Michael Hartl's Rails tutorial chapter 8. User Session not created

Question

I am practising michael hartl's rails tutorial chapter 8.

I have the following header partial.

<header class="navbar navbar-fixed-top navbar-inverse">
  <div class="navbar-inner">
    <div class="container">
      <%= link_to "sample app", root_path, id: "logo" %>
      <nav>
        <ul class="nav pull-right">
          <li><%= link_to "Home", root_path %></li>
          <li><%= link_to "Help", help_path %></li>
          <% if signed_in? %>
              <li><%= link_to "Users", '#' %></li>
              <li id="fat-menu" class="dropdown">
                <a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">
                  Account <b class="caret"></b>
                </a>
                <ul class="dropdown-menu">
                  <li><%= link_to "Profile", current_user %></li>
                  <li><%= link_to "Settings", '#' %></li>
                  <li class="divider"></li>
                  <li>
                    <%= link_to "Sign out", signout_path, method: "delete" %>
                  </li>
                </ul>
              </li>
          <% else %>
              <li><%= link_to "Sign in", signin_path %></li>
          <% end %>
        </ul>
      </nav>
    </div>
  </div>
</header>

and the below session controller

def new
  end

  def create
    user = User.find_by_email(params[:session][:email].downcase)
    if user && user.authenticate(params[:session][:password])
      sign_in user
      redirect_to user
    else
      flash.now[:error] = 'Invalid email/password combination'
      render 'new'
    end
  end

  def destroy
    sign_out
    redirect_to root_url
  end

Session Helper

def sign_in(user)
    cookies.permanent[:remember_token] = user.remember_token
    self.current_user = user
  end

  def signed_in?
    !current_user.nil?
  end

  def current_user=(user)
    @current_user = user
  end

  def current_user
    @current_user ||= User.find_by_remember_token(cookies[:remember_token])
  end

  def sign_out
    self.current_user = nil
    cookies.delete(:remember_token)
  end

User Model

class User < ActiveRecord::Base
  attr_accessible :name, :email, :password, :password_confirmation
  has_secure_password
  before_save :create_remember_token
  before_save { |user| user.email = email.downcase }

  validates :name, presence: true, length: { maximum: 50 }
  VALID_EMAIL_REGEX = /\A[\w+\-.]+@[a-z\d\-.]+\.[a-z]+\z/i
  validates :email, presence:   true,
            format:     { with: VALID_EMAIL_REGEX },
            uniqueness: { case_sensitive: false }
  validates :password, presence: true, length: { minimum: 6 }
  validates :password_confirmation, presence: true

  private
    def create_remember_token
    self.remember_token = SecureRandom.urlsafe_base64
  end
end

Now when I login a user and try to see the drop down menu I added to the header partial. I am unable to see that. when I debug the code I see that this is because, the user session is not creating and it don't go ahead from <% if signed_in? %> <% if signed_in? %> condition in the header partial.

Answer 1

OK I resolved the problem. the method

    def signed_in?
    !current_user.nil?
  end

in session_helper should not contain the "!" symbol.