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Backend Development

7. Troubleshooting

1. Template Not Found

Template not found error.

Solution:

Django is unable to find the html file in the app since the app is not registered in INSTALLED_APPS in settings.py

2. Admin Frontend Breaks when DEBUG=False

Fixing the Admin Backend CSS Failure

Django Admin CSS when you turn of the Debug Mode (Debug = False) does not automatically serve static files in production mode. One way to deal with is to manually server the files. You can follow the steps below to do it:

Step 1: Ensure STATIC_ROOT is Set in settings.py

First, verify that your settings.py file includes the correct configuration for static files:

import os


# Static files settings
STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'staticfiles')

This ensures that all static files, including those for the Django admin panel, are collected in one location.

Step 2: Manually Create the staticfiles Directory

Before running the collectstatic command, manually create the staticfiles directory in your project root (where manage.py is located).

Terminal window
# On Windows (Command Prompt or PowerShell):
mkdir staticfiles


# On macOS/Linux (Terminal):
mkdir staticfiles

This step ensures that Django has a valid destination to store the collected static files.

Step 3: Run collectstatic to Gather Static Files

Now, run the following command in your terminal to collect all static files into the STATIC_ROOT directory:

Terminal window
python manage.py collectstatic --noinput

You should see output similar to:

Terminal window
127 static files copied to 'C:\path\to\your\project\staticfiles'.

If you encounter an error stating "You're using the staticfiles app without having set the STATIC_ROOT", make sure you have correctly defined STATIC_ROOT as shown in Step 1.

Step 4: Temporarily Serve Static Files in Development

Since Django does not serve static files when DEBUG=False, you need to configure it manually.

Modify urls.py to allow Django to serve static files while testing locally:

from django.urls import re_path
from django.views.static import serve
from django.conf import settings


if settings.DEBUG is False:
    urlpatterns += [re_path(r'^static/(?P<path>.*)$', serve,{'document_root': settings.STATIC_ROOT})]

Step 5: Restart Django Server

After completing the above steps, restart your Django development server:

Terminal window
python manage.py runserver

Now, when you access the Django admin panel, the static files (CSS, JavaScript) should load correctly, even with DEBUG=False.

2.1 Alternative Solution

Terminal window
python manage.py runserver --insecure

is used to start the development server while serving static files, even when DEBUG = False in the settings.

Implications of Using --insecure

  1. Serving Static Files in Production-Like Settings

    • Normally, Django does not serve static files when DEBUG = False because static files should be handled by a production-ready web server like Nginx or Apache.
    • The --insecure flag forces Django to serve static files directly, even with DEBUG = False.

  2. Security Risks

    • Using --insecure in a production environment is not recommended, as Django’s development server is not optimized or secure for handling production traffic.
    • This flag bypasses Django’s default behavior of refusing to serve static files in non-debug mode, which can expose sensitive files if improperly configured.

  3. When to Use It?

    • It is useful for quick testing in a staging or development environment where DEBUG = False, but you don’t have a proper static file server set up yet.
    • It should never be used in production.