Crispy Forms GDS

A GOV.UK Design System template pack for Django Crispy Forms, for simple and powerful form generation which is compliant with GDS usability and accessibility guidelines.

Compatibility

crispy-forms-gds	Government Design System	django-crispy-forms	django
0.x	3.5	1.x - 2.2	3.2 LTS, 4.2 LTS
1.x	5.0 - 5.2	2.0 - 2.3	4.2 LTS
2.x	5.0 - 5.8	2.0 - 2.3	5.0, 5.1

Both Version 1.x and 2.x are still in development.

The Government Design System versions will be updated as each release is tested.

There are components which have not yet been implemented. Check the issues for details.

Quickstart

This is a minimal howto without options or details - see the crispy-forms-gds documentation for full instructions for installation and usage.

Install using pip:

pip install crispy-forms-gds

Add to installed apps, with settings to tell django-crispy-forms to use this theme, along with the version number of the govuk frontend you are using:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
  ...
  'crispy_forms',
  'crispy_forms_gds',
]
CRISPY_ALLOWED_TEMPLATE_PACKS = ["gds"]
CRISPY_TEMPLATE_PACK = "gds"
CRISPY_GDS_FRONTEND_VERSION = "5.0.0"

Build a regular crispy form using layout objects from crispy_forms_gds:

from django import forms

from crispy_forms_gds.helper import FormHelper
from crispy_forms_gds.layout import Submit


class SimpleForm(forms.Form):

    name = forms.CharField(
        label="Name",
        help_text="Your full name.",
        widget=forms.TextInput(),
        error_messages={
            "required": "Enter your name as it appears on your passport"
        }
    )

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.helper = FormHelper()
        self.helper.add_input(Submit("submit", "Submit"))

Render the form in your templates as normal:

{% load crispy_forms_tags %}
{% crispy form %}

Examples

The template pack supports all the basic components listed in the GOV.UK Design System. Here are some examples taken from the demo site included in the project.

Accordion

Layout components, such as the Accordion let you generate complex forms with multiple sections:

from django import forms

from crispy_forms_gds.helper import FormHelper
from crispy_forms_gds.layout import HTML, Accordion, AccordionSection, Layout


class AccordionForm(forms.Form):
    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.helper = FormHelper()
        self.helper.layout = Layout(
            Accordion(
                AccordionSection(
                    "Writing well for the web",
                    HTML.p("This is the content for Writing well for the web."),
                    summary="An introduction to clear and concise writing.",
                ),
                AccordionSection(
                    "Writing well for specialists",
                    HTML.p("This is the content for Writing well for specialists."),
                ),
                AccordionSection(
                    "Know your audience",
                    HTML.p("This is the content for Know your audience."),
                ),
                AccordionSection(
                    "How people read",
                    HTML.p("This is the content for How people read."),
                ),
            )
        )

Radio Buttons

ChoiceFields can be displayed as Select or Radio components. Radio buttons also support Design System features such as sizing, hinting and dividers:

from django import forms

from crispy_forms_gds.choices import Choice
from crispy_forms_gds.helper import FormHelper
from crispy_forms_gds.layout import Button, Field, Layout, Size


class RadiosForm(forms.Form):

    name = forms.ChoiceField(
        choices=(("yes", "Yes"), ("no", "No")),
        widget=forms.RadioSelect,
        label="Have you changed your name?",
        help_text="This includes changing your last name or spelling your name differently.",
        error_messages={"required": "Enter whether your name has changed"},
    )

    METHODS = (
        Choice("email", "Email", hint="Do not use an email address from work"),
        Choice("phone", "Phone", divider="Or"),
        Choice("text", "Text message"),
    )

    method = forms.ChoiceField(
        choices=METHODS,
        widget=forms.RadioSelect,
        label="How would you like to be contacted?",
        help_text="Select the options that is best for you.",
        error_messages={
            "required": "Select the best way to send a confirmation message"
        },
    )

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.helper = FormHelper()
        self.helper.layout = Layout(
            Field.radios("name", legend_size=Size.MEDIUM, legend_tag="h1", inline=True),
            Field.radios("method", legend_size=Size.MEDIUM, small=True),
            Button("submit", "Submit"),
        )

Validation Errors

Forms fully support the Error Message and Error Summary components with no extra effort on your part:

from django import forms

from crispy_forms_gds.helper import FormHelper
from crispy_forms_gds.layout import (
    Button,
    Field,
    Fieldset,
    Fixed,
    Fluid,
    Layout,
    Size,
)


class UserForm(forms.Form):

    name = forms.CharField(
        label="Your name",
        help_text="Enter your name as it appears on your passport.",
    )

    email = forms.CharField(
        label="Email",
        help_text="Enter your email address.",
        widget=forms.EmailInput,
    )

    phone = forms.CharField(
        label="Phone",
        help_text="Enter your home or mobile telephone number.",
    )

    def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
        super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
        self.helper = FormHelper()
        self.helper.label_size = Size.SMALL
        self.helper.layout = Layout(
            Fieldset(
                Field.text("name"),
                Field.text("email", field_width=Fluid.TWO_THIRDS),
                Field.text("phone", field_width=Fixed.TEN),
            ),
            Button("submit", "Submit"),
        )

Demo

If you checkout the code from the repository, there is a Django site you can run to see the forms in action:

git clone [email protected]:wildfish/crispy-forms-gds.git
cd crispy-forms-gds

First, create a virtual environment:

uv venv

Activate it:

source .venv/bin/activate

Install all the dependencies:

uv sync

Next, copy and install the precompiled govuk-frontend files in the assets directory in the project root:

1. Download the pre-compiled files provided at bottom of each GOV.UK Frontend release note. 2. Unzip the zip file. 3. Copy the files in assets/fonts to assets/fonts. 4. Copy the files in assets/images to assets/images. 5. Copy the file, assets/manifest.json to assets. 6. Copy the .css and .css.map files to assets/stylesheets. 7. Copy the .js and .js.map files to assets/javascripts. 8. Edit demo/settings.py to set GDS_VERSION to the version you downloaded.

Create a copy of the .env.example file and edit it to set the version number of the govuk-frontend you downloaded:

cp .env.example .env

Now, setup and run Django:

python manage.py migrate
python manage.py runserver

Open http://localhost:8000/ in your browser to see forms built with Django Crispy Forms styled using the GOV.UK Design System.

Project Information

Crispy Forms GDS is a community tool of the GOV.UK Design System. The Design System team is not responsible for it and cannot support you with using it. Contact Wildfish Ltd. directly if you need help or you want to request a feature.

• Documentation: https://ebird-checklists.readthedocs.io/en/latest/
• Issues: https://github.com/wildfish/crispy-forms-gds/issues
• Repository: https://github.com/wildfish/crispy-forms-gds/

The app is tested with Python 3.10+, and version 1.x officially supports Django 4.2 LTS, and Django Crispy Forms 2.x. Version 2.x supports Django 5.0, 5.1, and Django Crispy Forms 2.x. The app simply generates HTML, so it can probably be used with earlier versions of Django and Django Crispy Forms.

Crispy Forms GDS is released under the terms of the MIT license.