Author: Alex Chaffee mailto:[email protected]
bundle install
rake run
If the above fails (say, because rerun
doesn't work on your system), try
rackup
Then open http://localhost:9292 in a web browser.
This is a Sinatra app, deployed at http://installfest.heroku.com, which leads students through the various complicated setup instructions for getting Ruby, Rails, Git, etc. installed on whatever combination of computer, OS, and version they happened to bring the the workshop.
The site comprises files stored in a "site" directory; the one we care about now is ROOT/sites/installfest.
These files can be in any of these formats:
.step
for StepFile.md
for Markdown.mw
for MediaWiki.deck.md
for deck.rb
(If multiple files exist with the same base name, .step is preferred over .md, and .md over .mw.)
Markdown is a lightweight markup language designed by John Gruber. The syntax is described at the Daring Fireball Markdown Page plus GitHub Flavored Markdown extensions. (This README is written in Markdown.)
MediaWiki is the format of pages on the Devchix Wiki. This format is not fully supported and is provided as a temporary bridge while we move materials from the Devchix Wiki into this app.
StepFile is a new, Ruby-based DSL for describing complex, nested instructions in clear, reusable chunks.
Deck.rb converts Markdown files into an interactive in-browser HTML+JavaScript slide deck.
#Organizer Instructions
Slide contents that change with each workshop are contained in three files. The 'hello and welcome, this is when the breaks are' presentation slides are in current.deck.md. The 'this is what we will learn today' slides are in welcome.deck.md. And the 'this is what we have learned' slides are in closing.deck.md.
To change those contents, clone this repo, make changes, and then to include your changes in the publicly available repo, send a pull request.
##clone the repo
On a command line cd into a directory for the installfest app to live on your machine. For example, to put it in your home directory: cd ~
Then clone the repository from github:
git clone git://github.com/railsbridge/installfest.git
And open it in the editor of your choice.
If you want to change the name of the hosts and sponsors in the intro slides, open current.deck.md, find and replace the name of the previous hosts and sponsors on the slide deck. To include their logos, drop an image inside the public/img folder. If their are more or fewer hosts and sponsors than in the previous workshop, create new slides!
Check that the current.deck.md and closing.deck.md files fit the workshop.
When you're happy with how you've changed the repository, commit it. In the command line, add your changes with git add .
and commit them locally with git commit -m "super descriptive message "
. Push it to your own fork of the repository withgit push
. The next step, submitting a pull request is used to incorporate your changes into RailsBridge's version of the repository. Navigate to your forked version of the repository on github (and check the commits tab to see your changes!). There's a pull request button near the top of the page, and after clicking you can add a title and explanations of your changes. After submitting, it may take a while for people to review and accept your changes. Poke people. Make sure they check it out. Check out Github's help page on the pull requests.
A StepFile is a DSL for describing a series of instructions, possibly nested inside other instructions. Technically speaking it is an internal Ruby DSL which means it parses as Ruby code. Nested blocks use Ruby's do..end structures, named options use Ruby's hash syntax, and string options may use any of Ruby's myriad string formats (double-quote, single-quote, here doc, percent-q, etc.)
Here Docs are especially useful with message
s since you can just dump in markdown between <<-MARKDOWN
and MARKDOWN
declarations.
-
steps support nested content via
do
andend
-
indents the nested block content
-
inside the nested block, the step count is reset, then resumes afterwards, e.g.
Step 1: steal underpants Step 2: do the hokey pokey | Step 1: put your left foot in | Step 2: take your left foot out | Step 3: put your left foot in again | Step 4: shake it all about Step 3: profit!
step "name"
- creates a new step heading
- maintains a count of steps at the same level
- prefixes name with e.g. "Step 1:"
link "name"
- links to a step whose file name is
filename
next_step "name"
- makes a new step named "Next Step:"
- links to a step whose file name is
filename
choice
- creates a step which is named "Choose between..."
- choice doesn't make any sense without a nested block
- nested block usually contains
option
steps
choice "name"
- same as above, but named "Choose name"
- if you want ellipses, add them yourself
option "name"
- creates a step which is named "Option 1: foo" instead "Step 1: foo"
- supports nested blocks, which reset the step count again
verify
verify "name"
- usually contains
console
andresult
notes - kind of like a step, but doesn't increment the number count
tip "name"
- called out in a blue box
- the name is not markdown, but is a bold title for the tip box
- content should be inside a nested block
message "text"
- makes a paragraph of text anywhere in the document
- the text parameter is passed through a Markdown converter
important "text"
- like a message, but called out in a red box
todo "text"
- meant as a note to future authors
- set aside from surrounding text (in brackets and italics)
- [should these be made invisible for students?]
Special elements do not format their text as Markdown.
console "text"
- indicates that the student should type something in the terminal
- says "type this in the terminal:" and then puts the text in a
pre
block - [should this be named
terminal
ortype
instead?]
result "text"
- indicates that the student should see some output in the terminal
- says "expected result:" and then puts the text in a
pre
block
StepFile is an Erector-based DSL, so if you want to insert HTML tags or other stuff, use the appropriate Erector methods, e.g.
step "figure out your OS version" do
message "Mac OS has code names, including:"
table do
tr do
th "Leopard"
td "OS X 10.5"
end
tr do
th "Snow Leopard"
td "OS X 10.6"
end
end
end
- big fat checkboxes
- checking the box should make the step go green
- unchecked steps should be orange
- maybe all unchecked but the next step should be gray
- JS expando-collapso doohickeys
- inlined steps, esp. verify, to share code without switching pages
- readme: examples
result
should take a regexp; then it will have an input field where the user can paste in what they got and it'll check it... for partial version stringsconsole
should start with a $- but what about multi-line commands (with e.g. config data on line 2), or multiple commands?
- put a [?] next to all the
terminal
boxes with a popup or link explaining what a terminal is - links to other docs (the
link
directive)- rounded boxes with arrows
- add a "back" link (or "next") to go back to the linking list
- side scrolling effect
- add a
tip
directive - add a
details
block (nested, maybe collapsed) - each page/step could say which OS it's for, either for information, or to actively hide other OS step
- "result" should take "or"
- "result" needs to distinguish between literal console output, and a description of what you will see
- "yay" directive ("Congratulations!")
- prerequisites
- "sudo" directive -- for danger color and popup "what is sudo?" help
- upgrade to Erector 0.9
- test all pages during "startup"
- growl if broken
- 404 should show page with TOC and stuff
- StepFile object
- move fonts local
- install ALL the operating systems!
- troubleshooting page
- look into installation scripts https://github.com/joshfng/railsready
some icons from https://github.com/kennethreitz/open-icons