public function postMessage($ticketId, $messageText) { //get ticket and auth $ticket = Ticket::find($ticketId); if (Gate::denies('add-message-to-ticket', $ticket)) { abort(403); } //if the ticket status needs to be changed, change it $status = Input::get('newStatus'); if ($ticket->status != $status) { $ticket->setStatus($status)->save(); //Add a notice that the status was changed $message = new Message(); $message->ticket()->associate($ticket); $message->text = Auth::user()->name . " set status to " . ucfirst($ticket->friendlyStatus()) . "\n"; $message->created = Carbon::now(); $message->ticket_status; $message->save(); } //create the message $message = new Message(); $message->user()->associate(Auth::user()); $message->ticket()->associate($ticket); $message->text = Input::get('message'); $message->created = Carbon::now(); $message->ticket_status; $message->save(); return view('helpdesk/ticket', compact('ticket')); }