serializing preferences

_form.html.erb

# in the user form partial

<h3>Preferences</h3>

  <% User::PREFERENCES.each do |preference| %>
    <div class="field">
      <%= check_box_tag "user[preferences[#{preference.to_s}]]", "1", @user.preferences ? @user.preferences[preference] : false %>
      <%= label_tag :attribute, preference.to_s.titleize %>
    </div>
  <% end %>

user.rb

class User < ActiveRecord::Base

  has_many :tweets
  has_one :account_setting, :dependent => :destroy
  accepts_nested_attributes_for :account_setting

  validates_presence_of :first_name, :last_name, :email
  validates_uniqueness_of :email

  PREFERENCES = [:notify_retweet, :notify_direct_messages, :notify_new_follower]

  serialize :preferences, Hash

  def to_s
    "#{first_name} #{last_name}"
  end

end