ok well meanwhile I did some thinking and came up with this solution:
create a helper method (for example article_helper.rb and create an action (for example "list_article"). in application.rb you put helper :article
ok if you now call <%= list_article %> you call the action in article_helper.
which solution would be best? and why ?
Sorry for my previous truncated reply! That won't work well because you can only call render (except partials) once per action.
The better way to go with these things is a combination of helpers and partials, eg have a render_menu_bar helper.
Fred