This may have been asked , but im not really sure how to word it in the search bar.
Dashboard is not secure, and if i want someone else to be able to use my dashboard they have to know my ip address and this leaves a door wide open.
Can i create a web page on a regular server that has authentication (where i can change passwords)
and control everything off of web page instead of using dashboard to display and control everything. or have them work in tandem? Sorry if this is a silly question. but just a nudge to the right direction would be greatly appreciated.
No such thing. Silly answers certainly, but not questions 
There are lots of things you can do.
If you have an existing web server that you can configure, you can set it up to act as a reverse proxy for Dashboard and add security that way. That is by far the way I personally prefer to do it rather than trying to mess with Node-RED configurations. I've shared some information on doing that both with Caddy and NGINX. In fact, the uibuilder tech docs have 3 pages on security including one specifically about using NGINX. How to use NGINX as a reverse proxy with TLS and identity authentication (totallyinformation.github.io).
If you can't do that, things get rather more complex I think. But you cannot use an existing web page to do the security and then simply hand off to Dashboard. If you could do that, it would make the web a very insecure place.
You could have logon/logoff pages that then redirected to Dashboard but you are back tot he same issue. You need Node-RED's ExpressJS server to recognise and validate the authentication and that requires some middleware.
So by far the easiest, safest and probably the most secure option is to use a reverse proxy. Either the existing web server you talk about or, a new one configured specifically to proxy one or more bits of Node-RED. Notably the Editor and Dashboard (with their websockets, not just the pages) and maybe that excellent tool that some nice gentleman wrote for creating data-driven web UI's with Node-RED - I think it might be called ... hmm, let me think ... Oh, uibuilder, that's it! 
Thanks Julian, I obviously still have a great deal to learn, looks like I have some more reading to do. I want to do a global event with my dashboard but I need to keep it secure at the same time. Sounds like this is the right direction, hopefully i grasp the concept and get it going.
Cheers
It's non-stop fun in the world of computers 
Yes, right now I have 2 3d printers running making a drag chain for my laser engraver, cleaning up back yard, and avoiding the Mrs, (last part is the hardest work possible) lol
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So when you say someone else to use your dashboard - do you mean you just want them to view it - or actually interact and operate it ?
Will this be a single person who will be doing it - or do you intend to open this up to a wider audience ?
Craig
A wider audience, basically, I plan to brew Beer at my brewery, but do it globally! 10 others to join and brew a beer with me while they are at there location. I honestly don't think it's been done and really think it will be fun. The hardest part is making sure we all have the same beer to drink while we are brewing.
Yes but what will the mechanics of it look like - i.e. will they be running on your system - but somehow controlling something at their own place or will they just be watching your system and mimicing that somehow manually on their equipment ?
i.e. can you present a view only dashboard to them or do they need to interact and change things on you live system etc
Craig
Yes to having just a display to monitor,
And yes to controlling my pumps and valves to do the complete brew at my location while they are in there location. I already have safety switches to disable actual control from node red. My switches for water supply, and pumps have a3 way switch on-off-auto(ran from node red) when I implement the valves to direct the flow I'll have them set up same way. they also light up when on having a quick visible indicator is always a necessity. Do not rate My 3d prints I'm still learning.
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