On extending the admin – perhaps there’s something to be said about the admin coming with more UI components built-in? For example it lacks any dialog / modal window implementation, or an "accordion" / disclosure pattern. Or things like support for keyboard shortcuts.
> The admin’s recommended use is limited to an organization’s internal management tool. It’s not intended for building your entire front end around.
Cue someone used to working in “scale until you die” startups telling me that any time not spend on juicing MAU is time wasted. I like working in sustainable businesses.
I’ve worked with Django for a decade. I’ve done ungodly things with Django admin. Things most people wouldn’t dream of. I am completely over doing any of that. This isn’t a fault of Django admin. It’s very good at doing what it’s intended to do. It’s just a very common beginner’s trap to try to push it further than it wants to go.
There’s plenty to critique Django admin for. I fought with it just last week. At the same time, most complaints I see about it tend to be people (IMO) misusing it. It’s the service panel. And yes, people other than the engineers that built the thing have reason to pop open the service panel. These are your mechanics. But, and especially for SaaS products, don’t conflate “user” with “customer”, and not think about your other audiences.