Extensions to the Sample Application

The proposed extensions in this section are mostly inspired either by general features common to web applications, such as password reminders and email confirmation, or features specific to our type of sample application, such as search, replies, and messaging. Implementing one or more of these application extensions will help you make the transition from following a tutorial to writing original applications of your own.

            Don’t be surprised if it’s tough going at first; the blank slate of a new feature can be quite intimidating. To help get you started, I can give two pieces of general advice. First, before adding any feature to a Rails application, take a look at the RailsCasts archive to see if Ryan Bates has already covered the subject.15 If he has, watching the relevant RailsCast first will often save you a ton of time. Second, always do extensive Google searches on your proposed feature to find relevant blog posts and tutorials. Web application development is hard, and it helps to learn from theexperience (and mistakes) of others.

             Many of the following features are quite challenging, and I have given some hints about the tools you might need to implement them. Even with hints, they are much more difficult than the book’s end-of-chapter exercises, so don’t be discouraged if you can’t solve them without considerable effort. Due to time constraints, I am not available for one-on-one assistance, but if there is sufficient interest I might release standalone article/screencast bundles on some of these extensions in the future; go to the main Rails Tutorial website at http://railstutorial.org and subscribe to the news feed to get the latest updates.