@Tom Hogan @Irvin

I'm deeply grateful to both of you for your time and effort in helping newbie Zurbs like me.
The step by step was exactly what I needed to get started in my first sass project. However, I already have 2 foundation websites I've been creating using vanilla CSS and was wondering how I could switch them over to make them work with sass? Should I run the "npm install -g bower grunt-cli" and "gem install foundation" commands within each project folder? FYI: I took Tom's advice and created the DevTools folder on C: and created Subfolders for all the dependancies.

@Irvin

Thank you for your detailed instructions. I'll give them a try and see if I can can get this working. So should I downgrade node.js to an older version? And what version of Ruby, node.js, compass, grunt and Git should I have installed on my Windows 8 computer to make them all play together with Foundation 5? Gee I wish this wasn't so complicated.

Peter,

It looks like you got this figured out. I wish I could say the same. I've tried several methods for getting sass running on my computer but seem to run into road blocks somewhere along the way. I'm trying to learn sass because I believe it will eventually speed up my workflow, but starting to question that now. Wasted too much time just trying to get things working right...there's got to be an easier way!

Would you mind taking a few minutes and writing out instructions about how you were able to get foundation and sass to play together?

I'm sure there must be something I'm missing but can't seem to figure it out. Most of the tutorials all seem to favor Mac users. The only really helpful one is Jen Kramer's from Lynda.com but the instructions pertain to Foundation 4. I'm sure there are many newbies out there like me who will welcome any advice you can offer.

Ready to pull my hair out...I made it all the way to step 16 and now my screen is stuck on "installing dependencies with bower...."
Not sure what the issue is because I followed all your instructions. I'm on windows8.1 x64. Had to use Ctrl C to stop. Think I'll go back to just using plain on vanilla css. The time Im supposed to be saving when using sass has been wasted just trying to get sass setup. Very frustrating. Wish there was just a simpler way to setup sass and compile css and use it without all the other stuff. Can't help but wonder how many people have gotten frustrated during the setup process and gave up on Foundation. This is my 3rd time trying to setup and use sass and even when I follow every step in the docs, I still run into issues. However, I did get a little bit further today than ever before ( Thank you for the step by step) so I'm almost there if I can figure out what went wrong.

Thanks Rafi. I spent hours trying to configure sass with the CLI method but I ran into all kinds of issues with installing git, nodejs, grunt and ruby and still couldn't get it to work. Then decided to try the easy route with Mixture.io. It seems to be easier, but I can't get it to work and the support is seriously lacking, can't get anybody to respond to my request for help and the docs are vague.
I really want to use sass with Foundation but I could've had this site done by now if I used just css without sass and wouldnt be as frustrating!

I have mixture setup according to the instructions , the path to my files are: C:\Users\Testing\Foundation\index.html. Shouldn't it be as simple as going to Open, navigating to this folder C:\Users\Testing\Foundation\

@Rafi
My frustration level with Foundation and the install/compilation issues has forced me to look at other methods to use sass. I've taken your advice and downloaded mixture.io but the instruction videos are more than a year old and the docs aren't helpful.

All I want is a simple way to get started using Foundation with sass! I've already downloaded and installed mixture, then selected Boilerplate Foundation 5, then created a new project folder and navigated to the templates folder and opened index.liquid in sublime text. I cannot figure out what is {% block content %} and how I can use this program with Foundation. I can't get any changes that I make to update in my project and I'm ready to give up on Foundation. According to the foundation docs, using mixture.io makes it super simple to use Foundation with sass, so am I missing something here? Has anyone here had any luck using Foundation with Mixture.io? If so, can you help me out here?

Rafi I love this!!! I wish we could have more examples like this. It would really help those of us who are still learning about all the great features of Foundation to see it in action. How do we get more people to take advantage of CODEPEN and Fiddle and share examples of what they've learned to do with Foundation?

I agree with your frustration, have thought about giving up on Foundation many times, but keep coming back because I know the framework is great. And it's FREE and that's why I'm more forgiving then if I had to pay for it. With that said, I believe what's missing is more detailed instructions especially when it comes to installing Sass and the other components that are important for a smooth workflow. If Foundation had more video tutorials, and more comprehensive documentation they could blow Bootstrap and all the others out of the water.

I'm currently looking into mixture.io as I understand it compiles the css, handles templating and makes updates a cinch. But Mixture suffers from the same thing as Foundation, lack of good documentation and tutorials. I don't have the time to experiment with programs, trying this and that until I find what works. I just want clear instructions with plenty of examples to show me how things work together so I can get up and running quickly.

As a previous Bootstrapper, I was really looking for something similar to this site:
http://lovebootstrap.com/bootstrap-site-showcase/ where members of the Foundation community could add a foundation site and view sites built by other members and promote the Zurb community. Also, I would love to teach my students and others about the wonders of Foundation but the documentation seems to be geared towards experienced designers and leaves a lot of beginners struggling to find answers. While there are thousands of websites, tutorials, videos etc to learn and find answers about Bootstrap, the resources for Foundation are very limited.

If the prime directive for Zurb is "to provide a framework that allows others (and ourselves) to build better designed future-friendly sites" then we in the Zurb community need to provide more resources for others to learn from. But it seems like the focus has shifted more towards building apps and less toward websites and maybe that's a game changer for Zurb. But for those of us who are still teaching web design and love Foundation for its responsive framework, its discouraging.