Settings Configuration
Explore the configuration options in Django's settings.py file for customizing your project.
60 min•By Priygop Team•Last updated: Feb 2026
Django Settings
The settings.py file contains all the configuration for your Django project. Understanding these settings is crucial for proper project setup.
Key Settings
Example
# settings.py
import os
from pathlib import Path
# Build paths inside the project
BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
# security WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = 'your-secret-key-here'
# 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',
'blog', # Your app
]
MIDDLEWARE = [
'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
'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 = 'myproject.urls'
TEMPLATES = [
{
'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
'DIRS': [BASE_DIR / '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 = 'myproject.wsgi.application'
# Database
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
}
}
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
BASE_DIR / 'static',
]
# Media files
MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / 'media'
# Internationalization
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_TZ = TruePractice Exercise: Environment-Based Settings
Example
# Environment-based Django settings
import os
from pathlib import Path
from decouple import config
# Build paths inside the project
BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
# Environment configuration
ENVIRONMENT = config('ENVIRONMENT', default='development')
# security WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = config('SECRET_KEY', default='your-secret-key-here')
# security WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = config('DEBUG', default=True, cast=bool)
ALLOWED_HOSTS = config('ALLOWED_HOSTS', default='localhost,127.0.0.1', cast=lambda v: [s.strip() for s in v.split(',')])
# Application definition
INSTALLED_APPS = [
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
'blog',
'users',
]
# Database configuration based on environment
if ENVIRONMENT == 'production':
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
'NAME': config('DB_NAME'),
'USER': config('DB_USER'),
'PASSWORD': config('DB_PASSWORD'),
'HOST': config('DB_HOST'),
'PORT': config('DB_PORT', default='5432'),
}
}
# Production-specific settings
SECURE_SSL_REDIRECT = True
SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE = True
CSRF_COOKIE_SECURE = True
SECURE_BROWSER_XSS_FILTER = True
SECURE_CONTENT_TYPE_NOSNIFF = True
else:
# Development database
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': BASE_DIR / 'db.sqlite3',
}
}
# Static files configuration
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / 'staticfiles'
STATICFILES_DIRS = [
BASE_DIR / 'static',
]
# Media files
MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / 'media'
# Logging configuration
LOGGING = {
'version': 1,
'disable_existing_loggers': False,
'formatters': {
'verbose': {
'format': '{levelname} {asctime} {module} {process:d} {thread:d} {message}',
'style': '{',
},
},
'handlers': {
'file': {
'level': 'INFO',
'class': 'logging.FileHandler',
'filename': BASE_DIR / 'logs' / 'django.log',
'formatter': 'verbose',
},
},
'root': {
'handlers': ['file'],
'level': 'INFO',
},
}
# Create logs directory if it doesn't exist
os.makedirs(BASE_DIR / 'logs', exist_ok=True)