Introduction

In this episode of Remote Ruby, Jason and Andrew cover a wide range of topics that start out with nothing to do with tech. First, they discuss energy drink flavors and then transition into a humorous exploration of disagreements with Chris, who happens to not be here today. They cover various topics including CMS options, front-end development, and Tailwind CSS customization. They also introduce a gem called “Counter” created by their colleague Jamie, aka “Dad” at Podia, which efficiently handles attribute tracking.  Jason and Andrew discuss the gem’s features and flexibility, highlighting its value in addressing complex counting challenges.  We end with a discussion on email delivery performance issues and ice cream preferences, culminating in a friendly bet about whether Chris will listen to the episode. Hit download now to hear more! 

[00:00:13] Jason and Andrew talk about juicing, and they consider discussing topics that Chris doesn’t agree with, such as Vimeo vs. Wistia, the way he says “query,” and his dislike for ViewComponent.  

[00:03:35] Jason talks about using Spina CMS for Rails, and Andrew mentions using Spinal CMS with Bridgetown. 

[00:06:15] Jason briefly discusses another page builder for Rails called “Maglev” that Bram Jetten works on. Andrew mentions working on their own site builder and they touch on front-end development and tools. 

[00:08:13] The conversation shifts towards Tailwind CSS and the Figma component library “Untitled UI.” Jason talks about Tailwind configuration and arbitrary values for spacing, and he’s customized Tailwind CSS for his projects, including adding display styles and base textiles. Andrew and Jason praise the IntelliSense feature. 

[00:10:34] Andrew mentions feeling out of touch lately due to working with React and he shares an interesting challenge he faced involving data migration and validation. 

[00:12:20] Jason discusses the use of maintenance tasks for data migrations at Podia and their benefits. They talk about default scopes in Rails and the problems they can cause. 

[00:15:30] Jason mentions a gem called “Counter” created by Jamie “Dad” at Podia, and he explains the purpose of the gem, which efficiently handles counting and tracking attributes, and how the gem uses polymorphism and provides flexibility in defining custom counters. Shout-out to “Dad” for creating the gem.

[00:21:14] Find out what happened at the last Rails Conf when Andrew shares the story of telling his boss while riding in an Uber, why he doesn’t wear a seatbelt. 

[00:22:13] Jason shares that he’s trying to improve email delivery performance and using email substitution for personalized links. He discusses his struggles with Action Mailer and email link generation, blaming it for issues. He talks about his efforts with Pre Mailer and Pre Mailer Rails and how he had to skip Pre Mailer to resolve the issue. 

[00:25:12] Andrew asks what Pre Mailer does and Jason explains Pre Mailer’s role in converting styles to inline styles and generating text parts for HTML emails. Andrew mentions “Roadie” was updated five days ago and is now in passive maintenance mode.  

[00:27:08] The conversation shifts to discussing favorite ice cream flavors, their preferences for mixing ice cream flavors, and they place a bet on whether Chris will listen to this episode and come up with a phrase for him to use if he does.

Panelists:

• Chris Oliver X/Twitter
• Andrew Mason X/Twitter
• Jason Charnes X/Twitter