CSS styling is broken when deploying my rails app to heroku

Question

I have an existing heroku rails 4 app (https://applicantlabs.herokuapp.com/) that looks correct when run locally but when I run it on heroku the styling is broken.

My gemfile looks like this

source 'https://rubygems.org'
ruby "2.2.1"
gem 'rails', '4.2.1'
gem 'pg'
gem 'uglifier', '>= 1.3.0'
gem 'jquery-rails'
gem 'devise'
gem 'devise-bootstrap-views'
gem "twitter-bootstrap-rails"
gem 'rails_12factor', group: :production # for heroku
gem 'puma'
gem 'sucker_punch'

I tried to fix the problem by adding this to the config/environments/production.rb file and then deploying

config.assets.compile = true

I also tried

bundle exec rake assets:precompile

and then commited and pushed.

Nothing is working.

The css files are added to app/assets/stylesheets

And then in app/assets/stylesheets/application.css I have

/*
 *= require animate.min
 *= require bootstrap_and_overrides
 *= require font-awesome
 *= require_self
 */
body{padding:0;margin:0;font-family:'Open Sans','Trebuchet MS',arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px}

When I view the page's source and click on the css file it is filled with weird text. Here's a small bit of it:

book����mark����8���8���ìS���

When I push to heroku the output is:

~/Source/applicantlabs> git push heroku master
Counting objects: 5, done.
Delta compression using up to 4 threads.
Compressing objects: 100% (5/5), done.
Writing objects: 100% (5/5), 483 bytes | 0 bytes/s, done.
Total 5 (delta 3), reused 0 (delta 0)
remote: Compressing source files... done.
remote: Building source:
remote: 
remote: -----> Ruby app detected
remote: -----> Compiling Ruby/Rails
remote: -----> Using Ruby version: ruby-2.2.1
remote: -----> Installing dependencies using 1.7.12
remote:        Running: bundle install --without development:test --path vendor/bundle --binstubs vendor/bundle/bin -j4 --deployment
remote:        Using rake 10.4.2
remote:        Using minitest 5.6.1
remote:        Using thread_safe 0.3.5
remote:        Using builder 3.2.2
remote:        Using erubis 2.7.0
remote:        Using mini_portile 0.6.2
remote:        Using rack 1.6.0
remote:        Using mime-types 2.5
remote:        Using arel 6.0.0
remote:        Using bcrypt 3.1.10
remote:        Using hitimes 1.2.2
remote:        Using json 1.8.2
remote:        Using orm_adapter 0.5.0
remote:        Using thor 0.19.1
remote:        Using devise-bootstrap-views 0.0.4
remote:        Using execjs 2.5.2
remote:        Using pg 0.18.1
remote:        Using bundler 1.7.12
remote:        Using rails_serve_static_assets 0.0.4
remote:        Using rails_stdout_logging 0.0.3
remote:        Using nokogiri 1.6.6.2
remote:        Using rack-test 0.6.3
remote:        Using warden 1.2.3
remote:        Using puma 2.11.2
remote:        Using sprockets 3.0.3
remote:        Using tzinfo 1.2.2
remote:        Using mail 2.6.3
remote:        Using uglifier 2.7.1
remote:        Using rails_12factor 0.0.3
remote:        Using loofah 2.0.1
remote:        Using i18n 0.7.0
remote:        Using rails-html-sanitizer 1.0.2
remote:        Using timers 4.0.1
remote:        Using celluloid 0.16.0
remote:        Using sucker_punch 1.4.0
remote:        Using activesupport 4.2.1
remote:        Using rails-deprecated_sanitizer 1.0.3
remote:        Using activemodel 4.2.1
remote:        Using rails-dom-testing 1.0.6
remote:        Using activerecord 4.2.1
remote:        Using actionview 4.2.1
remote:        Using globalid 0.3.5
remote:        Using actionpack 4.2.1
remote:        Using activejob 4.2.1
remote:        Using sprockets-rails 2.2.4
remote:        Using railties 4.2.1
remote:        Using jquery-rails 4.0.3
remote:        Using responders 2.1.0
remote:        Using actionmailer 4.2.1
remote:        Using rails 4.2.1
remote:        Using devise 3.4.1
remote:        Using twitter-bootstrap-rails 3.2.0
remote:        Your bundle is complete!
remote:        Gems in the groups development and test were not installed.
remote:        It was installed into ./vendor/bundle
remote:        Bundle completed (0.76s)
remote:        Cleaning up the bundler cache.
remote:        Detected manifest file, assuming assets were compiled locally
remote: 
remote: -----> Discovering process types
remote:        Procfile declares types -> web
remote:        Default types for Ruby  -> console, rake, worker
remote: 
remote: -----> Compressing... done, 67.4MB
remote: -----> Launching... done, v38
remote:        https://applicantlabs.herokuapp.com/ deployed to Heroku
remote: 
remote: Verifying deploy... done.
To https://git.heroku.com/applicantlabs.git
   697fef0..4cc4ec5  master -> master

If I run

bundle exec rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production

the output is

bundle exec rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production --trace
** Invoke assets:precompile (first_time)
** Invoke assets:environment (first_time)
** Execute assets:environment
** Invoke environment (first_time)
** Execute environment
rake aborted!
ActiveRecord::AdapterNotSpecified: database configuration does not specify adapter
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activerecord-4.2.1/lib/active_record/connection_adapters/connection_specification.rb:171:in `spec'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activerecord-4.2.1/lib/active_record/connection_handling.rb:50:in `establish_connection'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activerecord-4.2.1/lib/active_record/railtie.rb:120:in `block (2 levels) in <class:Railtie>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:38:in `instance_eval'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:38:in `execute_hook'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:45:in `block in run_load_hooks'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:44:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/lazy_load_hooks.rb:44:in `run_load_hooks'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activerecord-4.2.1/lib/active_record/base.rb:316:in `<module:ActiveRecord>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activerecord-4.2.1/lib/active_record/base.rb:26:in `<top (required)>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1/gems/devise-3.4.1/lib/devise/orm/active_record.rb:3:in `<top (required)>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `block in require'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
/Users/grantspilsbury/Source/applicantlabs/config/initializers/devise.rb:22:in `block in <top (required)>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1/gems/devise-3.4.1/lib/devise.rb:293:in `setup'
/Users/grantspilsbury/Source/applicantlabs/config/initializers/devise.rb:3:in `<top (required)>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:268:in `load'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:268:in `block in load'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:268:in `load'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:652:in `block in load_config_initializer'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/notifications.rb:166:in `instrument'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:651:in `load_config_initializer'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:616:in `block (2 levels) in <class:Engine>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:615:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/engine.rb:615:in `block in <class:Engine>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `instance_exec'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:30:in `run'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:55:in `block in run_initializers'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:226:in `block in tsort_each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:348:in `block (2 levels) in each_strongly_connected_component'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:420:in `block (2 levels) in each_strongly_connected_component_from'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:429:in `each_strongly_connected_component_from'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:419:in `block in each_strongly_connected_component_from'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:44:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:44:in `tsort_each_child'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:413:in `call'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:413:in `each_strongly_connected_component_from'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:347:in `block in each_strongly_connected_component'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:345:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:345:in `call'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:345:in `each_strongly_connected_component'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:224:in `tsort_each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/tsort.rb:203:in `tsort_each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/initializable.rb:54:in `run_initializers'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/application.rb:352:in `initialize!'
/Users/grantspilsbury/Source/applicantlabs/config/environment.rb:5:in `<top (required)>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `block in require'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:240:in `load_dependency'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/activesupport-4.2.1/lib/active_support/dependencies.rb:274:in `require'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/application.rb:328:in `require_environment!'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/railties-4.2.1/lib/rails/application.rb:457:in `block in run_tasks_blocks'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:240:in `call'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:240:in `block in execute'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:235:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:235:in `execute'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:179:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:172:in `invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:165:in `invoke'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1@global/gems/sprockets-rails-2.2.4/lib/sprockets/rails/task.rb:64:in `block (2 levels) in define'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:240:in `call'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:240:in `block in execute'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:235:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:235:in `execute'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:179:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:172:in `invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:201:in `block in invoke_prerequisites'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:199:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:199:in `invoke_prerequisites'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:178:in `block in invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/monitor.rb:211:in `mon_synchronize'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:172:in `invoke_with_call_chain'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/task.rb:165:in `invoke'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:150:in `invoke_task'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:106:in `block (2 levels) in top_level'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:106:in `each'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:106:in `block in top_level'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:115:in `run_with_threads'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:100:in `top_level'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:78:in `block in run'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:176:in `standard_exception_handling'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/lib/ruby/2.2.0/rake/application.rb:75:in `run'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/rubies/ruby-2.2.1/bin/rake:33:in `<main>'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1/bin/ruby_executable_hooks:15:in `eval'
/Users/grantspilsbury/.rvm/gems/ruby-2.2.1/bin/ruby_executable_hooks:15:in `<main>'
Tasks: TOP => environment

Answer 1

Based on what I can see, you have a number of issues to resolve, since your question relates to CSS I'll go there:

Mixed Content: The page at 'https://applicantlabs.herokuapp.com/' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure resource 'http://player.vimeo.com/video/57175742?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0&color=e2007a'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS.
applicantlabs.herokuapp.com/:401 

Mixed Content: The page at 'https://applicantlabs.herokuapp.com/' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure resource 'http://www.youtube.com/embed/ySJhFCtVTUQ?list=UUvNBXWGykQrWb7kPAn5eLUQ'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS.
application-4ed64624ca6f0911d127cb1a8d49f3c36aedeffcb9f0216df950229bb9db906c.js:13549 

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'defaults' of undefined
application-4ed64624ca6f0911d127cb1a8d49f3c36aedeffcb9f0216df950229bb9db906c.js:13496 

Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'layoutColors' of undefined application-4ed64624ca6f0911d127cb1a8d49f3c36aedeffcb9f0216df950229bb9db906c.js:13496 

The final two errors are in the compiled assets. This is flagged as undefined:

   colors: mvpready_core.layoutColors

This also flagged as undefined

$.extend( true, DataTable.defaults, {...

Your compiled CSS resource is not constructed properly and the data looks corrupt. The filename is welcome-xxx.css, not the standard application-xxxxx.css it's also filled with corrupt data, not CSS. Here's your CSS:

bookmark88�S`�^�,^��A�SApplicationsMAMPhtdocsmvp-release-2.0.1  mvp-themebower_componentsanimate.cssanimate.min.css $0@\p��)�'7�����l�
m�Xm��n�
o� ���,<LA�ŕ�   file:///���������EE����������E6OXdknnkdXO6ic11o�PNG

Now, what I would ask as a next step to debug this CSS problem is to ask you you to run:

$bundle exec rake assets:precompile RAILS_ENV=production

Please post the file names of the assets it creates. And if there is a CSS file created, what's in it?

Answer 2

Font Awesome was required in the bootstrap_and_overrides.css file and then again in app/assets/stylesheets/application.css this duplicate was causing a strange precompiled css file. Once the *= require font-awesome was removed from app/assets/stylesheets/application.css the css styling was compiled correctly