Setting different routes dependent on if user logged in Meteor - meteor

Question

I am trying to get my head around setting different master route templates for account holders and guests. I cannot seem to render different templates (two different nav bars) dependent on whether a user has logged in or not. I have set up a template for guests
//guest.js
<template name="unregistered">
{{>navUnreg}}
<div class="container">
{{>about}}
</div>
</template>
<template name="navUnreg">
<nav class="navbar navbar-default">
<div class="container">
<ul class="nav navbar-nav">
<a class="navbar-brand" href="#">CabStack</a>
</ul>
<ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right">
{{>loginButtons}}
</ul>
</div>
</nav>
</template>
This is the generic about page for users that are not logged on. I then have the template for Account users that have logged in which is -
//UserLoggedIn.js
<template name="cabMaster">
{{>cabNav}}
<div class="container">
{{>yield}}
</div>
</template>
I initially tried to place an if/else statement into a Router configure -
//config.js
Router.configure({
if(Meteor.user()){
layoutTemplate: "cabMaster"
}
else{
layoutTemplate: "unregistered"
}
});
However I keep getting thrown an error. I have already used the Router.onBeforeAction on the userLoggedIn.js page to restrict access to routes until a profile page is filled out which is
//Access rights for logged in users
function userNoAccess(){
if(!Meteor.userId()){
alert("restricted until profile page completed");
this.render(“profile”);
return pause();
} else {
this.next();
}
}
//Do not allow access to nav links until user has filled out ‘profile’ page.
Router.onBeforeAction(userNoAccess, {
only: ["dashboard", "edit_dashboard", "help"]
});
So
I did think about placing the userLoggedIn route in the Accounts.onLogin() function that I have in my client.js file but I want to keep all routes in one place. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might achieve this. Thanks

Answer 1

There are several ways to go about this. You don't have to do everything in the router for example. The choice of navbar can happen right in your template:
<template name="navBar">
{{#if currentUser}}
{{> navReg}}
{{else}}
{{> navUnreg}}
{{/if}}
</template>
This is quite convenient when you're trying to alter little parts of your layout without switching out the whole layout.
I suggest you look at using controllers for dealing with authenticated and unauthenticated routes. They make your routing code much more maintainable. I've written a basic tutorial that you might find helpful.