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STATIC_ROOT setting in Django

I am learning Django and have built a sample Django app. It works fine on my computer, but I am having trouble deploying it to Heroku.
My root directory has the following structure:
My setttings.py file has the following settings for static files:
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "static")
]
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')
STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.django.GzipManifestStaticFilesStorage'
The full settings.py file is following:
"""
Django settings for firstdjango project.
Generated by 'django-admin startproject' using Django 1.8.
For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/topics/settings/
For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/ref/settings/
"""
# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/deployment/checklist/
# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = 'j8s(6fw61+cx_o=g!9a(vs!wbj0&f!7u_lw$(eap5d4li#!b4('
# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = []
# Application definition
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
'inventory',
)
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
)
ROOT_URLCONF = 'firstdjango.urls'
TEMPLATES = [
{
'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
'DIRS': ['firstdjango/templates'],
'APP_DIRS': True,
'OPTIONS': {
'context_processors': [
'django.template.context_processors.debug',
'django.template.context_processors.request',
'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
],
},
},
]
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'firstdjango.wsgi.application'
# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/ref/settings/#databases
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
}
}
# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/topics/i18n/
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_L10N = True
USE_TZ = True
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.8/howto/static-files/
import dj_database_url
db_from_env = dj_database_url.config(conn_max_age = 500)
DATABASES['default'].update(db_from_env)
# STATIC_URL = '/static/'
# STATICFILES_DIRS = [
# os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "static")
# ]
# STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
# Extra places for collectstatic to find static files.
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static'),
]
STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.django.GzipManifestStaticFilesStorage'
When I try to deploy to Heroku, I get the following error message:
ImproperlyConfigured:You're using the staticfiles app without having set the STATIC_ROOT setting to a filesystem path

Here are the recommended settings for static root for a django -> heroku project
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.11/howto/static-files/
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'staticfiles')
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
# Extra places for collectstatic to find static files.
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'static'),
]
I would recommend just using this https://github.com/heroku/heroku-django-template as a starting point and import your apps into that project. Due to the fact (as of now) that Heroku recommends using the following packages
Gunicorn
WhiteNoise
dj-database-url
The git project will provide you with "Production-ready configuration for Static Files, Database Settings, Gunicorn, etc." In other words, it will give you the correct configuration to deploy Django to Heroku.

Django Looking for URLS of a Different Project

I have two projects in django that I´m working on at the same time. Today something really strange happened after switching projects.
I have my first project: urls.py and manage.py
from django.conf.urls import patterns, include, url
from django.contrib import admin
from django.conf import settings
from django.contrib import admin
admin.autodiscover()
urlpatterns = patterns('',
# Examples:
# url(r'^$', 'agenda.views.home', name='home'),
# url(r'^blog/', include('blog.urls')),
url(r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
url(r'^agenda/', include('modulo_agenda.urls')),
url(r'^schedule/', include('schedule.urls')),
)
"""
Django settings for agenda project.
For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/settings/
For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/
"""
# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
import os
PROJECT_ROOT = os.path.abspath(
os.path.join(os.path.dirname(__file__), ".."),
)
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
TEMPLATE_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')
TEMPLATE_DIRS = (
# Put strings here, like "/home/html/django_templates" or "C:/www/django/templates".
# Always use forward slashes, even on Windows.
# Don't forget to use absolute paths, not relative paths.
TEMPLATE_PATH,
)
PROJECT_DIR = os.path.abspath(os.path.dirname(__file__))
# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/deployment/checklist/
# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = '#7j23xm3jv=(#gicejabv2ppa$063st+d#)2x^thld0(#!chwq'
# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = True
TEMPLATE_DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = []
# Application definition
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
'modulo_agenda',
'schedule',
'djangobower',
)
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
'django.middleware.locale.LocaleMiddleware',
)
ROOT_URLCONF = 'agenda.urls'
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'agenda.wsgi.application'
# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/#databases
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
}
}
# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/i18n/
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_L10N = True
USE_TZ = True
MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(PROJECT_DIR, "site_media")
ADMIN_MEDIA_PREFIX = '/media/'
MEDIA_URL = '/site_media/'
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/static-files/
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, 'static')
TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS = (
"django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth",
"django.core.context_processors.request",
)
STATICFILES_FINDERS = (
'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder',
'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder',
'djangobower.finders.BowerFinder',
)
BOWER_PATH = 'C:/Python34/Lib/site-packages'
BOWER_COMPONENTS_ROOT = os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, "components")
BOWER_INSTALLED_APPS = (
'jquery',
'bootstrap'
)
FIRST_DAY_OF_WEEK = 1 # Monday
ROOT_URLCONF = 'agenda.urls'
And my second project settings and urls:
from django.conf.urls import patterns, include, url
from django.contrib import admin
urlpatterns = patterns('',
# Examples:
# url(r'^$', 'proyecto_final_web.views.home', name='home'),
# url(r'^blog/', include('blog.urls')),
url(r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
url(r'^music/', include('music_manager.urls')),
)
"""
Django settings for proyecto_final_web project.
For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/settings/
For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/
"""
# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/deployment/checklist/
# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = '=%65sc*)pue#)wj&pxd#meh3s_v(^s***+ns(p*8_#pjla_+xo'
# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = True
TEMPLATE_DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = []
# Application definition
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
)
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
)
ROOT_URLCONF = 'proyecto_final_web.urls'
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'proyecto_final_web.wsgi.application'
# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/#databases
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
}
}
# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/i18n/
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_L10N = True
USE_TZ = True
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/static-files/
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
TEMPLATE_PATH=os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')
TEMPLATE_DIRS = (TEMPLATE_PATH,)
STATIC_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR,'static')
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
STATIC_PATH,
)
The problem I´m having is that when I type run server I get on my agenda project I get:
System check identified no issues (0 silenced).
August 30, 2015 - 13:33:04
Django version 1.7, using settings 'agenda.settings'
Starting development server at http://127.0.0.1:8000/
Quit the server with CTRL-BREAK.
It´s saying it is using agenda.settings, which has ROOT_URLCONF = 'agenda.urls'
But when trying to go to the URL localhots:8000/schedule I get this error:
Using the URLconf defined in proyecto_final_web.urls, Django tried these URL patterns, in this order:
^admin/
^music/
The current URL, schedule/, didn't match any of these.
Which are the URLS defined in my other project. I don´t understand why this happens since on the runserver it is saying it´s using the agenda.settings and not the proyecto_final_web.settings.
Can anyone tell me what might be happening?

Judging from the code above, there seems to be error in PROJECT_ROOT settings. One project has PROJECT_ROOT setting defined and other project does not seem to have this setting.
You need to ensure that PROJECT_ROOT has been defined correctly and for both the projects.

How do I server a specific directory with possible sub directories in Django 1.7?

I've got this Django web app that allows users to upload various video files. The directories are all under media, and any subdirectories are created to uniquely idenfitfy the file. I already am serving static files, but all I want to do is serve the entire 'media' directory. Is there any simple way that I can server this?
"""
Django settings for elearn project.
For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/settings/
For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/
"""
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
TEMPLATE_DIRS = (
BASE_DIR + '/templates/',
)
# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = True
#DEBUG = False
TEMPLATE_DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
'lessons',
'registration'
)
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
)
ROOT_URLCONF = 'app.urls'
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'app.wsgi.application'
# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/i18n/
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_L10N = True
USE_TZ = True
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/static-files/
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
os.path.join(BASE_DIR, "static"),
'/elearn/static',
)
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
I purposely left out sensitive credentials.
Also this is how I'm serving the static files currently
) + static(settings.STATIC_URL, document_root=settings.STATIC_ROOT)
Thanks

It depends on what you want to do with it. For something simple like dating the file, you can set upload_to to %Y/%m/%d. You can also write a function to return a relative URL as a string, like such:
def widget_file_name(instance, filename):
return '/'.join(['widget', instance.user.username, filename])
class Widget(models.Model):
name = models.CharField(max_length=200)
user = models.ForeignKey(User)
file = models.FileField(upload_to=widget_file_name)
UPDATE
If you're just looking for a way to serve that media directory, you could always just specify it as your MEDIA_ROOT in settings.py:
MEDIA_ROOT = '/path/to/media'
Now, keep in mind, in production, you should let your web server (nginx, apache, etc) serve static and media files, so you'll need to set that up in whatever you use as a proxy pass web server. To serve the files in this directory, you will also need to set a MEDIA_URL. MEDIA_URL = 'media' will usually suffice

django static files getting a 404

I can't seem to get django static files working when I visit /static/accept.png it returns a 404. I have the file in project_folder/static
My installed apps has static files included
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
)
and this is what setting up the static files looks like
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
PROJECT_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, os.pardir)
PROJECT_PATH = os.path.abspath(PROJECT_PATH)
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/static-files/
STATIC_PATH = os.path.join(PROJECT_PATH,'static')
STATIC_URL = '/static/' # You may find this is already defined as such.
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
PROJECT_PATH + STATIC_URL,
)
Also I am trying to get this working locally i'm not worried about getting it to work in production yet.

You PROJECT_PATH is wrong. It points to one level up of the real project path.
Try these settings:
STATIC_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
STATIC_PATH,
)

Don't get confused with PROJECT_PATH and BASE_DIR, if you want please print and get the values of both the variables, and get the clear picture that how will your code reach the "static" directory. Then try the code below
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
STATIC_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static')
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
STATIC_PATH,
)

Static files in django 1.5 - working locally, not working on Heroku

I have a project in Django 1.5 and hosts it on Heroku.
The problem is that I do not see the server static files (CSS, JS) (on the user and administrator) - went through the tutorial available at: https://devcenter.heroku.com/articles/django-assets
but nothing helps.
When I start the application locally using python manage.py runserver - everything works. Below is the code from the file setting.py
import dj_database_url
# Honor the 'X-Forwarded-Proto' header for request.is_secure()
SECURE_PROXY_SSL_HEADER = ('HTTP_X_FORWARDED_PROTO', 'https')
# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/howto/deployment/checklist/
# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = False
TEMPLATE_DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = ['*']
# Application definition
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
'app',
)
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
)
ROOT_URLCONF = 'blog_project.urls'
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'blog_project.wsgi.application'
# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/ref/settings/#databases
DATABASES = {'default': dj_database_url.config()}
# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/topics/i18n/
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_L10N = True
USE_TZ = True
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.6/howto/static-files/
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = 'staticfiles'
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static'),
)

I think you need to change your setting for Heroku so that you include
PROJECT_PATH = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
os.path.join(PROJECT_PATH, 'static'),
)
Its using a different lookup to
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))