class Post(models.Model):
    poster = models.ForeignKey('auth.User')
    question = models.ForeignKey('self', null=True, blank=True)
    post_title = models.CharField(max_length=300)
    post_content = models.TextField(null=True, blank=True)

    is_published = models.BooleanField(default=True)
    is_locked = models.BooleanField(default=False)
    is_question = models.BooleanField(default=True)
    is_deleted = models.BooleanField(default=False)

    created_date = models.DateTimeField(
            default=timezone.now)
    published_date = models.DateTimeField(
            blank=True, null=True)
    date_modified = models.DateTimeField(
            blank=True, null=True)

    def publish(self):
        self.published_date = timezone.now()
        self.save()

    def __str__(self):
        return self.post_title

class Vote(models.Model):
    user = models.ForeignKey('auth.User')
    post = models.ForeignKey('Post')
    vote_type = models.SmallIntegerField()#-1, 0, 1
    date_voted = models.DateTimeField(
            default=timezone.now)
    def __str__(self):
        return self.user

def index(request):
    posts = Post.objects.filter(created_date__lte=timezone.now(
    ), is_question=1, is_published=1).order_by('-created_date')
    #removed the paging stuff here for simplification
    return render(request, 'homepage/index.html', {'posts': posts})

{% for post in posts %}
       {{ post|total_votes|default:"0" }}
    {% endfor %}