mokolabsStyler
Styler is a Rails plugin which makes it easier to include stylesheets. That way, you can think less about stylesheet configuration and more about styling.
Styler works by replacing stylesheet_link_tag, the default stylesheet tag helper for Rails, with an improved helper called stylesheets.
Install
To install, just add Styler to your vendor/plugins directory:
script/plugin install git://github.com/mokolabs/styler.git
Usage
To use Styler, update your layouts with this code:
<head>
<title>the.rails.ist</title>
<%= stylesheets %>
</head>
Styler will then include your stylesheets automatically:
<head>
<title>the.rails.ist</title>
<link href="/stylesheets/application.css?1170968897" />
<!--[if IE 8]>
<link href="/stylesheets/ie8.css?1170968897" />
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 7]>
<link href="/stylesheets/ie7.css?1170968897" />
<![endif]-->
<!--[if IE 6]>
<link href="/stylesheets/ie6.css?1170968897" />
<![endif]-->
</head>
Styler will also dynamically include stylesheets for each of your controllers (if such stylesheets are present), so you can keep your styles organized into logical sections without adding tons of stylesheet_link_tag calls.
Organize your stylesheets
Styler uses a simple set of conventions:
- Styles for your entire application should be stored in
application.css - Styles for specific controllers should be stored in
controller.css - Styles for specific actions should be stored in
controller_action.css - Styles for Internet Explorer 8 should be stored in
ie8.css - Styles for Internet Explorer 7 should be stored in
ie7.css - Styles for Internet Explorer 6 should be stored in
ie6.css - Styles for iPhone should be stored in
iphone.css
When used in combination, these conventions can scale up to support pretty big applications.
Include additional stylesheets
Conventions are great, but need to add your own stylesheets?
<%= stylesheets :include => "reset" %>
<%= stylesheets :include => ["reset", "fonts"] %>
Any additional stylesheets will be inserted before Internet Explorer and iPhone stylesheets, which means you'll still be able to apply tweaks and bug fixes.
Use nested stylesheets (optional)
For bigger projects, you might wish to break your stylesheets into separate directories.
To use nested stylesheets, just create subdirectories in public/stylesheets for each of your controllers, and then add separate stylesheets for individual actions you wish to style.
- Styles for an entire controller should be stored in
controller.css - Styles for specific actions should be stored in
controller/action.css
You can also set a general subpath for all stylesheets:
<%= stylesheets :path => "compiled" %>
This will force Styler to only load stylesheets from the /public/stylesheets/compiled directory.
Generator
Styler also includes a generator that will create a default set of stylesheets (application.css, ie8.css, ie7.css, ie6.css, and iphone.css) and a separate stylesheet for each controller in your application.
To use the generator, run this command in your terminal:
script/generate stylesheets
If you add a new controller, just run the generator again and a new stylesheet for the controller will be created. (Styler will safely ignore any existing stylesheets already in your stylesheets directory.)
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Style work with Sass?
Yes, Styler works great with Sass. Just make sure your generated stylesheets are saved to public/stylesheets and you'll be fine. (Note: there is no support for Sass in Styler's generator, so you'll need to create your Sass files like normal.)
Does Styler do asset bundling?
Not at the present time. Asset bundling can get complicated and it's definitely outside the intended scope of this application. If asset bundling is critical to your application, you can always revert back to using standard asset helpers or even write your own.
Contributors
Special thanks to Rob Kaufman (for adding Ruby 1.9 compatibility) and Fabio Kreusch (for adding a custom :path option).
Feedback
Comments and patches welcome at http://github.com/mokolabs/styler/.