Restrict direct folder access via .htaccess except via specific links

Question

I want to restrict access to a folder on my server so that visitors may only access the contents (a web application) via links in the same domain. Can I do this using .htaccess? To be clear, I simply want to prevent direct access to the contents so that visitors are routed through other pages on my website in order to get there.

Answer 1

I think something like this might work:

RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://([-a-z0-9]+\.)?YOURDOMAIN\.com [NC]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/PROTECTEDFOLDER/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ "http\:\/\/www\.YOURDOMAIN\.com\/$1" [R=301]

I'm haven't tried this, but it should work. Some explanation:

• If the referrer is not from your domain, or a subdomain...
• If the folder "PROTECTEDFOLDER" is being accessed...
• Redirect to your homepage.