Here at Site Resources, we offer a few types of posts and pages to our users:
- Public or open to anyone who visits the site.
- Password Protected or typically visible only to members of your group.
You might be asked questions about the difference between Password Protection and Logins and the security for both. This post is intended to serve as an informative guide for you in answering those questions.
Here’s the simple explanation:
If you are asked for a username in addition to the password: you are “logging in”. Think of your Facebook account or your personal email. You are typically the only person who has that information.
If you are only asked for a password, it’s probably protected content. Another way to tell is if more than one person knows the password so they can access the content, too.
Here’s a more in depth explanation of the difference:
A User Login
You can tell if you are “logging in” if the website asks you two things: a username and a password.
A good example of this is for people with an editor role for their site resources site. You will notice that the link at the bottom of your site has recently changed to “Admin Login” to hopefully cut down on confusion related to regular visitors thinking that they must login to view content on the website. You do not need to “login” to view regular content.
Password Protected Content
This is a page or a group of pages within a website. You can tell if you are entering a password protected area of a site if you are only asked for a password.
Many of your sites have password protected content. Once you enter the password on one of the pages for your site, you should be able to visit any of the pages with the same password settings. You will only be asked for a password when trying to visit a password protected page. Otherwise, you should be able to freely browse content on the site.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why don’t I have to enter my password each time I visit a password protected page?
A: Your browser receives a cookie for the password entry on your current visit. Once you enter the password once, you shouldn’t have to enter it again on the same visit for any of the password protected pages. Imagine how much of a hassle it would be to enter the password for each page each time you visited a new page, even if you have already visited the page once.
Q: I’ve closed my browser and shut off my computer but I didn’t have to enter the password again! Did you remove the password?
A: The password is still active. Your browser settings have been set to store cookies after closing the browsing session. WordPress uses your individual browsing settings to determine whether it should ask you for a password. If your browser has stored the password, WordPress will not ask for the password again. Think of it this way, your browser applies the password to each page automatically as long as the cookie is stored.
Q: How do I know if my information is secure behind the password protected area?
A: As long as you only give the password to current members of your group, you can be pretty sure your content is secure. Remember that your browser may store the password, so that may make the content seem as if it’s accessible by anyone. Chances are very good that if your editors have correctly password protected the content, it is not publicly accessible.
Q: How do I make my browser delete the password after each visit?
A: Change your browser’s settings. This is something that must be done within your browser’s individual settings. For more information on how to change your specific browser’s settings, try a google search: https://www.google.com/#q=change+browser+security+settings
Q: I have logged in using my AAUW username and password on www.aauw.org but I can’t see the password protected content on my branch’s site. Why?
A: They are different websites. www.aauw.org refers to the national organization, AAUW. Your branch’s site http://yourbranchhere-xx.aauw.net is a subdomain of aauw.net. We procured aauw.net to allow branches and states to have access to an aauw branded domain name.
If you are a site editor and you are looking for more information on adding a password to content read this post.
Many of your sites have password protected content. Once you enter the password on one of the pages for your site, you should be able to visit any of the pages with the same password settings. You will only be asked for a password when trying to visit a password protected page. Otherwise, you should be able to freely browse content on the site.