Question

We have 3 possible options:

• user not signed in
• user signed in
• user signed in as admin

Since our user area is significantly heavier (in terms of css), I would like to spare people that are not signed in to load the code.

Is it possible to change my css.scss to css.scss.erb & then add some helpers? For example:

Application.css.scss.erb

  # include css files for non-logged in users
  <% if signed_in? %>
    # include css files for logged in users
    <% if current_user.try(:staff_role?) %>
      # include css files for admin users
    <% end %>
  <% end %>

This way, I prevent adding a second or a third http request for the user. Effective?

How would this affect rendering times? Would rails cache 3 different files?

Answer 1

I don’t think this will work very well. All your assets will get pre-compiled in production so your ERB won’t do what you’re expecting it to do. Any ERB in your assets needs to be “environment level” only and by that I mean things like paths that don’t depend on the current request’s state at all. You can use multiple style sheets though:

• One that covers all the common stuff.
• One that contains things for logged-in users (but the content cannot depend on which user is logged in).
• One for admin users (but again, the content cannot depend on which user is logged in).

Then you include the appropriate style sheet in your views.

If for some reason you need per-user CSS then you’ll have to use <style> elements in your views and inline it or serve the CSS through a controller so that you can reliably customize it on a per-request basis.