Open Source

WeblogPcr: A Web Blog Plugin for Ruby on Rails

WeblogPcr is a fundamental and complete implementation of a web blog generator plugin for Ruby on Rails released under the MIT license by PCR Web Design. Fundamental in the sense that in this first version it implements the essential features of a blog (and some more). Complete in the sense that after it is installed and the generator is called you got yourself a fully functional blog. Tweak the provided CSS file in order to integrate it in your website look and feel and you are ready to blog away.

WeblogPcr is available for all the Rails developers out there at http://weblog-pcr.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/weblog_pcr. Details instructions on how to use it can be found in the README file.

WeblogPcr is quite flexible and allows you to add whatever features you wish. It assumes very little of the authentication mechanism you must have in place. Some of its current features are:

  • Basic formatting of the published content.
  • Upload images to your content.
  • Display blog history.
  • Allow readers to enter comments.
  • Https ready with a simple flag in the generator command line.
  • Scope the generated classes with modules (recommended).

If you want to see what WeblogPcr looks like after the cascade stylesheet is customized, you can see it shine at our blog. Most of the front-end work has been included for your benefit. It even includes some JavaScript and Ajax magic for a snappy behavior. The default CSS comes also with a lot of the layout work done for you, such solving the problem of content and side columns of variable and equal height (not faux columns, by the way).

Moving Forward: We plan to release WeblogPcr as a ruby gem in the near future, for better version tracking, flexibility and other benefits associated with ruby gems. Upcoming versions will include more content formatting options, ability to add followers and a suite of tests.

If you have any questions or comments about this Rails plugin, feel free to contact us at feedback@pcr-webdesign.com. We welcome your input and would like to hear from you.

Stay tuned for upcoming updates and new plugins released by PCR Web Design. Blog away!