Not loading configuration file

I have a project called ask . In it, I set the PROJECT_ROOT variable and changed the template search path:

 # Build paths inside the project like this: os.path.join(BASE_DIR, ...) BASE_DIR = os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))) PROJECT_ROOT = os.path.dirname(BASE_DIR) TEMPLATES = [ { 'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates', 'DIRS': [os.path.join(PROJECT_ROOT, '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', ], }, }, ] 

The problem is that Django does not see these changes. For example, if I enter the command line of the Django environment with the command ./manage.py shell , I will see the following:

 Python 2.7.12 (default, Nov 19 2016, 06:48:10) [GCC 5.4.0 20160609] on linux2 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. (InteractiveConsole) >>> from ask.settings import * >>> print PROJECT_ROOT Traceback (most recent call last): File "<console>", line 1, in <module> NameError: name 'PROJECT_ROOT' is not defined >>> print TEMPLATES [{'DIRS': ['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']}, 'BACKEND': 'django.template.backends.django.DjangoTemplates'}] 

Where did my variable PROJECT_ROOT go and why is there no path I specified in the DIRS field of the TEMPLATES dictionary?