Install the django-autocomplete-light package with pip

Install the stable release, preferably in a virtualenv:

pip install django-autocomplete-light

Or the development version:

pip install -e git+https://github.com/yourlabs/django-autocomplete-light#egg=autocomplete_light

Append 'autocomplete_light' to settings.INSTALLED_APPS

Enable templates and static files by adding autocomplete_light to settings.INSTALLED_APPS which is editable in settings.py, it can look like this:

INSTALLED_APPS = [
    # [...] your list of app packages is here, add this:
    'autocomplete_light',
]

Call autocomplete_light.autodiscover() before admin.autodiscover()

In urls.py, call autocomplete_light.autodiscover() before admin.autodiscover(), it can look like this:

import autocomplete_light
# import every app/autocomplete_light_registry.py
autocomplete_light.autodiscover()

import admin
admin.autodiscover()

Include autocomplete_light.urls

Install the autocomplete view and staff debug view in urls.py using the include function, it can look like this:

# Django 1.5:
from django.conf.urls import patterns, url, include

# In Django 1.4:
# from django.conf.urls.default import patterns, url, include

urlpatterns = patterns('',
    # [...] your url patterns are here
    url(r'^autocomplete/', include('autocomplete_light.urls')),
)

Ensure understanding of django.contrib.staticfiles

Ensure that you understand django-staticfiles, if you don’t try this article or refer to official howto and topic.

Include autocomplete_light/static.html after loading jquery.js (>=1.7)

Load the javascript scripts after loading jquery.js, it can look like this:

<script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.0/jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
{% include 'autocomplete_light/static.html' %}

Optionaly include it in admin/base_site.html too

For admin support, override admin/base_site.html. It could look like this:

{% extends "admin/base.html" %}

{% block extrahead %}
    <script src="http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.9.0/jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
    {% include 'autocomplete_light/static.html' %}
{% endblock %}

Note

There is nothing magic in how the javascript loads. This means that you can use django-compressor or anything.