Developers writing code for thousands of websites now have a stronger and more flexible architecture upon which to build their informational foundations.

Django 1.2, an updated Web development framework released this week, gives developers the ability to draw information from any number of different databases to create a single, cohesive website, said Jacob Kaplan-Moss, president of the Lawrence-based Django Software Foundation.

Such flexibility is considered key for people looking to build faster, more reliant and increasingly expansive websites.

“There are literally tens or maybe hundreds of thousands of developers using Django all over the world,” Kaplan-Moss said. “We have them on every continent, and that does include Antarctica, a group at a research station there. They use Django at the South Pole.”

The work started with developers at The World Company, owner of the Journal-World. They went on to release the code in 2005, and version 1.2 is the eighth public edition for an open-source project that thus far has drawn substantial contributions from about 500 individuals.

Their collective work allows a mortgage broker to use the framework for combining his service database with electronic forms. Media companies access photos, videos, audio files, documents and other media from various repositories to distribute content. NASA researchers tap into Django to share data through an intranet.

All now can draw upon countless databases by writing a single application.

“That’s the big win for most developers using Django,” said James Bennett, who works at the Journal-World and serves as Django release manager.

The Django Software Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, formally holds the code, copyright and trademarks related to Django. The group also supports the hundreds of volunteers and thousands of users — more than 17,000 are on Django’s mailing list worldwide — who spend their time adjusting and incorporating the framework.

For more information, visit DjangoProject.com.