Web Talk
By Lincoln D. Stein
I'm beginning to feel like one of the Car Talk guys. Every week I field a dozen or more emails from puzzled Webmasters who have run into problems ranging from the elementary to the fiendishly intractable. Over the years I've developed a number of prepared answers to the common questions, and in this column I'll share them with you.
Without further ado, here are the seven most frequently asked of your questions, with my answers.
How do I password-protect my pages?
This is the single most frequently asked question, and unfortunately, a difficult one to answer concisely. The specific answer depends on a number of factors, including the server software you're using and the configuration of the Web site.
If you're using a Microsoft IIS on a Windows NT system, then the crucial point is that the same accounts used for file sharing and interactive logins are also used to control access to Web pages. First you'll need to enable password authentication on the server itself. Open up the Internet Service Manager tool and make sure that "Password Authentication" is active. You have the choice of enabling Basic authentication, which is supported by all browsers, and/or Challenge/Response authentication, which is supported only by Internet Explorer browsers. Many people will select both.
Now you'll need to register the users who will have access to the protected pages. Using the standard User Manager tool, add these users to the list of users known to the system.
