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https://github.com/wazery/feedbackgem


https://github.com/wazery/feedbackgem

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README 

        
# Feedback Plugin for Rails



Feedback is a Ruby on Rails plugin that adds an ajax-based

overlay feedback form triggered by a side-screen tab or a link.

The result of the feedback form is sent through a ActionMailer.



The plugin was inspired from the "feedback" widget of

GetSatisfaction.com and UserVoice.com.



The plugin uses a generator to generate boiler-plate Javascript,

CSS, HTML, and ruby code into your application.

It sets up a ready to use feedback form (with minimal styling)

that you can further customize.



## Features



* Helper to display a sticky "feedback" tab.

* Display feedback form as an overlay with Ajax.

* Sends feedback result by email through an ActionMailer.

* Uses a generator such that you can customize the code and style to fit your app.

* Generates unit and functional tests.

* Works with Prototype and JQuery, choose through a generators flag.

* Currently supports IE6, IE7, IE8, FF2, FF3, Chrome2 and SafariX



## Motivation



Collecting feedback from users is really important. Third-party services

such as GetSatisfaction.com and UserVoice.com are awesome tools to manage your feedback.

However, we found out that in many instances such as for small sites or back-ends, we wanted

a similar feedback form integration/experience but simpler, local, and customized.



## Install and Getting Started



### for Rails 2.x



Install the plugin:



    ruby script/plugin install git://github.com/jsboulanger/feedback.git



Run the generator:



    ruby script/generate feedback_form



By default it will generate the Prototype code, you can use jQuery if you prefer:



    ruby script/generate feedback_form --jquery



Include the feedback.css and the jquery.feedback.js/prototype.feedback.js files into your header.

There is a helper to do that:



    <%= feedback_includes %>



### for Rails 3.x



Install the generator:



    git clone git://github.com/dohkoos/feedback.git

    cp feedback/lib/generators/feedback_form [YOUR_PROJECT_NAME]/lib/generators



Run the generator:



    rails generate feedback_form



By default it will generate the jQuery code, you can use Prototype if you prefer:



    rails generate feedback_form --skip-jquery



To add a sticky 'feedback' tab to your site, in the header place:



    <%= feedback_tab(:position => 'top') %>



Configure the action mailer in app/models/feedback_mailer.rb



    def feedback(feedback)

      @recipients = '[email protected]'

      @from = '[email protected]'

      @subject = "[Feedback for YourSite.com] #{feedback.subject}"

      ...



## How-to's



### How to customize the position of the feedback tab?



The feedback_tab helper takes the option "position" which has four different values (top|bottom|left|right)

that corresponds to class in the feedback.css file. You can fine tune the position by changing the left/right, top/bottom

attributes of those css classes.



### How to trigger the feedback form from a custom link?



The feedback_link(text, options={}) helper allows you the create a link that will trigger the feedback form.



    <%= feedback_link "Leave us feedback!" %>



Your layout header must also have the includes:



    <%= feedback_includes %>



### How to customize the email message?



Edit the /app/views/feedback_mailer/feedback.html.erb generated file in your app



### How to store the feedback results in the database?



Feedback generates a model that is not an active record model. In order to store the feedbacks in your database, make it

an active record model:



    class Feedback < ActiveRecord::Base

      attr_accessible :comment, :email, :subject, :page



      validates :subject, :presence => true

      validates :comment, :presence => true

    end



You must also write a migration to create your table:



    class CreateFeedbacks < ActiveRecord::Migration

      def self.up

        create_table :feedbacks do |t|

          t.string :subject

          t.string :email

          t.text   :comment

          t.timestamps

        end

      end



      def self.down

        drop_table :feedbacks

      end

    end



## Limitations (TODOs)



* No unit tests for Javascript

* Feedback PNG with transparency supported by IE6

* Graceful fallback if Javascript is not enabled/supported

* More customization options through helpers: (overlay style, tab color, etc...)



## Acknowledgements



Thanks to GetSatisfaction.com for the

idea of the "feedback" tab.



Part of this plugin was inspired from other software.

Thanks to their respective authors.

* Facebox: http://famspam.com/facebox

* restful_authentication: http://github.com/technoweenie/restful-authentication/tree/master



Copyright (c) 2009 Jean-Sebastien Boulanger , released under the MIT license



http://jsboulanger.com