Password protecting a directory
You can use a .htaccess file and password database to secure your entire site, or individual directories.

1) Create a file called ".htaccess" in the directory you want protected. This file should contain something like this:

AuthName "My private stuff"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /home/user/htpasswd.stuff
require valid-user

If you were securing a directory called "pages," for example, you would replace "stuff" with "pages" and place the file in your "pages" directory. Change "user" in "/home/user/htpasswd.stuff" to your username. For example: /home/ben/htpasswd.whatever

Never place the password file anywhere in your public_html directory. If you do, people will be able to download the password file.

2) Now you can add users to the password database. If your file was called /home/user/htpasswd.stuff, you would type: htpasswd -c /home/user/htpasswd.stuff newusername

Replace "user" and "stuff" as before. Replace "newusername" with a username to create. It will then ask you for a password, and the user is created.

To add another user, leave out the "-c" parameter, for example: htpasswd /home/user/htpasswd.stuff newusername

The "-c" parameter tells htpasswd to create a new file, erasing your previous database.

More documentation can be found at ApacheWeek.

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