Django 5.1 ships with several exciting new features that enhance developer productivity, security, and performance. Among its many additions, new template utilities, improved database connection handling, and middleware enhancements stand out as real game changers.

Release Highlights:

• Introduction of the {% querystring %} template tag for easier URL query parameter manipulation.
• Support for PostgreSQL connection pools to reduce latency when establishing new DB connections.
• LoginRequiredMiddleware to enforce authentication on a global level while allowing exceptions with a dedicated decorator.
• Enhanced async support across session backends, providing asynchronous APIs for session operations.
• Numerous improvements in accessibility across error pages, admin templates, and form fieldsets.

Upgrade Gotchas:

• Several backwards-incompatible changes, such as dropped support for older PostgreSQL, MariaDB, PostGIS, and GDAL versions, require careful upgrading.
• Some deprecated features have been removed in Django 5.1, so reviewing the deprecation notices and migration guides is necessary before upgrading.
• Storage settings removed: The DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE and STATICFILES_STORAGE settings (deprecated in Django 4.2) have been removed in Django 5.1. You must migrate to the STORAGES setting dictionary instead. See the Django 4.2 deprecation docs for migration guidance.

Major Features:

• {% querystring %} template tag for streamlined query parameter manipulation in URLs.
• PostgreSQL connection pool support to cut down on connection delays.
• LoginRequiredMiddleware that globally enforces authentication with an option to exempt views using the login_not_required decorator.
• Async improvements in Django’s session engines enabling asynchronous operations on sessions.