text: """
  Base settings to build other settings files upon.
  """
  
  import environ
  import os
  
  ROOT_DIR = (
      environ.Path(__file__) - 3
  )  # (veritas/config/settings/base.py - 3 = veritas/)
  APPS_DIR = ROOT_DIR.path("veritas")
  
  env = environ.Env()
  
  READ_DOT_ENV_FILE = env.bool("DJANGO_READ_DOT_ENV_FILE", default=False)
  if READ_DOT_ENV_FILE:
      # OS environment variables take precedence over variables from .env
      env.read_env(str(ROOT_DIR.path(".env")))
  
  # GENERAL
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#debug
  DEBUG = env.bool("DJANGO_DEBUG", False)
  # Local time zone. Choices are
  # http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tz_zones_by_name
  # though not all of them may be available with every OS.
  # In Windows, this must be set to your system time zone.
  TIME_ZONE = "Africa/Nairobi"
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#language-code
  LANGUAGE_CODE = "en-us"
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#site-id
  SITE_ID = 1
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#use-i18n
  USE_I18N = True
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#use-l10n
  USE_L10N = True
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#use-tz
  USE_TZ = True
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#locale-paths
  LOCALE_PATHS = [ROOT_DIR.path("locale")]
  
  # DATABASES
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#databases
  DATABASES = {"default": env.db("DATABASE_URL")}
  DATABASES["default"]["ATOMIC_REQUESTS"] = True
  
  # URLS
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#root-urlconf
  ROOT_URLCONF = "config.urls"
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#wsgi-application
  WSGI_APPLICATION = "config.wsgi.application"
  
  # APPS
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  DJANGO_APPS = [
      "django.contrib.auth",
      "django.contrib.contenttypes",
      "django.contrib.sessions",
      "django.contrib.sites",
      "django.contrib.messages",
      "django.contrib.staticfiles",
      # "django.contrib.humanize", # Handy template tags
      "django.contrib.admin",
  ]
  THIRD_PARTY_APPS = [
      "crispy_forms",
      "allauth",
      "allauth.account",
      "allauth.socialaccount",
      "rest_framework",
      "django_celery_beat",
      'whitenoise.runserver_nostatic',
      'storages',
  
  
  
  ]
  
  LOCAL_APPS = [
      "veritas.users.apps.UsersConfig",
      'blog',
      'jobs',
      'applications',
      'search',
      # Your stuff: custom apps go here
  ]
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#installed-apps
  INSTALLED_APPS = DJANGO_APPS + THIRD_PARTY_APPS + LOCAL_APPS
  
  # MIGRATIONS
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#migration-modules
  MIGRATION_MODULES = {"sites": "veritas.contrib.sites.migrations"}
  
  # AUTHENTICATION
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#authentication-backends
  AUTHENTICATION_BACKENDS = [
      "django.contrib.auth.backends.ModelBackend",
      "allauth.account.auth_backends.AuthenticationBackend",
  ]
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#auth-user-model
  AUTH_USER_MODEL = "users.User"
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#login-redirect-url
  LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = "homepage"
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#login-url
  LOGIN_URL = "account_login"
  
  # PASSWORDS
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#password-hashers
  PASSWORD_HASHERS = [
      # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/auth/passwords/#using-argon2-with-django
      "django.contrib.auth.hashers.Argon2PasswordHasher",
      "django.contrib.auth.hashers.PBKDF2PasswordHasher",
      "django.contrib.auth.hashers.PBKDF2SHA1PasswordHasher",
      "django.contrib.auth.hashers.BCryptSHA256PasswordHasher",
  ]
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#auth-password-validators
  AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
      {
          "NAME": "django.contrib.auth.password_validation.UserAttributeSimilarityValidator"
      },
      {"NAME": "django.contrib.auth.password_validation.MinimumLengthValidator"},
      {"NAME": "django.contrib.auth.password_validation.CommonPasswordValidator"},
      {"NAME": "django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator"},
  ]
  
  # MIDDLEWARE
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#middleware
  MIDDLEWARE = [
      'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
      "django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware",
      "django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware",
      "django.middleware.locale.LocaleMiddleware",
      "django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware",
      "django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware",
      "django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware",
      "django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware",
      "django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware",
  ]
  
  # STATIC
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#static-root
  # STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'
  
  STATIC_ROOT = str(ROOT_DIR("staticfiles"))
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#static-url
  STATIC_URL = "/static/"
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/contrib/staticfiles/#std:setting-STATICFILES_DIRS
  STATICFILES_DIRS = [str(APPS_DIR.path("static"))]
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/contrib/staticfiles/#staticfiles-finders
  STATICFILES_FINDERS = [
      "django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.FileSystemFinder",
      "django.contrib.staticfiles.finders.AppDirectoriesFinder",
  ]
  
  # MEDIA
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#media-root
  MEDIA_ROOT = str(APPS_DIR("media"))
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#media-url
  MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
  
  # TEMPLATES
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#templates
  TEMPLATES = [
      {
          # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#std:setting-TEMPLATES-BACKEND
          "BACKEND": "django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates",
          # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#template-dirs
          "DIRS": [str(APPS_DIR.path("templates"))],
          "OPTIONS": {
              # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#template-loaders
              # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/templates/api/#loader-types
              "loaders": [
                  "django.template.loaders.filesystem.Loader",
                  "django.template.loaders.app_directories.Loader",
              ],
              # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#template-context-processors
              "context_processors": [
                  "django.template.context_processors.debug",
                  "django.template.context_processors.request",
                  "django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth",
                  "django.template.context_processors.i18n",
                  "django.template.context_processors.media",
                  "django.template.context_processors.static",
                  "django.template.context_processors.tz",
                  "django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages",
              ],
          },
      }
  ]
  # http://django-crispy-forms.readthedocs.io/en/latest/install.html#template-packs
  CRISPY_TEMPLATE_PACK = "bootstrap4"
  
  # FIXTURES
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#fixture-dirs
  FIXTURE_DIRS = (str(APPS_DIR.path("fixtures")),)
  
  # SECURITY
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#session-cookie-httponly
  SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#csrf-cookie-httponly
  CSRF_COOKIE_HTTPONLY = True
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#secure-browser-xss-filter
  SECURE_BROWSER_XSS_FILTER = True
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#x-frame-options
  X_FRAME_OPTIONS = "DENY"
  
  # EMAIL
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#email-backend
  EMAIL_BACKEND = env(
      "DJANGO_EMAIL_BACKEND", default="django.core.mail.backends.smtp.EmailBackend"
  )
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/2.2/ref/settings/#email-timeout
  EMAIL_TIMEOUT = 5
  
  SENDGRID_API_KEY = os.getenv('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')
  
  EMAIL_HOST = 'smtp.sendgrid.net'
  EMAIL_HOST_USER = 'apikey'
  EMAIL_HOST_PASSWORD = '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'
  EMAIL_PORT = 35202
  EMAIL_USE_TLS = False
  
  # ADMIN
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # Django Admin URL.
  ADMIN_URL = "admin/"
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#admins
  ADMINS = [("""collins|laban""", "info@veritas.ke")]
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#managers
  MANAGERS = ADMINS
  
  # LOGGING
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/ref/settings/#logging
  # See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/topics/logging for
  # more details on how to customize your logging configuration.
  LOGGING = {
      "version": 1,
      "disable_existing_loggers": False,
      "formatters": {
          "verbose": {
              "format": "%(levelname)s %(asctime)s %(module)s "
              "%(process)d %(thread)d %(message)s"
          }
      },
      "handlers": {
          "console": {
              "level": "DEBUG",
              "class": "logging.StreamHandler",
              "formatter": "verbose",
          }
      },
      "root": {"level": "INFO", "handlers": ["console"]},
  }
  
  # Celery
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  if USE_TZ:
      # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#std:setting-timezone
      CELERY_TIMEZONE = TIME_ZONE
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#std:setting-broker_url
  CELERY_BROKER_URL = env("CELERY_BROKER_URL")
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#std:setting-result_backend
  CELERY_RESULT_BACKEND = CELERY_BROKER_URL
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#std:setting-accept_content
  CELERY_ACCEPT_CONTENT = ["json"]
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#std:setting-task_serializer
  CELERY_TASK_SERIALIZER = "json"
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#std:setting-result_serializer
  CELERY_RESULT_SERIALIZER = "json"
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#task-time-limit
  # TODO: set to whatever value is adequate in your circumstances
  CELERY_TASK_TIME_LIMIT = 5 * 60
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#task-soft-time-limit
  # TODO: set to whatever value is adequate in your circumstances
  CELERY_TASK_SOFT_TIME_LIMIT = 60
  # http://docs.celeryproject.org/en/latest/userguide/configuration.html#beat-scheduler
  CELERY_BEAT_SCHEDULER = "django_celery_beat.schedulers:DatabaseScheduler"
  # django-allauth
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  ACCOUNT_ALLOW_REGISTRATION = env.bool("DJANGO_ACCOUNT_ALLOW_REGISTRATION", True)
  # https://django-allauth.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
  ACCOUNT_AUTHENTICATION_METHOD = "username"
  # https://django-allauth.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
  ACCOUNT_EMAIL_REQUIRED = True
  # https://django-allauth.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
  ACCOUNT_EMAIL_VERIFICATION = "mandatory"
  # https://django-allauth.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
  ACCOUNT_ADAPTER = "veritas.users.adapters.AccountAdapter"
  # https://django-allauth.readthedocs.io/en/latest/configuration.html
  SOCIALACCOUNT_ADAPTER = "veritas.users.adapters.SocialAccountAdapter"
  
  
  # Your stuff...
  # ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  