title: Django static files won't load
body: <p>i'm a Django newbie working on my first project and having a problem with static files.</p>
  
  <p>I have created a simple auth system using <code>django.contrib.auth</code> consisting of two templates: <code>mysite/templates/index.html</code> and <code>mysite/templates/registration/login.html</code>.  I have global static content in <code>mysite/static</code> which I want to be able to access on all templates rendered by all apps.</p>
  
  <p><code>mysite/templates/index.html</code> contains <code>&lt;img src="{{ STATIC_URL }}pics03.jpg"/&gt;</code> which renders as <code>"static/pics03.jpg"</code> and loads fine when I visit the url <code>localhost:8000/</code></p>
  
  <p><code>mysite/templates/registration/login.html</code> contains <code>&lt;img src="{{ STATIC_URL }}pics03.jpg"/&gt;</code> which also renders as <code>"static/pics03.jpg"</code> and does not load when I visit the url <code>"localhost:8000/accounts/login/"</code></p>
  
  <p>In my urls.py I have:</p>
  
  <pre><code>urlpatterns = patterns('',
     url(r'^$', 'mysite.views.home'), # plays index.html template
     url(r'^accounts/login/$', 'django.contrib.auth.views.login'),
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In my settings.py I have:</p>
  
  <pre><code>PROJECT_DIR = os.path.dirname(__file__)
  
  STATICFILES_DIRS = (
      # Put strings here, like "/home/html/static" or "C:/www/django/static".
      # Always use forward slashes, even on Windows.
      # Don't forget to use absolute paths, not relative paths.
      os.path.join(PROJECT_DIR,'static'),
  )  
  
  STATICFILES_FINDERS = (
      'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder',
      'django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder',
  )
  
  STATIC_URL = '/static/'
  
  STATIC_ROOT = ''
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I was under the impression that Django should be looking for global static content in STATICFILES_DIRS, but it doesn't find the static content for login.html even if I change the url in there to an absolute path to the static folder.  Can anyone shed any light on this?</p>