Uploading Media

Uploading Media

Media files are user-uploaded files (images, documents). They are different from static files, which are part of your project code. Django needs separate configuration for media.

Media Settings

# djangoblog/settings.py
import os

MEDIA_URL = '/media/'
MEDIA_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'media')

Serving Media in Development

# djangoblog/urls.py
from django.conf import settings
from django.conf.urls.static import static

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
    path('articles/', include('articles.urls')),
]

# Only in development:
urlpatterns += static(settings.MEDIA_URL, document_root=settings.MEDIA_ROOT)

The ImageField

# articles/models.py
class Article(models.Model):
    title = models.CharField(max_length=100)
    slug = models.SlugField()
    body = models.TextField()
    date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now_add=True)
    thumb = models.ImageField(default='default.png', blank=True)
    author = models.ForeignKey('auth.User', on_delete=models.CASCADE)

Install Pillow for image handling: pip install Pillow

Displaying Uploaded Images

<!-- In a template -->
<img src="{{ article.thumb.url }}" alt="{{ article.title }}">

article.thumb.url returns the full URL path to the uploaded image.

Upload via Admin

With the ImageField configured, the Django admin automatically shows a file upload widget. Upload images through the admin panel to test.

Key Takeaways

• Configure MEDIA_URL and MEDIA_ROOT in settings for user uploads
• Add the static URL pattern for serving media in development
• ImageField requires Pillow: pip install Pillow
• Access the file URL in templates with {{ field.url }}