Setting up an author automatically

Almost all applications that involve multiple content authors should have a way to track who created the content or who is the owner.

From this recipe, you will learn how to automate this by using a model. We assume that the application uses CUserIdentity to manage authorization and that Yii::app()->user->id returns integer user ID. We don't need to change the original post author if someone else edited it.

Getting ready

1. Create a new application by using yiic webapp as described in the official guide at the following URL:

   http://www.yiiframework.com/doc/guide/en/quickstart.first-app

2. Set up a database connection and create a table named post as follows:

   DROP TABLE IF EXISTS `post`;
   CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS `post` (
     `id` INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
     `title` VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
     `text` TEXT NOT NULL,
     `author_id` INT(10) UNSIGNED NOT NULL,
     PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
   );

3. Generate the Post model using Gii.

How to do it...

1. Add the following method...