Protecting Directories Through the Site Administrator Control Panel

Note: This topic is for systems without Microsoft® FrontPage® Extensions. If you have FrontPage enabled, you need to use the FrontPage interface to protect directories.

To determine whether FrontPage extensions are enabled on your system, click Site Information on the System Menu at left, then check whether FrontPage is shown as available in the Services and Options section.

You can password-protect directories on your site to limit access to files located in those directories. If your site does not have FrontPage enabled, you do this through the Site Administrator control panel.

Important: You can protect directories only; you cannot protect individual files. If you want to protect a single file, either place that file in an existing protected directory, or create a directory specifically for that file, then protect the directory.

To protect a directory:

1. If you have not done so already, create an HTAccess group, then specify the user or users who belong to the group. You need to create a at least one group and add at least one user to that group before you can protect a directory.
2. Click the Shortcuts tab on the Home page.
   

   To get to the Home page, click Home on the navigation bar at left.

3. In the shortcuts, click Configuration (Web Server section).
4. Click Protect Directories. A list of the directories on your site, identified as either unprotected or protected, is displayed.
5. From the directory list, locate the directory you want to protect, then in the Actions column, click . The Protect Directory form opens.
6. In the AuthName field, enter a descriptive name for the directory you want to protect. When users attempt to access files, this name is displayed in the login window as the Realm.

   For example, to protect a directory of employee salary information, you might type Compensation.

7. In the Add to Group(s) field, specify the groups that are allowed to access this directory.

   Note: You can select or clear multiple directories by pressing and holding down the CTRL key while clicking the directory names.

8. Click Protect. The directory is now protected. Users are required to enter user names and passwords before accessing information in the directory.