extending parent django template, as well as including a variable - django

Question

I have a base template that I'm trying to extend. With in that template I have a navigation that needs a variable passed.
What I was doing was trying to 'extend' it by using an include like so:
{% include "base.html" with active_nav='atInventory' %}
but this doesn't render the blocks of the base with the extended content in the right order.
The navigation is set up in the base like so:
<nav class="col-xs-12 paddingVertical-sm">
<ul class="removePadding removeMargin txtXxs">
<li class="{% if active_nav == 'atContact' %} activeNav {% else %} inactiveNav{% endif %}">
<a href="{% url 'contact' %}">CONTACT<a>
</li>
<li class="{% if active_nav == 'atAbout' %} activeNav {% else %} inactiveNav{% endif %}">
ABOUT
</li>
<li class="{% if active_nav == 'atProjects' %} activeNav {% else %} inactiveNav{% endif %}">
PROJECTS & CLINICS
</li>
<li class="{% if active_nav == 'atServices' %} activeNav {% else %} inactiveNav{% endif %}">
SERVICS
</li>
<li class="{% if active_nav == 'atInventory' %} activeNav {% else %} inactiveNav{% endif %}">
INVENTORY
</li>
<li class="{% if active_nav == 'atHome' %} activeNav {% else %} inactiveNav{% endif %}">
HOME
</li>
<br class="clear-fix">
</ul>
<img src="{% static 'images/assets/klossviolins_logo.png' %}" />
<br class="clear-fix">
</nav>
Is there a better way to do this? Or does this just require a slight tweak? Thanks in advance for any help on this.

Answer 1

nI wouldn't do this - extend it the way it was intended. Include is for including reusable components. Here you just want every template to extend your 'base.html' with {%extends 'base.html'%}
Just a pointer as well - I'd do the active nav with a tiny script instead of tons of if statements. So add an ID to each li element (#nav-home for index in my example), and on your home page have something like:
<script>
$(document).ready(function() {
$( "#nav-home").addClass("activeNav");
});
</script>