Profiles and Media

Goal

This snapshot advances Junction Almanac by teaching you to edit public profiles and upload avatars with Active Storage.

Every numbered folder is a complete Rails application. Run this stage independently, then compare it with the previous snapshot to isolate the new responsibility.

Prerequisites

Use Ruby 3.1 or newer, Bundler, PostgreSQL through Docker, and a terminal. Basic Ruby, HTML, and SQL vocabulary will make the framework conventions easier to recognize.

The app listens on port 3000. PostgreSQL is exposed on host port 5434, and every snapshot names a different database so lesson data never leaks between stages.

• Ruby and Bundler
• Docker with Compose
• A code editor and terminal

Concepts

Active Storage tracks attachment metadata in PostgreSQL and stores file bytes through a configured service. Local disk is useful for development but not durable across disposable machines.

Keep the Rails request path visible: the router selects a controller action, Active Record handles data rules, and an ERB view renders the response inside the shared layout.

Walkthrough

Add display name and bio fields, install Active Storage tables, attach one avatar per user, accept multipart uploads, and render a constrained image variant.

Read the focused example, then inspect the matching repository snapshot for the surrounding configuration, validation, failure paths, and accessible markup.

class User < ApplicationRecord
  has_one_attached :avatar
  validates :bio, length: { maximum: 500 }
end

Run and verify

Enter 08-Profiles-And-Media, install its bundle, prepare its database when this stage uses one, and start Rails on port 3000.

Open http://localhost:3000. Keep the server log visible so you can connect each browser action to its route, SQL query, rendered view, redirect, or validation error.

git clone https://github.com/michaeldunga1/fcc-rails-blog.git
cd fcc-rails-blog/08-Profiles-And-Media
docker compose -f ../docker-compose.yml up -d
bundle install
bin/rails db:prepare db:seed
bin/rails server -p 3000

Troubleshooting

An empty upload usually means the form or permitted parameters omitted the file. Variant processing requires the image_processing gem and libvips or ImageMagick.

If Rails reports a missing table, run bin/rails db:prepare db:seed in the current snapshot. Connection failures usually mean PostgreSQL is stopped or port 5434 is already occupied.

• Read the first exception first
• Confirm the current numbered folder
• Never commit secrets or config/master.key

Try this

Upload a JPEG, update the bio, and verify another signed-in user cannot edit the profile.

Test one successful request and one invalid or unauthorized request. A production-minded Rails app must preserve data rules even when someone bypasses the visible links and submits a direct request.

• Make one focused change
• Verify it in the browser
• Move on only after the checkpoint works