diff --git a/app/controllers/impressionist_appliation_controller.rb b/app/controllers/impressionist_appliation_controller.rb
index 52904c8..d006aa7 100644
--- a/app/controllers/impressionist_appliation_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/impressionist_appliation_controller.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,10 @@ class ApplicationController < ActionController::Base
     Impressionist::Bots::LIST.include? request.user_agent
   end
     
+  #use both @current_user and current_user helper
   def user_id
-    @current_user ? @current_user.id : nil
+    user_id = @current_user ? @current_user.id : nil rescue nil
+    user_id = current_user ? current_user.id : nil rescue nil if user_id.blank?
+    user_id
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test_app/Gemfile.lock b/test_app/Gemfile.lock
index cdad697..2a76d08 100644
--- a/test_app/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/test_app/Gemfile.lock
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 PATH
   remote: /rails_plugins/mine/impressionist
   specs:
-    impressionist (0.1.1)
+    impressionist (0.1.2)
 
 GEM
   remote: http://rubygems.org/
@@ -35,13 +35,13 @@ GEM
       activesupport (= 3.0.3)
     activesupport (3.0.3)
     archive-tar-minitar (0.5.2)
-    arel (2.0.7)
+    arel (2.0.8)
     autotest (4.4.6)
       ZenTest (>= 4.4.1)
     autotest-notification (2.3.1)
       autotest (~> 4.3)
     builder (2.1.2)
-    capybara (0.4.1.1)
+    capybara (0.4.1.2)
       celerity (>= 0.7.9)
       culerity (>= 0.2.4)
       mime-types (>= 1.16)
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ GEM
       cucumber (>= 0.8.0)
     culerity (0.2.15)
     daemons (1.0.10)
-    database_cleaner (0.6.1)
+    database_cleaner (0.6.3)
     diff-lcs (1.1.2)
     erubis (2.6.6)
       abstract (>= 1.0.0)
@@ -112,19 +112,19 @@ GEM
       rake (>= 0.8.7)
       thor (~> 0.14.4)
     rake (0.8.7)
-    rspec (2.4.0)
-      rspec-core (~> 2.4.0)
-      rspec-expectations (~> 2.4.0)
-      rspec-mocks (~> 2.4.0)
-    rspec-core (2.4.0)
-    rspec-expectations (2.4.0)
+    rspec (2.5.0)
+      rspec-core (~> 2.5.0)
+      rspec-expectations (~> 2.5.0)
+      rspec-mocks (~> 2.5.0)
+    rspec-core (2.5.1)
+    rspec-expectations (2.5.0)
       diff-lcs (~> 1.1.2)
-    rspec-mocks (2.4.0)
-    rspec-rails (2.4.1)
+    rspec-mocks (2.5.0)
+    rspec-rails (2.5.0)
       actionpack (~> 3.0)
       activesupport (~> 3.0)
       railties (~> 3.0)
-      rspec (~> 2.4.0)
+      rspec (~> 2.5.0)
     ruby-debug-base19 (0.11.24)
       columnize (>= 0.3.1)
       linecache19 (>= 0.5.11)
diff --git a/test_app/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb b/test_app/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb
index 45e8c0e..d154f1d 100644
--- a/test_app/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb
+++ b/test_app/app/controllers/articles_controller.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,13 @@
 class ArticlesController < ApplicationController
+  before_filter :test_current_user_var
+  
+  def test_current_user_var
+    if session[:user_id]
+      @current_user = User.new
+      @current_user.id = session[:user_id]
+    end
+  end
+  
   def index
     impressionist(Article.first,"this is a test article impression")
   end
diff --git a/test_app/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb b/test_app/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
index 829fab4..9acf731 100644
--- a/test_app/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
+++ b/test_app/app/controllers/posts_controller.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 class PostsController < ApplicationController
+  helper_method :current_user
   impressionist
   def index
     
@@ -11,4 +12,12 @@ class PostsController < ApplicationController
   def edit
     
   end
+  
+  def current_user
+    if session[:user_id]
+      user = User.new
+      user.id = session[:user_id]
+      @current_user ||= user
+    end
+  end
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test_app/app/models/post.rb b/test_app/app/models/post.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ccc43da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_app/app/models/post.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+class Post < ActiveRecord::Base
+  is_impressionable
+end
diff --git a/test_app/app/models/user.rb b/test_app/app/models/user.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6738fc6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_app/app/models/user.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+class User
+  attr_accessor :id
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test_app/db/migrate/20110210205028_create_posts.rb b/test_app/db/migrate/20110210205028_create_posts.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f018e1c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_app/db/migrate/20110210205028_create_posts.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+class CreatePosts < ActiveRecord::Migration
+  def self.up
+    create_table :posts do |t|
+      t.string :name
+
+      t.timestamps
+    end
+  end
+
+  def self.down
+    drop_table :posts
+  end
+end
diff --git a/test_app/db/schema.rb b/test_app/db/schema.rb
index ea8a878..05581aa 100644
--- a/test_app/db/schema.rb
+++ b/test_app/db/schema.rb
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 #
 # It's strongly recommended to check this file into your version control system.
 
-ActiveRecord::Schema.define(:version => 20110201164012) do
+ActiveRecord::Schema.define(:version => 20110210205028) do
 
   create_table "articles", :force => true do |t|
     t.string   "name"
@@ -32,4 +32,10 @@ ActiveRecord::Schema.define(:version => 20110201164012) do
     t.datetime "updated_at"
   end
 
+  create_table "posts", :force => true do |t|
+    t.string   "name"
+    t.datetime "created_at"
+    t.datetime "updated_at"
+  end
+
 end
diff --git a/test_app/spec/controllers/controller_spec.rb b/test_app/spec/controllers/controller_spec.rb
index cf411c3..fd34538 100644
--- a/test_app/spec/controllers/controller_spec.rb
+++ b/test_app/spec/controllers/controller_spec.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 require 'spec_helper.rb'
 
 describe ArticlesController do
-  fixtures :articles,:impressions
+  fixtures :articles,:impressions,:posts
   render_views
   
   it "should make the impressionable_hash available" do
@@ -16,25 +16,42 @@ describe ArticlesController do
   end
   
   it "should log an impression without a message" do
-    get "show", :id=> 1
+    get "show", id: 1
     Impression.all.size.should eq 11
     Article.first.impressions.last.message.should eq nil
   end
+  
+  it "should log the user_id if user is authenticated (@current_user before_filter method)" do
+    session[:user_id] = 123
+    get "show", id: 1
+    Article.first.impressions.last.user_id.should eq 123
+  end
+  
+  it "should not log the user_id if user is authenticated" do
+    get "show", id: 1
+    Article.first.impressions.last.user_id.should eq nil
+  end
 end  
 
 describe PostsController do
   it "should log impression at the action level" do
-    get "show", :id=> 1
+    get "show", id: 1
     Impression.all.size.should eq 11
     Impression.last.controller_name.should eq "posts"
     Impression.last.impressionable_type.should eq "Post"
     Impression.last.impressionable_id.should eq 1
   end
+  
+  it "should log the user_id if user is authenticated (current_user helper method)" do
+    session[:user_id] = 123
+    get "show", id: 1
+    Post.first.impressions.last.user_id.should eq 123
+  end
 end
 
 describe WidgetsController do
   it "should log impression at the per action level" do
-    get "show", :id => 1
+    get "show", id: 1
     Impression.all.size.should eq 11
     get "index"
     Impression.all.size.should eq 12
@@ -44,13 +61,13 @@ describe WidgetsController do
   
   it "should not log impression when user-agent is in wildcard list" do
     request.stub!(:user_agent).and_return('somebot')
-    get "show", :id => 1
+    get "show", id: 1
     Impression.all.size.should eq 10
   end
   
   it "should not log impression when user-agent is in the bot list" do
     request.stub!(:user_agent).and_return('Acoon Robot v1.50.001')
-    get "show", :id => 1
+    get "show", id: 1
     Impression.all.size.should eq 10    
   end
 end
diff --git a/test_app/spec/fixtures/posts.yml b/test_app/spec/fixtures/posts.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6b70243
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test_app/spec/fixtures/posts.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+one:
+  id: 1
+  name: Test Post
\ No newline at end of file