TemplateDoesNotExist at /rango/ - django

Question

I have tried my best to source and to fix this problem, but I can't seem to find the answer.
Currently going through the tangowithdjango tutorial, I'm currently on 5. Templates and Static Media.
http://www.tangowithdjango.com/book17/chapters/templates_static.html
Trying to get my site to show its first template, but just before I reach 5.2 I tried loading my site and got this error message:
TemplateDoesNotExist at /rango/
rango/index.html
Request Method: GET
Request URL: http://127.0.0.1:8000/rango/
Django Version: 1.8
Exception Type: TemplateDoesNotExist
Exception Value:rango/index.html
Exception Location: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib
/python2.7/site-packages/django/template/loader.py in get_template, line 46
Python Executable: /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7
/Resources/Python.app/Contents/MacOS/Python
Python Version: 2.7.9
Here is my settings.py file:
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__)))
TEMPLATE_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates')
# Template from tangowithdjango 5.1: Templates and Static Media
#
TEMPLATE_DIRS = (
# Put strings here, like "/home/html/django_templates" or "C:/www/django/templates".
# Always use forward slashes, even on Windows.
# Don't forget to use absolute paths, not relative paths.
TEMPLATE_PATH,
)
Here is my views.py:
from django.shortcuts import render
from django.http import HttpResponse
def index(request):
# Construct a dictionary to pass to the template engine as its context.
# Note the key boldmessage is the same as {{ boldmessage }} in the template!
context_dict = {'boldmessage': "I am bold font from the context"}
# Return a rendered response to send to the client.
# We make use of the shortcut function to make our lives easier.
# Note that the first parameter is the template we wish to use.
return render(request, 'rango/index.html', context_dict)
Sorry about the comments, after a few tries I copied the site's code, but still to no success.
My file structure is as follows:
workspace
tango_with_django_project
manage.py
tango_with_django_project
settings.py
templates
rango
index.html
To add, here is what is shown at 127.0.0.1:8000/rango :
Template-loader postmortem
Django tried loading these templates, in this order:
Using loader django.template.loaders.filesystem.Loader:
Using loader django.template.loaders.app_directories.Loader:
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7
/site-packages/django/contrib/admin/templates/rango/index.html (File does not exist)
/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/lib/python2.7
/site-packages/django/contrib/auth/templates/rango/index.html (File does not exist)

Answer 1

TEMPLATE_DIRS is deprecated in django 1.8. You should use the TEMPLATES setting instead. Chances are that you already have the TEMPLATES variable in the settings.py so alter the DIRS key like this:
TEMPLATES = [
{
'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates',
'DIRS': [TEMPLATE_PATH], # <-- HERE --
'APP_DIRS': True,
'OPTIONS': {
'context_processors': [
'django.template.context_processors.debug',
'django.template.context_processors.request',
'django.contrib.auth.context_processors.auth',
'django.contrib.messages.context_processors.messages',
],
},
},
]

Answer 2

BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
Add this below BASE_DIR:
PROJECT_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, os.pardir)
Next following should look like this:
STATIC_PATH = os.path.join(PROJECT_PATH, 'tango_with_django_project/static')
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
STATICFILES_DIRS =(
STATIC_PATH,
)
TEMPLATE_PATH = os.path.join(PROJECT_PATH, 'tango_with_django_project/templates')
TEMPLATE_DIRS = (
TEMPLATE_PATH,
)
MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(PROJECT_PATH, 'tango_with_django_project/media')

Answer 3

Your directory structure is wrong. check out what this code is doing...
directory = os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))
according to your directory structure this code returns...
/root_path/tango_with_django_project/tango_with_django_project
therefore according to your structure, templates folder is not inside the folder tango_with_django_project which is where it thinks it should be.
you could just specify a direct path to your templates if you want.
TEMPLATE_PATH = '/root_project/tango_with_django_project/templates/'
On a side note, Tango with Django is the worst name for a tutorial series, possibly ever.