Nginx server not using project config - django

Question

I am trying to create a configuration for the Nginx web server for my Django project. I would like to store the configuration of the web server in my project files.
As I am using MacOS, the /sites-enabled directory was not present in the /usr/local/etc/nginx directory, so I've created it. In the /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-enabled directory I have made a symbolic link to the project which seems to work.
In the nginx.config file in the /usr/local/etc/nginx directory I have updated the file to make it see the sites-enabled directory:
http {
include /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/*;
The nginx -t command lists the following if I input incorrect data in my project nginx.conf file:
nginx: the configuration file /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
nginx: configuration file /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
and correctly recognizes changes to it if I make some intentional errors:
nginx: [emerg] invalid parameter "server_name" in /usr/local/etc/nginx/sites-enabled/linkem-all:6
nginx: configuration file /usr/local/etc/nginx/nginx.conf test failed
The problem is that despite my changing the port to listen to in the nginx.conf file located in my project:
server {
# port nginx will be listening to
listen 8000;
# server ip address
server_name 127.0.0.1.;
# logs stored within the project
access_log path/to/nginx-acces.log;
error_log /path/to/nginx-error.log;
# pass traffic from nginx to the gunicorn server
location / {
proxy_pass http://127.0.0.1:5432;
}
# static files location served with alias for explicit path
location /static {
alias ./static;
}
}
after running the nginx server I get the error caused by nginx trying to bind to port 8080, its default setting.