alumni_lookup

Sub-Phase 3.9: Public Landing Pages

Champion Portal Development Sub-Phase 3.9

Status: ✅ Complete (January 2026)
Estimated Effort: 2-3 days
Focus: Public preview pages for events, discussions, and communities to support rich link sharing

Prerequisites: Phase 3.5 Complete (Discussion Boards)

Related Documents:

../../JOBS-TO-BE-DONE.md — Job C9: Feel Like I Belong

../../development/DESIGN-GUIDELINES.md — Warm, welcoming design

Completion Summary (January 2026)

What Was Implemented:

Controllers

Cp::EventsController — Public access for show action with public_event_view? method
Cp::BoardsController — Public access for show action with public_post_view? method
Cp::CommunitiesController — Enhanced public view with @public_stats for non-logged-in users
Cp::BaseController — Added store_return_path and stored_return_path methods
Cp::HelpController — Made publicly accessible (moved Help link to footer)

Views

_public_cta_box.html.erb — NEW: Reusable CTA component with warm, encouraging copy
- Supports :event, :discussion, :community content types
- Self-contained max-w-4xl mx-auto wrapper for consistent width
- Dynamic headlines and body text
events/show.html.erb — Public view hides RSVP, stats footer, tracking
boards/show.html.erb — Public view hides comments, reactions, author actions
communities/show.html.erb — “What’s Happening Here” and “Why Join” sections for non-members

Helpers & Models

MetaTagsHelper — NEW: Dynamic Open Graph and Twitter Card meta tags for rich link previews
Cp::Champion#public_display_name — Returns “FirstName L.” format for privacy

Key Files Created/Modified

Tests

89 controller tests for events, boards, communities, help
Full suite: 2263 tests, 0 failures

Design Decisions

CTA box has consistent max-w-4xl (896px) width across all pages
Page containers vary by content type but CTA renders outside container
Help page moved to footer (removed from main nav for non-Champions)
Event CTA icon changed from calendar to party popper emoji

Overview
Why This Sub-Phase Exists
Scope
Technical Design
UI Specifications
Implementation Checklist
Tests to Create

1. Overview

When Champions share links to events, discussions, or communities via iMessage/SMS, the recipient sees a rich preview (via Open Graph meta tags implemented in the meta_tags_helper). However, clicking through currently requires authentication before seeing any content.

This phase creates public “landing pages” that:

Show enough content to be valuable and enticing
Hide interactive/member-only features (RSVP, comments, member details)
Include a warm, encouraging CTA to join the Champion Portal
Store return path so users land on the content after signup/login

Goal: Convert link clicks into signups by showing value before asking for commitment.

2. Why This Sub-Phase Exists

The Problem

Champion shares an event link via iMessage
Recipient sees rich preview: “Spring Brunch May 15, 2025 Nashville”
Recipient clicks → hits login wall → bounces

The Solution

Champion shares an event link via iMessage
Recipient sees rich preview with enticing description
Recipient clicks → sees event details + warm CTA to join
Recipient signs up → lands directly on the event page

JTBD Alignment

From JOBS-TO-BE-DONE.md:

Job C9: Feel Like I Belong “When I’m far from Nashville or years past graduation, I want to feel part of something bigger.”

Public landing pages extend the sense of belonging to potential Champions, showing them the vibrant community they could join.

3. Scope

In Scope

Feature	Description
Public Event Pages	View event details without auth (for global or public community events)
Public Discussion Posts	View post content without auth (for public community posts)
Enhanced Public Community Pages	Show activity metrics (member count, post count, event count)
Reusable CTA Component	Warm, encouraging “Join” box with Belmont language
Return Path Storage	Store intended URL, redirect after signup/login

Out of Scope

Feature	Reason
Public access to private communities	Privacy by design
Comments visible on public posts	Encourage joining to see conversation
RSVP functionality on public events	Incentive to join
Member list details on public communities	Privacy protection

Visibility Rules

Content Type	When Public
Events	Global events (`show_globally: true`) OR events in public communities
Discussion Posts	Posts in public communities only
Communities	Communities with `visibility: :public` OR accessed with `ref` param

4. Technical Design

4.1 Controller Changes

Events Controller

Modify Cp::EventsController to allow public access to show action for qualifying events:

# app/controllers/cp/events_controller.rb

before_action :authenticate_cp_champion!, except: [:show]
before_action :require_authentication_or_public, only: [:show]

private

def require_authentication_or_public
  return if public_event_view?
  authenticate_cp_champion!
end

def public_event_view?
  return false unless @event
  
  # Global events are always public
  return true if @event.show_globally?
  
  # Events in public communities are public
  @event.communities.any?(&:visibility_public?)
end

Boards Controller

Modify Cp::BoardsController to allow public access to show action for qualifying posts:

# app/controllers/cp/boards_controller.rb

before_action :authenticate_cp_champion!, except: [:show]
before_action :require_authentication_or_public, only: [:show]

private

def require_authentication_or_public
  return if public_post_view?
  authenticate_cp_champion!
end

def public_post_view?
  return false unless @community
  @community.visibility_public?
end

Communities Controller

Already supports public access. Enhance to load activity metrics for public view:

# In show action, add for public view:
if !@is_logged_in
  @public_stats = {
    member_count: @community.champions.verified.count,
    post_count: @community.board_posts.active.count,
    event_count: @community.events.published.upcoming.count
  }
end

4.2 Return Path Storage

Add to ApplicationController or Cp::BaseController:

# Store the intended destination before redirecting to login
def store_return_path
  session[:return_to] = request.original_url if request.get?
end

# Retrieve and clear the stored path
def stored_return_path
  session.delete(:return_to)
end

Modify authentication redirect in Devise configuration or controller:

# After successful sign in
def after_sign_in_path_for(resource)
  stored_return_path || super
end

4.3 View Conditionals

Views will check cp_champion_signed_in? to show/hide content:

<% if cp_champion_signed_in? %>
  <!-- Full interactive content -->
<% else %>
  <!-- Public preview + CTA -->
  <%= render "cp/shared/public_cta_box", content_type: :event, community: @event.communities.first %>
<% end %>

4.4 Open Graph & Twitter Card Meta Tags

File: app/helpers/meta_tags_helper.rb

Rich link previews (iMessage, SMS, Slack, Facebook, LinkedIn) require Open Graph and Twitter Card meta tags. The MetaTagsHelper provides a centralized system for dynamic meta tag generation.

Default Values

Tag	Default Value
Title	“Belmont Alumni Champions”
Description	“Once a Bruin, Always Connected.”
Image	`https://alumnichampions.com/meta-image-champions.png`
Type	“website”

Core Methods

# Generic meta tag setter - use in any view
set_meta_tags(
  title: "My Page Title",
  description: "Page description for previews",
  image: url_for(@image),
  url: request.original_url,
  type: "website"
)

# Render in layout <head>
<%= render_meta_tags %>

Convenience Methods

Method	Content Type	Description
`set_community_meta_tags(community, inviter)`	Community	Uses hero/thumbnail image, member count
`set_event_meta_tags(event)`	Event	Date, location, cover image, type=”event”
`set_board_post_meta_tags(post, community)`	Discussion	Post preview, community context
`set_invite_meta_tags(inviter, community)`	Invite Link	Personalized invite from Champion
`set_news_post_meta_tags(post)`	News	Article preview, type=”article”
`set_roadmap_meta_tags`	Roadmap	Development roadmap page

Generated HTML Output

<!-- Open Graph tags -->
<meta property="og:title" content="Spring Brunch | Belmont Alumni Champions">
<meta property="og:description" content="May 15, 2025 • Café Lula, Nashville • Join us for a casual brunch...">
<meta property="og:image" content="https://alumnichampions.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/.../event-cover.jpg">
<meta property="og:url" content="https://alumnichampions.com/events/spring-brunch-2025">
<meta property="og:type" content="event">

<!-- Twitter Card tags -->
<meta name="twitter:card" content="summary_large_image">
<meta name="twitter:title" content="Spring Brunch | Belmont Alumni Champions">
<meta name="twitter:description" content="May 15, 2025 • Café Lula, Nashville • Join us for a casual brunch...">
<meta name="twitter:image" content="https://alumnichampions.com/rails/active_storage/blobs/.../event-cover.jpg">

Content-Specific Formatting

Events:

Title: {Event Title} | Belmont Alumni Champions
Description: {Date} • {Location} • {Short description}
Image: Cover image or default
Type: event

Communities:

Title: {Community Name} | Belmont Alumni Champions
Title (invite): {Inviter} invites you to join {Community}
Description: Community description OR Join {N} Champions in {Name}
Image: Hero image → thumbnail → default

Discussion Posts:

Title: {Post Title (60 chars)} | {Community Name}
Description: Join the discussion! {Post preview (140 chars)}
Image: Post image → community hero → default

Invite Links:

Title: {Inviter Name} invites you to join Belmont Alumni Champions
Description: Warm invite copy with community context if applicable

Layout Integration

Both Champion Portal layouts include meta tags:

<!-- app/views/layouts/champions.html.erb -->
<head>
  <%= render_meta_tags %>
  ...
</head>

<!-- app/views/layouts/public.html.erb -->
<head>
  <%= render_meta_tags %>
  ...
</head>

Usage in Views

<%# Event show page %>
<% set_event_meta_tags(@event) %>

<%# Community page %>
<% set_community_meta_tags(@community) %>

<%# Discussion post %>
<% set_board_post_meta_tags(@post, @community) %>

<%# Signup page with invite context %>
<% set_invite_meta_tags(@inviter, @community) %>

Image Handling

Uses rails_blob_url for ActiveStorage images with only_path: false
Falls back to default Champion Portal image if no image attached
Description truncated to 200 characters (optimal for iMessage preview)

5. UI Specifications

5.1 Public Event Page

Visible:

Event title
Cover image (if present)
Date and time (formatted nicely)
Location (venue name, city, or “Virtual Event”)
Full description
Host community name (linked to public community page)

Hidden:

RSVP button/link
Attendee list
Internal navigation

Layout:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Cover Image - full width]                                          │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  Spring Brunch with Nashville Champions                             │
│  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━                            │
│                                                                     │
│  📅 Saturday, May 15, 2025 • 10:00 AM CT                            │
│  📍 Café Lula, Nashville, TN                                        │
│  👥 Hosted by Nashville Champions                                   │
│                                                                     │
│  Join us for a casual brunch to connect with fellow Bruins in       │
│  Nashville! We'll meet at Café Lula on 12 South for good food       │
│  and great conversation...                                          │
│                                                                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  ╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮    │
│  │  🎓 Want to RSVP?                                           │    │
│  │                                                             │    │
│  │  Join the Belmont Alumni Champions community to RSVP for    │    │
│  │  this event and connect with fellow Bruins.                 │    │
│  │                                                             │    │
│  │  [Join Alumni Champions]  [Already a member? Sign in]       │    │
│  ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯    │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

5.2 Public Discussion Post Page

Visible:

Post title
Author first name + last initial (e.g., “Sarah C.”)
Post body (full content)
Posted date
Community name

Hidden:

Author photo (privacy)
Comments section
Reaction buttons
Reply functionality

Layout:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  ← Back to Nashville Champions                                      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  Best coffee shops for working remotely?                            │
│  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━                            │
│                                                                     │
│  Posted by Sarah C. • January 15, 2026                              │
│                                                                     │
│  Hey Nashville Bruins! I'm looking for recommendations for          │
│  coffee shops with good wifi and space to work. I usually           │
│  work from home but want to mix it up sometimes...                  │
│                                                                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  ╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮    │
│  │  💬 Join the conversation!                                  │    │
│  │                                                             │    │
│  │  This discussion has 12 replies from fellow Champions.      │    │
│  │  Join to see comments and share your thoughts.              │    │
│  │                                                             │    │
│  │  [Join Alumni Champions]  [Already a member? Sign in]       │    │
│  ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯    │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

5.3 Enhanced Public Community Page

Visible:

Community name and description
Hero image (if present)
Activity metrics:
- Member count (“45 Champions”)
- Discussion activity (“23 discussions this month”)
- Event count (“3 upcoming events”)
District/affinity context

Hidden:

Member list with photos/names
Actual discussion posts
Actual event details

Layout:

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ [Hero Image - Nashville skyline]                                    │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  Nashville Champions                                                │
│  ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━                            │
│                                                                     │
│  Connect with fellow Bruins in Nashville! Join us for local         │
│  events, discussions, and community building.                       │
│                                                                     │
│  ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐ ┌─────────────┐                    │
│  │   👥 45     │ │   💬 23     │ │   📅 3      │                    │
│  │  Champions  │ │ Discussions │ │   Events    │                    │
│  └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘ └─────────────┘                    │
│                                                                     │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│                                                                     │
│  ╭─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╮    │
│  │  🏠 Find your Belmont home in Nashville                     │    │
│  │                                                             │    │
│  │  Join 45 fellow Bruins who are staying connected,           │    │
│  │  attending events, and building community together.         │    │
│  │                                                             │    │
│  │  [Join Nashville Champions]  [Already a member? Sign in]    │    │
│  ╰─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────╯    │
│                                                                     │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

5.4 Reusable CTA Component

File: app/views/cp/shared/_public_cta_box.html.erb

Props:

content_type — :event, :discussion, :community
community — The associated community (for context)
comment_count — For discussions, how many replies (optional)

Copy by Content Type:

Type	Headline	Body
Event	“🎓 Want to RSVP?”	“Join the Belmont Alumni Champions community to RSVP for this event and connect with fellow Bruins.”
Discussion	“💬 Join the conversation!”	“This discussion has {N} replies from fellow Champions. Join to see comments and share your thoughts.”
Community	“🏠 Find your Belmont home in {City}”	“Join {N} fellow Bruins who are staying connected, attending events, and building community together.”

Buttons:

Primary: “Join Alumni Champions” → /signup?community={slug} (if community context)
Secondary: “Already a member? Sign in” → /login

Styling:

Warm background tint (not stark white)
Belmont Blue primary button
Rounded corners, subtle shadow
Centered text, generous padding

6. Implementation Checklist

Controllers

Views

Helpers

Cp::Champion or helper — Add public_display_name method
- Returns “FirstName L.” format (first name + last initial)

7. Tests to Create

Controller Tests

# test/controllers/cp/events_controller_test.rb

test "show allows public access for global event" do
  # No sign in
  get cp_event_url(@global_event)
  assert_response :success
end

test "show allows public access for event in public community" do
  get cp_event_url(@public_community_event)
  assert_response :success
end

test "show requires auth for event in private community" do
  get cp_event_url(@private_community_event)
  assert_redirected_to new_cp_champion_session_path
end

test "show stores return path for non-auth users" do
  get cp_event_url(@global_event)
  assert_equal cp_event_url(@global_event), session[:return_to]
end

# test/controllers/cp/boards_controller_test.rb

test "show allows public access for post in public community" do
  get cp_board_post_url(@public_community, @post)
  assert_response :success
end

test "show requires auth for post in private community" do
  get cp_board_post_url(@private_community, @post)
  assert_redirected_to new_cp_champion_session_path
end

test "show hides comments for non-auth users" do
  get cp_board_post_url(@public_community, @post)
  assert_select ".comments-section", count: 0
end

Helper Tests

# test/helpers/champion_helper_test.rb

test "public_display_name returns first name and last initial" do
  champion = cp_champions(:sarah_champion)
  champion.update!(first_name: "Sarah", last_name: "Champion")
  assert_equal "Sarah C.", champion.public_display_name
end

Integration Tests

# test/integration/public_landing_pages_test.rb

test "non-auth user can view public event and sign up" do
  # View event without auth
  get cp_event_url(@global_event)
  assert_response :success
  assert_select ".public-cta-box"
  
  # Click "Join" should preserve return path
  # (Full flow would be tested in system test)
end

8. Questions Resolved

Question	Decision
Event visibility	Global events OR events in public communities
Discussion visibility	Posts in public communities only
Author display	First name + last initial (e.g., “Sarah C.”)
CTA destination	Use existing flow: `/signup?community=slug` with session-based return path

9. Files to Create/Modify

New Files

File	Purpose
`app/views/cp/shared/_public_cta_box.html.erb`	Reusable CTA component
`test/integration/public_landing_pages_test.rb`	Integration tests

Modified Files

File	Changes
`app/controllers/cp/events_controller.rb`	Add public access logic
`app/controllers/cp/boards_controller.rb`	Add public access logic
`app/controllers/cp/communities_controller.rb`	Add public stats loading
`app/controllers/cp/base_controller.rb`	Add return path methods
`app/views/cp/events/show.html.erb`	Add public view conditional
`app/views/cp/boards/show.html.erb`	Add public view conditional
`app/views/cp/communities/show.html.erb`	Add activity metrics
`app/models/cp/champion.rb`	Add `public_display_name` method
`test/controllers/cp/events_controller_test.rb`	Add public access tests
`test/controllers/cp/boards_controller_test.rb`	Add public access tests

10. Definition of Done

Public event pages work for global and public community events
Public discussion pages work for public community posts
Community pages show activity metrics without revealing details
CTA component renders with warm, encouraging copy
Return path is stored and used after signup/login
All new tests pass
No regressions in existing tests
Meta tags still work correctly for rich previews

alumni_lookup

Sub-Phase 3.9: Public Landing Pages

Completion Summary (January 2026)

Controllers

Views

Helpers & Models

Key Files Created/Modified

Tests

Design Decisions

Table of Contents

1. Overview

2. Why This Sub-Phase Exists

The Problem

The Solution

JTBD Alignment

3. Scope

In Scope

Out of Scope

Visibility Rules

4. Technical Design

4.1 Controller Changes

Events Controller

Boards Controller

Communities Controller

4.2 Return Path Storage

4.3 View Conditionals

4.4 Open Graph & Twitter Card Meta Tags

Default Values

Core Methods

Convenience Methods

Generated HTML Output

Content-Specific Formatting

Layout Integration

Usage in Views

Image Handling

5. UI Specifications

5.1 Public Event Page

5.2 Public Discussion Post Page

5.3 Enhanced Public Community Page

5.4 Reusable CTA Component

6. Implementation Checklist

Controllers

Views

Helpers

7. Tests to Create

Controller Tests

Helper Tests

Integration Tests

8. Questions Resolved

9. Files to Create/Modify

New Files

Modified Files

10. Definition of Done