Videos

Planet Argon developers Kayla Reopelle and Shannon Jackson discussed the results of our 2020 Ruby on Rails Community Survey. Here is a recording of the webinar for those who were not able to attend.

Yesterday, DHH announced a new feature that will be available in the upcoming Rails 6: Action Text.

At a high level, I really like the idea of Action Text. I think it is right in line with what makes Rails attractive to use in the first place: it helps you to quickly and easily build a website with rich functionality that, in the right ecosystem, just works out of the box.

The idea of sitting down one afternoon and deciding to make a site with rich text comments and posts, file uploads, WebSockets notifications of said uploads and posts, and then actually having that site be up and running the same day – using one single framework – is pretty freaking insane from a high level.

But the devil is in the details, as always. It currently looks like Action Text is built on ActiveStorage, which means that lots of legacy applications that are still using other file upload methods, like Carrierwave, will have trouble implementing this feature. It’s also likely to be tough to switch if you already have a WYSIWYG editor in place and want to switch to Action Text. I can immediately think of two such applications we maintain that fall into this category.

Overall, though, I like this idea. It furthers Rails ability to truly be a one-stop-shop solution for creating and maintaining websites.

Want to read more about this upcoming addition to Rails? Here are all the links to explore:

• Rails announcement
• Screencast demo by DHH
• Dev.to comment thread
• Reddit thread

We're always excited to partner with local companies in Portland. It's even better when the companies we work with are actively working to improve our home state. We partnered with Meyer Memorial Trust, a Portland-based philanthropic foundation, back in 2012. Since then, we've iterated their grant management system to allow quicker and more efficient grant application and decision-making for both applicants and their internal team.

At the beginning of our partnership, Meyer Memorial's custom grant management tool had years of fixes and updates with little documentation. This resulted in a steep learning curve for new employees and grant applicants, and a high overhead cost to maintain the app.

As Meyer Memorial Trust grew to field more grant applications, they needed a flexible, scalable system with a clear path for all users. We designed and implemented user interfaces that guided potential grantees or internal staff from beginning to end.

Our collaboration with MMT was built upon simplification from the beginning. The end product is a more efficient grant management process for both applicants and admins. They can now adapt to community needs and adjust funding initiatives and programs accordingly.

In fact, Meyer Memorial Trust is preparing to give $17 million to groups creating a flourishing and equitable Oregon this spring. We're excited as Portland residents to see the result of their grants right here at home, and thrilled to continue our partnership going forward.

We moved into our beautiful office space in North Portland a little over one year ago. We love the open floor plan and our incredible neighbors. (Shout out to Whole Bowl, who keeps us well nourished.) But our studio was still needing a little more Planet Argon flair.

Jack, our Visual Designer, stepped up to the challenge of brightening up our conference room. After a few days of planning, sketching, and painting, the white wall was replaced with a sweeping mural of Tilikum Crossing bridge. Watch the clip above to see the painting process in action – sped up to save you a few days.

The Skoshbox Japanese snack subscription box is founded on pure delight. From the initial website visit to the bright packaging and tasty products, Skoshbox sought out a cheerful and stress-free experience for their customers.

Their business quickly took off in 2014 – and their existing ordering and fulfillment process (a Frankenstein mix of Wordpress, eCommerce plugins, and lots of hard work) couldn't keep up. That's where we came in. We partnered with Skoshbox to design and build the tools they needed to scale their business.

We enhanced the Skoshbox website, maintaining their unique and vibrant aesthetic every step of the way. We also built dozens of new features, including a tighter integration between subscriptions and shop purchases, reviews, gift subscriptions, waitlists, and more.

As a result of our partnership, Skoshbox was able to increase their business exponentially, while providing a smoother experience for their customers every step of the way.

Find out more about our partnership above.

Are you an eCommerce business who needs to scale, resolve outdated errors, or keep up with your ever-growing product backlog? We can help. Click below to get in touch.

Duane Benson and Adriel Henderson from the Screaming Circuits team share the past challenges they were facing with their application, their experience working alongside Planet Argon’s team, and how our redesign of Screaming Circuits has put them ahead of their competition.

Steve Suo and Grant Butler from the Oregonian/OregonLive share their experience of working with our team and the results of our redesigned Recipe Box; from a more inspiring and searchable application, to an increase in traffic, to simultaneously freeing up their staff time to focus on the content they serve to customers.

Kathy Sierra put together her own book trailer using stock videos.

Earlier this year, I had the good fortune of seeing Aaron Draplin of Draplin Design Co. speak at TEDxPortland. This short documentary series that Vans put together captures him in his element. Totally worth your time to watch these.

One of our wonderful clients, Marsh Myers, from Oregon Coast Aquarium shares his experience of working with Planet Argon on their Science education platform for Oregon high school students.