I have a home page which is a blog by default. I want the user to be able to turn the blog off in case they want a static page instead [set in the database]
Problem is:
1) Do I do the business in the view (Which I know is bad practice)
or
2) Do I do it all in the controller (Which will require me to pull the boolean value from the database)
Thanks!
It is always better to keep the business logic in the Controller. Breaking a paradigm for the sake of making it more simple is not a good idea.
Here is how I would do it.
Since the view for the Blog Page vs Static Page is virtually the same (with the exception of comments), I would say make them both exactly the same. Then set a flag in the database and for the page you are adding to identify if the page is static.
In the view, put a simple if (static) don't show comments statement that will not show the comments. Then there is no changing of logic and no logic required in the controller.
Don't put any kind of login in your views, except simple presentation logic. Instead I would suggest you to add a check in your Controller or better Model(Since, it deals with database.)
If it is a simple blog and you think it will not scale up later, then it is fine to put the logic in the views. MVC is only a paradigm. It need not be followed religiously. You are free to break the pattern as you think it fits.