How can i pass data to django layouts (like 'base.html') without having to provide it through every view?
Use a context processor, which is made exactly for that purpose. Create a file context_processors.py
in one of your app directories, then in the file define a function that return a dictionary of variables to insert in every template context, something like this:
def add_variable_to_context(request):
return {
'testme': 'Hello world!'
}
Enable your context processor in the settings (django>=1.8):
TEMPLATES = [
{
'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
'DIRS': [root('templates'),],
'APP_DIRS': True,
'OPTIONS': {
'context_processors': [
'django.template.context_processors.debug',
'django.template.context_processors.request',
'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
'yourapp.context_processors.add_variable_to_context',
],
},
},
]
Then in every template you can write
{{ testme }}
And it will render as
Hello world!
More info in the Django documentation
If you need this data in (almost) every template, then it makes sense to use a context processor. From the django docs:
The context_processors option is a list of callables – called context processors – that take a request object as their argument and return a dictionary of items to be merged into the context.
Django docs on Writing your own context processors