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**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [October 16, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/modularisation-using-helper-generating-html-output-vs-using-partials/151083 "2008-10-16T16:37:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1
**Author:**  [@msmsms](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/msmsms)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 4:37pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/modularisation-using-helper-generating-html-output-vs-using-partials/151083/1 "2008-10-16T16:37:28Z")
Hey,
I’ve got a general question: when do I use helper and when I do use
partials to modularise certain gui elements?
For example: I’ve got a faq list. Each item can be folded and unfolded
using ajax.
FAQ foo
-\> question 1
-\> question 2
-\> question 3
So, I wrote a helper “faq\_li\_tag(args)” which takes the question and
answer for parameters and generates the HTML output.
But I also could have made a partial which creates the corresponding
output.
What’s the best solution? What are the criterias for this decision in
general?
Thank you very much!
Best regards,
ms
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**Author:**  [@msmsms](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/msmsms)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2008, 5:18pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/modularisation-using-helper-generating-html-output-vs-using-partials/151083/2 "2008-10-16T17:18:04Z")
On Oct 16, 9:22 am, ms [removed\_email\_address@domain.invalid](mailto:removed_email_address@domain.invalid) wrote:
> → question 2
>
> Thank you very much!
>
> Best regards,
> ms
I use partials to factor out view templates to make them more
readable, and so that I can reuse portions of a view in other
templates.
I use helpers whenever view logic is starting to get intertwined with
the view code. So presentation-only code is in the views/partials,
and any logic (is this user an admin? should they see a sidebar now?
etc.) goes into helpers.
Jeff
[purpleworkshops.com](http://purpleworkshops.com)
> **[Hey Daddio!](http://softiesonrails.com)**
>
> Home of Hey Daddio Software