Fixed #25146 -- Allowed method_decorator() to decorate classes.

3 files changed, 23 insertions, 4 deletions

diff --git a/docs/ref/utils.txt b/docs/ref/utils.txt
index c9deba887a..12bb351df0 100644
--- a/docs/ref/utils.txt
+++ b/docs/ref/utils.txt
@@ -151,11 +151,17 @@ The functions defined in this module share the following properties:
 .. module:: django.utils.decorators
     :synopsis: Functions that help with creating decorators for views.
 
-.. function:: method_decorator(decorator)
+.. function:: method_decorator(decorator, name='')
 
-    Converts a function decorator into a method decorator. See :ref:`decorating
+    Converts a function decorator into a method decorator. It can be used to
+    decorate methods or classes; in the latter case, ``name`` is the name
+    of the method to be decorated and is required. See :ref:`decorating
     class based views<decorating-class-based-views>` for example usage.
 
+    .. versionchanged:: 1.9
+
+       The ability to decorate classes and the ``name`` parameter were added.
+
 .. function:: decorator_from_middleware(middleware_class)
 
     Given a middleware class, returns a view decorator. This lets you use
diff --git a/docs/releases/1.9.txt b/docs/releases/1.9.txt
index 82ff5a08bc..f016a08c32 100644
--- a/docs/releases/1.9.txt
+++ b/docs/releases/1.9.txt
@@ -338,6 +338,9 @@ Generic Views
 * Class based views generated using ``as_view()`` now have ``view_class``
   and ``view_initkwargs`` attributes.
 
+* :func:`~django.utils.decorators.method_decorator` can now be used to
+  :ref:`decorate classes instead of methods <decorating-class-based-views>`.
+
 Internationalization
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
 
diff --git a/docs/topics/class-based-views/intro.txt b/docs/topics/class-based-views/intro.txt
index 6724bec0da..2e5cc1bca1 100644
--- a/docs/topics/class-based-views/intro.txt
+++ b/docs/topics/class-based-views/intro.txt
@@ -279,8 +279,18 @@ that it can be used on an instance method. For example::
         def dispatch(self, *args, **kwargs):
             return super(ProtectedView, self).dispatch(*args, **kwargs)
 
-In this example, every instance of ``ProtectedView`` will have
-login protection.
+Or, more succinctly, you can decorate the class instead and pass the name
+of the method to be decorated as the keyword argument ``name``::
+
+    @method_decorator(login_required, name='dispatch')
+    class ProtectedView(TemplateView):
+        template_name = 'secret.html'
+
+.. versionchanged:: 1.9
+
+    The ability to use ``method_decorator()`` on a class was added.
+
+In this example, every instance of ``ProtectedView`` will have login protection.
 
 .. note::