Django Object History Tracking

You're right that Django's built-in history tracking is primarily focused on the admin interface. The Django admin provides a history view for objects through the ModelAdmin.history_view() method, which can be customized using the object_history_template attribute, but this only tracks changes made through the admin interface.

Django doesn't include comprehensive object history tracking by default for several reasons:

1. It would add complexity to the core framework
2. Different projects have different history tracking needs
3. It would impact performance for all applications, even those that don't need history tracking
4. Django follows a "batteries included but removable" philosophy, where specialized functionality is often left to third-party packages

Recommendations for Tracking Object History

For tracking object history from non-admin sources, you have several options:

1. Use third-party packages like django-simple-history, which you mentioned. These packages are specifically designed for this purpose and provide robust solutions.

2. Create custom middleware or signals to track changes:

   PYTHONCopied
   from django.db.models.signals import post_save
   from django.dispatch import receiver
   from .models import YourModel, YourModelHistory
   
   @receiver(post_save, sender=YourModel)
   def create_history(sender, instance, created, **kwargs):
       YourModelHistory.objects.create(
           model_instance=instance,
           data=instance.get_serialized_data(),
           user=get_current_user(),  # You'll need to implement this
           action="create" if created else "update"
       )

3. Use Django's built-in LogEntry objects from django.contrib.admin.models and extend them for your purposes:

   PYTHONCopied
   from django.contrib.admin.models import LogEntry, ADDITION, CHANGE
   from django.contrib.contenttypes.models import ContentType
   
   def log_action(user, obj, action_flag, change_message=''):
       LogEntry.objects.log_action(
           user_id=user.id,
           content_type_id=ContentType.objects.get_for_model(obj).pk,
           object_id=obj.pk,
           object_repr=str(obj),
           action_flag=action_flag,
           change_message=change_message
       )

4. Implement model inheritance with a base history model that all your models extend.

For most production applications requiring comprehensive history tracking, a specialized third-party package like django-simple-history is usually the best option as it handles many edge cases and provides a well-tested solution.