Hacknight Part 2: Build a Social Network with Rails Hotwire/Turbo

(Note: This event costs about $10 due to being hosted at a coworking space. To find the room in which the event will take place, please follow the directions provided in the event timeline below the event description. Click "Read more" to view them.)

Hacknight Part 2: Build a Social Network with Rails Hotwire/Turbo [1h]

Continue learning Rails Hotwire/Turbo by finishing the very basic social network web app (similar to X) that was built in Hacknight Part 1 in November 2025. You can get help in building the web app from other developers at the event. Participating in the exercise matters more than meeting all the requirements as it enables practicing Ruby programming skills with Rails and Hotwire/Turbo while potentially collaborating with other developers for learning and information exchange.

The following GitHub repository contains partial work for the Use Cases that were implemented in Hacknight Part 1. It could be used as a starting point in Hacknight Part 2 by attendees who missed Hacknight Part 1.

https://github.com/AndyObtiva/montreal_social_network

Use Cases:

We finished the following in Hacknight Part 1:

• Register as a user (could use Devise or just email session login without needing a password)
• Login as a user (could use Devise or just email session login without needing a password)
• See my feed (start as a simple webpage, and then incrementally enhance with Turbo Frames)
• Post a message on my feed
• See listing of users (start as a simple webpage)
• See a user's feed (start as a simple webpage, and then incrementally enhance with Turbo Frames)

In Hacknight Part 2, we will implement the following:

• Follow a user
• See my following's feed (includes latest messages by all users I follow; start as a simple webpage, and then incrementally enhance with Turbo Frames and Turbo Streams)
• See listing of users (enhance with Turbo Frames and Turbo Streams)
• See a user's feed (enhance with Turbo Streams)

Website Structure:

• Registration page
• Login page
• Following feed aside is part of the general layout (shows up on every page after logging in)
• User feed page (includes Follow button)
• My feed page (home page)

Event Timeline:

• 6:30pm - Pre-event Networking Time - Anticafe Place Des Arts (294 Saint-Catherine St W, 3rd floor, Montreal, QC): this is a coworking space, so the event costs about $13 that covers drinks like coffee/tea and snacks like chips/pretzels/cookies; sign in on Anticafe's computer when you enter and pay Anticafe for your stay when you leave; after signing in, go to the 3rd floor*, turn left, and then walk to the presentation room with the projector screen*. The venue is a coworking space, so its employees might not know about the event. Contact the organizer, Andy Maleh, via DM if you get lost or have questions.
• 7pm - Montreal.rb Event - Anticafe Place Des Arts
• 9pm - Networking Time - NYKS Bar (1250 Rue de Bleury, Montréal, QC): Networking time continues at 9:00pm (if we don't find seats at NYKS Bar, we could meet at Benelux at 245 Sherbrooke St W instead).

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If you have a Ruby talk idea you would like to present at a future Montreal.rb meetup, please contact the organizer (Andy Maleh) to get your talk scheduled in an available future meetup month (it is also possible to bump talks by organizers of the group into later months to take one of their month slots for your talk). You can also contact the organizer if your company is interested in hosting a future Montreal.rb meetup at their Montreal office. Note that speakers must present in-person in Montreal because the goal of the meetup is to encourage more in-person networking and socialization around Ruby Software Engineering topics with maximum communication bandwidth. Talks are recorded and posted on the @montreal-rb YouTube Channel if talk speakers agree.