Tamera
05-18-2006, 08:32 AM
Pardon me, I'm quite new at this but I was wondering how I go about getting my custom graphics to show up instead of the picture that someone has tried to hotlink to? And what about pages that come up when someone tries to directly view the picture rather than my website? I'm not really sure how to go about doing that, and I'd rather ask than play around and end up messing something up.
Any help on this issue would be greatly appreciated!
chenster000
05-21-2006, 11:17 AM
If you have php support, I could easily write you up a short php script so that instead of putting the direct image link (eg. http://www.yoursite.com/images/test.jpg) it would give you a php file which checks to make sure its one of your own. (eg. http://www.yoursite.com/images/image.php?id=8379194) or whatever you'd want. Just pm me if you would like this, and I'll work on it. If someone hotlinks the php file, the file will spit out an ugly file that tells the person to stop illegally using your bandwidth. :)
Tamera
05-21-2006, 02:20 PM
How would I be able to tell if I had php support or not?
Thanks so much for your help!
chenster000
05-21-2006, 02:51 PM
Umm.. check your hosting plan. Most paid hosting accounts have php support, but I would recommend that you check.
Tamera
05-22-2006, 08:45 PM
Well I haven't built my website yet, I'm in the process. I'm working on the little stuff and trying to pick the right host. I really appreciate the offer but I'm trying to learn all this stuff for myself, so that I can do it next time the need arises, and I'd love if anyone had a link to a tutorial or could explain to me what to do.
But I really do appreciate your help! I promise I'm not trying to be rude :D
chenster000
05-23-2006, 04:11 AM
No problem... but if you really want an easy way, just use a host that uses cpanel and then turn on the hotlink protection feature that is already built in.
Tamera
05-24-2006, 08:43 PM
Okay, I will look for one! Thanks so much for your help!
When people hot-link your images it isn't always because they are stealing your bandwidth. Sometimes they are unaware of a problem with it. I handle it a couple of ways. If someone hot-links an image to display on another site (for instance, here), they will get this:
The picture -->http://www.thefloorpro.com/gallery/files/1/1/fd469.JPG
But if they just link to the image, they get this (click on the link):
A link -->http://www.thefloorpro.com/gallery/files/1/1/fd469.JPG
You could, I s'pose, make a nasty and accusatory image show up, but those who view it may never want to visit your site. But you can prevent the hot-link and be nice about it at the same time. It seems an elegant and even inviting solution to the problem.
PS: Just a bit of PHP/HTML and a li'l su'm, su'm in the .htaccess file.
