Using static files with the django virtual server

Question

Questions exactly like this have been asked before, i\'ve read them all and tried to make sense of the official django documentation on the subject but i\'m still struggling

Answer 1

If you're using Django 1.4 then I would use the static tag:

{% load static %}

<link rel="stylesheet" href="{% static "CSS/base.css" %}" type="text/css" />

You probably need this in your urls too, in development files are served via django

if settings.DEBUG:
    urlpatterns += staticfiles_urlpatterns() #this serves static files and media files.
    #in case media is not served correctly
    urlpatterns += patterns('',
        url(r'^media/(?P<path>.*)$', 'django.views.static.serve', {
            'document_root': settings.MEDIA_ROOT,
            }),
    )

Also in your settings it's common practice to avoid hardcoding locations, here's an example (by the way do you have the static filefinders in your settings?

PROJECT_ROOT = path.dirname(path.abspath(__file__)) #gets directory settings is in

STATIC_ROOT = path.join(PROJECT_ROOT,'static-root')
# this folder is used to collect static files in production. not used in development

STATIC_URL =  "/static/"

STATICFILES_DIRS = (
    ('', path.join(PROJECT_ROOT,'static')), #store site-specific media here.
)

# List of finder classes that know how to find static files in
# various locations.
STATICFILES_FINDERS = (
    'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder',
    'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder',
)

TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = (
    # other processors...
    "django.core.context_processors.static",
)

Answer 2

You should write your settings.py like that:

import os
PROJECT_ROOT = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), '..'))

STATIC_URL = '/static/'  # Should be root relative or absolute

STATICFILES_DIRS = (
    os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'static'),
)

# Where your static files will be collected with colletstatic command
# I use it only in deployed configuration with DEBUG=False
# Need to be outside STATICFILES_DIR
STATIC_ROOT = '/var/www/your.site' 

Just to be sure, check with Firebug or webkit debugger that CSS is loaded.

Remember that Django won't serve your static files if settings.DEBUG == False.