Removing 'Add' link in Django admin sidebar

Question

The Django admin index page lists models in a left side sidebar, each with an 'Add' link to instantiate a new object.

I want to remove that 'Add' link for just one of the models (Appointments) in the side bar, while retaining it within inline views.

First try: set add_url to false.

# admin.py
class AppointmentAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    add_url = False

This did not work. The 'Add' link still appears. The docs say add_url is an AdminSite method. I didn't want to apply this site-wide, but worth a try:

Second try:

#admin.py
class AppointmentSitewideAdmin(admin.AdminSite):
    add_url = None

Didn't work. Duh, 'AppointmentSitewideAdmin' refers to nothing.

Third try: override the app_list.html template. This works, but seems like the brute force way. There must be something more elegant? I've looked at defining-a-custom-app-list-in-django-admin-index-page, more complex, not directly applicable, and uses AdminSite (I'm assuming I need to be working local to this app, i.e. admin.ModelAdmin).

{% if app_list %}
  {% for app in app_list %}
    <div class="app-{{ app.app_label }} module{% if app.app_url in request.path|urlencode %} current-app{% endif %}">
      <table>
        <caption>
          <a href="{{ app.app_url }}" class="section" title="{% blocktranslate with name=app.name %}Models in the {{ name }} application{% endblocktranslate %}">{{ app.name }}</a>
        </caption>
        {% for model in app.models %}
            <tr class="model-{{ model.object_name|lower }}{% if model.admin_url in request.path|urlencode %} current-model{% endif %}">
              {% if model.admin_url %}
                <th scope="row"><a href="{{ model.admin_url }}"{% if model.admin_url in request.path|urlencode %} aria-current="page"{% endif %}>{{ model.name }}</a></th>
              {% else %}
                <th scope="row">{{ model.name }}</th>
              {% endif %}

              {# --------------- THE RELEVANT LINE ------------------- #}
              {% if model.add_url and model.name != 'Appointments' %}
                <td><a href="{{ model.add_url }}" class="addlink">{% translate 'Add' %}</a></td>
              {% else %}
                <td></td>
              {% endif %}

              {% if model.admin_url and show_changelinks %}
                {% if model.view_only %}
                  <td><a href="{{ model.admin_url }}" class="viewlink">{% translate 'View' %}</a></td>
                {% else %}
                  <td><a href="{{ model.admin_url }}" class="changelink">{% translate 'Change' %}</a></td>
                {% endif %}
              {% elif show_changelinks %}
                <td></td>
              {% endif %}
            </tr>
        {% endfor %}
      </table>
    </div>
  {% endfor %}
{% else %}
  <p>{% translate 'You don’t have permission to view or edit anything.' %}</p>
{% endif %}

Answer 1

Add button is controlled by add permissions. You can hide it by using:

class AppointmentAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
    def has_add_permission(self, request):
        return False