diff --git a/civicfix/civicfix/__pycache__/settings.cpython-313.pyc b/civicfix/civicfix/__pycache__/settings.cpython-313.pyc
index 5d110c0..8938287 100644
Binary files a/civicfix/civicfix/__pycache__/settings.cpython-313.pyc and b/civicfix/civicfix/__pycache__/settings.cpython-313.pyc differ
diff --git a/civicfix/civicfix/settings.py b/civicfix/civicfix/settings.py
index cabcaf8..6d0b492 100644
--- a/civicfix/civicfix/settings.py
+++ b/civicfix/civicfix/settings.py
@@ -93,15 +93,22 @@ USE_TZ = True
 # Static & Media files
 STATIC_URL = "/static/"
 STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "staticfiles"
-STATICFILES_STORAGE = "whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage" 
+STATICFILES_STORAGE = "whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage"
+
+# Media (Cloudinary + fallback local)
+MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
+MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "media"   # Used locally if Cloudinary creds not set
 
 cloudinary.config( 
-  cloud_name = os.getenv("CLOUD_NAME"),
-  api_key = os.getenv("API_KEY"),
-  api_secret = os.getenv("API_SECRET")
+    cloud_name=os.getenv("CLOUD_NAME"),
+    api_key=os.getenv("API_KEY"),
+    api_secret=os.getenv("API_SECRET"),
+    secure=True
 )
 
-DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE = 'cloudinary_storage.storage.MediaCloudinaryStorage'
+# Default storage (Cloudinary)
+DEFAULT_FILE_STORAGE = "cloudinary_storage.storage.MediaCloudinaryStorage"
+
 
 # Auth redirects
 LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = 'citizen_dashboard'
diff --git a/civicfix/core/__pycache__/urls.cpython-313.pyc b/civicfix/core/__pycache__/urls.cpython-313.pyc
index 9e17988..7e8d062 100644
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diff --git a/civicfix/core/__pycache__/views.cpython-313.pyc b/civicfix/core/__pycache__/views.cpython-313.pyc
index bd48bd5..a8e6ad9 100644
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