How to add glyphicons to rails link_to helper - Bootstrap 3

Question

I've been looking everywhere for a good explanation of how to add glyphicons to rails link_to and button_to helpers, but I've found very little. What I've gathered so far has led me to this:

<li>
  <%= link_to deals_path, class: "btn btn-default" do %>
    <%= content_tag(:i, "Dasboard",:class=>' glyphicon, glyphicon-th-large') -%>
  <% end %>
</li>

This doesn't work though and I think the one example I found was from Bootstrap 2. Can anyone point me to a good resource on this, or provide a quick example? Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

I found the answer to this here

The basic form of a glyph link in rails looks like this:

<%= link_to deals_path, class: "btn btn-default" do %>
    <i class="glyphicon glyphicon-euro"></i> Dashboard
<% end %>

Modify as needed. The second example in that link didn't work for me, I assume because I'm using the rails_bootstrap_sass gem? Regardless, the above form worked for me.

Answer 2

If you're looking for an inline method, This works for me:

<%= link_to '<i class="glyphicon glyphicon-th-large"></i> Dasboard'.html_safe, deals_path, class: 'btn btn-default' %>

The <i></i> can go either side of the 'Dashboard' I've only tested this particular example out in Rails 4 with Bootstrap 3 but this was the method I used prior in Rails 3 and Bootstrap 2

Hope this helps somebody in the future

Edit: Removed comma to render the glyphicon correctly.

Answer 3

In my experience the answer by @settheline is almost ideal, but on my website it changes the font relative to other buttons without icons. So I ended up doing something like this:

<%= link_to deals_path, class: "btn btn-default" do %>
    <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-euro"></span> Dashboard
<% end %>

And this seems to keep the font equal to other iconless buttons.

Answer 4

Using slim, here's link_to:

    = link_to deals_path
        span.glyphicon.glyphicon-th-large

and button_to:

    = button_to deals_path, class: "btn btn-primary"
        span.glyphicon.glyphicon-th-large

It's possible to add more text/etc. to the button as well, just don't nest it under the glyphicon's span.

Answer 5

Using HAML:

= link_to deals_path, class: "btn btn-default" do
  = "Dashboard"
  %span.glyphicon.glyphicon-th-large

Answer 6

You can use the font-awesome-rails gem for this purpose, and then do:

<li><%= link_to raw(fa_icon("dashboard", class: "th-large"), deals_path, class: "btn btn-default" %>

Answer 7

&For those who'd avoid unnecessary repetition of the long-winded thing..

i shove something like this in my app/helpers/application_helper.rb:

module ApplicationHelper
  def glyph(icon_name_postfix, hash={})
    content_tag :span, nil, hash.merge(class: "glyphicon glyphicon-#{icon_name_postfix.to_s.gsub('_','-')}")
  end
end

Example .erb usage:

<%= button_tag glyph("heart-empty", aria_hidden: "true", foo: "bar"), type: "button", class: "btn btn-default" %>
<%= link_to glyph(:eye_open) + " Oook", some_path, class: "nav" %>

I am using this in Rails4 but i think it might also work in Rails3

Ooook! i also happened to notice this advise from the bootstrap (Currently v3.3.5) docos:

Don't mix with other components Icon classes cannot be directly combined with other components. They should not be used along with other classes on the same element. Instead, add a nested <span> and apply the icon classes to the <span>.

Only for use on empty elements Icon classes should only be used on elements that contain no text content and have no child elements.

Answer 8

There is faster and easier way to apply (fontawasome) icons without additional gem installations.

You may follow this pattern:

          <%= link_to root_path, class: "nav-link" do %>
            <i class="fas fa-pencil-alt"></i>
          <% end %>

Of course, you must first create a kit FREE account from the FONTAWASOME and it must be set in your application.html.erb's head to use the icons. Follow the instructions given here to create an account in Fontawasome (if you don't have one yet).

If you need an example, you can check out my repo in GitHub