hi,

i would like to know how we can restrict access to the site and allow ONLY ADMINs to login.

my plan is to do some maintenance on the site and allow only the admins to work with me on the site and as soon as the changes are done, request you guys again to enable access to all members.

hope someone here can help

thanks,
georg

You don't need our help, you can do this yourself.

1) Click Edit Site Pages
2) Add a "System password"
3) Password protect every page of your site including your home page.
4) Give the system password to only the Admins you want to allow in.
5) Remove password protection when you're ready.

Ok, I'm really confused here. Are you saying that setting a system password will keep out his already registered members?

Below is from Edit Site Pages, and Class Creator FAQs:

Note: Password protection will stop the public and search engines from accessing a password protected area on your web site. It will not stop a Classmate with an account from accessing any page of your site, even if the page is password protected.

System Password: Your system password is set under your Edit Site Pages area (log into your web site, then click on your "Edit Site Pages" link). Once you have set a system password, it can be applied to any or all pages of your choice by clicking the varies password checkboxes next to your site pages. When you password protect a page, this stops the public (non Classmates) from accessing the page, and also blocks out search engines from indexing or linking to the page. Your system password should be used to protect sensitive or confidential pages of your web site.

Classmate Password: Your Classmates set their own password at the time of joining your web site. This password is used to regain access to the site in the future. If a Classmate has joined your web site and thus has his or her own personal password, the Classmate can now access all pages of your web site including any pages to which you've applied a system password.

Sure it will. If he sets a system password that regular Classmates don't know, and then he password protects his home page, it would be impossible for regular Classmates to log in. After all, they can't load the home page which contains the login box...or any other page for that matter, since he's going to password protect all of them. The only way they could possibly load the home page to see the login box would be to have the system password, but he's not going to give that to regular Classmates. Thus yes, the solution above will work perfectly.

Brad Switzer wrote:

Would it stop those classmates who have "Remember me" or "Keep me logged in"?

Oh. I wasn't think about that. It would certainly stop people from manually logging in, but of course you are correct Kyle, it wouldn't stop people who are already logged in from being logged in (i.e. if you have the login cookie already on your computer you could still walk right in).

You know what we should do here? Every time an Admin password protects their home page, we should change the site login cookie. That would stop all formerly logged in people from being auto logged in. And it would allow people to work on their site under the radar, as people often want to do. Thanks for bringing this up, I absolutely missed it, but if we change the login cookie upon password protecting the home page, that'll be that. I'll put this in to Programming for next week.

That's a good idea. Glad I could help you to figure that out.

That means if I click "Password Protect" for my home page, then uncheck it, everyone will see my Non-logged in Home Page again the next time they try to access the website, right? Then they will have to log in again.

Also, if you think you have a hacker and they have clicked the "Remember me", you could never get rid of them without deleting their account. Now you can just force everyone to login again and while the home page is password protected, you can change their e-mail address, so they cannot login again.

You know, there's a couple other loopholes here too... My solution above is perfect if you're building a site and haven't invited your members. But if you already have members with logins and passwords, there's a couple additional ways people can get in if you do what I said above. I'll have to run this past Programming, hang tight.

I'm just thinking outloud. What if there was also a mode the admin can set on the Home Page Content screen called "Website Maintenance mode". It says Only Admins are allowed to login. When the option is checked, a module appears at the top of the home page saying [WEBSITE MAINTENANCE - ADMIN ONLY MODE] so that the admin won't forget to turn it off. This could also be the trigger that resets the Login Cookie instead of the setting of the home page as password protected. But the Home Page probably still needs to be password protected, too.

Whenever someone gets to a login page, if the login is an admin, they are allowed to pass and enter the website. If the login is a normal classmate, they get a "Website Maintenance...Please Wait...Try again later" message.

Just an idea. You can reject it or come up with a better idea if you want.

I know you two have figured this out, but there are numerous "log in" pages (at least 3), including the one that comes up if you just type your domain name in the address bar (when homepage is pw protected).
And then there's the one linked at the bottom of the emails they've received from the site.

I think most of my members never see my home page (much to my frustration).

Good thinking Kyle, I already came up with pretty much the same solution and put in a Task for the programmers to tie it to the Preferences page. Much like you can turn a reunion on or off, you'll be able to turn member login on and off. That's the only foolproof way to restrict all possible login points.

FYI, when the Task comes up, the Profile Subscriptions page is going to change to "Notify Me!" and Classmates will be able to opt in or out of all kinds of site notifications. For the most part this will rectify Classmates missing home page content you've added (new announcements and revised home page content will be 2 of the triggers Classmates can subscribe to).

Great minds think alike!!! (pat on the back)

I LOVE the idea of "Web site is currently down for maintenance. Please come back later." I would use this option often.

Same here! I don't want to risk classmate frustration at not being able to log in while I'm changing anything. A message to them makes sense. Would love to be able to work on the site without having to risk classmates logging in at the same time I'm making any changes!
Thanks!