Advice wanted on best way to implement members only site

Hi,
Anyone got an idea of what the simplest method might be to implement a website where access is mostly limited to registered members - and where content can be posted by a couple of users with no web design knowledge? If I resurrect my now atrophied web design and programming knowledge I could create one but I'm sure there must be something out there that would be easier.
Any advice gratefully received,
It's for one of our local societies - so naturally they don't want it to cost them anything :.(
Thanks
allan

Assuming you have the support (hosting), Wordpress would seem to be one way to go.

There's no need for tech knowledge at the publishing level, but someone should be tech-savvy for backups, plugins and maintenance.

Access can be by several ways, including member-only.

The only downside is accepting a template or theme by another rather than having your own 'look'. Not exactly a downside, but it has its drawbacks sometimes.

If you content between individuals, such as a project or a notice board, perhaps a free forum package, such as phpBB. Whichever one you choose, there will be a learning curve on the maintenance side, so be ready for it.

Thanks Camieabz,
I didn't realise that Wordpress could be made members only but I think that would probably be the very thing. As you say it would mean using a theme by someone else but all that the editors would need to do is post the content.
I've actually tried to use it before for something else but gave up as I couldn't find a theme that fitted what I wanted to do and it would have taken me too long to sus how to alter the templates.
I've got some space with Nethosted that I intended to use to rebuild an old 'static' website that I created 18 years ago, so I guess I could either use that or create a subdomain for the Wordpress site - or they can fork out the £35ish pounds a year for their own space.
cheers

If you want to be able to design your site, rather that taking a template like Wordpress, and you have the have the web skills, then have a look at MODX
It is very tailorable, and has plug-ins for rich text data entry, so your editors have an easy to use interface.
It is available on Nethosted

Thanks David,
I'm looking at MODX as I have got some webspace with Nethosted and it does seem to be very flexible and offer a lot of configuration options but I suspect there imay be a lot more work up front than there would be with Wordpress and that the users might find Wordpress simpler to post content(though when I've delved into MODX a little more deeply I'll know more).
Turns out that they'd also like the members to be able to post catch returns(it's for the angling club) so I guess that will also need a custom database application built in there - at some stage.
I didn't know that so many of the village's anglers used the internet(though I ought to have guessed they'd be on line )
Thanks again,
Allan

Whatever solution you choose, if it's apache / php based, you might want to download XAMPP to trial it. Very handy for template tryouts, testing and plugins too. Also good for getting up to speed on things such as PHPmyAdmin if it's something you'll be fiddling with on the live site.

Thanks,
I'd initially tried using WAMP but had lots of problems trying to install and run things with that. XAMPP seems to work OK- so far and is a bit easier to use.
regards
Allan

Google Sites could be an option

Thanks Alex,
I hadn't seen that before. It looks like a very straightforward way that they could achieve a lot of what they want without to much work on my part
I guess it just depends on who would own what in terms of web adress,code, data and design when you build such a site(if that's of concern to them)..
regards
Allan