Options to Customize the Private Site Page

### What

I had a recent chat with the user and they raised some valid concerns about how the login page looks when the site privacy is set to private. They are using the private page as a log in for their site. Normally, we would recommend a membership plugin for this type of function but in this particular case, this is not an option.

### Why

This is what the "Private Site" page looks like currently:


The user's main complaints about the private page are:

- The [[WordPress.com](http://wordpress.com/)](http://WordPress.com) advertising they see at the top even though they have a Business plan which is supposed to not show ads. The private page looks like they are trying to sell websites.
- The “Log in to [WordPress.com](http://wordpress.com/) to request access.” message in the middle seems to indicate anyone can log into their site and request access.

### How

It sounds like the user would prefer to just have a basic login page using a log in form. It is currently not possible to customize the Private Site page but perhaps we could add some options for controlling how the page looks. I think our users may appreciate this feature.

Start by reviewing the current Private Site page and the concerns described in this issue, especially the advertising and access-request wording. Clarify which customization options are required and what the resulting login experience should contain before identifying the relevant entry point and tests.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.