Password Protected Download Area

**Frodo** · 10 January 2024, 11:07 AM

Hey guys and girls,

First off, all the best for 2024, I hope that it's a fantastic one for all of you.

So I am looking to create a password protected download area on one of my websites (Designed with latest version of XARA obviously). It's for a school and I want to have a link on the navbar that says "Parent Zone" and when they click on it, I want it to ask for a password and then only it takes them through to another page where they can find downloadable PDF and other documents. They don't need to be able to sign up or register or anything like that. It just needs to be a predetermined single password. So no permissions hierarchy needed either.

Any ideas on how to approach this?

**Chris M** · 10 January 2024, 11:57 AM

An individual folder can be password protected by your hosting company. If you have cPanel, then the option is under Files > Directory Privacy. If your provider has a proprietary control panel, ask them to set it up for you.

Alternatively, if feasible, place the documents in a zip file and password protect the zip.
If all PDFs, password protect the PDFs themselves.

**Acorn** · 10 January 2024, 11:57 AM

Originally Posted by Frodo

Hey guys and girls,

First off, all the best for 2024, I hope that it's a fantastic one for all of you.

So I am looking to create a password protected download area on one of my websites (Designed with latest version of XARA obviously). It's for a school and I want to have a link on the navbar that says "Parent Zone" and when they click on it, I want it to ask for a password and then only it takes them through to another page where they can find downloadable PDF and other documents. They don't need to be able to sign up or register or anything like that. It just needs to be a predetermined single password. So no permissions hierarchy needed either.

Any ideas on how to approach this?

Frodo, HNY too.
You do this on your server folder holding the PDF & docs. How depends on your provider.

Acorn

**Frodo** · 10 January 2024, 01:09 PM

Originally Posted by Chris M

An individual folder can be password protected by your hosting company. If you have cPanel, then the option is under Files > Directory Privacy. If your provider has a proprietary control panel, ask them to set it up for you.

Alternatively, if feasible, place the documents in a zip file and password protect the zip.
If all PDFs, password protect the PDFs themselves.

Oh my word... that simple hey...

Why do no resources pop up to tell you that when you search for an answer. I was looking for PHP scripts and CMS applications etc. Thank you so much Chris, really appreciate the input.

**Frodo** · 10 January 2024, 01:10 PM

Originally Posted by Acorn

Frodo, HNY too.
You do this on your server folder holding the PDF & docs. How depends on your provider.

Acorn

Thanks for taking the time Acorn, as always. Appreciate the input.

**handrawn** · 10 January 2024, 01:16 PM

depending on how secure you want it to be, there are other containers you can use besides ZIP, but that would mean your site visitors would need the correct program...