Wagtail on Opalstack: run a real Django CMS without Docker

Wagtail is what you reach for when you want a real CMS without the “plugin casino” vibe. It’s Django-native, editor-friendly, and built to scale like an actual web app.

And now you can run it on Opalstack the way we think apps should run:

as an Open App Stack installer. Click. Deploy. Edit the stack script if you want. No mystery meat.

The pitch

Most “Wagtail hosting guides” start with:

• install a pile of packages
• guess your server config
• pray you didn’t miss one of the 12 steps
• then “just put it behind nginx bro”

That’s fine… if your hobby is rebuilding the same deployment for the 40th time.

On Opalstack, you use the Open App Stack and get a working Wagtail app that’s already wired for production patterns.

What you get from the Wagtail Open App Stack

When you install the Wagtail stack, you’re not just getting pip install wagtail.

You’re getting an opinionated, deployable baseline:

• Python virtualenv created for the app
• App server configured (WSGI, not devserver)
• Project scaffold generated (Wagtail/Django structure)

In other words: “ship a CMS” instead of “become a part-time SRE.”

Install it (the way it should be)

1. Go to your Opalstack dashboard
2. Create a new app → pick Wagtail (Open App Stack)

You get a live app you can log into, configure, theme, and extend.

How Open App Stacks work (the part we care about)

Here’s the whole point of our “Open App Stacks” direction:

The installer is a script. You can read it. You can fork it. You can run it yourself.

Not a black box. Not a proprietary wizard. Not “call support to change one setting.”

If you want to:

• swap uWSGI ↔ gunicorn
• change Python version
• add Redis/Celery later
• tweak file layout
• add a build step

…you edit the stack like a normal person edits a script. That’s the deal.

What to do right after install

1) Create your admin user

You’ll have a management command available inside the app environment. Use it to create the first admin user and get into /admin/.

2) Theme it like a real site

Wagtail is meant to be customized. Don’t treat it like WordPress. Treat it like Django: templates, settings, apps.

Why Wagtail (and who it’s for)

Wagtail makes sense if you want:

• a CMS editors actually like using
• structured content (not “one giant blob field”)
• a sane upgrade path
• real software architecture (Django apps, migrations, repeatable deploys)

It’s especially good for:

• marketing sites that need “pages + collections + editorial workflow”
• docs + content-heavy sites
• teams that want the CMS to be part of the codebase, not a separate universe

The Opalstack angle

We’re hosting people who want control without spending their life on ops.

So the goal is:

• fast deploy
• boring production defaults
• full transparency
• no container mandate
• easy upgrades
• human support when it matters

Wagtail fits that perfectly.