Most of this is personal preference vs. concrete reasons but…

Question

Editorial Team

Asked: May 13, 20262026-05-13T20:58:17+00:00 2026-05-13T20:58:17+00:00

I want to add a custom model method to the admin filter, however it

I want to add a custom model method to the admin filter, however it fails.

Example Foo:

class Foo(models.Model):
     number = models.IntegerField()
     def big_enough(self):
        return self.number > 99

now at the admin panel:

class FooAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
     list_filter = ('number', 'big_enough')

Fails, I get the error

ImproperlyConfigured at /admin/test/foo/
‘FooAdmin.list_filter[0]’ refers to field ‘big_enough’ that is missing from model ‘Foo’.

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Editorial Team · Answer 1 · 2026-05-13T20:58:17+00:00

Editorial Team

See this SO thread. It’s not as easy as it feels like it should be.