Caktus Blog

Insights and strategies from a team recognized at Python and Django conferences worldwide since 2009. The Caktus Blog is your space for practical how-to’s, real-world solutions, and expert advice on building better user experiences, strengthening quality assurance, solving deep and complex Python/Django problems, and managing projects that deliver impact. Whether you’re refining a UI or prepping for launch, join us to learn, level up, and lead with confidence.

2025


One Thing to Look Out For While Testing django-import-export

Often the applications we build at Caktus deal with large sets of Django objects. The attributes of these objects can vary, and may need updating in certain instances. One of the best ways to manage this data is via django-import-export, which is a tool that creates a way to perform these bulk updates with a file upload such as a .csv or .xlsx file.

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Private, ngrok-like Dev Servers with Tailscale

This past week, I learned that it's possible to run Tailscale in a local docker-compose.yml on a developer's workstation, and securely allow access to services in the docker-compose file to other users on your Tailnet.

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Choosing a Voice for Speech Synthesis

Recently we’ve been adding read-aloud support to a Django website. The tech stack for this site is Django with a bit of jQuery on the front end. The website is used exclusively in the United States, its content is offered in English and Spanish, and the read-aloud support is wanted for forms on the site. So where the site offered, for example:

A Helpful Guide to Solving Common Poetry Issues

We don't often use Poetry, the Python packaging and dependency management tool, but when we do, we usually look up and re-learn the same things repeatedly. This post is a quick reference for some of the recent issues we encountered when using Poetry.

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Chicago Like A Local

Chicago Like a Local: Things to Do During DjangoCon US 2025 (Part 1)

DjangoCon US 2025 is coming to Chicago, and while you’ll be busy soaking in all things Django, there’s no reason you can’t experience the city like a local while you’re here. Whether you’re looking for great food, cultural spots, or just a cool place to unwind, here are some top recommendations from a Chicago native.

Understanding Pricing in Custom Software Development

If you’re in the early stages of a software project and researching a technology partner, I can guess your top two questions:

How to Deploy Selectively to Production

Sometimes, it’s necessary to deploy a set of features and/or bug fixes to production before part of the current “testing” branch has been tested completely in a Q/A or staging environment.

Git
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Deleting a Django Application from a Multi-Site Kubernetes Cluster

Recently, a client requested that we delete a website that was no longer used. The Kubernetes cluster was managed by an engineer who is no longer with the company, making the cluster feel like a concealed box. All I had was the website’s name. Since we use Ingress Nginx and Nginx as a web server, I figured the answer to my query could be found there. So I ran:

How to fix factory_boy post-generation deprecation warnings

We use factory_boy for bootstrapping test data on many Python and Django projects at Caktus. Recently, we encountered a deprecation warning on an older project that had been using factory_boy for some time:

2024


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Reflections on DjangoCon US 2024: Highlights, Takeaways, and Community Connections

DjangoCon 2024 was a resounding success for the community, with attendees from all over the world gathering to learn about the latest developments in Django and to connect with the Django community. Caktus was well-represented at the conference, with six of our team members attending. In this blog post, we share our experiences at DjangoCon 2024, including our favorite talks, the people we met, and the things we learned. We also offer some tips for future attendees on how to get the most out of DjangoCon.