new_plural.rb

# to explain

# ActionView lets me write
# pluralize(something.length, "Thing") =>
# "2 Things"
#
# But in this case, I want to separate the number from the text in HTML (to put an icon in between).
# Since I'm using CSS sprites, the easiest way is to wrap the text in a span with a class on it to get the correct image

# Thus:

 def new_pluralize (number, text)
    class_name = text.downcase
    unless number == 1
      text = text.pluralize
    end
    "#{number} <span class=\"#{class_name}\">#{text}</span>"
  end

# Which lets me call
# new_pluralize(something.length, "Thing") =>
# "2 <span class="thing">Things</span>"

# Then all I have to do is insert it in my view without escaping the HTML

One possibility is to use

number.to_s + content_tag(:span, text, :class => class_name)

But I think it might be better to use some mapping; I don't know how many classes you are expecting. Are they all really going to get different markup? It looks a bit redundant to have the text both in the class, and the content of the span.

Redundant how? One is content, one is data hook...

Basically, I'm using CSS to provide an icon for each of these cases. According to the design, the icon needs to go between the number and the text (and frankly that makes heaps more sense)

Redundant in the sense of repetition :-)

Anyway, looks like things are working fine for you