django - Static folder not being loaded -

i want insert avatar of logged in user header, can't files load. i've checked installed apps, directory should no avail.

here's template:

{% load static staticfiles %}  <header>     <div id="header_title">app name goes here</div>     <div id="header_nav">         <nav>             {% if user.is_authenticated %}             <a href="home">home</a>             <a href="feed">feed</a>             <a href="me">                {% load staticfiles %}                 <img src="{% static 'user/'%}{{request.user}}/avatar.png" alt="">             </a>             <a href="notifications">n</a>             <a href="settings">                 <div>s</div>             </a>             {% else %}             <a href="login">log in</a>             <a href="register">register</a>             {% endif %}         </nav>     </div> </header> 

and settings.py:

...  # application definition  installed_apps = [     'django.contrib.admin',     'django.contrib.auth',     'django.contrib.contenttypes',     'django.contrib.sessions',     'django.contrib.messages',     'django.contrib.staticfiles',     'tracks', ...  templates = [     {         'backend': 'django.template.backends.django.djangotemplates',         'dirs': [os.path.join(base_dir, 'templates')],         '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',                 'django.core.context_processors.static',                 'django.core.context_processors.media',             ],         },     }, ]  ...  # static files (css, javascript, images) # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.9/howto/static-files/  static_url = '/static/' auth_profile_module = 'tracks.userprofile' 

this not show image, instead shows "image not found" icon.

what going on here? why not loading files , displaying them? going url "/static/user/enitoni/avatar.png" gives me 404 error.

here's rendered html if helps:

<a href="me">   <img src="/static/user/enitoni/avatar.png" alt=""> </a> 

so... define static_url didn`t define static_root or static_file_dirs. static_url load static files present in dir named 'static' must in your_app like:

my_app/static/my_app/myimage.jpg

and access through

<img src="{% static "my_app/myexample.jpg" %}" alt="my image"/>

if need load static files outside app, check documentation: https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/1.9/howto/static-files/