Socialization is a Ruby Gem that allows any model to Follow, Like and/or Mention any other model. This is accomplished through double polymorphic relationships, but you don't need to know that since all the complexity is hidden from you.
The Follow feature is similar to Twitter's follow. For example, John follows Jane. Unlike Facebook's "friendship", Follow is a one-way concept. The fact that John follows Jane doesn't mean that Jane follows John.
The Like feature works just like a Facebook Like. For example, John likes Pulp Fiction.
The Mention feature was written with Facebook mentions in mind. For example, John mentions Jane in a comment. Typically, Jane would be highlighted in the comment user interface and possibly notified that John mentioned her. This Facebook feature is occasionally called Tagging, although tagging is generally something [entirely different](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tag_(metadata).
Add the gem to the gemfile:
gem "socialization"
Run the generator:
rails generate socialization -s
This will generate three migration files and three models named Follow, Like and Mention. You may delete the Follow, Like or Mention model and migration if you don't need that functionality in your application.
This gem requires Rails 3 or better. Sorry!
Allow a model to be followed:
class Celebrity < ActiveRecord::Base
...
acts_as_followable
...
end
Allow a model to be a follower:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
...
acts_as_follower
...
end
Allow a model to be liked:
class Movie < ActiveRecord::Base
...
acts_as_likeable
...
end
Allow a model to like:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
...
acts_as_liker
...
end
Allow a model to be mentioned:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
...
acts_as_mentionable
...
end
Allow a model to mention:
class Comment < ActiveRecord::Base
...
acts_as_mentioner
...
end
Or a more complex case where users can like and follow each other:
class User < ActiveRecord::Base
...
acts_as_follower
acts_as_followable
acts_as_liker
acts_as_likeable
acts_as_mentionable
...
end
Follow something
user.follow!(celebrity)
Stop following
user.unfollow!(celebrity)
Toggle
user.toggle_follow!(celebrity)
Is following?
user.follows?(celebrity)
Find out if an objects follows
celebrity.followed_by?(user)
All followers
celebrity.followers(User)
Like something
user.like!(movie)
Stop liking
user.unlike!(movie)
Toggle
user.toggle_like!(celebrity)
Likes?
user.likes?(movie)
Find out if an objects likes
movie.liked_by?(user)
All likers
movie.likers(User)
Note that a "mentioner" is the object containing the mention and not necessarily the actor. For example, John mentions Jane in a comment. The mentioner is the comment object, NOT John.
Mention something
comment.mention!(user)
Remove mention
comment.unmention!(user)
Toggle
user.toggle_mention!(celebrity)
Mentions?
comment.mentions?(user)
Find out if an objects mentions
user.mentioned_by?(comment)
All mentioners
user.mentioners(Comment)
You can find the compiled YARD documentation at http://rubydoc.info/github/cmer/socialization/frames. Documentation for methods inside include blocks is not currently generated although it exists in the code. A custom YARD filter needs to be written for YARD to pick those up.
For your convenience, I have added a demo app in demo/demo_app. It does not have a web UI, but you can play with Socialization in the Rails console. It should also help you figure out hown to use Socialization in the Real World.
To use the demo app:
$ cd demo/demo_app
$ bundle
$ rake db:migrate
$ rake db:seed
$ rails console
- Fork the project.
- Make your feature addition or bug fix.
- Add tests for it. This is important so I don't break it in a future version unintentionally.
- Send me a pull request. Bonus points for topic branches.
acts_as_follower is a similar project that I only discovered when I was 95% finished writing the first version of Socialization. I initially intended to name this project acts_as_follower only to find out the name was taken. You might want to check it out as well so see which one suits your needs better. Socialization is simpler, supports "Likes" and "Mentions" and easilly extendable; acts_as_follower has more "Follow" features, however.
Copyright (c) 2012 Carl Mercier -- Released under the MIT license.