I'm thinking about setting up a blog for my son's cub scout pack using WordPress. I see I can install it via Fantastico, and I printed some install tips from the knowledgebase.

However, I do not want to install it in the root directory, but a subdirectory instead. For example, I have a folder called members, such as cubscoutpack688.org/members. The "members" directory has already been protected through the use of .htaccess. This protected members directory is currently set up to allow 90-100 users access to the contents of that directory, including all subfolders.

1) Can WordPress be installed in a folder that is already password protected by .htaccess?  Can I still use the Fantastico script?

2) This will not be a "blog only" site. The "members" folder (cubscoutpack688.org/members) already contains a typical web site. I'm hoping that I can simply add a link to the existing site that will take only those people who have logged in to cubscoutpack688/members to the "blog portion" of the site. When they're done blogging, they return to the regular site. Is this a valid scenario?

3) If the WordPress "blog" folder is located underneath the password-protected "members" folder, is it true that only those 90-100 users would be able to access this blog? The blog needs to be absolutely private, otherwise it's of no use to me.

4) If so, what do I need to do differently (if anything) when running the WordPress setup in Fantastico?

Before I spend money on books, and lots of time learning about WordPress, I need to know the answers to these questions.  If there is anyone out there who really knows about WordPress and the Fantastico script that installs it,I would really appreciate your assistance.

Thanks in advance

After doing some searching, this blog post has some good information too:

http://www.cre8d-design.com/blog/2006/08/10/password-protecting-your-wordpress-blog/