I’ve been working with Ruby on Rails for quite some time now, and one thing I’ve always enjoyed is the flexibility and customization it provides. Today, I wanted to share with you how to change the login page in Rails and make it truly unique to your application. So, if you’re ready to dive into the details, let’s get started!
The Default Login Page
Before we begin, let’s take a look at the default login page in Rails. When you generate a new Rails application with authentication, Rails creates a default login page for you. This is a great starting point, but often we want to add our own personal touch to it.
The default login page can be found at app/views/devise/sessions/new.html.erb. This is an ERB (Embedded Ruby) file that defines the HTML structure of the login page.
Customizing the Login Page
To start customizing the login page, we first need to create a new file where we will place our custom HTML and CSS. I like to create a new file called login.html.erb in the app/views/devise/sessions directory.
Next, we need to tell Rails to use our new login page instead of the default one. To do this, open the routes.rb file located in the config directory of your Rails application. Add the following line of code:
devise_for :users, controllers: { sessions: 'users/sessions' }
Now, we need to create a new file sessions_controller.rb in the app/controllers/users directory. In this file, we will define a new class called Users::SessionsController that inherits from Devise::SessionsController. Inside this class, we can override the default behavior of the login actions.
Customizing the New Action
The new action is responsible for rendering the login form. To customize this action, open sessions_controller.rb and add the following code:
def new
render 'sessions/login'
end
In this example, we are telling Rails to render the login.html.erb file we created earlier.
Customizing the Create Action
The create action is responsible for handling the login form submission and authenticating the user. To customize this action, open sessions_controller.rb and add the following code:
def create
super do |resource|
# Your custom code here
end
end
Here, super calls the original create action from the Devise::SessionsController. You can add your own code inside the block to perform any additional tasks after a successful login.
Styling the Login Page
Now that we have customized the login page’s HTML structure, let’s add some personal touches with CSS. Create a new file called login.css.scss in the app/assets/stylesheets directory.
In this file, you can add your custom CSS to style the login page. Feel free to get creative and make it match the branding and design of your application.
Conclusion
Customizing the login page in Rails is a powerful way to make your application stand out and provide a unique user experience. By following the steps outlined above, you can easily change the default login page to match the look and feel of your application. Remember to keep your code organized and maintainable, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different styles and layouts.
Happy coding!