Site changes to images, file links, and RSS feeds.
Well, I’ve had enough. Enough of people using my images on their sites or trying to pass them off as their own. Enough of people hot linking to content on my site, forcing me to host images and files for them. Enough of feed scrapers stealing entire blog posts and using them to fill their sites with content.
So I’ve made some changes to this blog:
- Through the use of a WordPress plugin called No Right Click Images Plugin, you can no longer right click on an image to display a context menu and download it to your computer — or do anything else with it. As an added bonus, you can’t drag it off the Web page and onto your desktop to save it either.
Through the use of some new code in my .htaccess file, if you embed an image hosted on my server in a Web page or use it in a blog post, e-mail message, or other location, you’ll see a message like the one shown here, telling the viewer that the content must be viewed on this site.- Through the use of a WordPress Plugin called Download Protect, you can no longer use a direct link to PDF or other selected files on this site. To download the file, you must go to the page on which its link appears and use that link to download it. This prevents file leeching — folks linking directly to a file hosted on my site, sucking my bandwidth without visitors ever seeing the post related to the file.
- And finally, after a long run with full RSS feeds, I’ve switched back to summary feeds. This means that instead of being able to read entire blog posts from this site in your feed reader, you can now only read the title and summary. You’ll have to click a link to read the post and see its images. Although I’ve been using one-line summaries for all blog posts for a very long time, I’ll do my best to expand those summaries so readers know what they’re missing by not visiting the site.
Through the use of some new I do want to remind everyone that the contents of this blog are copyrighted. I have every right to protect my work.
Internet content theft is possibly the biggest problem that original content creators like me face every time we add content to our sites. While these measures won’t prevent all content theft, they will make it a bit harder for thieves to steal my work.
Hopefully, these measures will also encourage more site visitors to interact with me and other visitors, share feedback, and encourage me to produce more interesting content.
Your feedback is welcome; use the Comments link or form for this post.
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Sad that you have to do it but fully support the right to protect your work… it’s always a struggle to balance the desire to share without feeling taken advantage of….
@Keith W
I agree: it is sad. But I really am so tired of seeing my work used elsewhere without credit. Thanks for your support!
In terms of images, your proposal seems like a lot of effort that could be easily worked around by someone who knows how to read HTML. Why not watermark your images so that people know they are yours?
Effort? Very little effort. Installation of two WordPress plugins, a few lines of code in my .htaccess file and the job is done. There are multiple ways to get around these protections, but they should deter the casual thief.
As for watermarks, I DO watermark my best photos. It’s the other photos I want to begin protecting. Not all of them are worth the bother of watermarking.
Good post on this subject, I think I will be installing those particular wordpress plugins and also edit the htaccess file.