better_video_playlist by alimi

This project is the next iteration of video_playlist. It is also my battleground to explore new tools and ideas. The application is built using Backbone.js, a client-side MVC framework. It is also influenced by best practices described in Recipes with Backbone. The application was designed with mobile in mind and the Golden Grid System was used to create a responsive design.

The application shows a list of YouTube playlists based on the Billboard charts. The playlists are automatically updated every Thursday morning with the latest chart data. You can view the application at stormyflower.com.

Usage

This project was created as a learning tool for myself and I invite you to learn from it too. There is a litle bit of setup before you can use the application, but first you should clone it: git clone git@github.com:alimi/better_video_playlist.git.

Configuration

YouTube/Google Accounts

You'll need a Google account to access the YouTube/Google APIs. You can use a new or existing account. You'll have to follow the steps here to generate the following values: Client ID, Client Secret, and Redirect URIs.

Application/Environment Variables

Custom application variables have been set in the following files: config/initializers/admin_credentials.rb, config/initializers/gmail_credentials.rb, and config/initializers/youtube_credentials.rb. The variables are populated with values from environment variables set in the local bash enviornment. Read more about this setup here.

You'll need to set the following enviornment variables:

This first group is used for administration of the application. They can be whatever you want.

• better_video_playlist_username: admin username
• better_video_playlist_password: admin password
• better_video_playlist_email: admin email

I've configured the application to use Gmail to deliver messages. Gmail is OK for this small, lighlty-used applicaiton. Set the following variables for the Gmail account you wish to use.

• gmail_username
• gmail_password

The last group are the YouTube credentials used by the application to access various items on YouTube.

• youtube_username: User account that will store YouTube playlists
• youtube_client_id: Generated from the Google APIs console
• youtube_client_secret: Generated from the Google APIs console
• youtube_refresh_token: Generated through the admin section of the application. This will need to be configured later.

Configure Rails Backend

I'm assuming you're running on a system with Ruby on Rails installed. To install Ruby on Rails and its dependencies, read the install section in the Ruby on Rails Tutorial.

First, you'll need to install some gems:

• bundle install

Then, setup the development and test databases:

• rake db:migrate
• rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=test or rake db:test:prepare

If you decide to run this in production, you'll also have to setup the production databases wherever you running the production instance:

• rake db:migrate RAILS_ENV=production

But I'm assuming you're working locally.

Start the server:

• rails s

And go to http://localhost:3000/admin. Enter the credentials defined earlier for better_video_playlist_username and better_video_playlist_password. Follow the directions to give the application access to youtube_username's data. You will be redirected to Google screens and come back to the application when finished. Copy the youtube_refresh_token displayed on the page and set the environment variable locally.

Then, you can create some playlists:

• rake playlist:create:all

If you go to youtube_username's YouTube account, you should see some new playlists.

Now, visit the application at http://localhost:3000. Restart the server if you stopped it earlier by re-running rails s.

Backbone Code

The bulk of the application is built using Backone.js to drive interaction on the client side. You can find the code here.

Tests

All tests are written using RSpec and Capybara. Run tests by running rspec spec or rake.

Create or Update Playlists

The following rake tasks are defined to create/update playlists:

• rake playlist:create:all: create playlists with Billboard data on Youtube
• rake playlist:update[name]: update playlist 'name' with latest Billboard data
• rake playlist:update:all: update all playlists with latest Billboard data

Contributing

I'm open to any and all feedback. Really! It's a great way to learn!

Pull requests accepted! 😺

License

Licensed under GPLv2