Is there a way to make my MediaWiki site private so that only registered users can see it? I basically want to make my own wiki site that is just private information for myself.
I don’t think MediaWiki has that feature built-in, but you could add HTTP authentication at the server level by tweaking your server configuration, e.g. by using a .htaccess file, if you’re running Apache.
If I did that would it affect my other sites or can I put an .htaccess file only in the Mediwiki folder?
You can put it in a particular folder and it won’t affect stuff outside that folder. A .htaccess file is roughly equivalent to a <Directory> directive in the Apache configuration.
I am on an ISP and most of my stuff is one-click install so I’ve never done any of that kind of configuration. Is there anything special I need to do to install it or can I just put a constructed file in the appropriate folder? I mean, do I need to configure the web server on some level to point to the file?