If your looking to run a Private Friends and Family Website, look no further!  John Kolbert just did everyone a HUGE favor by releasing the Wordpress Plugin Absolute Privacy. 

 

Like John, I’ve ran a “Private” family blog for friends and family which I secured using a less than elegant Site Password via an .htaccess file.  I was never really happy with this solution since the password is was and easily shared with people I didn’t know (plus a few people always forgot the password which resulted in a phone call…).

 

John’s Plugin Absolute Privacy takes a normal Wordpress Blog and turns it into a Password Protected Invite only Blog / Website.  All the features I’ve been waiting for have been included:

• Users must Register and be Approved before viewing your site (Configurable)
• Force registrants to enter first and last name
• Get emailed every time an approval is waiting (with a link for quick approval)
• Allow registrants to choose their own passwords
• Automated password reset for the less than brilliant family members…
• Perfect for family blogs, personal sites, and private communities!

 

Like the features above explain, the process is VERY simple.  After installing the Plug-in and activating it, simply goto the options menu and check the Members Only Check-Box:

At this point the site will require users to login before accessing your site.

 

If you want to check to see if any users are waiting to be approved (besides the point you will get an email) just Click Users –> Moderate Users

 

VERY clean, easy, dead simple and best of all VERY GROOVY!  If you want to run a Private Family ONLY Blog, this is the plugin for you.  Go ahead and grab a copy from the Official Wordpress Download Location BUT, don’t forget to DONATE a few bucks to John!  Nothing is free… (well, except groovy articles from groovyPost!) especially great Wordpress Plugins!

Tags: absolute-privacy, active directory, Apache, communications, email, groovydownload, how-to, htaccess, image, Microsoft, password, password protect, plugin, privacy, rc, rdp, Security, website, windows xp, wordpress