Static and Media Settings

# settings.py

from pathlib import Path
import os

BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent

# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
STATIC_URL = "/static/"
STATICFILES_DIRS = [BASE_DIR / "static"]  # local dev assets
STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "staticfiles"    # collected for deployment

# Media files (uploads)
MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "media"
      

# Collect static files before deployment
python manage.py collectstatic

# Example directory layout after collectstatic:
# ├── project/
# │   ├── static/        # development assets
# │   ├── staticfiles/   # deployment-ready, collected files
# │   └── media/         # user uploads
      

# way to access static and media files:
- Access static files via /static/ (e.g., /static/css/style.css).
- Access user uploads via /media/ (e.g., /media/profile.jpg).
- In production, serve STATIC_ROOT and MEDIA_ROOT via web server (Nginx, Apache, S3, etc.).