from django.contrib import admin ORDER_VAR = admin.views.main.ChangeList.ORDER_VAR class MultiFieldSortableChangeList(admin.views.main.ChangeList): """ This class overrides the behavior of column sorting in django admin tables in order to allow multi field sorting Usage: class MyCustomAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin): ... def get_changelist(self, request, **kwargs): return MultiFieldSortableChangeList ... """ def get_ordering(self, request, queryset): """ Returns the list of ordering fields for the change list. First we check the get_ordering() method in model admin, then we check the object's default ordering. Then, any manually-specified ordering from the query string overrides anything. Finally, a deterministic order is guaranteed by ensuring the primary key is used as the last ordering field. """ params = self.params ordering = list(self.model_admin.get_ordering(request) or self._get_default_ordering()) if ORDER_VAR in params: # Clear ordering and used params ordering = [] order_params = params[ORDER_VAR].split('.') for p in order_params: try: none, pfx, idx = p.rpartition('-') field_name = self.list_display[int(idx)] # the following 8 lines are the only ones modified by me------------------------ order_fields = self.get_ordering_field(field_name) # I ask for __iter__ because hasattr(x, '__iter__') is true for list and tuples # but false for strings # http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1952464/in-python-how-do-i-determine-if-an-object-is-iterable if not hasattr(order_fields, '__iter__'): order_fields = [order_fields] for order_field in order_fields: if order_field: ordering.append(pfx + order_field) except (IndexError, ValueError): continue # Invalid ordering specified, skip it. # Add the given query's ordering fields, if any. ordering.extend(queryset.query.order_by) # Ensure that the primary key is systematically present in the list of # ordering fields so we can guarantee a deterministic order across all # database backends. pk_name = self.lookup_opts.pk.name if not (set(ordering) & set(['pk', '-pk', pk_name, '-' + pk_name])): # The two sets do not intersect, meaning the pk isn't present. So # we add it. ordering.append('-pk') return ordering class MultiFieldSortableModelAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin): """ By inherit from this class, now is possible to define admin_order_field like this: def user_full_name(self, obj): return obj.get_full_name() user_full_name.admin_order_field = ['first_name', 'last_name'] """ def get_changelist(self, request, **kwargs): return MultiFieldSortableChangeList