Originally published on https://ali-ilman.com/blog/specifying-a-template-and-a-layout-through-action-mailer-mail-function.
Photo by Mikaela Wiedenhoff.
In this article, we'll take a look at one of the lesser-known features within Action Mailer, that is specifying a template and a layout through the mail
function. This can come in handy if we want to display specific content for certain emails without creating unnecessary mailers. ðŸ§
Specifying a template
There are a few ways to specify a template through the mail
function. The mail
function accepts keyword arguments called template_path
and template_name
.
template_path
template_path
is for telling Action Mailer which folder to use to look for a template. template_path
can either be a string or an array.
Action Mailer will start looking for the specified template_path
from within app/views
folder. Let's say, our template_path
is set to invitations
. Then, Action Mailer will look for app/views/invitations
folder.
template_name
template_name
is for telling Action Mailer the name of the template that we want to use.
Examples
The first example here shows how we can use a template called welcome
that sits inside of app/views/mailers/user_mailer/special
folder. The template_path
here is a string.
class UserMailer < ApplicationMailer
def welcome(user)
email = user.email
mail(to: email, template_path: 'mailers/user_mailer/special')
end
end
The second example here is similar to the above, but template_path
is an array. It's an array of path to folders. Action Mailer will look for the welcome
template by starting on the first folder, app/views/mailers/user_mailer/non-special
. If the template is not found, Action Mailer will move onto the next folder, app/views/mailers/user_mailer/special
, which is where our template sits. Here, Action Mailer will stop looking for the template folder and send the email.
class UserMailer < ApplicationMailer
def welcome(user)
email = user.email
mail(
to: email,
template_path: ['mailers/user_mailer/non-special', 'mailers/user_mailer/special', 'mailers']
)
end
end
The third example here shows how we can use a template called special_welcome
instead of welcome
. special_welcome
sits inside of app/views/mailers/user_mailer
folder
class UserMailer < ApplicationMailer
def welcome(user)
email = user.email
mail(to: email, template_name: 'special_welcome')
end
end
The fourth example here shows that we can specify both template_name
and template_path
! This will look for a template called special_welcome
inside of app/views/mailers/user_mailer/international_launch
folder.
class UserMailer < ApplicationMailer
def welcome(user)
email = user.email
mail(
to: email,
template_name: 'special_welcome',
template_path: 'mailers/user_mailer/international_launch'
)
end
end
The fifth and last example here shows that we can specify the name and location of the template by passing a block to the mail
function. Within the block, we can determine what to render for html
, which is basically the content of the email.
One of the keyword arguments accepted by render
is template
.
class UserMailer < ApplicationMailer
def welcome(user)
email = user.email
mail(to: email) do |format|
format.html do
render template: 'mailers/user_mailer/international_launch/special-welcome'
end
end
end
end
Specifying a Layout
Another keyword argument accepted by render
is layout
.
Example
The example here shows how we can use a layout called yet-another-layout
. Action Mailer will look for the layout from within app/layouts
folder.
class UserMailer < ApplicationMailer
def welcome(user)
email = user.email
mail(to: email) do |format|
format.html { render layout: 'yet-another-layout' }
end
end
end
Specifying both the layout and template at once
Yup! We can specify both of them. 😉
Example
The example here will use a layout called yet-another-layout
in app/layouts
folder and a template called yet-another-template
in app/views/mailers
folder.
class UserMailer < ApplicationMailer
def welcome(user)
email = user.email
mail(to: email) do |format|
format.html do
render layout: 'yet-another-layout', template: 'mailers/yet-another-template'
end
end
end
end
Cheers for reading! 🤓
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