Disabling just created_at or updated_at in a Laravel model

Had an issue today where we wanted to store each time a user logged in into a logins table. We wanted a created_at timestamp, but not a updated_at timestamp as it was unlikely these records would ever be updated. While it's very easy to create the migration without the updated_at column, Eloquent would still try and set that timestamp when creating records.

By setting the class constant of UPDATED_AT to null on the models you wish to disable that column, Laravel will no longer attempt to set the column automatically.

class User extends Model
{
    /**
     * The name of the "updated at" column.
     *
     * @var string
     */
    const UPDATED_AT = null;
}

Below is the older solution for this issue.

I thought that overriding the getDates() method would do the trick, but alas. My solution to disabling one or the other of the default timestamps is to write a mutator for that column.

public function setUpdatedAt($value)
{
    // Do nothing.
}

Of course, if you wanted to do this for the created_at column, it's just as easy.

Edit: The original post used a method called setUpdatedAtAttribute which was incorrect. The post has since been updates with the correct method.

Second edit: I've updated the post with a newer, simpler solution that means defining a class constant instead of overriding a method.