Django admin customization — list_display, actions, and inlines

Default Django admin shows all fields in a generic list with no custom actions or related object editing. Large datasets and complex models require tailored admin interfaces.

Customize ModelAdmin with list_display, list_filter, search_fields, and inline classes. Add custom actions for bulk operations.

from django.contrib import admin
from .models import Order, OrderItem

class OrderItemInline(admin.TabularInline):
    model = OrderItem
    extra = 0
    readonly_fields = ['price_at_purchase']

@admin.register(Order)
class OrderAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    list_display = ['id', 'customer', 'status', 'total', 'created_at']
    list_filter = ['status', 'created_at']
    search_fields = ['customer__email', 'id']
    readonly_fields = ['created_at', 'updated_at']
    inlines = [OrderItemInline]
    actions = ['mark_as_shipped']

    @admin.action(description='Mark selected orders as shipped')
    def mark_as_shipped(self, request, queryset):
        updated = queryset.update(status='shipped')
        self.message_user(request, f'{updated} orders marked as shipped')

Django admin is an auto-generated CRUD interface built from ModelAdmin metadata. list_display controls column rendering, list_filter adds sidebar filters, search_fields generates icontains queries, and inlines render related objects on the same page.

Django projects that use the built-in admin for content management or internal tooling