You can put any page — or a whole group of pages — behind a password. The page stays on the site at its normal address, but a visitor sees a simple password screen instead of the content until they enter the password. Once they do, they can browse everything that password covers for the rest of their visit.
Everything is managed under Sesame in the control panel’s left-hand menu. Nothing on the page itself needs to change.
Don’t see Sesame in the menu? Managing protected pages needs its own permission. Ask an administrator to give your account Manage Sesame rules (and View Sesame access log if you’ll be checking who’s gotten in).
Why a private window? On the live site the password screen appears for everyone — including you when you’re logged in. The only place it steps aside is the Preview button on the edit screen, so you can still review your own work.
https://sitename.com/members/handbook, enter members/handbook./* to the end: members/* protects every page whose address starts with members/.Sections and entry types are listed as Name (handle) — for example, two different entry types can both be called “Page,” and the part in parentheses tells them apart. Pick carefully: choosing the wrong one leaves the pages you meant to protect public.
Renaming a section or entry type later is safe — the rule keeps protecting the same pages.
Rules are checked from the top of the Sesame → Rules list down, and the first one that matches a page wins (that’s the password the visitor needs). Use the up and down arrows on the list to change the order — put narrower rules (one page) above broader ones (a whole section).
Share the rule’s password however you normally would. To look it up later, open the rule and use Reveal current password — you’ll be asked to confirm your own login password first.
Instead of a password, you can send someone a link that lets them straight in. Open the rule and click Copy shareable link, then paste it into your email.
If different groups need access — say, several school districts — give each its own code instead of sharing one password. Then you can cut off one group without disturbing the others.
Each code has its own Copy link button, and its own Revoke and Delete buttons. The rule’s main Password at the top still works alongside the codes. A rule can have up to 25 codes.
After too many wrong guesses in a row, the password screen makes a visitor wait a few minutes before trying again. That’s automatic; you don’t need to do anything.
Sesame → Access Log lists every time someone unlocked a protected page, used a shareable link, entered a wrong password, or was made to wait after too many tries. Each row shows when it happened, which rule and code were used, the visitor’s IP address and browser, and — if they were logged in — their account. Use it to confirm a group has been able to get in, or to spot repeated failed attempts.
Go to Sesame → Branding to set how the password screen looks across the site:
Any single rule can override these under Password-screen branding at the bottom of its edit screen — for example, a different logo for a partner’s area.
The password protects the page itself. It doesn’t remove the page from other places the site lists content, so its title, summary, and image can still show up in:
Visitors who click through still hit the password screen, but if even the title is confidential, keep the page out of listing modules and related content, and check the search results. Ask development if you need a page hidden from search or the site map entirely.
If an entry type includes a Sesame Protection field, you can protect that one entry right from its edit screen: switch on Protect this entry, enter a password, and save. This works for one-off pages; for anything recurring, a rule under Sesame → Rules is easier to manage in one place. (This field isn’t added to any entry types yet — ask development if you’d like it.)