Blog Spot - Ruby on Rails Blog Application

A simple blog application built with Ruby on Rails, featuring user authentication, email notifications, and TailwindCSS styling for a modern and responsive UI.

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Table of Contents

• Features
• Tech Stack
• Prerequisites
• Installation & Setup
  • 1. Clone Repository
  • 2. Install dependencies
  • 3. Database Set up
  • 4. Environment Config
• Run Tests
• Running the Application
• Demo
• Key Changes & Development Log

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Features

• User Authentication - Login/registration with Devise, Edit Profile Information with avatar upload
• Blog Post Management - CRUD function in blog posts
• Feedback System - Users can leave feedback on blog posts except their own
• Email Notifications - Authors receive email notifications when feedback is submitted (via SendGrid Service API)
• Filtering & Pagination – Filter blog posts by author and feedback presence with Kaminari gem pagination
• Responsive Design - Built with Tailwind CSS for a modern, mobile-friendly interface
• Testing - Fully tested with passing RSpec specs

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Tech Stack

Layer	Technology
Backend	Ruby on Rails 7.x
Database	PostgreSQL
Authentication	Devise
Emails	SendGrid API
Pagination	Kaminari Gem
Frontend	Tailwind CSS, Stimulus JS
Testing	RSpec, FactoryBot

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Prerequisites

• Ruby 3.0 or higher
• Rails 7.0 or higher
• PostgreSQL
• Node.js 16 or higher
• Yarn or npm
• Git

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Installation & Setup

1. Clone Repository

git clone https://github.com/archejk/blog_post.git

• Navigate into the project directory

cd blog_spot

2. Install dependencies

# install ruby gems
bundle install

# install js javascript packages
yarn install or npm install

3. Database Set up

# create and setup db
rails db:create
rails db:migrate

# load data in the db (optional)
rails db:seed

4. Environment Config

• Create .env file in the root directory and add these env variables:

# database credentials
DATABASE_USERNAME=your_username
DATABASE_PASSWORD=your_password

# Sendgrid email delivery service
SENDGRID_API_KEY=your_sendgrid_api_key

• refer to the documentation on how to generate API key: https://www.twilio.com/docs/sendgrid/for-developers/sending-email/getting-started-smtp
• your_sendgrid_api_key or use this key from my test account:

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Run Tests

# all tests (models, controllers, etc.)
bundle exec rspec

# run specific test files
bundle exec rspec spec/models
bundle exec rspec spec/controllers
bundle exec rspec spec/mailers
bundle exec rspec spec/services
bundle exec rspec spec/helpers
bundle exec rspec spec/requests

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Running the Application

1. Start rails server

rails s

2. Start tailwind css watcher (in separate terminal)

rails tailwindcss:watch

# or

yarn build:css

3. Access the application

• Visit: http://localhost:3000

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Demo

BlogPost.Demo.-.User.Authentication.Email.Notification.Feedback.System.mp4

BlogPost.filtering.and.pagination.webm

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Key Changes & Development Log

• Initial Commit: Create and setup Blog Post with feedback mailer
  • View Commit ›
• UI Improvement: Integrated Tailwind CSS for responsive design
  • View Commit ›
• Email Notifications: Set up email delivery via SendGrid service
  • View PR #2 ›
• User Authentication: Integrated Devise for registration/login
  • View PR #4 ›
• User Profiles: Avatar upload with Active Storage and profile management
  • View Commit ›
• Bug Fix: Ensure delete button sends correct DELETE request with Turbo
  • View Commit ›
• Test: Set up Unit Test Framework
  • View Commit ›
• Feature: BlogPost Filtering & Pagination
  • View PR #7 ›