Wagtail CMS

Key Features

• StreamField block-based content editing with drag-and-drop page composition
• Hierarchical page tree with URL routing and site structure management
• Built-in image and document management with automatic format generation and focal point selection
• PostgreSQL JSONB storage for StreamField data enabling complex queries on block content
• Integrated search using PostgreSQL's full-text search with customizable ranking and filtering
• Multi-site management from single Wagtail installation with domain-based routing
• Workflow system with content moderation, scheduled publishing, and revision history
• Django admin integration alongside Wagtail's custom admin interface for complete site management

Common Use Cases

• 1Corporate websites with complex content structures and multiple content editors
• 2Digital agency client sites requiring custom functionality built on Django framework
• 3News and media publications needing workflow management and scheduled publishing
• 4E-commerce sites using Wagtail for content pages with Django handling transactional functionality
• 5Educational institutions managing multiple department sites from single installation
• 6Government and non-profit organizations requiring WCAG compliance and structured content
• 7Multi-language websites leveraging Wagtail's internationalization capabilities with PostgreSQL collation support

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed with minimum 2GB RAM available for containers
• Basic understanding of Django concepts including models, views, and URL routing
• Familiarity with PostgreSQL administration for database maintenance and optimization
• Port 8000 available for Wagtail web interface access
• Environment variables configured: DB_PASSWORD and SECRET_KEY (50+ character random string)
• Understanding of Python package management if extending Wagtail with custom applications

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  wagtail: 
3    image: wagtail/wagtail:latest
4    container_name: wagtail
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    environment: 
7      DATABASE_URL: postgres://wagtail:${DB_PASSWORD}@postgres:5432/wagtail
8      SECRET_KEY: ${SECRET_KEY}
9    volumes: 
10      - media_data:/app/media
11    ports: 
12      - "8000:8000"
13    depends_on: 
14      - postgres
15    networks: 
16      - wagtail-network
17
18  postgres: 
19    image: postgres:16-alpine
20    container_name: wagtail-postgres
21    environment: 
22      POSTGRES_USER: wagtail
23      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
24      POSTGRES_DB: wagtail
25    volumes: 
26      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
27    networks: 
28      - wagtail-network
29
30volumes: 
31  media_data: 
32  postgres_data: 
33
34networks: 
35  wagtail-network: 
36    driver: bridge

.env Template

1DB_PASSWORD=changeme
2SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here

Usage Notes

Individual Services(2 services)

Copy individual services to mix and match with your existing compose files.

wagtail:
  image: wagtail/wagtail:latest
  container_name: wagtail
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment:
    DATABASE_URL: postgres://wagtail:${DB_PASSWORD}@postgres:5432/wagtail
    SECRET_KEY: ${SECRET_KEY}
  volumes:
    - media_data:/app/media
  ports:
    - "8000:8000"
  depends_on:
    - postgres
  networks:
    - wagtail-network

postgres:
  image: postgres:16-alpine
  container_name: wagtail-postgres
  environment:
    POSTGRES_USER: wagtail
    POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
    POSTGRES_DB: wagtail
  volumes:
    - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
  networks:
    - wagtail-network

Quick Start

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  wagtail:
5    image: wagtail/wagtail:latest
6    container_name: wagtail
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    environment:
9      DATABASE_URL: postgres://wagtail:${DB_PASSWORD}@postgres:5432/wagtail
10      SECRET_KEY: ${SECRET_KEY}
11    volumes:
12      - media_data:/app/media
13    ports:
14      - "8000:8000"
15    depends_on:
16      - postgres
17    networks:
18      - wagtail-network
19
20  postgres:
21    image: postgres:16-alpine
22    container_name: wagtail-postgres
23    environment:
24      POSTGRES_USER: wagtail
25      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD}
26      POSTGRES_DB: wagtail
27    volumes:
28      - postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
29    networks:
30      - wagtail-network
31
32volumes:
33  media_data:
34  postgres_data:
35
36networks:
37  wagtail-network:
38    driver: bridge
39EOF
40
41# 2. Create the .env file
42cat > .env << 'EOF'
43DB_PASSWORD=changeme
44SECRET_KEY=your-secret-key-here
45EOF
46
47# 3. Start the services
48docker compose up -d
49
50# 4. View logs
51docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/wagtail/run | bash

Troubleshooting