April 2013
4 posts
Prelaunch Signup Application
I’ve just added the Startup Prelaunch Site tutorial to the collection of RailsApps Tutorials.
Most startups need a site to announce the founders’ plans and encourage visitors to enter an email address for notification of the site’s launch. The tutorial will show you how to:
sign up visitors using a pop-up form
add buttons to encourage visitors to share the site on social networks
...
Rails Girls Summer of Code
Here’s the question. The mission of the RailsApps project is to make it easier for people to develop Rails applications. What could a Summer Coder do to advance the mission? Here are some of my ideas. What else would be worthwhile?
Convert the example applications from Rails 3.2 to Rails 4.0
Help write new example applications (covering what topics?)
Help write new example applications...
Rails Apps Composer on Guard
Paavo Leinonen frequently uses the rails_apps_composer gem when building applications for clients. He recently contributed support for continuous testing with Guard.
I wanted to ask him why Guard is important. Paavo has been very enthusiastic about Rails Apps Composer so we created this interview. I swear a public relations firm didn’t edit this, it’s just Paavo’s natural...
Project Gemsets with RVM
I use RVM, the Ruby Version Manager, because I often switch between projects that require different versions of Rails. I create an RVM gemset for each project.
RVM looks for a .rvmrc file in a project root directory and automatically switches to the required version of Ruby and the correct gemset. Now, with version 1.19, RVM looks for files named .ruby-version and .ruby-gemset in the root...
March 2013
1 post
Ruby 2.0 and Rails 4.0
This week brought a great leap forward for Rails development with the release of Ruby 2.0.0 (final) and Rails 4.0.0 (beta).
Ruby 2.0 makes Rails much faster. You’ll love the speed improvement.
Rails 4 brings new features with new twists on implementing Rails applications. Rails 4 final is a few months away but you can install Rails 4.0.0.beta1 now to get familiar with the changes coming...
February 2013
1 post
Rails Apps Composer version 2.2.32
I released version 2.2.32 of the Rails Apps Composer gem today.
Haml version 4.0 was released yesterday with a new implementation of the html2haml utility. The Rails Apps Composer gem uses the html2haml tool to convert ERB files to Haml files. That means you can use the Rails Composer tool to create a Haml version for any our example applications.
I like to use Haml for my own projects because...
January 2013
2 posts
Filling Rails Potholes
Yesterday I was at an open house for Code for America as the organization prepared to send off teams to help ten municipalities improve government services. It’s a great organization with an admirable mission and I was reminded how our skills as coders give us tools to make an impact on so many ordinary lives. The Code for America Fellows are all doing a service year so they can write...
RailsApps Tutorials Launches
Hackers need help learning Rails. Not just beginners, but experienced developers making the transition to Rails, and especially people who have completed an introduction and want to take the next step to build real-world web applications. The RailsApps project aims to bridge the gap.
I released the first RailsApps tutorial two years ago. Since then, I’ve created eight example...
December 2012
2 posts
Setting Local Environment Variables in Rails
As our RailsApps applications grow more popular, help requests are growing more frequent. Particularly with the release of the rails-stripe-membership-saas application, I’ve seen people having trouble with setting Unix environment variables. Granted, if you’re doing development with Rails, you really should be able to sort out your own problems with Unix environment variables. But...
September 2012
1 post
"Unholy Rails" Explained
Most of the attention for the RailsApps project has come from people who follow me on Twitter plus occasional announcements on the RubyFlow community blog.
HN
Yesterday was awesome. My most recent article was discussed on Hacker News. You probably know it: HN is a popular discussion forum, probably the most active at the intersection of startups and coding. Making the front page of HN results...
August 2012
1 post
What's New in Rails Apps Composer
Just to recap, the Rails Apps Composer gem installs a command line tool to assemble a Rails application from a collection of “recipes.” It’s useful for creating and maintaining starter apps. I use it to maintain the RailsApps project example applications.
Progress Report
Six weeks ago, I announced an ambitious roadmap for Rails Apps Composer version 2.0.
I wanted to fix...
July 2012
2 posts
Roadmap for Rails Apps Composer Gem 2.0
I’m planning changes to the rails_apps_composer gem.
Rails Apps Composer is a gem with recipes to create Rails application templates you can use to generate Rails starter apps. It creates ready-to-run Rails web applications and makes it easy to create and maintain a starter app.
If you use the gem, please take a poll to let me know whether the app is useful or needs improvements. You can...
Rails Apps Composer version 1.5.5
I released version 1.5.5 of the Rails Apps Composer gem today. Versions 1.5.3 and 1.5.4 were released within the past two weeks. It’s the gem you can use to generate a Rails starter app.
Version 1.5.5 is primarily intended to accommodate the release of Mongoid 3.0. This version and recent versions also offer a number of gem updates and small improvements. See the CHANGELOG for details.
There...
June 2012
3 posts
Bug Fix for Rails Prelaunch Signup App
Closed issue #7 for the Rails Prelaunch Signup App. When visitors requested an invitation, a new account was created, and a password was created. Turns out I’d overlooked some code in the application.js file that was creating a password with the value “undefined.” I’ve fixed the bug by cleaning up the Javascript. Now it works as it should. When the administrator invites the...
Soft Launch for Rails Prelaunch Signup App
This is my favorite of all the example apps I’ve built. And it keeps getting better and better!
I’m in the middle of a “soft launch” for the app, which means I haven’t made a promotional push, but the app has been mentioned on Hacker News (with some very nice comments about the RailsApps project, too). I’m gathering user feedback and improving the app and the...
Version Updates for Rails 3.2.6
Today I updated all the RailsApps example apps to use Rails 3.2.6. Changes are minor.
Rails 3.2.6 was released eight days ago. No new features, just two important security fixes. See the announcement “Rails version 3.2.6 has been released.”
I released Rails Apps Composer versions 1.5.1 and 1.5.2 just before that, with updates to some gem versions, a fix for an incompatibility...
May 2012
5 posts
Rails Apps Composer version 1.5.0
I’ve released version 1.5.0 of the Rails Apps Composer gem. It’s a gem you can use to generate a Rails starter app. Makes it easy to create and maintain a starter app from recipes that integrate commonly used gems.
This release includes a major new feature contributed by Bryan Stearns.
For the first time, you can create a “defaults” file so every time you generate an app,...
Rails Apps Composer version 1.4.12
I’ve released version 1.4.12 of the Rails Apps Composer gem.
This is a minor release. There is one significant feature:
send email via SMTP, Gmail, or SendGrid accounts
The SendGrid option will be useful for the rails-prelaunch-signup app.
The rails_apps_composer CHANGELOG lists the improvements.
With this release I’ve updated the application templates which are used to create and...
Rails Apps Composer version 1.4.10
I’ve released version 1.4.10 of the Rails Apps Composer gem.
This is a minor release. It adds several small improvements and bug fixes. The rails_apps_composer CHANGELOG lists the improvements.
Thank you to
Alex Kravets
nrser
allen13
for identifying and reporting the issues that prompted this update.
With this release I’ve updated the application templates which are used to...
How's it going? Rails Prelaunch Signup Application
Almost everyone who works on a startup creates a simple “request invite” site before launch. If you’re a Rails developer, you will probably build it from scratch. But why? Seems to me we all could save effort with a good open source starter app.
That’s why I started building the rails-prelaunch-signup app a few months ago. It’s a useful example application and the...
Powered Up by the RailsApps Project:...
This week I learned of a new site, XPlaygrounds.com, that was built using the rails-prelaunch-signup app from my RailsApps project. I interviewed XPlaygrounds.com founder, Michael Gajda, about his experience powering up his new site using the app.
What’s the concept for XPlaygrounds.com?
Our aim is to deliver a next generation sports platform for people who are passionate about fun and...
April 2012
5 posts
RubyGems 1.8.24 Is Out
Use “gem update —system” to upgrade to RubyGems 1.8.24. The previous version (1.8.23) included two security fixes:
verification of server SSL certs is required when RubyGems connects to an https server
RubyGems no longer allows redirects from https to http servers
This commit explains why: Insecure connection to SSL repository.
RubyGems 1.8.23 was supposed to install a file...
Rails Apps Composer version 1.4.8
I’ve released version 1.4.8 of the Rails Apps Composer gem.
This is a minor release. It adds the gem ‘therubyracer’ as an option for Linux users who have not installed node.js. And it adds the gem ‘therubyracer’ as required for use with the “Bootstrap with Less” option.
Thank you to
Matt Slay
Dave Foster
for identifying and reporting the issues that...
Rails Apps Composer version 1.4.7
I’ve released version 1.4.7 of the Rails Apps Composer gem.
It’s a gem with recipes to create Rails application templates you can use to generate Rails starter apps. Creates ready-to-run Rails web applications. Makes it easy to create and maintain a starter app.
It’s the basis for the application templates which are used to create and update the RailsApps example applications.
...
Twitter Bootstrap and Rails
I’ve written a guide to setting up a Rails 3.2 application to use Twitter Bootstrap as a CSS front-end framework, providing an HTML5 application layout and CSS styling for Rails alerts and notices.
Twitter Bootstrap and Rails
The guide is based on my tutorial for Rails, Twitter Bootstrap, Devise and CanCan.
Rails, Twitter Bootstrap, Devise and CanCan:...
Just added to the RailsApps GitHub repo: an example app for Rails, Twitter Bootstrap, Devise, and CanCan. Twitter Bootstrap is coming on strong as a front-end framework to use with Rails; Devise continues to be popular for user management and authentication; and CanCan is a favorite for authorization architecture. This example app puts them together. Best of all, it comes with a detailed Rails...
March 2012
6 posts
RubyGems 1.8.18 Is Out
Use gem update --system to upgrade to RubyGems 1.8.18. Just some minor fixes, apparently:
Use Psych API to emit more compatible YAML
Download and write inside `gem fetch` directly. Fixes #289
Honor sysconfdir on 1.8. Fixes #291
Search everywhere for a spec for `gem spec`. Fixes #288
Fix Gem.all_load_path. Fixes #171
I’ve updated the Installing Rails article.
UPDATE
RubyGems 1.8.19...
Haml and Rails
I’ve updated the guide to Haml and Rails with some helpful suggestions from Brook Riggio’s blog post on Haml by Default in a New Rails 3.2 App.
The RailsApps application templates now include a haml-html5 template offering you a choice of Haml or ERB, with options for a CSS front-end framework such as Twitter Bootstrap, and a default application layout using HTML5 (see the article...
Updates to the Rails_Apps_Composer Gem
I’ve completed a round of updates to the Rails_Apps_Composer gem (now at version 1.2.0).
options to use Twitter Bootstrap (either Less or Sass versions)
an improved HTML5 application layout
an improved navigation recipe
These options will improve any starter app generated by the RailsApps application templates. All the application templates have been updated.
Bundler 1.1.0 Is Out
Bundler 1.1.0 has been released. It is faster! Worth a quick ”gem update bundler” to upgrade. I’ve updated my article Installing Rails 3.2 to recommend updating bundler.
Rails 3.2.2 has been released
Rails 3.2.2 has been released. This release contains various bug fixes and two important security fixes. The official announcement advises, “Users are recommended to upgrade as soon as possible.” Here are my instructions for Installing Rails 3.2 with advice and tips.
Updated Rails Tutorial for Devise with RSpec and...
Just completed an update to the Rails Tutorial for Devise with RSpec and Cucumber. Refreshed for Rails 3.2, HTML5, and the option to use Devise Confirmable.
@davidrdegroot just shared some praise on Twitter: “Just want to say thanks for all your hard work… you do such a good job… how do you get paid though? Ads?”
February 2012
8 posts
For $100 I Explain Why I Do Open Source
Today was a milestone day for the RailsApps project. I received a $100 check in the mail from a fan, the first time someone has been moved to send money as a thank you. I’m happy to report that getting a surprise gift of cash feels great! I’m taking it as a sign I should explain why I work on this project.
I do it because I like the appreciation. Every week I see comments and tweets...
Starter app with Devise "Confirmable" and...
The rails3-devise-rspec-cucumber example app now offers an option for including the Devise “Confirmable” and “Invitable” modules when you use the application template to create a starter app. Devise once included the “Confirmable” module by default; since it was removed there have been questions about how to set it up. The starter app does it for you and...
Shall I add a "Devise Confirmable" option to my...
I’ve been working this week on a new example app for the RailsApps project. It’s called rails-prelaunch-signup and it will be an example Rails 3.2 app for a web startup prelaunch page. Turns out I’ll need to use the Devise Confirmable module (which used to be a Devise default and now is an option). There’s a few tricks needed to get “:confirmable” working with...
David Demaree on "How I Work, Part 1: Ruby" →
Interesting details on setting up Ruby for development on OS X.
The WorldWideWeb application is now available as... →
I was writing for NeXTWorld magazine at the time I saw TimBL’s newsgroup announcement.
I mentioned it to a colleague at the magazine, John Perry Barlow, who emailed his friend Mitch Kapor at EFF, saying “[Kehoe] passed on the following about something called World Wide Web, which sounds rather like Project Xanadu emerging from the Matrix almost without design. This could be...
1 tag
Rails 3.2.2.rc1 has been released. →
1 tag
Installing Rails 3.2 →
Updated with instructions to use Ruby 1.9.3-p125.
2 tags
Ruby 1.9.3-p125 is released →
Ruby 1.9.3-p125 is out, the new recommended Ruby version, available via rvm. Update Ruby with “rvm install ruby-1.9.3-p125” and remember to “gem update rake” to 0.9.2.2.
