# Dynamic pages strategies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Radiant CMS\ **Created:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338 "2006-08-15T14:15:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/1 "2006-08-15T14:15:15Z")
I’ve been following the development of a few Rails CMS/blog engines and so far I really like Radiant but I can’t quite figure out the best strategy to implement dynamic pages like contact/registration forms. Maybe I’m missing the obvious but how would you go about generating a registration form (with validation errors, thank you message and all): - Generate a clean registration object and save it into the session. - Create tags that pull the registration info from the session. - Process the post in a controller outside Radiant and return processed data to the session. Is that how you would do it? Or do I need another pure Rails site ([forms.domain.com](http://forms.domain.com)) to process dynamic data? Sorry but I’m confused. Most of the site I would use Radiant for are mostly content but always have one or two forms that are always around. I would really apreciate your ideas on getting the best of both worlds. Thanks in advance, ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/2 "2006-08-15T14:15:16Z")
This seems to be a case where you would create a custom behavior that generates the form, then a controller it can post to. Of course, you would have to change the routes file as well to handle the special controller. Radiant is designed with the content as the core and it does that very well. Good luck finding what you need! Sean C. [seancribbs.com](http://seancribbs.com) ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/3 "2006-08-15T14:15:18Z")
I think that creating a form on a page and giving that page a custom form behavior is probably good enough. You can use the behavior to handle the form posting. Look at how the FormMailer behavior works. Josh ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/4 "2006-08-15T14:15:19Z")
Sean, Thanks for the info. After looking at routes.rb I see what you mean. I’ll do more digging. Sincerely, Adrian M. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/5 "2006-08-15T14:15:19Z")
John, Thanks for the pointer. I’ll check that out. Sincerely, Adrian M. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/6 "2006-08-15T14:15:20Z")
Adrian M. wrote: > Is that how you would do it? Or do I need another pure Rails site > ([forms.domain.com](http://forms.domain.com)) to process dynamic data? One way to do this is to use a behavior. Matt McCray has created a Mailer behavior which might do what you want: [http://mattmccray.com/svn/rails/plugins/radiant\_mailer\_behavior/](http://mattmccray.com/svn/rails/plugins/radiant_mailer_behavior/) If this proves difficult the [forms.domain.com](http://forms.domain.com) approach might work well for you. – John L. [http://wiseheartdesign.com](http://wiseheartdesign.com) ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2006, 7:57pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/7 "2006-08-16T19:57:39Z")
John et al, Thanks to everybody for the ideas and pointers. since I found a way to do a simple registration form I thought I should report on my findings. I have attached the behavior just in case it can help anybody out there. It is heavily modeled after (read ripped from) the Mailer behavior. BTW, the Mailer ehavior has some nice general form creation tags although I wonder if/how to use the builtin Rails helpers for that. Anyway, here’s how I use it: # Register Page ## body ## Register with us \ \ \ First Name: \ Last Name: \ Phone: \ Email: \ Subscribe: \ Comments: \ \ \ \ ## config registrations: register: redirect\_to: /register/thank-you The only real problem I faced was that I could not get the behavior to respect process() (it would not run by any means). So I moved to using a before filter to process the POST but I still cannot redirect after processing. I’m sure I am missing something but the original Mailer bahavior would not send emails either or bark about it. BTW, I’m running this on 0.5.2 unpacked. For me redirecting sometimes is a requirement so if anybody has any ideas on why it is not working please let me know. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 4:17pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/8 "2006-08-22T16:17:41Z")
Hi all, I want a page where the content can be find from a search page. root → agenda → contact1 → contact2 In agenda a want find the contact by city, name, etc. I think tha cantac page like this: \name 1\ \name 1\ For create tag I think to use: [http://radiantcms.org/blog/2006/05/03/generating-and-testing-behaviors/](http://radiantcms.org/blog/2006/05/03/generating-and-testing-behaviors/) Better way? The search (in agenda) can separate alphabetical, by city etc in one or more field. I think to use the good [http://nobits.org/articles/2006/06/10/radiant-search-behaviour/](http://nobits.org/articles/2006/06/10/radiant-search-behaviour/) but the search will be extended to all the site. I also see this post that maybe can talk of similar problem: - [http://lists.radiantcms.org/pipermail/radiant/2006-August/001255.html](http://lists.radiantcms.org/pipermail/radiant/2006-August/001255.html) - [http://lists.radiantcms.org/pipermail/radiant/2006-August/001275.html](http://lists.radiantcms.org/pipermail/radiant/2006-August/001275.html) - this topic, of course So, out of my problem, an idea can be build a Behaviour for add CRUD page (new table in the db) and admin’s page for the public face of radiant. So we can have: a Public section an Admin (developer) section a admin (site) section I think radiant is already fantastic. With this behavior maybe can be a paradise’s app Any comment? I’am a newbie and it’s always only an idea (at the moment). whichever thing happens compliments at all for tha moment. Lucio ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:01pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/9 "2006-08-22T23:01:54Z")
Lucio wrote: > With this behavior maybe can be a paradise’s app > Any comment? Lucio, I’m having trouble understanding your question. Are you wondering if it is possible to add fields to the Page class? If so the answer is yes, you can do it with the Rails plugin system, but it may be difficult. The plugin system doesn’t make it easy to modify models or views, but it can be done. – John L. [http://wiseheartdesign.com](http://wiseheartdesign.com) ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:21pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/10 "2006-08-22T23:21:21Z")
John W. Long wrote: > Lucio wrote: > > > With this behavior maybe can be a paradise’s app > > Any comment? > > Lucio, I’m having trouble understanding your question. Are you wondering > if it is possible to add fields to the Page class? If so the answer is > yes, you can do it with the Rails plugin system, but it may be > difficult. The plugin system doesn’t make it easy to modify models or > views, but it can be done. > > – > John L. > [http://wiseheartdesign.com](http://wiseheartdesign.com) my problem is not insert the search’s field but, if possible, select the values in my tags \value to select by search\ Thanks in advanced. L. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2006, 11:27pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/11 "2006-08-22T23:27:56Z")
lucio wrote: > my problem is not insert the search’s field > but, if possible, select the values in my tags > > \value to select by search\ So you want to be able to define custom strings inside of page parts that will be indexed by the search engine? That would be quite complicated, I’m not sure what to recommend. – John L. [http://wiseheartdesign.com](http://wiseheartdesign.com) ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2006, 2:15pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/12 "2006-08-15T14:15:26Z")
John, Thanks for the info. Josh recommended the same and I’m checking it out. I will post again once I have figured it out. Thanks! Adrian M. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 11:30am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/13 "2006-08-25T11:30:28Z")
On 8/16/06, Adrian M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > The only real problem I faced was that I could not get the behavior to > respect process() (it would not run by any means). So I moved to using a > before filter to process the POST but I still cannot redirect after > processing. I’m sure I am missing something but the original Mailer bahavior > would not send emails either or bark about it. BTW, I’m running this on > 0.5.2 unpacked. For me redirecting sometimes is a requirement so if anybody > has any ideas on why it is not working please let me know. I have run in to the same issue (Mailer not sending mail, or not redirecting to thank you page). I have stopped using it for now (until I have time to take care of that - I want to also build feedback into my 404 page, so people can tell me about broken links with just a click or so.). I had trouble too with getting filters to run. In the end, process(request, response) did the trick, whereas the other’s just refused to do anything. I wonder why. How do people debug the behaviors, especially when it is running as a plugin? I didn’t find a logger object to use within the behavior (maybe there is one, who knows?), Doing print statements only works inside the test runs, and not under tail -f development.log, or even the Webrick screen. I had some serious time burnt due to this, until I resorted to using ./script/breakpointer. Sometimes too, you get an error message trapped nicely for you by Radiant and you just want to know what line caused it, but it’s not so easy as it could be. What’s the secret sauce? And does Mailer work for everyone, except maybe me? 🙂 – G. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/14 "2006-08-25T13:02:38Z")
On 8/25/06, Bodhi [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > def logger > ActiveRecord::Base.logger > end Is there any reason this is not in the base class (i.e. built into all behaviors)? Just curious 🙂 – G. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2006, 12:42pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/15 "2006-08-25T12:42:36Z")
On Aug 25, 2006, at 6:29 PM, Guido S. wrote: > On 8/16/06, Adrian M. [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote: > How do people debug the behaviors, especially when it is running as a > plugin? I didn’t find a logger object to use within the behavior > (maybe there is one, who knows?), Doing print statements only works > inside the test runs, and not under tail -f development.log, or even > the Webrick screen. I had some serious time burnt due to this, until I > resorted to using ./script/breakpointer. Sometimes too, you get an > error message trapped nicely for you by Radiant and you just want to > know what line caused it, but it’s not so easy as it could be. You can do something like: def logger ActiveRecord::Base.logger end in your behaviour to get access to a logger while testing… > What’s the secret sauce? And does Mailer work for everyone, except > maybe me? 🙂 It was working for me, but I had hacked it up to do some other things (like store inquiries in the database). I dont have a lot of time to look into it right now though ☹ Bodhi ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 10:55am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/16 "2006-08-26T10:55:50Z")
Guido, Mailer does not work for me. On the logging I always use: RAILS\_DEFAULT\_LOGGER.debug “xyz” That always work on rails. I still can’t get it to redirect and using that logger I can say that the process method never gets called in my behavior. Sincerely, Adrian M. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2006, 12:02pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/17 "2006-08-26T12:02:56Z")
Has anyone gotten the Mailer Behavior to work on dreamhost? I am trying to get an app up and running there and it is important that the forms work. Right now, I just have a “protected method `get\_class\_name’ called for #” error. I am on a pretty tight schedule so any help would be appreciated… Keith B. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/18 "2006-09-04T14:46:14Z")
Keith B. wrote: > Has anyone gotten the Mailer Behavior to work on dreamhost? I am trying > to get an app up and running there and it is important that the forms > work. Right now, I just have a “protected method `get\_class\_name’ called > for #” error. I am on a pretty tight schedule so any help would be > appreciated… If you need something fast on the forms end you might try wufoo: > **[Online Form Builder with Cloud Storage Database | Wufoo](https://www.wufoo.com/)** > > Wufoo's online form builder helps you create custom forms in minutes. Use Wufoo to create registration forms, application forms, surveys, contact forms, payment forms and more. Sign up free! – John L. [http://wiseheartdesign.com](http://wiseheartdesign.com) ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/19 "2006-09-04T14:46:30Z")
It is not working for me too. I attempted to push for a mailer behavior fix in several posts on this list but nothing yet, so far … ☹ Unfortunately I’m not in the condition to attempt a fix by myself at the time being. ---
**Author:** ![cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/91b2a8/32.png) [@cvcomp](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/cvcomp)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 2:46pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338/20 "2006-09-04T14:46:34Z")
On Aug 27, 2006, at 11:41 AM, Maurizio B. wrote: > It is not working for me too. I attempted to push for a mailer > behavior fix in several posts on this list but nothing yet, so far … > ☹ Unfortunately I’m not in the condition to attempt a fix by myself > at the time being. Just working on something else and i noticed in line 19 of config/ environment.rb has: config.frameworks -= [:action\_web\_service, :action\_mailer] try changing it to config.frameworks -= [:action\_web\_service] and see if that fixes it. Also, i think it says on the wiki that the mailer behaviour needs the Radiant behavior filters plugin, but i vaguely remember that if you actually install the plugin, it breaks the mailer behaviour! Bodhi [Next page](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/dynamic-pages-strategies/102338.md?page=2)