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https://github.com/stephenmcd/django-email-extras

PGP encrypted / multipart templated emails for Django
https://github.com/stephenmcd/django-email-extras

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PGP encrypted / multipart templated emails for Django

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README 

        
Created by `Stephen McDonald `_



Introduction

============



django-email-extras is a Django reusable app providing the

ability to send PGP encrypted and multipart emails using

Django templates. These features can be used together or

separately. When configured to send PGP encrypted email,

the ability for Admin users to manage PGP keys is also

provided.



A tool for automatically opening multipart emails in a

local web browser during development is also provided.



Dependencies

============



  * `python-gnupg `_ is

    required for sending PGP encrypted email.



Installation

============



The easiest way to install django-email-extras is directly from PyPi

using `pip `_ by running the command

below::



    $ pip install -U django-email-extras



Otherwise you can download django-email-extras and install it directly

from source::



    $ python setup.py install



Usage

=====



Once installed, first add ``email_extras`` to your ``INSTALLED_APPS``

setting and run the migrations. Then there are two functions for sending email

in the ``email_extras.utils`` module:



  * ``send_mail``

  * ``send_mail_template``



The former mimics the signature of ``django.core.mail.send_mail``

while the latter provides the ability to send multipart emails

using the Django templating system. If configured correctly, both

these functions will PGP encrypt emails as described below.



Sending PGP Encrypted Email

===========================



`PGP explanation `_



Using `python-gnupg `_, two

models are defined in ``email_extras.models`` - ``Key`` and ``Address``

which represent a PGP key and an email address for a successfully

imported key. These models exist purely for the sake of importing

keys and removing keys for a particular address via the Django

Admin.



When adding a key, the key is imported into the key ring on

the server and the instance of the ``Key`` model is not saved. The

email address for the key is also extracted and saved as an

``Address`` instance.



The ``Address`` model is then used when sending email to check for

an existing key to determine whether an email should be encrypted.

When an ``Address`` is deleted via the Django Admin, the key is

removed from the key ring on the server.



Sending Multipart Email with Django Templates

=============================================



As mentioned above, the following function is provided in

the ``email_extras.utils`` module::



  send_mail_template(subject, template, addr_from, addr_to,

      fail_silently=False, attachments=None, context=None,

      headers=None)



The arguments that differ from ``django.core.mail.send_mail`` are

``template`` and ``context``. The ``template`` argument is simply

the name of the template to be used for rendering the email contents.



A template consists of both a HTML file and a TXT file each responsible

for their respective versions of the email and should be stored in

the ``email_extras`` directory where your templates are stored,

therefore if the name ``contact_form`` was given for the ``template``

argument, the two template files for the email would be:



  * ``templates/email_extras/contact_form.html``

  * ``templates/email_extras/contact_form.txt``



The ``attachments`` argument is a list of files to attach to the email.

Each attachment can be the full filesystem path to the file, or a

file name / file data pair.



The ``context`` argument is simply a dictionary that is used to

populate the email templates, much like a normal request context

would be used for a regular Django template.



The ``headers`` argument is a dictionary of extra headers to put on

the message. The keys are the header name and values are the header

values.



Configuration

=============



There are two settings you can configure in your project's

``settings.py`` module:



  * ``EMAIL_EXTRAS_USE_GNUPG`` - Boolean that controls whether the PGP

    encryption features are used. Defaults to ``True`` if

    ``EMAIL_EXTRAS_GNUPG_HOME`` is specified, otherwise ``False``.

  * ``EMAIL_EXTRAS_GNUPG_HOME`` - String representing a custom location

    for the GNUPG keyring.

  * ``EMAIL_EXTRAS_GNUPG_ENCODING`` - String representing a gnupg encoding.

    Defaults to GNUPG ``latin-1`` and could be changed to e.g. ``utf-8``

    if needed.  Check out

    `python-gnupg docs `_

    for more info.

  * ``EMAIL_EXTRAS_ALWAYS_TRUST_KEYS`` - Skip key validation and assume

    that used keys are always fully trusted.



Local Browser Testing

=====================



When sending multipart emails during development, it can be useful

to view the HTML part of the email in a web browser, without having

to actually send emails and open them in a mail client. To use

this feature during development, simply set your email backend as follows

in your development ``settings.py`` module::



  EMAIL_BACKEND = 'email_extras.backends.BrowsableEmailBackend'



With this configured, each time a multipart email is sent, it will

be written to a temporary file, which is then automatically opened

in a local web browser. Suffice to say, this should only be enabled

during development!