How Should I Best Extend Django's User Model for Custom User Data?

Extending Django's User Model: Best Practices and Considerations

Extending the Django User model with custom fields is a common need for developing custom authentication and user management functionality. Here are the most recommended approaches:

OneToOneField(User)

Django recommends using a one-to-one relationship with a separate model, commonly referred to as a profile model. This allows you to store additional user-related information while maintaining the separate User model for authentication purposes.

Substituting a Custom User Model

This approach is suitable if the default User model doesn't meet your project's specific requirements, such as using email as the username. However, it's important to consider the following drawbacks:

• It requires drastic changes to Django's authentication system, potentially compromising its stability.
• It can introduce backward compatibility issues if you need to work with older versions of Django in the future.

Other Approaches

• Changing the actual User class in Django's source tree is not recommended due to maintenance and versioning concerns.
• Copying and altering the auth module may lead to conflicts with other Django functionality.

Conclusion

While there is no one-size-fits-all solution, using a OneToOneField(User) to extend the User model is generally the most appropriate approach. It provides a simple and maintainable solution while preserving Django's built-in authentication system.

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