Hi, Thanks for your reply. Basically the index page is a php page called index, which has a php script inside it which displays the contents of any folder that the page is placed in. (e.g. list of word documents in that folder, pdf's etc) Let me explain what im doing. Im building a site for a company that examine and certify lifting equipment. The guy wants to upload certificates in word format via ftp to his customers individual folders, so they can download them to save paper and postage. heres how it should work. user is created --> username, company name, password etc stored in database --> email containing link to the folder that has just been created and login details are emailed to customer --> customer clicks link --> ENTERS USERNAME AND PASSWORD --> index page displayed. (list of word documents is displayed which they can download) basically what i need is: for each new folder to only be accessable using the username and password supplied for that specific folder. Everything else is done, its just password protecting folders that have been created when a new user is added that is giving me a headache. Sorry, i expect thats just as confusing as the first post!