Missing bootstrap resources in Django-Rest-Framework

Question

I'm using the new django-rest-framework 2.0 and have been following the tutorial for creating a rest based API. The API is now complete, however I am having trouble getting the bootstrap resources to load, all return with a 404 Not Found from Django.

I feel like the resources should be loaded from django-rest-framework module's static directory, And when I do a listing on 'python2.7/dist-packages/rest_framework/static/rest_framework' I see the css, js, and img directories I need with but I have been unable to find any place in the documentation that shows how to link the CSS from the module to my project.

What is the best course of action here? Should I download the source and copy the folder into my /static directory? Symlinking is out of the question because I need to check the project into a central repo.. Ideas?

Answer 1

First up, I'm assuming that you mean the bootstrap static resources aren't loading for the browsable API? (Although I guess it could be that you're trying to use them elsewhere in your project?)

If you're running with DEBUG=True they should be served automatically, but once you're running with DEBUG=False you need to make sure to run manage.py collectstatic and ensure your STATIC_ROOT and STATIC_URL settings are correct.

Django's static files documentation should help: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/dev/howto/static-files/

If you're still not having any luck I'd suggest you double check your Django version (1.3 and upwards is supported), and REST framework version (Anything from version 2 onwards), and make sure you step through the tutorial step-by-step, taking care particularly with the project setup.