An example of how we check to see if the current visitor is allowed to see the beta running in production.

application_controller.rb

class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base

  protect_from_forgery
  
  before_filter :check_beta, :except => [ :beta ]

  def beta
    render :layout => "blank" 
  end

  protected

  def check_beta
    is_in_beta = true 
    if Rails.env == "production"
      if params[:show_me_the_beta] == "true"
        session[:see_beta] = true
      end

      if !session[:see_beta] 
        redirect_to beta_path 
      end
    end
  end

end