Overriding Widget Templates in Django 5

Based on the Django 5.1 documentation, there are a few issues with your approach to overriding file upload widget templates.

The Correct Path Structure

The first issue is the path structure. According to the documentation, built-in widget templates are stored in the django/forms/widgets path, not django/widgets. When overriding these templates, you need to maintain this path structure:

templates/django/forms/widgets/file.html

Using the TemplatesSetting Renderer

The documentation explicitly states that to override widget templates, you must use the TemplatesSetting renderer. This is a crucial step that might be missing in your setup:

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# In your settings.py
FORM_RENDERER = 'django.forms.renderers.TemplatesSetting'

Correct Template Names

For file uploads, there are two main widgets with the following template names:

• FileInput: 'django/forms/widgets/file.html'
• ClearableFileInput: 'django/forms/widgets/clearable_file_input.html'

In your custom widget class, you're using 'django/widgets/custom_file.html', which doesn't match the expected path structure.

Corrected Example

Here's a corrected version of your code:

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from django import forms

class CustomFileInput(forms.ClearableFileInput):
    template_name = 'django/forms/widgets/clearable_file_input.html'

class CustomForm(forms.Form):
    file = forms.FileField(widget=CustomFileInput)

And make sure your template is at:

templates/django/forms/widgets/clearable_file_input.html

Alternative Approach

If you want to keep your custom template name, you can do so but make sure the path is correct:

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class CustomFileInput(forms.ClearableFileInput):
    template_name = 'django/forms/widgets/custom_file.html'

And place your template at:

templates/django/forms/widgets/custom_file.html

Debugging Template Loading

If you're still having issues, you can debug template loading by temporarily enabling template debugging in your settings:

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TEMPLATES = [
    {
        'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
        'DIRS': [BASE_DIR / 'templates'],
        'APP_DIRS': True,
        'OPTIONS': {
            'context_processors': [
                # your context processors
            ],
            'debug': True,  # Enable template debugging
        },
    },
]

This will show you which templates Django is trying to load and from where.

Remember that overriding widget templates globally is possible in Django 5, but you need to follow the correct path structure and use the appropriate renderer.