# Best ACl plugin?

**URL:** <https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509>\
**Category:** Rails\
**Created:** [May 7, 2007, 12:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509 "2007-05-07T12:23:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/patcito)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 12:23pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509/1 "2007-05-07T12:23:05Z")

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hey all,  
I need some ACL features for my users. Any advice what’s the best? I  
was thinking about [http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/acl\_system](http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/acl_system)  
because it looks simple.

any idea?

thanx in advance

Pat

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**Author:** ![patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/patcito)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 3:32pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509/2 "2007-05-07T15:32:59Z")

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Patrick A. wrote:

> hey all,  
> I need some ACL features for my users. Any advice what’s the best? I  
> was thinking about [http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/acl\_system](http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/acl_system)  
> because it looks simple.
> 
> any idea?
> 
> thanx in advance
> 
> Pat

Hi Pat,

I’ve used acl\_system2 , and it is simple and works well. I’ve had no  
problems with it and recommend it.

Sincerely,  
Joseph

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**Author:** ![patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/patcito)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509/3 "2007-05-07T17:09:26Z")

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On 07 May 2007, at 15:32, Joe P. wrote:

> > Pat
> 
> Hi Pat,
> 
> I’ve used acl\_system2 , and it is simple and works well. I’ve had no  
> problems with it and recommend it.

I think Simple Access Control is even a bit better, from the README:

SimpleAccessControl is a streamlined, intuitive authorisation system.  
It derives heavily from  
acl\_system2 and has made clear some problems which plagued me when  
first using it. Some  
fixes to acl\_system2’s design:

```
   * a normal Rails syntax:
         access_rule 'admin', :only => :index
         access_rule '(moderator || admin)', :only => :new
   * error handling for helper methods (permit? bombed when

```

current\_user == nil)  
\* one-line parser, easy to replace or alter  
\* proper before\_filter usage, meaning access rules are parsed  
only when needed  
\* no overrideable default (which I found counter-intuitive in  
the end)

Also, it has two methods, access\_control and permit?, for those  
moving from acl\_system2.

[http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/simple\_access\_control](http://agilewebdevelopment.com/plugins/simple_access_control)

Best regards

Peter De Berdt

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/patcito)\
**Post date:** [May 7, 2007, 6:44pm UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509/4 "2007-05-07T18:44:35Z")

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thanx for your answers.  
acl\_system2 svn says no updates has been made since July 2006 and  
Simple Access Control since August 2006. Are these projects dead by  
now?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/patcito)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509/5 "2007-05-08T00:25:23Z")

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On 07 May 2007, at 18:44, Patrick A. wrote:

> acl\_system2 svn says no updates has been made since July 2006 and  
> Simple Access Control since August 2006. Are these projects dead by  
> now?

Or it could simply be a matter of: if it ain’t broke, why fix it? The  
plugins do everything they say and don’t need anything extra if you  
ask me.

Best regards

Peter De Berdt

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/p/50afbb/32.png) [@patcito](https://www.ruby-forum.com/u/patcito)\
**Post date:** [May 8, 2007, 8:54am UTC](https://www.ruby-forum.com/t/best-acl-plugin/103509/6 "2007-05-08T08:54:51Z")

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I recently reviewed several in this article  
[http://www.vaporbase.com/postings/Authorization\_in\_Rails](http://www.vaporbase.com/postings/Authorization_in_Rails)