SEO support for angular, backbone, ember, famo.us, and other SPA apps built with django.
Project description
django-seo-js
=============
django-seo-js is a drop-in app that provides full SEO support for angular, backbone, ember, famo.us, and other SPA apps built with django.
It's simple to set up, configurable to use multiple services, and easy to customize.
Quick-links:
- [Installation](README.md#installation)
- [Options](README.md#options)
- [General Settings](README.md#General-Settings)
- [Backend settings](README.md#Backend-settings)
- [Prerender.io](README.md#Prerender-io)
- [Custom-hosted prerender](README.md#custom-hosted-prerender)
- [How it all works](README.md#how-it-all-works)
- [Contributing](README.md#contributing)
- [Releases](README.md#releases)
# Installation
Pip install:
```bash
pip install django-seo-js
```
Add to your `settings.py`:
```python
# If in doubt, just include both. Details below.
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django_seo_js.middleware.HashBangMiddleware', # If you're using #!
'django_seo_js.middleware.UserAgentMiddleware', # If you want to detect by user agent
) + MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES
INSTALLED_APPS += ('django_seo_js',)
# If you're using prerender.io (the default backend):
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_TOKEN = "123456789abcdefghijkl"
```
Add this to your `base.html`
```twig
{% load django_seo_js %}
<head>
{% seo_js_head %}
...
</head>
```
That's it! Your js-heavy pages are now rendered properly to the search engines. Have a lovely day.
# Updating the render cache
If you know a page's contents have changed, some backends allow you to manually update the page cache. `django-seo-js` provides helpers to make that easy.
```python
from django_seo_js.helpers import update_cache_for_url
update_cache_for_url("/my-url")
```
So, for instance, you might want something like:
```python
def listing_changed(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
update_cache_for_url("%s%s" % ("http://example.com/", reverse("listing_detail", instance.pk))
post_save.connect(listing_changed, sender=Listing)
```
# Options
## General settings
For the most part, you shouldn't need to override these - we've aimed for sensible defaults.
```python
# Backend to use
SEO_JS_BACKEND = "django_seo_js.backends.PrerenderIO" # Default
# Whether to run the middlewares and update_cache_for_url. Useful to set False for unit testing.
SEO_JS_ENABLED = True # Defaults to *not* DEBUG.
# User-agents to render for, if you're using the UserAgentMiddleware
# Defaults to the most popular. If you have custom needs, pull from the full list:
# http://www.useragentstring.com/pages/Crawlerlist/
SEO_JS_USER_AGENTS = [
"Googlebot",
"Yahoo",
"bingbot",
"Badiu",
"Ask Jeeves",
]
# Urls to skip the rendering backend, and always render in-app.
# Defaults to excluding sitemap.xml.
SEO_JS_IGNORE_URLS = [
"/sitemap.xml",
]
SEO_JS_IGNORE_EXTENSIONS = [
".xml",
".txt",
# See helpers.py for full list of extensions ignored by default.
]
```
## Backend settings
### Prerender.io
django-seo-js defaults to using prerender.io because it's both [open-source](https://github.com/prerender/prerender) if you want to run it yourself, *and* really reasonably priced if you don't.
To use [prerender.io](http://prerender.io),
```python
# Prerender.io token
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_TOKEN = "123456789abcdefghijkl"
```
You don't need to set `SEO_JS_BACKEND`, since it defaults to `"django_seo_js.backends.PrerenderIO"`.
### Custom-hosted prerender
If you're hosting your own instance of [prerender](https://github.com/prerender/prerender), configuration is similar
```python
SEO_JS_BACKEND = "django_seo_js.backends.PrerenderHosted"
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_URL = "http://my-prerenderapp.com/" # Note trailing slash.
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_RECACHE_URL = "http://my-prerenderapp.com/recache"
```
### Writing your own backend
If it's a backend for a public service, please consider submitting your backend as a PR, so everyone can benefit!
Backends must implement the following methods:
```python
class MyBackend(SEOBackendBase):
def get_response_for_url(self, url):
"""
Accepts a fully-qualified url.
Returns an HttpResponse, passing through all headers and the status code.
"""
raise NotImplementedError
def update_url(self, url):
"""
Force an update of the cache for a particular URL.
Returns True on success, False on fail.
"""
raise NotImplementedError
```
If you're hitting an http endpoint, there's also the helpful `RequestsBasedBackend`, which has a `build_django_response_from_requests_response` method that transforms a [python-requests](http://docs.python-requests.org/) response to a django HttpResponse, including headers, status codes, etc.
## How it all works
If you're looking for a big-picture explanation of how SEO for JS-heavy apps is handled, the clearest explanation I've seen is [this StackOverflow answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/20766253).
If even that's TL;DR for you, here's a bullet-point summary:
- If requests come in with an `_escaped_fragment_` querystring or a particular user agent, a pre-rendered HTML response is served, instead of your app.
- That pre-rendered HTML is generated by a service with a headless browser that runs your js then caches the rendered page.
- Said service is generally a third party (there are many: [prerender.io](https://prerender.io/), [Brombone](http://www.brombone.com/), [seo.js](http://getseojs.com/), [seo4ajax](http://www.seo4ajax.com/).) You can also run such a service yourself, using [prerender](https://github.com/prerender/prerender), or re-invent your own wheel for fun.
# Contributing
PRs with additional backends, bug-fixes, documentation and more are definitely welcome!
Please add tests to any new functionality - you can run tests with `python manage.py test`
# Releases
### 0.2.4 - August 12, 2014
* Adds a few more user agents to the defaults, per #7, and the suggestion of [andrewebdev](https://github.com/andrewebdev)
### 0.2.3 - May 28, 2014
* Adds an optional `SEO_JS_IGNORE_EXTENSIONS` setting that contains a list of extensions to ignore, thanks to the suggestion by [thoop](https://github.com/thoop).
### 0.2.2 - May 22, 2014
* Adds an optional `SEO_JS_IGNORE_URLS` setting, that contains a list of urls to ignore, thanks to the sitemap.xml prerender bug reported by [alex-mcleod](https://github.com/alex-mcleod).
### 0.2.1 - May 19, 2014
* **Backwards incompatible** changes to `SEOBackendBase` - all backends are now expected to return an `HttpResponse` for their `get_response_for_url` methods. If you have custom backends, they'll need to be updated. All included backends have been updated, so if you're using an included backend, you can just pip install the new version, and go.
* Returns pages that come back from the cache with anything besides a `5xx` status code.
* Passes on headers, content type, and status code from the cache response.
* If the backend return a `5xx` status, just returns the normal app and hopes for the best.
### 0.1.3 - May 13, 2014
* Adds a `SEO_JS_ENABLED` setting, so you can disable hooks and middlewares during tests.
### 0.1.2 - May 9, 2014
* Handles cases where a request didn't come with a User-agent.
### 0.1.1 - May 9, 2014
* Improvements to unit tests.
### 0.1 - May 8, 2014
* Includes `PrerenderIO` and `PrerenderHosted` backends.
* First release - we're using this in production at [GreenKahuna ScrapBin](http://scrapbin.com).
=============
django-seo-js is a drop-in app that provides full SEO support for angular, backbone, ember, famo.us, and other SPA apps built with django.
It's simple to set up, configurable to use multiple services, and easy to customize.
Quick-links:
- [Installation](README.md#installation)
- [Options](README.md#options)
- [General Settings](README.md#General-Settings)
- [Backend settings](README.md#Backend-settings)
- [Prerender.io](README.md#Prerender-io)
- [Custom-hosted prerender](README.md#custom-hosted-prerender)
- [How it all works](README.md#how-it-all-works)
- [Contributing](README.md#contributing)
- [Releases](README.md#releases)
# Installation
Pip install:
```bash
pip install django-seo-js
```
Add to your `settings.py`:
```python
# If in doubt, just include both. Details below.
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django_seo_js.middleware.HashBangMiddleware', # If you're using #!
'django_seo_js.middleware.UserAgentMiddleware', # If you want to detect by user agent
) + MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES
INSTALLED_APPS += ('django_seo_js',)
# If you're using prerender.io (the default backend):
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_TOKEN = "123456789abcdefghijkl"
```
Add this to your `base.html`
```twig
{% load django_seo_js %}
<head>
{% seo_js_head %}
...
</head>
```
That's it! Your js-heavy pages are now rendered properly to the search engines. Have a lovely day.
# Updating the render cache
If you know a page's contents have changed, some backends allow you to manually update the page cache. `django-seo-js` provides helpers to make that easy.
```python
from django_seo_js.helpers import update_cache_for_url
update_cache_for_url("/my-url")
```
So, for instance, you might want something like:
```python
def listing_changed(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
update_cache_for_url("%s%s" % ("http://example.com/", reverse("listing_detail", instance.pk))
post_save.connect(listing_changed, sender=Listing)
```
# Options
## General settings
For the most part, you shouldn't need to override these - we've aimed for sensible defaults.
```python
# Backend to use
SEO_JS_BACKEND = "django_seo_js.backends.PrerenderIO" # Default
# Whether to run the middlewares and update_cache_for_url. Useful to set False for unit testing.
SEO_JS_ENABLED = True # Defaults to *not* DEBUG.
# User-agents to render for, if you're using the UserAgentMiddleware
# Defaults to the most popular. If you have custom needs, pull from the full list:
# http://www.useragentstring.com/pages/Crawlerlist/
SEO_JS_USER_AGENTS = [
"Googlebot",
"Yahoo",
"bingbot",
"Badiu",
"Ask Jeeves",
]
# Urls to skip the rendering backend, and always render in-app.
# Defaults to excluding sitemap.xml.
SEO_JS_IGNORE_URLS = [
"/sitemap.xml",
]
SEO_JS_IGNORE_EXTENSIONS = [
".xml",
".txt",
# See helpers.py for full list of extensions ignored by default.
]
```
## Backend settings
### Prerender.io
django-seo-js defaults to using prerender.io because it's both [open-source](https://github.com/prerender/prerender) if you want to run it yourself, *and* really reasonably priced if you don't.
To use [prerender.io](http://prerender.io),
```python
# Prerender.io token
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_TOKEN = "123456789abcdefghijkl"
```
You don't need to set `SEO_JS_BACKEND`, since it defaults to `"django_seo_js.backends.PrerenderIO"`.
### Custom-hosted prerender
If you're hosting your own instance of [prerender](https://github.com/prerender/prerender), configuration is similar
```python
SEO_JS_BACKEND = "django_seo_js.backends.PrerenderHosted"
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_URL = "http://my-prerenderapp.com/" # Note trailing slash.
SEO_JS_PRERENDER_RECACHE_URL = "http://my-prerenderapp.com/recache"
```
### Writing your own backend
If it's a backend for a public service, please consider submitting your backend as a PR, so everyone can benefit!
Backends must implement the following methods:
```python
class MyBackend(SEOBackendBase):
def get_response_for_url(self, url):
"""
Accepts a fully-qualified url.
Returns an HttpResponse, passing through all headers and the status code.
"""
raise NotImplementedError
def update_url(self, url):
"""
Force an update of the cache for a particular URL.
Returns True on success, False on fail.
"""
raise NotImplementedError
```
If you're hitting an http endpoint, there's also the helpful `RequestsBasedBackend`, which has a `build_django_response_from_requests_response` method that transforms a [python-requests](http://docs.python-requests.org/) response to a django HttpResponse, including headers, status codes, etc.
## How it all works
If you're looking for a big-picture explanation of how SEO for JS-heavy apps is handled, the clearest explanation I've seen is [this StackOverflow answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/20766253).
If even that's TL;DR for you, here's a bullet-point summary:
- If requests come in with an `_escaped_fragment_` querystring or a particular user agent, a pre-rendered HTML response is served, instead of your app.
- That pre-rendered HTML is generated by a service with a headless browser that runs your js then caches the rendered page.
- Said service is generally a third party (there are many: [prerender.io](https://prerender.io/), [Brombone](http://www.brombone.com/), [seo.js](http://getseojs.com/), [seo4ajax](http://www.seo4ajax.com/).) You can also run such a service yourself, using [prerender](https://github.com/prerender/prerender), or re-invent your own wheel for fun.
# Contributing
PRs with additional backends, bug-fixes, documentation and more are definitely welcome!
Please add tests to any new functionality - you can run tests with `python manage.py test`
# Releases
### 0.2.4 - August 12, 2014
* Adds a few more user agents to the defaults, per #7, and the suggestion of [andrewebdev](https://github.com/andrewebdev)
### 0.2.3 - May 28, 2014
* Adds an optional `SEO_JS_IGNORE_EXTENSIONS` setting that contains a list of extensions to ignore, thanks to the suggestion by [thoop](https://github.com/thoop).
### 0.2.2 - May 22, 2014
* Adds an optional `SEO_JS_IGNORE_URLS` setting, that contains a list of urls to ignore, thanks to the sitemap.xml prerender bug reported by [alex-mcleod](https://github.com/alex-mcleod).
### 0.2.1 - May 19, 2014
* **Backwards incompatible** changes to `SEOBackendBase` - all backends are now expected to return an `HttpResponse` for their `get_response_for_url` methods. If you have custom backends, they'll need to be updated. All included backends have been updated, so if you're using an included backend, you can just pip install the new version, and go.
* Returns pages that come back from the cache with anything besides a `5xx` status code.
* Passes on headers, content type, and status code from the cache response.
* If the backend return a `5xx` status, just returns the normal app and hopes for the best.
### 0.1.3 - May 13, 2014
* Adds a `SEO_JS_ENABLED` setting, so you can disable hooks and middlewares during tests.
### 0.1.2 - May 9, 2014
* Handles cases where a request didn't come with a User-agent.
### 0.1.1 - May 9, 2014
* Improvements to unit tests.
### 0.1 - May 8, 2014
* Includes `PrerenderIO` and `PrerenderHosted` backends.
* First release - we're using this in production at [GreenKahuna ScrapBin](http://scrapbin.com).
Release history Release notifications | RSS feed
Download files
Download the file for your platform. If you're not sure which to choose, learn more about installing packages.
Source Distribution
django-seo-js-0.2.4.tar.gz
(11.8 kB
view hashes)
