Step by Step guide to test Rails ActiveText

actiontext.md

Step by Step guide to test Rails ActiveText

You might have seen the video of DHH about ActionText upcoming feature in Rails 6. This is a step by step guide for creating the exact same example as in the video.

⚠️ If like me you never ran an edge version of Rails before and wonder how to do it then this is for you

Create a new app from the Edge version of Rails

1. Clone the Rails repo

   git clone https://github.com/rails/rails.git
   cd rails
   bundle install
   

2. Create a new app with Rails Edge, YABE (YABE: Yet Another Blog Example) we will want to create a new app within the same directory and using the locally installed Rails generator

   #move out of rails folder first
   cd ..
   
   #create the app with the local rails generator and the edge flag to use GH master branch
   ./rails/railties/exe/rails new yabe --edge
   
   cd yabe

3. Start the app

   ⚠️ remember to always use the local rails command: ./bin/rails

   ./bin/rails s

   visit http://localhost:3000

   you should now have the rails startup screen showing

   Rails version: 6.0.0.alpha

Installing ActionText

1. Add the ActionText gem (and image variants for active Storage):

   # Gemfile
   gem "actiontext", github: "rails/actiontext", require: "action_text"
   gem "image_processing", "~> 1.2" # for Active Storage variants

2. Install gem, assets, npm dependency, and migrations

   bundle install
   ./bin/rails action_text:install
   ./bin/rails db:migrate
   

3. Scaffold Post

   ./bin/rails g scaffold post title:string
   ./bin/rails db:migrate
   

4. Adding a rich text field to Post

   # app/models/post.rb
   class Post < ApplicationRecord
     has_rich_text :content
   end

   Active Text brings a polymorphic model under the hood for managing RichText

5. Add a new content

   <%= form.rich_text_area :content %> rich_text_area is the new content type to display Trix

   <%# app/views/posts/_form.html.erb %>
   <%= form_with(model: post) do |form| %>
     …
     <div class="field">
       <%= form.label :content %>
       <%= form.rich_text_area :content %>
     </div>
     …
   <% end %>

6. finally display the rich text on a page:

   <%= @post.content %>

7. To accept the rich text content, all you have to do is permit the referenced attribute: update the

   class MessagesController < ApplicationController
     def create
       message = Message.create! params.require(:message).permit(:title, :content)
       redirect_to message
     end
   end

8. Start bloging

   `http://localhost:3000/posts`
   

Where are the tests?

Where are the tests?