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How to build a Pinterest Clone in Rails 5

Libraries Used

Devise
Paperclip
Masonry
Twitter Bootstrap 4
Font Awesome
Acts as Votable

Starter Rails 5 App

Create a new Rails 5 project and pin resource.

rails g scaffold pin title description:text

Migrate the database.

rails db:migrate

Start the server.

rails s

Create some records using the UI.

Authenticate using Devise

Add:

gem 'devise', github: 'plataformatec/devise'

Run bundle. Generate the devise related files.

rails generate devise:install

Define the home page in routes.rb.

root to: "pins#index"

Create the user model.

rails generate devise user

Add the user_id foreign_key to pins table.

rails g migration add_user_id_to_pins user_id:integer

Migrate the database.

rails db:migrate

Add the navigation links:

<% if user_signed_in? %>
  <li><%= link_to "New Pin", new_pin_path %></li>
	<li><%= link_to "Account", edit_user_registration_path %></li>
  <li><%= link_to "Sign Out", destroy_user_session_path, method: :delete %></li>
<% else %>
  <li><%= link_to "Sign Up", new_user_registration_path %></li>
	<li><%= link_to "Sign In", new_user_session_path %></li>
<% end %>

to layout. You will now be able to signup, signin and logout.

File Uploading using Paperclip

gem "paperclip", "~> 5.0.0.beta1"

Run bundle. Add:

has_attached_file :image, :styles => { :medium => "300x300>" }
validates_attachment_content_type :image, :content_type => /\Aimage\/.*\Z/

to pin.rb. Generate the fields required to upload image by running the paperclip generator.

rails g paperclip pin image

Modify the pins table by running the migration.

rails db:migrate

Add:

html: { multipart: true }

to pin form partial. Add file upload field to pin form partial.

<div class='field'>
  <%= f.label :image %>	
  <%= f.file_field :image %>
</div>

You will get the error:

User must exist

if you try to create a pin without a user associated. Change the pins controller new action:

def new
  @pin = current_user.pins.build
end

Image will not be uploaded. To fix the problem, add image field to the permitted fields in pin_params pins controller method:

def pin_params
  params.require(:pin).permit(:title, :description, :image)
end

You can now upload and view the image.

Transition Effects using Masonry Rails Gem

Add masonry-rails gem to Gemfile.

gem 'masonry-rails'

Run bundle. In application.scss:

*= require 'masonry/transitions'

It will look like this:

*= require 'masonry/transitions'
*= require_tree .
*= require_self
*/

Style the pin index page to enable transition effect provided by masonry-rails gem.

<div class="transitions-enabled" id="pins">
  <% @pins.each do |pin| %>
    <div class="box panel panel-default">
      <%= link_to (image_tag pin.image.url), pin %>
      <h2>
        <%= link_to pin.title, pin %>
      </h2>
      <p class="user">
        Submitted by
        <%= pin.user.email %>
      </p>
    </div>	
  <% end %>	
</div>	
<%= link_to 'New Pin', new_pin_path %>

Add CSS to application.scss:

 body {
 	background: #E9E9E9;
 }

 h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6 {
 	font-weight: 100;
 }

 nav {
 	box-shadow: 0 1px 2px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.22);
 	.navbar-brand {
 		a {
 			color: #BD1E23;
 			font-weight: bold;
 			&:hover {
 				text-decoration: none;
 			}
 		}
 	}
 }

 #pins {
   margin: 0 auto;
   width: 100%;
   .box {
 	  margin: 10px;
 	  width: 350px;
 	  box-shadow: 0 1px 2px 0 rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.22);
 	  border-radius: 7px;
 	  text-align: center;
 	  img {
 	  	max-width: 100%;
 	  	height: auto;
 	  }
 	  h2 {
 	  	font-size: 22px;
 	  	margin: 0;
 	  	padding: 25px 10px;
 	  	a {
 				color: #474747;
 	  	}
 	  }
 	  .user {
 	  	font-size: 12px;
 	  	border-top: 1px solid #EAEAEA;
 			padding: 15px;
 			margin: 0;
 	  }
 	}
 }

 #edit_page {
 	.current_image {
 		img {
 			display: block;
 			margin: 20px 0;
 		}
 	}
 }

 #pin_show {
 	.panel-heading {
 		padding: 0;
 	}
 	.pin_image {
 		img {
 			max-width: 100%;
 			width: 100%;
 			display: block;
 			margin: 0 auto;
 		}
 	}
 	.panel-body {
 		padding: 35px;
 		h1 {
 			margin: 0 0 10px 0;
 		}
 		.description {
 			color: #868686;
 			line-height: 1.75;
 			margin: 0;
 		}
 	}
 	.panel-footer {
 		padding: 20px 35px;
 		p {
 			margin: 0;
 		}
 		.user {
 			padding-top: 8px;
 		}
 	}
 }

 textarea {
 	min-height: 250px;
 }

Reload the page. You will now see styled grids for the pins.

Integrate Twitter Bootstrap 4

Add bootstrap gem to Gemfile.

gem 'bootstrap', '~> 4.0.0.alpha3'

Run bundle. Require bootstrap in application.scss:

/*
 * This is a manifest file that'll be compiled into application.css, which will include all the files
 * listed below.
 *
 * Any CSS and SCSS file within this directory, lib/assets/stylesheets, vendor/assets/stylesheets,
 * or any plugin's vendor/assets/stylesheets directory can be referenced here using a relative path.
 *
 * You're free to add application-wide styles to this file and they'll appear at the bottom of the
 * compiled file so the styles you add here take precedence over styles defined in any other CSS/SCSS
 * files in this directory. Styles in this file should be added after the last require_* statement.
 * It is generally better to create a new file per style scope.
 *
 *= require 'masonry/transitions'
 */

@import "bootstrap";

Require bootstrap in application.js:

//= require bootstrap

It will now look like this:

//= require jquery
//= require bootstrap
//= require jquery_ujs
//= require turbolinks
//= require_tree .

Add signup, register, logout, account and new pin links in layouts/_header.html.erb:

<nav class="navbar navbar-dark bg-inverse navbar-fixed-top">
  <%= link_to "Puppy Reviews", root_path, class: "navbar-brand" %>
  <ul class="nav navbar-nav">
    <% if user_signed_in? %>
      <li class="nav-item">
        <%= link_to "New Pin", new_pin_path, class: 'nav-link' %>
      </li>
      <li class="nav-item">
		<%= link_to "Account", edit_user_registration_path, class: 'nav-link' %>
      </li>
      <li class="nav-item">
		<%= link_to "Sign Out", destroy_user_session_path, method: :delete, class: 'nav-link' %>
      </li>	  
    <% else %>
	    <li class="nav-item">
			<%= link_to "Sign Up", new_user_registration_path, class: 'nav-link' %>	
	    </li>
	    <li class="nav-item">
			<%= link_to "Sign In", new_user_session_path, class: 'nav-link' %>
	    </li>
    <% end %>
  </ul>
</nav>

Add:

<%= render 'layouts/header' %>

to layout file. In application.js:

//= require masonry/jquery.masonry

It will look like this:

//= require jquery
//= require bootstrap
//= require jquery_ujs
//= require masonry/jquery.masonry
//= require turbolinks
//= require_tree .

In pins.coffee:

 $ ->
   $('#pins').imagesLoaded ->
     $('#pins').masonry
       itemSelector: '.box'
       isFitWidth: true

Now you will see the transition effect when the browser window is resized.

Vote on a Pin

Add acts_as_votable gem to Gemfile.

gem 'acts_as_votable', '~> 0.10.0'

Run bundle. Generate and create the tables required for voting functionality.

rails generate acts_as_votable:migration
rails db:migrate

Add:

acts_as_votable

in pin model. Define the route to vote in routes.rb.

resources :pins do
  put 'like', to: 'pins#upvote'
end

If you do rails routes, you can see the route to vote:

pin_like PUT    /pins/:pin_id/like(.:format)   pins#upvote

In pin show page, display the like icon and the number of votes:

<%= link_to like_pin_path(@pin), method: :put, class: "btn btn-secondary" do %>
  <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-heart"></span>
  <%= @pin.get_upvotes.size %>
<% end %>

Display the like button only if a user is signed in.

<% if user_signed_in? %>
  <%= link_to like_pin_path(@pin), method: :put, class: "btn btn-secondary" do %>
     <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-heart"></span>
     <%= @pin.get_upvotes.size %>
  <% end %>
 
   <%= link_to "Edit", edit_pin_path, class: "btn btn-default" %>
   <%= link_to "Delete", pin_path, method: :delete, data: { confirm: "Are you sure?" }, class: "btn btn-secondary" %>
<% end %>

If you go to the show pin page, you will get the error:

undefined method `like_pin_path'

The output of rails routes shows:

pin_like PUT    /pins/:pin_id/like(.:format)   pins#upvote

Link the like icon to this path in the pin show page.

 <%= link_to pin_like_path(@pin), method: :put, class: "btn btn-secondary" do %>
 ...

Bootstrap 4 does not come with glyphicons support anymore. Let's use fontawesome instead. Add font-awesome-rails gem to Gemfile.

gem "font-awesome-rails"

Run bundle. Require it in application.scss:

@import "font-awesome";

In the pin show view, display the heart icon for the like link:

<i class="fa fa-heart"></i>

Click on the vote. You will get:

undefined method `upvote_by' for nil:NilClass

Initialize the @pin variable by adding the upvote action to before_action in pins controller.

before_action :set_pin, only: [:show, :edit, :update, :destroy, :upvote]

You will now get the error:

Couldn't find Pin with 'id'=

Currently the route for like is:

rails routes | grep like
pin_like PUT    /pins/:pin_id/like(.:format)   pins#upvote

Let's enclose the like route within the member block.

resources :pins do
  member do
    put 'like', to: 'pins#upvote'
  end
end

You will now get the error:

undefined method `pin_like_path'

Let's look at the route for like link:

rails routes | grep like

The output shows:

like_pin PUT    /pins/:id/like(.:format)       pins#upvote

Change the like link in pin show.

like_pin_path(@pin)

We need to protect all actions except index and show from users who are not logged in. Add the before_action in pins controller that uses devise method to protect those actions.

before_action :authenticate_user!, except: [:index, :show]

Now you must be logged in to like any puppy by clicking the heart icon. You can download the source code for this article from ``.

Summary

In this article, you learned how to develop a Pinterest clone using masonry-rails, acts_as_votable, bootstrap 4, devise in Rails 5.

References

alexreisner/geocoder#966

bparanj / pini

Watch the Screencast

Libraries Used

Starter Rails 5 App

Authenticate using Devise

File Uploading using Paperclip

Transition Effects using Masonry Rails Gem

Integrate Twitter Bootstrap 4

Vote on a Pin

Summary

References

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