SiteVariables

Over the years I have become accustomed to using the Rails secrets.yml file as a nice config file for any non-sensitve constant variables I'd like to use throughout my application. With Rails 5.2 secrets.yml is now removed in favor of encrypted credentials. Overall this is a good thing as it was bad practice to store and commit any sensitive variables into secrets.yml.

The site_variables gem allows me to continue my practice of using a YAML file for environment specific non-sensitive variables.

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'site_variables'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install site_variables

After installation run:

$rails generate site_variables

This gives us two files:

1. config/initializers/site_variables.rb
2. config/site_variables.yml

The important file is site_variables.yml Edit the YAML file with the variables you would like to use. Any environment specific variables (in the development or production sections for example) will override any variables in the shared section.

You now can access your hash of site variables inside your Rails app with the SITE_VARIABLES constant.

config/site_variables.yml:

shared:
  base_url: this will be overriden by the environments
  site_name: My Awesome Site
  support_email: support@myawesomesite.com

development:
  base_url: https://somengroksubdomain.ngrok.io

production:
  base_url: https://myawesomesite.com

In a view:

Welcome to <%= SITE_VARIABLES['site_name'] %>

Bug reports and pull requests are welcome on GitHub at https://github.com/deekor/site_variables. This project is intended to be a safe, welcoming space for collaboration, and contributors are expected to adhere to the Contributor Covenant code of conduct.

The gem is available as open source under the terms of the MIT License.

Everyone interacting in the SiteVariables project’s codebases, issue trackers, chat rooms and mailing lists is expected to follow the code of conduct.