I'm finishing up my next book, and want to provide a support type website, so that book owners have access to special features, and a discussion area. Non-book owners can have access to part of the site, but not all.

My first inclination was simply to password protect the owner's area and ask for a name and password from line xx on page xx.

That seems a bit clunky, and it still leaves open the question about what format/software to use. There's forum software, blog software, and some other options, but I have no idea what might work best.

So, looking for suggestions and options.

Are there any other ways to restrict access to owners, particularly since I won't have a record of who purchases?

What format/software would work best for the discussion area?

Thanks in advance