I'm working on a Django project and encountering an issue with Django models. Here's my current implementation:

# models.py
# views.py
from django.shortcuts import render
from .models import Article

def article_list(request):
    articles = Article.objects.all()
    for article in articles:
        print(article.author.username)  # N+1 problem here
    return render(request, 'articles.html', {'articles': articles})

The specific error I'm getting is: "django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: The SECRET_KEY setting must not be empty"

I've already tried the following approaches:

• Checked Django documentation and Stack Overflow
• Verified my database schema and migrations
• Added debugging prints to trace the issue
• Tested with different data inputs

Environment details:

• Django version: 5.0.1
• Python version: 3.11.0
• Database: PostgreSQL 15
• Operating system: Windows 11

Has anyone encountered this before? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!

The choice between Django signals and overriding save() depends on your use case:

Use save() method when:

• The logic is directly related to the model
• You need to modify the instance before saving
• The operation is essential for data integrity

class Article(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=200)
    slug = models.SlugField(unique=True)
    
    def save(self, *args, **kwargs):
        if not self.slug:
            self.slug = slugify(self.title)
        super().save(*args, **kwargs)

Use signals when:

• You need decoupled logic
• Multiple models need the same behavior
• You're working with third-party models

from django.db.models.signals import post_save
from django.dispatch import receiver

@receiver(post_save, sender=User)
def create_user_profile(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
    if created:
        UserProfile.objects.create(user=instance)