If your company is a membership-based association (eg "British Association of Construction Contractors") the web can be an excellent way to add value to the annual membership fee you charge, and may open the way for you to recruit members in territories beyond your normal market area.

However, many organisations have some privileged information which they wish to make available only to a certain group of people. For example, technical support information to those who have already purchased your product, or news stories for those who have paid a subscription to read such information.

A password protected directory could be as simple as typing one common password to enter, and you just tell everyone who needs to know, what the password is. Alternatively, you may wish to have separate passwords for each of your members, perhaps expire all passwords every three months and issue new ones, you may want a quick and easy way for the administrator to add new passwords and delete old ones, or an automatic way to remind people when their subscription is due for renewal, take payment, or expire passwords automatically if no payment has been received.