mislav/will_paginate

will_paginate is a Ruby library that adds pagination to web applications built with frameworks like Rails, Sinatra, Hanami, and Sequel. Pagination means splitting a large list of database records into multiple pages, so instead of loading thousands of blog posts or products all at once, users see a manageable chunk per page with navigation links to move between them. The core idea is simple: you add one method call to your database query to tell it which page to load, and then you add one line to your HTML template to render the page number links. The library handles all the math and link generation in between. You can set how many records appear per page either globally for your whole app, or individually for each type of record. The library works with Rails' Active Record query system, which means you can chain it onto existing filters and sorting without rewriting your queries. For example, you can fetch only published posts, sorted by date, and paginated, all in one statement. One important note: the README states that will_paginate is now in maintenance mode, meaning it will not receive new features going forward. The project still works and bug fixes may be made, but the authors point readers toward alternatives listed on the Ruby Toolbox site if they need something actively developed. For applications already using it, nothing is broken, for new projects, it may be worth comparing options first.