diff --git a/django_rest_api/.settings.py.swp b/django_rest_api/.settings.py.swp
index a92fa76..98cc833 100644
Binary files a/django_rest_api/.settings.py.swp and b/django_rest_api/.settings.py.swp differ
diff --git a/django_rest_api/__pycache__/settings.cpython-39.pyc b/django_rest_api/__pycache__/settings.cpython-39.pyc
index 081b973..3d31cd6 100644
Binary files a/django_rest_api/__pycache__/settings.cpython-39.pyc and b/django_rest_api/__pycache__/settings.cpython-39.pyc differ
diff --git a/django_rest_api/settings.py b/django_rest_api/settings.py
index dac3480..96661d6 100644
--- a/django_rest_api/settings.py
+++ b/django_rest_api/settings.py
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = [
 
 MIDDLEWARE = [
     'corsheaders.middleware.CorsMiddleware', # this makes the cors package run for all requests.  A bit like app.use() in express
+    'whitenoise.middleware.WhiteNoiseMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.security.SecurityMiddleware',
     'django.contrib.sessions.middleware.SessionMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.common.CommonMiddleware',
@@ -54,6 +55,7 @@ MIDDLEWARE = [
     'django.contrib.messages.middleware.MessageMiddleware',
     'django.middleware.clickjacking.XFrameOptionsMiddleware',
 ]
+STATICFILES_STORAGE = 'whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage'
 
 CORS_ALLOW_ALL_ORIGINS = True # add this
 
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index fa365fe..fd9570d 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -7,3 +7,4 @@ gunicorn==20.0.4
 psycopg2-binary==2.8.6
 pytz==2021.1
 sqlparse==0.4.1
+whitenoise==5.2.0