Site Questions Pages.
NOTE: When I changed over to the new host, the hotlink protection I set up did not work. A solution is being sought.
Well, less than 24 hours since I set up protection for PDF files and images on the site and I had a email asking why, followed by other questions to my answers!
The answer is, quite simply, I have blocked virtually all images and PDFs, not just "your" one, from being hotlinked. If you had uploaded the document to your own server then you wouldn't have had the problem, because you linked directly to the document on the Highfields server (known as Hotlinking) and the way the server is now configured a small file is served instead.
Hotlinking to the files stored on the Highfields server steals bandwidth, this bandwidth a part of the hosting package which is paid for by myself. The current level of service with the hosting company has a limited bandwidth available and, if this is used up by people hotlinking, the whole site will be unavailable for anybody to view.
When genuine visitors to the site start to get close to the bandwidth limit then I will pay more for the next level of service. Hotlinking would hasten that day, effectively stealing from my family and I.
Yes it does but the PDF you linked to was 432k and the file now served is only 49k, just over 10% of size of the file linked to. When you consider that there are several files over 2Mb and one over 5Mb the potential savings are astronomical. It is a similar story with the images.
That's true, but the visitors get to look around and, maybe, find something else of interest to them and they know who to thank (blame!) for the original file upload. I don't mind the bandwidth being used by "proper" visitors.
(I haven't had a reply to that one yet!).
What does "hotlinked" mean? If you display an image or call a file directly from another website (not the one that the viewer is visiting) it is known as hotlinking, direct linking or leeching and it is something you should never do, unless the site you are hotlinking to is owned by the same person / group / company.
I hotlink to the RSGB News Audio files, which are stored on my personal VM webspace due to file size limitations on the Club server. I download them from Jeremys' site and upload them to my VM space (with Jeremys' permission of course) where they are served from. Search for hotlinking in your favourite search engine if you want to find out more about it.
I have set up hotlink protection on the Clubs' hosting server for images and PDFs. The "offending" site receives a small image or, in the case of a PDF file being linked to a small PDF, that informs the viewer that the image / file that they should be seeing actually resides on the Highfields ARC site and invites the viewer to visit the site (the image is shown at the bottom of this page).
If any webmaster or blogger has a problem with this then please see the Copyright & Disclaimer page, the section entitled Linking to / from the site. Any further issues that need to be discussed? Then contact me to discuss them!
If you feel that you actually do need to link directly to a file rather than a page, email me (webmaster@highfields-arc.co.uk) to discuss your needs (if really necessary I can grant your site access).