Block website during maintenance except for testers

Question

I would like to block the access to my website while I make changes to it. But I want some selected people and myself to have access to do tests. I found this method which is good (http://25yearsofprogramming.com/blog/20070704.htm), except for the fact it is based on ip addresses (I don't know the ips of everyone and can't ask).

How can I do the following: - redirect all urls to a page like maintenance.php - on that page, there is a form that people can use to enter a code - if the code is valid, the redirection stops and they have access to the website normally

Thanks

Answer 1

If you dont want to use ip addresses you can setup htaccess with passwords for the your testers and everybody else will be redirected.

This site can help you with that: http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/password/