[Answered ]-Django Context processors not working?

Your permission_based_hidding_of_sidebar method looks like a view, not a context processor. A template context processor should return a dictionary, not an HTTP response from render() It doesn’t make sense for it to use login_required or csrf_exempt decorators.

In your view, you do not need context_instance=RequestContext(request), the render shortcut will automatically use a request to render the template.

Finally, you can fix the 1_8.W001 warning by updating your settings to use TEMPLATES. You should then update the context_processors in OPTIONS, instead of setting TEMPLATE_CONTEXT_PROCESSORS.