Opened 2 hours ago
#36725 new Cleanup/optimization
Add documentation for HTML form field equivalents to Django form fields
| Reported by: | Quinn-beep | Owned by: | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Component: | Forms | Version: | 5.2 |
| Severity: | Normal | Keywords: | |
| Cc: | Triage Stage: | Unreviewed | |
| Has patch: | no | Needs documentation: | no |
| Needs tests: | no | Patch needs improvement: | no |
| Easy pickings: | no | UI/UX: | no |
Description
Currently, Django’s documentation explains the mapping between model fields and form fields, but it doesn’t provide a clear reference showing how Django form fields correspond to standard HTML form elements.
To make the documentation more accessible to beginners and web developers transitioning from raw HTML forms to Django forms, I propose adding a section (or table) that lists Django form fields and their equivalent HTML form field types.
This addition will help users quickly understand which Django field to use when they are familiar with basic HTML input types.
The proposed documentation enhancement includes a table similar to the one below:
| Django Form Field | HTML Equivalent | Example HTML Tag |
| --------------------------------- | ------------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| CharField | Text input | <input type="text"> |
| EmailField | Email input | <input type="email"> |
| BooleanField | Checkbox input | <input type="checkbox"> |
| DateField | Date input | <input type="date"> |
| FileField | File upload | <input type="file"> |
| TextField | Text area | <textarea></textarea> |
| ChoiceField | Dropdown | <select><option>...</option></select> |
| … *(and other relevant mappings)* | | |
… (and other relevant mappings)
This addition would be placed in the Forms documentation (likely docs/topics/forms/modelforms.txt) under a new section titled “HTML Form Field Equivalents in Django.”