I need to password protect my blog for members, how?
 

|banghead| My hosting company is godaddy..they provide an option to install serendipity, nucleus or pLog...I want to password protect my blog so only my members can access it. I launched both Seren & pLog and installed it on my server... and downloaded them to my PC and then re uploaded it to my members folder which is password protected by verotel (haven't tried doing it with webstream yet, my other processor) but it keeps saying 'forbidden' and my blog does not come up, and it does not ask for my pw. I tried the same with pLog and the blog comes up without asking for password verification. I looked into godaddy FAQ and this page came up: http://help.godaddy.com/article.php?...91&topic_id=&&
So I'm thinking that because I don't know php or MySQL that it could be beyond me. What am I missing? I just need to be pointed in the right direction. I would like for the passwords to be the same that my members have to login, but maybe it is possible to just give out passwords to them some other way? I know I have to do it through my billing processors htaccess somehow but I really know nothing about this. Is there some simple work around or do I just have to educate myself in this? If so, in what ? ughhhh!

Tyranni
My advice to you would be don't trust godaddy, your going to get fucked good sooner or later.
I chose to ignore all the warnings I read on this board about godaddy and they screwed me out of a parked domain I had (Tijuana-Escorts) I had closed the sight and the escort service down (it takes bigger balls than I have to run an escort service) parked it was making me $50 a month at Sedo, so now you've been warned about godaddy.
I use verotel on one of my sites and their billing system is a friggin mystery to me every time I screw with it I break it and have to ask Sparky to fix it for me..
My suggestion to you would be get hosting at Colo-Cation and ask Sparky to straighten it all out for you.

Thanks for the warnings, I have seen a few about godaddy and experienced some annoyances with them, but I've been able to straighten it out in general, albeit after costly long distance calls talking to reps who make rude innuendos about the type of site I run.

I need a cheap host because I don't have a huge member base yet, but I run a video members site that uploads at least, 500mb of content per week. I retain pretty well but it is tough getting the word out there for an indy site when you do it all yourself including the modelling, photography, video editing, etc. Someone at godaddy just saved my ass by offering me a year of hosting for $53.00 plus 50GB of space, exactly what I needed at that moment, as I was running up very high bills in additional space...so I'm sort of committed. If I start bringing in more revenue, or find a host with cheap storage space, I'll definitely consider it if they start treating me badly or when the year is out.

Verotel is kind of sensitive, and it was a bit difficult to set up for my small brain, I found webstream so much more simple and user friendly. I haven't spoken with Sparky, I got Paul and Marco so far, and they've been pretty helpful.

for some reason I can't edit, only delete. Oops I thought you meant sparky was with Verotel. Your banner looked cute so I'll check them out and compare it for my needs, thanks :)

No way Pat. For every person I hear getting fucked by Go Daddy I hear of 1 person that hasn't gotten fucked yet. That's only 50% of the people getting fucked. You over exaggerate by saying it will happen to everyone when it seems like it only happens to every other one :)

Sorry to hear your story mate.

More importantly, from their TOS

that is only for their free hosting, not for their paid hosting. Godaddy reps know exactly what I do and have been to my site and commented on the nature in a joking manner. I read somewhere the TOS for the paid hosting and it made no mention of taking issue with pornographic material.

In other news, I wrote to them and serendipity is htaccess protectable, but they won't help me out with it, and they said I can't move it to my member's folder.|confused|

if you know the path of your files, create a .htaccess file like:

[code=.htaccess]
AuthUserFile /var/www/path/to/.htpasswd
AuthName "Members Only"
AuthType Basic

require valid-user
[/code]

Then, use http://www.flash.net/cgi-bin/pw.pl and type in the username/password that you want -- it'll create a line like:

[code=.htpasswd]
test:kHoJCaJBSVU9g
[/code]

Upload that as .htpasswd

At this point, you should be able to log in with the user/password -- if not, you probably have the path wrong. Upload this:

[code=cwd.php]
echo getcwd();
?>
[/code]

And then call: http://yourdomain.com/cwd.php

and use that as the path in the .htaccess file.

Tyranni, I rarely go out of my way to mention specific company or product, unless it is extraordinary in some way.

I would highly recommend colo-cated as they are literally one of the best companies period I have had the pleasure of dealing with. Each time I have had a question or problem in the last week they've responded almost immidiately. |shocking|

I seek out the very best, and when I find them, I tell others. |thumb