Closes #9887: Inspect docs_url property to determine link to model documentation

docs/plugins/development/models.md

@@ -49,6 +49,12 @@ class MyModel(NetBoxModel):
     ...
 ```
 
+### NetBoxModel Properties
+
+#### `docs_url`
+
+This attribute specifies the URL at which the documentation for this model can be reached. By default, it will return `/static/docs/models/<app_label>/<model_name>/`. Plugin models can override this to return a custom URL. For example, you might direct the user to your plugin's documentation hosted on [ReadTheDocs](https://readthedocs.org/).
+
 ### Enabling Features Individually
 
 If you prefer instead to enable only a subset of these features for a plugin model, NetBox provides a discrete "mix-in" class for each feature. You can subclass each of these individually when defining your model. (Your model will also need to inherit from Django's built-in `Model` class.)

docs/release-notes/version-3.4.md

@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ A new `PluginMenu` class has been introduced, which enables a plugin to inject a
 * [#9071](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9071) - Introduce `PluginMenu` for top-level plugin navigation menus
 * [#9072](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9072) - Enable registration of tabbed plugin views for core NetBox models
 * [#9880](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9880) - Introduce `django_apps` plugin configuration parameter
+* [#9887](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/9887) - Inspect `docs_url` property to determine link to model documentation
 * [#10314](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/10314) - Move `clone()` method from NetBoxModel to CloningMixin
 * [#10739](https://github.com/netbox-community/netbox/issues/10739) - Introduce `get_queryset()` method on generic views
 

netbox/netbox/models/__init__.py

@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+from django.conf import settings
 from django.core.validators import ValidationError
 from django.db import models
 from mptt.models import MPTTModel, TreeForeignKey
@@ -26,6 +27,10 @@ class NetBoxFeatureSet(
     class Meta:
         abstract = True
 
+    @property
+    def docs_url(self):
+        return f'{settings.STATIC_URL}docs/models/{self._meta.app_label}/{self._meta.model_name}/'
+
     @classmethod
     def get_prerequisite_models(cls):
         """

netbox/templates/generic/object_edit.html

@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ Context:
       {% endif %}
 
       {# Link to model documentation #}
-      {% if object and settings.DOCS_ROOT %}
+      {% if settings.DOCS_ROOT and object.docs_url %}
         <div class="float-end">
-          <a href="{{ object|get_docs_url }}" target="_blank" class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-secondary" title="View model documentation">
+          <a href="{{ object.docs_url }}" target="_blank" class="btn btn-sm btn-outline-secondary" title="View model documentation">
             <i class="mdi mdi-help-circle"></i> Help
           </a>
         </div>

netbox/utilities/templatetags/helpers.py

@@ -141,14 +141,6 @@ def percentage(x, y):
     return round(x / y * 100)
 
 
-@register.filter()
-def get_docs_url(model):
-    """
-    Return the documentation URL for the specified model.
-    """
-    return f'{settings.STATIC_URL}docs/models/{model._meta.app_label}/{model._meta.model_name}/'
-
-
 @register.filter()
 def has_perms(user, permissions_list):
     """