Ruby on Rails Routing changes not working - ruby-on-rails

Question

Recently I've tried to update my routes to be more specific in the routing.rb file:
resources :users
match '/signup', :to => 'users#new'
I removed the resources :users and changed the above to
match 'users/new' => 'users#new'
match 'users/show/:id' => 'users#show', :as => :users_show
match 'users/edit' => 'users#edit'
match '/signup', :to => 'users#new'
But when I try to click on the same link that I've had before in my layout page using the signup_path (http://localhost:3000/signup), I get the following error:
undefined method `users_path' but I am not using users_path anywhere
Shouldn't it still work? I haven't changed anything else in the other pages. The controller and actions are still the same.
Thanks!

Answer 1

What it tells is that you don have helper method named "users_path", which is created by resources in routes.rb.
Check by yourself with rake routes, what you get with your example:
users_new /users/new.(:format) {:controller=>"users", :action=>"new"}
users_show /users/show/:id(.:format) {:controller=>"users", :action=>"show"}
users_edit /users/edit(.:format) {:controller=>"users", :action=>"edit"}
(and no, you don't need forward slash at the beginning of path).
You defined only routes for some pages (show/new/edit), but you don't have path for index/create/update/destroy actions. Add resource back to routes.rb and check which routes it generates. Remember that by default your match-ed routes match all requests, not specific HTTP methods (like with resource). If you want to fully reassemble this behavior, take a look at documentation (at http://api.rubyonrails.org search for "match") and :via parameter.
Also why do you want to remove resource, and add all paths by yourself? If you want to limit available routes, then there are :only/:except options, you can also pass block and add routes by yourself, just check documentation (at http://api.rubyonrails.org and search for "resources" - it's shame I no longer can get link to specific documentation page and from Rails documentation).

Answer 2

I think basicxman is on the right track. You need a leading '/' in all your routes
Change:
match 'users/new' => 'users#new'
match 'users/show/:id' => 'users#show', :as => :users_show
match 'users/edit' => 'users#edit'
To:
match '/users/new' => 'users#new'
match '/users/show/:id' => 'users#show', :as => :users_show
match '/users/edit' => 'users#edit'
Also, do you still have the resources :users line at the top of your routes.rb? That'll also be necessary.

Answer 3

You have to add a route to create action as well. Probably your signup form points to users_path with POST method which is basically the create action. So add to your routes the following
match 'users' => 'users#create', :via => :post, :as=>:users
For more customization info please see the Rails routing guide