Title: Hotlink File Prevention Author: swinggraphics Published: ఆగస్ట్ 25, 2014 Last modified: ఏప్రిల్ 15, 2024 --- Search plugins This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**. It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when used with more recent versions of WordPress. ![](https://ps.w.org/hotlink-file-prevention/assets/icon.svg?rev=2439255) # Hotlink File Prevention By [swinggraphics](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swinggraphics/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention.2.0.0.zip) * [Details](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/hotlink-file-prevention/#description) * [Reviews](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/hotlink-file-prevention/#reviews) * [Installation](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/hotlink-file-prevention/#installation) * [Development](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/hotlink-file-prevention/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/) ## Description Hotlink File Prevention (HFP) offers simple hotlink protection that can be turned on/off for individual files in the WordPress media library. “Hotlinking” is when a file, such as an image or PDF, is linked to from another website or entered manually in a web browser’s location bar. HFP only allows your file to be viewed on your website. Hotlink protection is provided via `.htaccess` rules in the `wp-content/uploads` directory. ### Basic Usage Once the HFP plugin is activated, you will have two new features in the media library: 1. Within the Screen Options tab (list view only), check box for the “Hotlink Prevention” column. 2. To protect a file, edit the file and scroll down to the checkbox labelled “Hotlink Protection”. Any asset that is checked will have “Yes” displayed in the “Hotlink Prevention” column; otherwise, this column will be blank. #### Note about “Open in new tab” option When you use the “Open in new tab” option for links, WordPress adds `rel="noreferrer"`, which effectively makes the link act like direct access, and the link will be blocked for files protected using HFP. ## Screenshots * [[ * Checkbox in the file edit dialog ## Installation 1. Go to “Plugins > Add New” in the WordPress admin area. 2. Search for “Hotlink File Prevention”. 3. Install, then Activate the plugin. For more installation options and instructions, see [“Installing Plugins” on WordPress.org](https://wordpress.org/support/article/managing-plugins/#installing-plugins). ## FAQ ### How does HFP work? HFP creates an Apache `.htaccess` file in the `wp-content/uploads` directory. It sets a HTTP_REFERER check and RewriteRule for each file that has hotlink protection applied. Toggling hotlink protection on/off dynamically adds/removes RewriteRule statements. ### Can it be used with any type of media file? Yes, it works with any file that you upload to the media library. ### Are my files absolutely safe using this plugin? Here’s the deal: This plugin makes it harder for people to hotlink to your files, but if they are highly technical, they will be able to do things like fake the HTTP referrer. ### Does it with with web servers other than Apache? The server must process rewrite rules in `.htaccess`. So HFP will work on Apache and LightSpeed servers, but not NGINX. ## Reviews ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/fe0b0ad4b7bd718bd1988753daba5195fd8c2a41ac1cafaddb66f1337d51ff7f? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Works Great! (read review below for exceptions)](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/works-great-read-review-below-for-exceptions/)󠁿 [Rick Cheney](https://profiles.wordpress.org/rcstp/) నవంబర్ 20, 2024 THANK YOU for making this plugin. It works great EXCEPT your media library filenames cannot have hyphens in the filenames. Maybe they can have one or two hyphens, I don’t know because I didn’t test it but I found with four hyphens in the filename it didn’t work. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/ab9f741cde101cd8e4551471019f2f28c3266b15a94772642c2f67bc4ad1519e? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Not working](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/not-working-4240/)󠁿 [twentytwelveuser](https://profiles.wordpress.org/twentytwelveuser/) జూన్ 2, 2024 The plugin is activated, but other site still shows pictures from my site. RewriteRule 2017/03/Unity-Terrain03.png – [NC,L,F] Still there is no effect Added: The problem was in hosting settings – they disabled htaccess and used nginx. So I have to enable manual mode to turn on htaccess: Connect to the site with SSH Edit the config file for your site (example: ~/etc/httpd/php80/site-address.conf): AllowOverride All 3. Use the plugin ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/8f5b79f7e49e7576a837032adaa7842c559d8ce3983c22b9c56b0092cacf096f? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Perfect Solution](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/perfect-solution-272/)󠁿 [Mike Oliver](https://profiles.wordpress.org/zephyrmike/) మే 29, 2024 I had an image on one of my website demos linking to over 100k sites, this plugin worked perfectly to block it. ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/be3af852e708559072ff3efe13bb96c803be1258642e086fe65d842ac0d6697d? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Very good](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/very-good-6192/)󠁿 [trinhthidien](https://profiles.wordpress.org/trinhthidien/) జనవరి 22, 2022 Very good ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/e5fedd193d655ab5e41d12c10eff5b87b052889d8df3e71aa2499db964cfe63d? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[Exactly what I was looking for!](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/exactly-what-i-was-looking-for-514/)󠁿 [Wolfgang Hanus](https://profiles.wordpress.org/whanus/) సెప్టెంబర్ 8, 2021 After hours and hours of searching I finally found this plugin. It works great! I would like to see a feature that allows you to protect multiple media files at once. So that you don’t have to click on each file individually. Many thanks to the developers! ![](https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/5cebc1389489729243feb63f63a88018fc3096db3946f7efd4c3b080e9a57c2a? s=60&d=retro&r=g) ### 󠀁[the best](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/the-best-2090/)󠁿 [user098242734](https://profiles.wordpress.org/user098242734/) జూన్ 18, 2021 works perfect thanks! [ Read all 7 reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/) ## Contributors & Developers “Hotlink File Prevention” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ swinggraphics ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swinggraphics/) * [ electricmill ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/electricmill/) [Translate “Hotlink File Prevention” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/hotlink-file-prevention) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/hotlink-file-prevention/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/hotlink-file-prevention/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/hotlink-file-prevention/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/hotlink-file-prevention/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 2.0.0 * Track protected files in wp_options table instead of individual post meta * Fixed htaccess rules to work with multiple protected files * Use insert_with_markers() to handle writing to htaccess * Added CSS for media library table column * Added uninstall hook #### 1.1.0 * Modernized the code, and got it working again! * Updated README * Changed some strings, and made them translation-ready * Moved Hotlink Protection column before Date * Added deactivation hook to remove htaccess file #### 1.0.1 * commented out error reporting * now uses just filename (followed by full path and name) in .htaccess; previously this was full path and location alone. Version 1.0.0 users should delete .htaccess from /uploads directory and rebuild file by clicking “update” on any file in Media Library that has “Yes” for Hotlink File Prevention. #### 1.0.0 * Development version and Alpha release. ## Meta * Version **2.0.0** * Last updated **2 సంవత్సరాలు ago** * Active installations **700+** * WordPress version ** 4.6 or higher ** * Tested up to **6.5.8** * PHP version ** 5.6 or higher ** * Language * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/hotlink-file-prevention/) * Tags * [admin](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/admin/)[attachments](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/attachments/) [files](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/files/)[hotlink](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/hotlink/) [images](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/images/) * [Advanced View](https://te.wordpress.org/plugins/hotlink-file-prevention/advanced/) ## Ratings 4.9 out of 5 stars. * [ 6 5-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/?filter=5) * [ 1 4-star review ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/?filter=4) * [ 0 3-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/?filter=3) * [ 0 2-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/?filter=2) * [ 0 1-star reviews ](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/?filter=1) [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ swinggraphics ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/swinggraphics/) * [ electricmill ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/electricmill/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/hotlink-file-prevention/)