Is this standard practice? I'd been having a tough time using some parts the template language (in particular ifequals, many of the filter and string functions) until I discovered that some of the template "magic" doesn't work correctly unless I "pre", repr(o) objects within the code of my view (i.e. select_items_list = [repr(o) for o in items.get_list()]).
I'll be happy to follow up with detailed examples if asked. --- thanks