user,
            to_user=receiver,
            thread=thread
        )

        return redirect('thread', pk=pk) 

models.py :

from django.db import models
from django.utils import timezone
from django.contrib.auth.models import User
from django.db.models.signals import post_save
from django.dispatch import receiver


class Post(models.Model):
    shared_body = models.TextField(blank=True, null=True)
    body = models.TextField()
    image = models.ManyToManyField('Image', blank=True)
    created_on = models.DateTimeField(default=timezone.now)
    shared_on = models.DateTimeField(blank=True, null=True)
    shared_user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE, null=True, blank=True, related_name='+')
    author = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    likes = models.ManyToManyField(User, blank=True, related_name='likes')
    dislikes = models.ManyToManyField(User, blank=True, related_name='dislikes')

    class Meta:
        ordering = ['-created_on', '-shared_on']

class Comment(models.Model):
    comment = models.TextField()
    created_on = models.DateTimeField(default=timezone.now)
    author = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    post = models.ForeignKey('Post', on_delete=models.CASCADE, null=True)
    likes = models.ManyToManyField(User, blank=True, related_name='comment_likes')
    dislikes = models.ManyToManyField(User, blank=True, related_name='comment_dislikes')
    parent = models.ForeignKey('self', on_delete=models.CASCADE, blank=True, null=True, related_name='+')

    @property
    def children(self):
        return Comment.objects.filter(parent=self).order_by('-created_on').all()

    @property
    def is_parent(self):
        if self.parent is None:
            return True
        return False
    
class UserProfile(models.Model):
    user = models.OneToOneField(User, primary_key=True, verbose_name='user', related_name='profile', on_delete=models.CASCADE)
    name = models.CharField(max_length=30, blank=True, null=True)
    bio = models.TextField(max_length=500, blank=True, null=True)
    birth_date = models.DateField(null=True, blank=True)
    location = models.CharField(max_length=100, blank=True, null=True)
    picture = models.ImageField(upload_to='uploads/profile_pictures', default='uploads/profile_pictures/default.jpeg', blank=True)
    followers = models.ManyToManyField(User, blank=True, related_name='followers')

@receiver(post_save, sender=User)
def create_user_profile(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
    if created:
        UserProfile.objects.create(user=instance)

@receiver(post_save, sender=User)
def save_user_profile(sender, instance, **kwargs):
    instance.profile.save()

class Notification(models.Model):
    # 1 = Like, 2 = Comment, 3 = Follow, 4= DM
    notification_type =  models.IntegerField()
    to_user = models.ForeignKey(User, related_name='notification_to', on_delete=models.CASCADE, null=True)
    from_user = models.ForeignKey(User, related_name='notification_from', on_delete=models.CASCADE, null=True)
    post = models.ForeignKey('Post', on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='+', blank=True, null=True)
    comment = models.ForeignKey('Comment', on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='+', blank=True, null=True)
    thread = models.ForeignKey('ThreadModel', on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='+', blank=True, null=True)
    date = models.DateTimeField(default=timezone.now)
    user_has_seen = models.BooleanField(default=False)
    
class ThreadModel(models.Model):
    user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='+')
    receiver = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='+')

class MessageModel(models.Model):
    thread = models.ForeignKey('ThreadModel', related_name='+', on_delete=models.CASCADE, blank=True, null=True)
    sender_user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='+')
    receiver_user = models.ForeignKey(User, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='+')
    body = models.CharField(max_length=10000)
    image = models.ImageField(upload_to='uploads/message_photos', blank=True, null=True)
    date = models.DateTimeField(default=timezone.now)
    is_read = models.BooleanField(default=False)

class Image(models.Model):
    image = models.ImageField(upload_to='uploads/post_photos', blank=True, null=True)

Any tips as to why the news feed may only be appearing on the admin's account/ only appears AFTER a post has been submitted (which would be a nuisance to have to submit a post every time you want to view your news feed) would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

Does this issue occur even when you remove the filter:

posts = Post.objects.filter(
            author__profile__followers__in=[logged_in_user.id]
        ).order_by('-created_on')

It looks like it only shows posts for the followers of the user.id

Answer 2

Firstfully, you should not end post() method with render . That may cause weird stuff happening during site loading. Rather use return self.form_valid(form) or the same with invalid. It's possibly, that you might need to inherit also FormMixin . Then you need to specify get_success_url() but I can see you know how to do that.

Secondly, if you want PostListView to be a list view, do it:) Then use get_queryset() method:

class PostListView(LoginRequiredMixin, ListView):
    ...
    def get_queryset(self):
        return Post.objects.filter(...)

Thirdly, I am not sure about author__profile__followers__in=[logged_in_user.id] filter. For me it is confusing. Maybe try different approach here to fix filtering. Try .all() instead of .filter() and see if it shows all correctly.

It seems you may be confused with ManyToMany relations. You should not use related name same as field name, it works exactly in a opposite way, as you might think. Read about it in Django's Docs .