Rails UI Alpha release 🚀

I'm excited to share that the Alpha version of Rails UI is live!

Ok, so it's not a true alpha, but I'm calling this an "alpha" because it's free until I work out the kinks.

Currently, Rails UI ships with two themes supporting Tailwind CSS and Bootstrap.

Both themes have unique designs, which is the perk of Rails UI.

A fairly comprehensive design system is bundled with each theme. This will help you guide future design decisions and scale more gracefully.

More will be added soon!

If you just got on the list and/or this is my first update, I recommend checking out all the previous updates to get a feel for what Rails UI is and aims to solve.

Go on, give it a try

While in Alpha, Rails UI is downloadable for free from the GitHub repo. You can install it as a gem using bundler like so.

gem "railsui", github: "getrailsui/railsui"

and then running:

bundle install

After installing the gem you run the installer:

rails railsui:install

Finally, boot the app as your logs instruct and go configure your new Rails UI app.

bin/dev

Upon first boot, you should see the new start page I made that promotes more action.

Here you have several choices, but it's best to click that big red button that says "Configure your app" or go read the docs for more information.

Links of interest

• Rails UI Github (free in alpha)
• Documentation
• Discussions
• Become an early supporter
• Rails UI FAQs

Backstory

If I still have your attention, allow me to share the back story for getting here.

Many web frameworks like Rails have poor default design standards and out-of-the-box user experiences. This issue is something that has bugged me about most frameworks.

The foundations are in place to build software with amazing speed and confidence, but the design side of the equation is deferred to the end developer, who, in most cases, isn't the most design-savvy individual.

Rails UI was born out of this thinking to bridge the gap between design + Rails, offering something more actionable and usable for the end developer.

Dogfooding Rails UI

I've been dogfooding Rails UI for a couple of other ideas I'm working on, and so far, it has been a positive experience. When kicking off a new app and adding new features, there are fewer design problems to account for since they already have been.

What once took me hours to set up now takes me seconds. There will always be future design problems to solve in any app, but Rails UI packs a punch out of the gate, giving you a great foundation to make future decisions easier. It took me a bit to realize the impact until I used it from a developer's perspective. I'm excited to see where this heads.

Become an early supporter ❤️

Help shape the future of Rails UI as an early supporter.

Save money and support ongoing development by locking in a less costly early supporter lifetime contribution. Your one-time purchase will help keep this project alive and thriving for years, and you'll retain access to Rails UI for good.

What's happening from here?

I plan on improving the gem/engine and adding more themes. There are several pages to add to the two free themes that ship with this version, so I will likely start there. Feedback from you right now will be the most valuable thing I can learn from.

I started a GitHub discussion on the repo where we can do that. Feel free to post ideas, questions, improvements, etc... and I'll follow up. I may use the polling feature to help decide what pages to add to themes on the horizon.

Thanks for following along so far!