How to Password Protect a Web Page

At times, you may have a need to password protect a web page or several pages within your site.

For example, I recently released a free online marketing course, but wanted to ensure that the lesson pages could not be viewed until registration was complete.

While setting up a password protected page might seem like a fairly simple project, I decided early on that I didn't want a separate popup window to come up asking for the user's name and password. Instead, I wanted to find a password box that worked "within" the web page.

After several days of research, I found the answer right in my own backyard. For a few years now, I've been using the wonderful CoffeeCup HTML Editor. The folks at CoffeeCup really know how to produce software that, while easy to use, gives professional results.

While perusing their other software packages, I ran across a program called Password Wizard. Let's take a look at how this simple little program allows you to quickly and easily password protect a web page.

A Review of Password Wizard

Password Wizard allows you to easily password protect a web page. In fact, you can protect as many pages as you want, giving each one a unique name and password for entry, or allowing all the pages to be accessed with the same name and password.

I'll give you a short and sweet tutorial on how easily it is to password protect a web page.

Step 1: Change the "Look & Feel" of Your Password Box

When you first start the CoffeeCup Password Wizard, a screen immediately appears showing a generic password box. The first step is to use the "Appearance" controls over on the upper right of the screen to modify the look of your password box. See below for clarification.

You can change the following elements of your password box:

Font size
Font color
Names of the input fields
"Submit" button image
Background color of password box
Transparency of the password box
Custom upload of your own "Submit" button graphic

Step 2: Define Your Protected Page

In this step, you simply go to the "Users" area and enter the URL of the page you wish to protect.

Step 3: Define Your Users

In this step, you simply define users to access to your password protected content. You can create unique user names and passwords or create a single user name and password combo that everyone will use to access the page.

To define a user, simply click "New User". See the below screen shot for clarification.

After clicking the "New User" link, a window opens allowing you to input user names and passwords. You may create unique names and passwords for each person or simply allow everyone to use the same user name and password. It really depends on how much control you need to have with regard to the protected content.

You will always have the option of editing, deleting, or adding new users at any time.

Step 4: Save and Upload

After you are finished defining your users, all that is left is to save and upload the files. After saving your password box, a new window opens up showing the HTML code you need to paste into the page where you want the password box to display.

In addition, you are given a special file with the file extension ".swf". This file must be uploaded to your web server. The Password Wizard program provides an easy way to upload the necessary file to your web server. Alternatively, you can easily upload the file manually.

Below is a screenshot showing the ".swf" file (labeled 'password.swf') as well as the HTML code you will paste into the page that needs to display the password box.

Once you have uploaded the ".swf" file and pasted the HTML for your password box you are finished! It really is a snap and only involves a few steps.

So what does the password box look like in a web page?

Below is a screenshot showing the password protected web page for Lesson 6 of my SmallBiz Online Marketing Course.

For my password protected page above, I decided to make the password box background white, so that it blends into the background. You can do the same or make it a complementary color so that an actual box shows up around the input fields.

Once the user inputs their name and password, they are immediately and automatically directed to the password protected page content.

Final Words and Recommendations

CoffeeCup's Password Wizard is a simple and elegant way to password protect a web page. The software runs a one-time fee of $19.95 and you can purchase it by visiting the CoffeeCup product download page.

CoffeeCup also offers a more sophisticated program to password protect a web page (or even an entire site) called Website Access Manager. While it is likely you will only need the less expensive Password Wizard, check out this beefed up version if you require additional control over your content.