title: how to set static files directory in django
body: <p>I am trying to get an existing django app up and running, but the css or any other static files are not showing up.  I get the error:</p>
  
  <pre><code>"GET /static/css/mycss.css HTTP/1.1" 404 50
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>In the settings the following values are used:</p>
  
  <pre><code>DJANGO_ROOT = dirname(dirname(abspath(__file__)))
  SITE_ROOT = dirname(DJANGO_ROOT)
  STATIC_ROOT = normpath(join(SITE_ROOT, 'assets'))
  STATIC_URL = '/static/'
  
  STATICFILES_DIRS = (
      normpath(join(SITE_ROOT, 'static')),
  )
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>The app contains a directory called "static".  It is in the current directory structure:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>my-django-project > my-django-project > static > css > mycss.css</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>When I hit the home url via localhost, I get the above 404 error.</p>
  
  <p>What am I doing wrong?</p>