Validate website ownership in rails

Question

For a more recent discussion about a similar topic check this question out.

What\'s the best way to validate whether a particular user has ownership of a website?

Answer 1

Thanks a lot guys. I used a blend of Steve's and Amiel's suggestions to find a solution that works:

In the website model:

class Website < ActiveRecord::Base
  require 'net/http'

  belongs_to :user
  before_create :generate_unique_id

  # Validate unless already validated
  def verify!
    verify_unique_id unless self.verified == true
  end

  protected

  # Generate a random string for unique_id
  def generate_unique_id
    self.unique_id = ActiveSupport::SecureRandom.hex(10)
  end

  def verify_unique_id
  response = Net::HTTP.start(self.domain, 80) {|http| http.head("/#   {unique_id}.html") }
    self.verified = true if response.code == "200"
  end

end

The controller is nearly unchanged from Steve's suggestion except for the part where the app finds the id of the website:

    def verify
    @website = Website.find_by_id(params[:website])
    @website.verify!

    respond_to do |format|
      if @website.save && @website.verified == true
        flash[:notice] = 'Site verified!'
        format.html { redirect_to(websites_path) }
        format.xml  { head :ok }
      else
        flash[:notice] = 'Site verification failed!'
        format.html { redirect_to(websites_path) }
        format.xml  { render :status => :unprocessable_entity }
      end
    end
end

Finally I have an index view of the user's websites (It's ugly but it does the job):

<% for website in @websites %>
<%= link_to "#{website.domain}", website %> | 
<% if website.verified? %> VERIFIED |  
<% else %> NOT VERIFIED 
<%= link_to "Verify your website", verify_website_path(:website => website.id), :id => website.id %>
Verification key: <%= website.unique_id %>
<% end %><% end %>
<%= link_to "Add a website", new_website_path %>

Anyway, I put this through a few manual tests with one of my existing websites and it works without a problem. I still of course have to implement other validations but this was the one I really needed help on. Thanks guys!

Kenji