Fixed #15591 - Clarified interaction between ModelForm and model validation.

1 files changed, 10 insertions, 7 deletions

diff --git a/docs/ref/models/instances.txt b/docs/ref/models/instances.txt
index b4872e3e5c..1d0ac08061 100644
--- a/docs/ref/models/instances.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/models/instances.txt
@@ -67,9 +67,9 @@ Validating objects
 
 There are three steps involved in validating a model:
 
-1. Validate the model fields
-2. Validate the model as a whole
-3. Validate the field uniqueness
+1. Validate the model fields - :meth:`Model.clean_fields()`
+2. Validate the model as a whole - :meth:`Model.clean()`
+3. Validate the field uniqueness - :meth:`Model.validate_unique()`
 
 All three steps are performed when you call a model's
 :meth:`~Model.full_clean()` method.
@@ -97,17 +97,20 @@ not be corrected by the user.
 
 Note that ``full_clean()`` will *not* be called automatically when you call
 your model's :meth:`~Model.save()` method, nor as a result of
-:class:`~django.forms.ModelForm` validation. You'll need to call it manually
-when you want to run one-step model validation for your own manually created
-models.
+:class:`~django.forms.ModelForm` validation. In the case of
+:class:`~django.forms.ModelForm` validation, :meth:`Model.clean_fields()`,
+:meth:`Model.clean()`, and :meth:`Model.validate_unique()` are all called
+individually.
 
-Example::
+You'll need to call ``full_clean`` manually when you want to run one-step model
+validation for your own manually created models. For example::
 
     try:
         article.full_clean()
     except ValidationError as e:
         # Do something based on the errors contained in e.message_dict.
         # Display them to a user, or handle them programatically.
+        pass
 
 The first step ``full_clean()`` performs is to clean each individual field.