TEMPLATE_DIRS and templates folder help please - django

Question

So I'm pulling apart a website with the front-end already built and have taken on the task of building out the backend, but I am new to django. I have managed to separate everything out accordingly (css, js, img's in a static folder, html files in a templates folder, etc) and so far have been able to set the index.html as the homepage to django. Within this index.html file, other html files (located in the templates folder along with the index.html file) are being loaded within tags of the index.html file. Currently all of the images, css, and js is coming through in the file, but the html files are not. I am referencing these html files as "name of file.html" However, I cannot seem to get these to load unless I move the templates folder into the static folder (alongside the css, images, js, etc.) and change the reference to "static/templates/name of file.html"
My project setup is as follows. Also I'm running django 1.7.
atmos_v4/
atmos_v4/
init__.py
settings.py
urls.py
wsgi.py
db.sqlite3
manage.py
static/
css/
...
img/
...
js/
...
media/
...
templates/
index.html
...
My urls.py and settings.py are below. I have a feeling my TEMPLATE_DIRS and STATIC_ROOT may be set up incorrectly. If not, would someone be so kind as to tell me what I'm missing? Thank you!
settings.py:
"""
Django settings for atmos_v4 project.
For more information on this file, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/settings/
For the full list of settings and their values, see
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/
"""
# Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...)
import os
BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(__file__))
# Quick-start development settings - unsuitable for production
# See https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/deployment/checklist/
# SECURITY WARNING: keep the secret key used in production secret!
SECRET_KEY = 'y=3ey3sv8lm1j358(2bgthtx0bzy_cjaxug#2npx029nfs#5i%'
# SECURITY WARNING: don't run with debug turned on in production!
DEBUG = True
TEMPLATE_DEBUG = True
ALLOWED_HOSTS = []
# Application definition
INSTALLED_APPS = (
'django.contrib.admin',
'django.contrib.auth',
'django.contrib.contenttypes',
'django.contrib.sessions',
'django.contrib.messages',
'django.contrib.staticfiles',
)
MIDDLEWARE_CLASSES = (
'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
'django.middleware.csrf.CsrfViewMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.AuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.auth.middleware.SessionAuthenticationMiddleware',
'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
)
ROOT_URLCONF = 'atmos_v4.urls'
WSGI_APPLICATION = 'atmos_v4.wsgi.application'
# Database
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/settings/#databases
DATABASES = {
'default': {
'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.sqlite3',
'NAME': os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'db.sqlite3'),
}
}
# Internationalization
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/topics/i18n/
LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_I18N = True
USE_L10N = True
USE_TZ = True
# Static files (CSS, JavaScript, Images)
# https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/howto/static-files/
STATIC_URL = '/static/'
from os.path import join
TEMPLATE_DIRS = (
os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'templates'),
)
STATIC_PATH = os.path.join(BASE_DIR,'static')
STATICFILES_DIRS = (
STATIC_PATH,
)
urls.py
from django.conf.urls import patterns, include, url
from django.contrib import admin
from django.views.generic import TemplateView
urlpatterns = patterns('',
url(r'^$', TemplateView.as_view(template_name="index.html")),
url(r'^admin/', include(admin.site.urls)),
)
index.html reference examples
<div id="wheelartist" style="position:absolute; top:131px; left:536px; z- index:999999;">
<div id="circleartist" class="circleartist">
<a id="homebuttonLink" href="artist_profile.html"><img id="homebutton" title="Home" src="/static/img/icons/user.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="msgsbuttonLink" href="messages.html"><img id="msgsButton" title="Messages" src="/static/img/icons/mail.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="directorybuttonLink" href="directory.html"><img id="directoryButton" title="Directory" src="/static/img/icons/book.png" alt=""> </a>
<a id="cartbuttonLink" href="shopping_cart.html"><img id="cartButton" class="shopingCart" title="Shopping Cart" src="/static/img/icons/shopping.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="contestsbuttonLink" href="contests_list.html"><img id="contestsButton" class="planet" title="Planet" src="/static/img/icons/planet.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="pointsbuttonLink" href="points.html"><img id="pointsButton" class="awards" title="Awards" src="/static/img/icons/awards.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="prefbuttonLink" href="preferences.html"><img id="prefButton" class="tools" title="Tools" src="/static/img/icons/tools.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="searchbuttonLink" href="search.html"><img id="searchButton" class="headphones" title="Search" src="/static/img/icons/music.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="mapbuttonLink" href="artist_careermap.html"><img id="mapButton" title="Career Map" src="/static/img/icons/map.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="profitsbuttonLink" href="artist_profits.html"><img id="profitsButton" title="Profits" src="/static/img/icons/profits.png" alt=""></a>
<a id="statsbuttonLink" href="artist_stats.html"><img id="statsButton" title="Stats" src="/static/img/icons/stats.png" alt=""></a> </div>

Answer 1

templates/
index.html
try to change to this structure
templates/
atmos_v4/
index.html
and inside the settings.py remove this
"from os.path import join"
EDIT: after you update your file now i see that you have bad index.html file, you need to use the built-in function for templates and url
https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.7/ref/templates/builtins/#url