ImmutableAttributes =================== When you want to prevent certain attributes from being changed once set you can declare them as immutable: class MyModel < ActiveRecord::Base attr_immutable :permalink, :param_identifier end When MyModel.find(:first).permalink = 'anything' is called it will raise an ImmutableAttributeError MyModel.new.permalink = 'works!' will properly set the value because the record is unsaved. Created by Jack Danger Canty @ http://6brand.com Released under the same licence as Rails (MIT)