Django 1.3: MEDIA_URL vs. STATIC_URL

Question

What does MEDIA_URL does now? I am particularly confused after I got "django.core.exceptions.ImproperlyConfigured: The MEDIA_URL and STATIC_URL settings must have different values".

I'd appreciate Django explaining why this is. Regards

Answer 1

MEDIA_URL is used to point to the base URL for user-generated content - uploaded images, files, that sort of thing.

STATIC_URL is used as the prefix for JavaScript, CSS, etc.

Answer 2

The answer doesn't explain the reasoning as to why.

One of the nice things about Django is that it doesn't expose the backend via the url. Example: /formmail.pl /search.php

But, when it comes to static files, I guess that doesn't matter.

Very disappointing...

Answer 3

Have a look at note number 2 on this page. There they explain why.

https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/howto/static-files/