Bots and Password Protected Areas

Ease my mind please...

[Ally_Cat]

If a bot requests a page that requires a username and password for access, the bot doesn't see the page, right?

I just had a coronary looking at my logs, and realizing that ia_archiver was requesting my admin pages - because stupid me forgot to turn off the Alexa toolbar while working in protected areas of the site.

Could this be a problem?

[bcolflesh]

Only if their toolbar sends the username and pass back to their server...

[jpjones]

If you've configured the webserver to require a valid username/password for that directory, then a bot will also be asked for the username/password. Because it can't supply one, it won't be able to index those protected pages.

A bot will *NOT* be treated differently to a browser unless you explicitly program the site to do so.

JP