Laravel 5 check whether a user is logged in

You can use middleware in controller

1. All actions in controller require to be logged in

public function __construct()
{
    $this->middleware('auth');
}

2. Or you can check it in action

public function create()
{
    if (Auth::user()) {   // Check is user logged in
        $example= "example";
        return View('novosti.create')->with('example', $example);
    } else {
        return "You can't access here!";
    }
}

3. Also you can use it on route

Route::get('example/index', ['middleware' => 'auth', 'uses' => 'example@index']);

you can do this directly in your blade code by this way

@if (!Auth::guest())
        do this 
@else
        do that
@endif

You should use the auth middleware. In your route just add it like this:

Route::get('pages/mainpage', ['middleware' => 'auth', 'uses' => 'FooController@index']);

Or in your controllers constructor:

public function __construct(){
    $this->middleware('auth');
}

use

Auth::check()

more here https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/authentication#authenticating-users in Determining If The Current User Is Authenticated