Frequently Asked Questions
General
Why Rails UI ?
Rails UI is a time and money-saving tool for Rails developers in need of professional design.
It's built to cut out repetitive tasks and is perfect for Rails developers or teams without a design background/hire. This leaves you with more bandwidth to focus on your business.
We believe the design of UI components should be separate from their implementation. Because of this, the code you see for each component is theme-based, yet completely customizeable and simplified HTML/ERB/HAML. There is no strong buy-in to front-end frameworks or package managers.
Will this work with my existing Rails app?
It can! Assuming you've got Tailwind CSS and modern JS support Rails UI (v3+) should integrate nicely.
Is this another Rails application theme?
No, not really. You can think of Rails UI as the UI for your applications logic. It's not one size fits all but gives you enough of a lift to hit the ground running. When installed, Rails UI provides uniquely integrated assets, components, pages, and themes ready to build your next idea more efficiently and affordably.
I already use Tailwind UI, shadecdn, or Flowbite, why would I use this?
We may be biased, but we can quickly identify sites using those libraries. They don’t offer much variety, and we believe there should be more options available.
Optimizing for developer experience is one of our core principles, so we prioritize tools that seamlessly fit into your workflow.
One of the main benefits of Rails UI is its effortless integration into your existing process. You won’t need to break down React or Vue components and reconstruct in Rails, simplifying your development. Rails UI works with Rails-preferred frameworks like Stimulus.js and Hotwire, and it's packaged as a Ruby gem, making it easy to add to your application.
We tend to follow the "Rails-way" in terms of adopting of new technologies.
This means more design options at your fingertips, allowing your next app to stand out while remaining familiar and intuitive.
Why is it a subscription?
Subscriptions play a crucial role in supporting our small team and ensuring the continuous development and improvement of new themes and components.
In time, we'll be adding more themes, components, and extended features such as iOS and Android support. Subscribing grants you access to all current and future themes and components, saving you time and design headaches.
You can cancel your subscription anytime but you'll no longer have access to the latest improvements or future themes and components.
Can I share Rails UI with my team?
To share with your team you'll need a Team license which allows that kind of use. A team license has up to 30 seats. If you require something more custom, reach out and we can help. There's more information about each offering over on our pricing page.
More licenseing related questions are answered below and in our license agreement.
How do I install it?
Rails UI is an engine. There is a free version and a premium version that requires an active subscription. You install the free version much like any other gem. The premium version requires exclusive a subscription and an activation step.
Check out the Installation page for more details.
Why don't you use ___ CSS framework?
Believe it or not, Rails UI started out with ambitions to adopt other frameworks like Bootstrap, Bulma, and more so there's future opportunity to still do that. For now, to produce the highest qualilty experience, Tailwind CSS is the default CSS framework and our main focus.
What icons are included?
All icons we use are open source. We tend to use some favorites including heroicons and Iconic icons.
In v3 of Rails UI we leverage a home made gem called railsui_icon to render svg icons in a cleaner fashion. This can be used in any Rails app and you needn't use Rails UI to leverage it.
Can I use custom fonts?
Rails UI ships with pre-defined fonts per theme, but you can change these any time. After installing a theme, you can make customizations wherever you see fit.
What Ruby on Rails version do you support?
Rails UI is an engine but we keep it up to date with the latest version of Rails. It currently supports the latest version of Ruby on Rails 8.0.2.
Themes
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Rails UI generated pages (
app/views/rui) and images (app/assets/images/railsui) are replaced with the newly chosen theme's files.-
Tip: To keep using any pages in the
app/views/ruidirectory or images in theapp/assets/images/railsuidirectory, copy these files to a backup location or elsewhere in your app before making changes. For best results, consider pages as code snippets for your app and treat them as read-only.
-
Tip: To keep using any pages in the
What comes in a theme?
A theme is a packaged up realistic app without all the logic. Since Rails UI focuses on the "UI," we leave the implementation details up to you.
Each theme includes professionally designed pages consisting of reusable and customizable UI components, most with accompanying JavaScript as necessary.
In your local Rails development environment, you also have access to a cohesive design system, which is a source of truth for all design patterns associated with a given theme.
I just need components, not a theme
No problem! Rails UI components can be used independent of any theme. While we design components with a theme-first philosophy, it does not mean you're forced to use the theme pages. Every page is opt-in.
Can I change between themes?
Yes, you can change your theme at any time. We strive to make this as easy as possible but it's not without some caveats.
Here's what happens when you change your theme:
Can I easily customize a theme?
Absolutely!
Think of a theme as a solid foundation that won't sink. There's an excellent chance your needs will differ from another developer. Since Rails UI is integrated directly into your application, it is completely customizable.
Pages, partials, and images associated with a theme should be treated as read-only inside the app/views/rui, and app/assets/images/railsui directories.
If you do customize a page, we recommend copying it to another view directory along with any partials or images associated with that specific page. This is to help support the ability of swapping themes at any time going forward. Rails UI finds and replaces the contents of these folders dynamically.
Can I submit my own themes somewhere?
We aren't offering public submissions at this time, but there could potentially be a future where that could make sense. If you have a niche or need for a specific industry we don't have a theme for. let us know about it!
I want something custom, can you help me?
Contact us for a tailorfit quote for product design, development, and strategy servies. If we're a good fit, we'll work with you 1:1 to design your next Rails app. Keep in mind that space is limited and will be offered on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Components
What about ViewComponent or my favorite component framework?
This is on our radar and likely part of the longer term roadmap for Rails UI. To start, Rails UI will support HTML, ERB, and HAML code snippets to keep things simple and less opinionated.
If you want to extract those to a component or presenter framework, you'll need to do this yourself for now.
Let us know what we should support if you have suggestions.
Is every theme equipped with identical components?
No, and that's a distinctive feature of Rails UI.
Our approach is theme-driven, meaning components are developed based on the theme's unique requirements and style. This equates to real world design problems solved with real world design solutions. Not just different skins of the same thing.
Licensing
- Access to all themes and components
- Mailer themes
- Integrated custom branding
- 20+ ready-made pages per theme
- Authentication UI
- Simple upgrades
- Single invite to private Rails UI repo. 1 seat
- Access to all themes and components for 1 year
- Mailer themes
- Integrated custom branding
- 20+ ready-made pages per theme
- Authentication UI
- Simple upgrades
- Single invite to private Rails UI repo. 1 seat
- Access to all themes & components
- Mailer themes
- Integrated custom branding
- 20+ ready-made pages per theme
- Authentication UI
- Simple upgrades
- 30 invites to private Rails UI repo. 30 seats.
How does the 1-year access work?
This license is valid 1 year from the date of original purchase. After 1 year, you will need to buy another one-year license to continue using Rails UI or subscribe to our annual plan(s). We'll email you about 30 days before expiration with a reminder.
Do I need a license for each app I make?
No, you can make how ever many apps you like as long as its within the confines of our license agreement.
If you're a team or group of more than 1 individual, you need a Team license to invite up to 30 collegues to your account. If you're just one individual, the Solo license license is perfect for you.
Sharing accounts is prohibited by our license agreement.
The free version can be used wherever you wish but you cannot resell or repackage it as your own gem, UI library, or project as the UI itself.
Can I use Rails UI for client projects?
Yes, you can! You cannot build a project to resale to multiple clients, however.
Read our license which goes deeper on this.
Can I use Rails UI for my own commercial projects?
You have the freedom to create commercial projects within the bounds of our license agreement.
Can I use Rails UI in an open source project?
In most cases, yes. You can make your project open source as long as it's a genuine website or app and not a product that mainly repackages and redistributes our components, like a theme builder or component library.
As long as your project isn't simply a rehash of our work, you're good to go! If you're unsure, check out our license for more details and examples of what's allowed and what's not.
Can I create my own themes based off Rails UI and offer them for sale?
No, that's not gonna fly. Read our license for guidance on the what is and isn't possible.
If I want to upgrade or downgrade my plan, is this possible?
Yes, this is possible for our recurring plans. We prefer to help you out manually with this. Email us and we'll get things sorted.
What comes with each plan's license?
Solo license
1-year license
Team license
Check out the pricing page for more details.
Support
Do you offer technical/creative support?
Rails UI is a self-serve product. We offer support for account management, billing, and licensing related concerns.
If you have technical issues that keep you from being able to use Rails UI that you think are related to bugs or some other issue do reach out to us.
If you require completely custom creative help for your next app we do offer a custom service. Please contact us for a quote.
What is your refund policy?
Due to the nature of digital products once Rails UI is downloaded, we can't offer refunds. You can cancel your plan at any time. If you have any questions or concerns before purchasing please contact us first.