[cnutter]

Another easy way to do this is just create two files one called .htaccess one called .htpasswd

In .htaccess put the following:

AuthName "Password Required"
AuthType Basic
AuthUserFile /home/forums/.htpasswd <-- path to passwd file
AuthGroupFile /dev/null

require user JohnDoe <-- this is the user that will have access (case sensitive)
require user JohnDoe2 <-- Add as many as users as you need using this format.

in the .htpasswd file put the user name and the encrypted paswd in this format:
JohnDoe:XPHPiphsU8rkM <--- examples only
JohnDoe2:PRrJjeFUT5ZWg

Use .htaccess / .htpasswd will give you a two step login that offers server side protect.

Here is a link to a great how to on this plus it offers a tool for creating the encrypted passwords.

http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/htaccess.shtml