Authlogic Email Token

This Authlogic extension sends confirmation emails when a user signs up and when an existing user changes her address.

RDOC

Installation

Add this to your Gemfile:

gem 'authlogic_email_token'

Migration

Add some columns to your user model.

def change
  add_column :users, :new_email, :string, after: :email
  add_column :users, :email_token, :string, after: :perishable_token
  add_column :users, :email_token_updated_at, :datetime, after: :email_token
  # Technically the :activated column isn't necessary. This gem doesn't access it
  # directly. Instead, it calls User#activate, which you must implement.
  # (See below.)
  add_column :users, :activated, :boolean, after: :id, null: false, default: false
end

User Model

Configure your user model and add an activate method.

class User
  acts_as_authentic
  include Authlogic::ActsAsAuthentic::EmailToken::Confirmation
  
  # This method can do anything you want. This gem only cares that the activate
  # method exists, not what it does. The simplest option is to set a boolean field to
  # true, as we do here. Also, the name of the activation method is configurable if
  # you don't like calling it activate. See "Configuration" below.
  def activate
    self.activated = true
  end
end

Session Model

When the user tries to log in, ensure her account has been activated.

class UserSession < Authlogic::Session::Base
  validate :must_be_activated

  private

  def must_be_activated
    if attempted_record and !attempted_record.activated
      errors.add(:activation, 'You have not yet activated your account.')
    end
  end
end

Controller

Add a confirm_email action. Call .maybe_deliver_email_confirmation!.

class UsersController < ApplicationController
  def confirm_email
    if user = User.find_using_email_token(params[:token], 5.days)
      was_unactivated = !user.activated
      user.confirm_email!
      UserSession.create(user)
      if was_unactivated
        redirect_to root_url, notice: 'Your account has been activated.'
      else
        redirect_to root_url, notice: 'Your email address has been confirmed.'
      end
    else
      render action: :bad_confirmation_email
    end
  end
  
  def create
    @user = User.new user_params
    if @user.save
      @user.maybe_deliver_email_confirmation! self
      redirect_to root_url, notice: 'Confirmation email sent.'
    else
      render action: :new
    end
  end
  
  def update
    if current_user.update_attributes user_params
      if current_user.maybe_deliver_email_confirmation! self
        redirect_to root_url, notice: 'Confirmation email sent.'
      else
        redirect_to root_url, notice: 'Account settings saved.'
      end
    else
      render action: 'edit'
    end
  end
end

Mailer

Implement the following mailer method:

UserMailer.email_confirmation(user, controller)

In other words, create a class called UserMailer. Give it a method called email_confirmation that takes a user and a controller. Authlogic Email Token looks for that class and method. If you don't like that default, you can override it.

Whatever email you send should contain a link to UsersController#confirm_email, and should have the user's email_token in the params. For example, in the mailer:

def email_confirmation(user, controller)
  @url = controller.confirm_email_url user.email_token
  # #new_email defaults to #email if new_email column is blank. So this works for both
  # signup and changing address.
  mail to: user.new_email, subject: 'Confirm your email address'
end

And in the email template:

<p>Activate your account:</p>

<p><%= link_to @url, @url %></p>

Configuration

See documentation for the Config module.