Replies

Twitter allows users to make ‘‘@replies’’, which are microposts whose first characters are the user’s login preceded by the @ sign. These posts only appear in the feed of the user in question or users following that user. Implement a simplified version of this, restricting @replies to appear only in the feeds of the recipient and the sender. This might involve adding an in_reply_to column in the microposts table and an extra including_replies scope to the Micropost model.

     Since our application lacks unique user logins, you will also have to decide on a way to represent users. One option is to use a combination of the id and the name, such as @1-michael-hartl. Another is to add a unique username to the signup process and then use it in @replies.

Messaging

Twitter supports direct (private) messaging by prefixing a micropost with the letter ‘‘d.’’ Implement this feature for the sample application. The solution will probably involve a Message model and a regular expression match on new microposts.

Follower Notifications

  Implement a feature to send each user an email notification when they gain a new follower. Then make the notification optional, so that users can opt out if desired. Among other things, adding this feature requires learning how to send mail with Rails. To get started, I suggest viewing the RailsCast on Action Mailer in Rails 3.

Password Reminders

Currently, if our application’s users forget their passwords, they have no way to retrieve them. Because of the one-way secure password hashing in Chapter 6, our application can’t email the user’s password, but it can send a link to a reset form. Follow the steps in the RailsCast on Remember Me & Reset Password to fix this omission.