Overview

django-better500s is a library that makes 500 errors more user-friendly, and more developer-friendly. It logs the full error traceback (as if it were in DEBUG mode), as well as a user's description of what they were trying to do.

Pull requests are quite welcome!

Usage

Installation

1. pip install django-better500s

2. Edit your settings.py:

   INSTALLED_APPS += ("better500s",)
   
   # If you have other exception-processing middleware, you should
   # pay attention to what order you put middleware in. "At the end"
   # should work fine for Better500s, though.
   MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES += ("better500s.middleware.Better500s",)
   
   # Set any optional settings (below)
   BETTER_500_DEFAULT_RETURN_URL_NAME = "home_page"
   BETTER_500_LOG_DIR = join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'logs', 'better_500')
   BETTER_500_FROM_EMAIL = "[email protected]"
   BETTER_500_TO_EMAILS = ["[email protected]",]
   BETTER_500_UNCAUGHT_DIR = "Uncaught Logs"
   
   

3. Add in the urls:

   urlpatterns += patterns('',          
   	url(r'better500s/',   include('better500s.urls',  namespace="better500s",  app_name='better500s') ),
   )
   

4. Enjoy better error reports.

Optional Settings:

• BETTER_500_LOG_DIR - Where the full log traces should be stored (on default_storage, or failing that, locally). Defaults to "PROJECT_ROOT/logs/better500s".

• BETTER_500_FROM_EMAIL - The email that notifications should be sent from. Defaults to settings.DEFAULT_FROM_EMAIL.

• BETTER_500_TO_EMAILS - The set of email that notifications should be sent to. Defaults to settings.ADMINS.

• BETTER_500_UNCAUGHT_DIR - Where to store log traces in which the 500 handling page crashed, or the user's browser crashed. Defaults to "UNCAUGHT".

• BETTER_500_AJAX_URL - URL for ajax callback, that saves the log, and sends off an email. Defaults to "better-500-callback/".

• BETTER_500_POST_URL - URL for user crash report posting. Defaults to "better-500-saved/".

• BETTER_500_DEFAULT_RETURN_URL_NAME - The url name that the "Go Home" button should link to. If none, the button is hidden. Defaults to None.

How it works:

1. 500 errors (only) are caught.
2. Full debug page traceback is generated, and saved to the UNCAUGHT_DIR.
3. A "We're sorry / Tell us what you were doing" page loads.
4. On load, that page ajax pings the server.
5. On ping, the view files the log into a date-organized folder, and emails the TO_EMAILs with a link.
6. If the user submits a report, that report is saved to the database, tied to the log file. A second email is sent, with the user's report.
7. An admin can click the view link, and see the full traceback, and the user's report.

Templates and Customization

Templates

• 500_handler.html - This template is what users see when a 500 occurs, and where they can submit their report.

• feedback_saved.html - If a user submits a report, this page is what they see. Links to the page that produced the error, and optionally, home.

• view_error.html - Developer-side template for viewing captured 500s

• admin_email.txt - Template for the 500 error email.

• error_with_notes_email.txt - Template for the user bug report email.

Log file storage

By default, django-better500s uses the default_backend to store error logs. If that fails, it falls back local file storage.

Credits

django-better500s was written by Steven Skoczen for Aquameta.