Difference between static STATIC_URL and STATIC_ROOT on Django

Question

I am confused by static root and want to clarify things.

To serve static files in Django, the following should be in settings.py and urls.py:

import os
PROJECT_DIR=os.path.dirname(__file__)

1. Absolute path to the directory in which static files should be collected

STATIC_ROOT= os.path.join(PROJECT_DIR,'static_media/')

2. URL prefix for static files

STATIC_URL = '/static/'

3. Additional locations for static files

STATICFILES_DIRS = ( os.path.join(PROJECT_DIR,'static/'),)

...and in urls.py the following lines:

from django.contrib.staticfiles.urls import staticfiles_urlpatterns
urlpatterns += patterns('', (
    r'^static/(?P<path>.*)$',
    'django.views.static.serve',
    {'document_root': settings.STATIC_ROOT}
))

4. We also use `python manage.py collectstatic`

Questions:

Could anyone please explain the workflow to me: how should things ideally be done. As of now, I copy/paste the above code snippets into their designated locations and continue making new files in the static directory and it works. In my settings.STATIC_ROOT, however, I have pointed to a different directory.
It would be great if someone could explain the workflow of each setting: how files are collected and managed, and what would be a good practice to follow.

Thanks.

Could you clarify on what you mean by 'explain the workflow'? also your url patterns should be conditional on if you are developing in part 3. you can do this by adding if settings.DEBUG: django is not very good at serving static media, this should be left to a real webserver. — dm03514
Hi @user993563 i cant even find the solution in several forum what i want. but your questions explain it clearly thanks man... great job... — Mohideen bin Mohammed

suhailvs suhailvs · Accepted Answer · 2013-09-05T06:09:37

STATIC_ROOT

The absolute path to the directory where ./manage.py collectstatic will collect static files for deployment. Example: STATIC_ROOT="/var/www/example.com/static/"

now the command ./manage.py collectstatic will copy all the static files(ie in static folder in your apps, static files in all paths) to the directory /var/www/example.com/static/. now you only need to serve this directory on apache or nginx..etc.

STATIC_URL

The URL of which the static files in STATIC_ROOT directory are served(by Apache or nginx..etc). Example: /static/ or http://static.example.com/

If you set STATIC_URL = 'http://static.example.com/', then you must serve the STATIC_ROOT folder (ie "/var/www/example.com/static/") by apache or nginx at url 'http://static.example.com/'(so that you can refer the static file '/var/www/example.com/static/jquery.js' with 'http://static.example.com/jquery.js')

Now in your django-templates, you can refer it by:

{% load static %}
<script src="{% static "jquery.js" %}"></script>

which will render:

<script src="http://static.example.com/jquery.js"></script>