How to Set Up Hotlink Protection
Hotlink protection is essential for preventing unauthorized websites from using your images and files, which can drain your bandwidth. This guide will show you how to set up hotlink protection in Bluehost’s cPanel to keep your content secure and preserve your resources.
Understanding Hotlink Protection
To protect your images or other files from being hot-linked on another website, you may use hotlink protection. Hotlinking is the use of an image of the file on another server by pulling the source image from the original server. This uses the bandwidth of your Bluehost account. It appears as though your images are on the other website even though the source is pulling from your Bluehost account. Hotlink protection stops this type of leeching or bandwidth theft.
Using HotLink Protection
Setting up hotlink protection is easy by using the Hotlink Protection tool built into the cPanel.
How to set up Hotlink Protection
- Log in to your BrandURL cPanel account.
- Under the Security section, click the Hotlink Protection icon.
Customize Fields
- URLs to Allow Access - Enter the URLs you want to give access to the restricted files. Make sure you enter these with and without the www's if you want the images to be accessed both ways.
- Block direct access for these extensions - Enter the file extensions you want to block access from sites not listed in your URLs to Allow Access list.
- Allow direct requests - Check this if you want to allow people to be able to access restricted files by entering the path/URL into the browser.
- Redirect request to this URL - If you do not have direct requests enabled, entering a URL here will redirect people if they enter the URL of the file directly into the browser.
Summary
Setting up hotlink protection in cPanel is an effective way to prevent bandwidth theft and ensure your files remain safe from unauthorized use on other websites. By following these steps, you’ll secure your Bluehost-hosted files while allowing authorized access for your own website visitors.
If you need further assistance, feel free to contact us via Chat or Phone:
- Chat Support - While on our website, you should see a CHAT bubble in the bottom right-hand corner of the page. Click anywhere on the bubble to begin a chat session.
- Phone Support -
- US: 888-401-4678
- International: +1 801-765-9400
You may also refer to our Knowledge Base articles to help answer common questions and guide you through various setup, configuration, and troubleshooting steps.