I'm crafting a self-hostable Rails app
I'm building an app for users (yes, even non-Rails users) to install and self-host
First off, “Hello”.
You signed up for my Ruby on Rails email list some time ago, probably at Code With Rails. And to be quite honest I haven’t emailed anything out since the beginning.
Technical writing (and explaining things) seemed to always get put on the back burner. A lot of things to share, but not enough time to get around to it.
This changes today because I recently started a new project, and figure I’d share what I learn and the techniques I used while I’m building it.
If you received this email and want to unsubscribe, click on the link at the very end and *poof*, you won’t hear from me ever again.
So without further ado, let’s go…
What we’re building…
When I first learned of WordPress years ago, one of the “wow” moments I had was how damn easy it was to install and get started.
Years later, WordPress still hails as one of the easiest to install app — a testament to why 43% of all websites on the internet use it.
Recently, I started developing an application (on Rails, of course) that’s designed to be self-hosted (like Basecamp/Once’s Campfire). And with it, I wanted an experience like WordPress: easy to install and host.
I’ll be building an email marketing/automation platform. Here’s what it does:
Why am I building this?
It seemed like every Rails app I need to do some transactional emails.
There are already email service providers that do some of the features, but not all. Added to that, I wanted to make sure that I controlled the privacy of the data as much as possible.
But lastly, building stuff is just what devs do, right?
What will I share?
Off the top of my head, here are a few things I’m going to write about that makes this project different than your typical SAAS built on Rails.
Database and storage considerations
Licensing (ie. how to check for licensure breaches)
Error reporting (ie. how to get error reports when I don’t control the infrastructure)
Building a CLI installer to install the app, check for updates
I am sure I will encounter more “gotchas” as I begin. If you can think of any (potential) topic you’d like to read about, respond to this email and I’ll put it on my list.
That’s it for now.
I hope to write about this journey weekly and share what I learn along the day.
Have a great weekend!
Simon
As always, you can find me on X/Twitter at https://x.com/geetfun