Laravel 5 not storing checkbox value - php

Question

We are having a strange issue with Laravel 5 in that it is refusing to store the checkbox value.
We are adapting the existing registration form that comes bundled with Laravel 5 and we are adding an optin checkbox but it seems the model does not recognise this as a field even though we are adding it as a field in the migration file.
Any help on this would be appreciated.
Mirgration File:
public function up()
{
Schema::create('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('first_name');
$table->string('last_name');
$table->string('email')->unique();
$table->string('password', 60);
$table->date('dob');
$table->boolean('optin')->nullable();
$table->rememberToken();
$table->timestamps();
});
}
Then we add it to the register.blade.php file:
<div class="form-group">
<label class="col-md-4 control-label">Optin</label>
<div class="col-md-6">
<input type="checkbox" class="form-control" name="optin">
</div>
</div>
At the point of creating the User model, we check the value of the checkbox and assign it.
protected function create(array $data)
{
//this does return 1 or 0 as expected
$optin = ($data["optin"] == "on") ? 1 : 0;
return User::create([
'first_name' => $data['first_name'],
'last_name' => $data['last_name'],
'email' => $data['email'],
'password' => bcrypt($data['password']),
'dob' => $data['dob'],
'optin' => $optin
]);
}
But at this point the field is null. No value is entered into the database...

Answer 1

Have you put the field 'optin' in the $fillable array within the model? Otherwise you cant create a User with 'optin' using the static create method.
//File: User.php
protected $fillable = ['optin'];

Answer 2

The model already has a static create() function. Therefore, when you make a call like User::create($data) from your controller, your function is not called.
My approach is to change the name of your function and make it static.
Update
Also you can override the create function:
public static function create(array $attributes)
{
$attributes["optin"] = ($attributes["optin"] == "on") ? 1 : 0;
return parent::create($attributes);
}