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hide/encrypt download path

by monere
6 replies
hi,

i created a sales funnel and, while the squeeze page is put on Wordpress - everything else (salesletter, download page, report, thank you pages, etc. etc.) are simple html and pdf files that I've put in a separate folder inside of my WP installation.

Now, if I password protect the folder with the sensitive files then it can't be accessed anymore, not even through the links in the email series (which, is not good since I want subscribers to be able to access those links).

And if I don't password protect the folder than everyone and their dogs can see and access it freely, which again is not good.

So, how do I hide/protect that folder from everyone (including search engines, and other bots), as well as the paths to the download files, while obviously) granting access to the downloadable files to my subscribers? What options (preferably free) do I have for accomplishing this?

Thank you in advance for your replies
#download #hide or encrypt #path
  • Profile picture of the author Robin Blinds
    A membership plugin may be the solution for you
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    • Profile picture of the author monere
      Originally Posted by Robin Blinds View Post

      A membership plugin may be the solution for you
      I tried a few in the past and I immediately did away with them because they were too complicated (too many settings, and techie stuff to watch out for)

      Thanks anyway
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      Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value - Albert Einstein

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  • Profile picture of the author trevord92
    Assuming the download page isn't called index.html then you should be able to put a simple index file in the folder that redirects back to the main page (lots of examples on the web, I use a simple metarefresh) - that alongside a noindex nofollow tag in the download page itself should stop the better behaved search engines from finding or indexing the pages.

    Using obscure page and file names should help reduce the piracy aspect.
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    • Profile picture of the author monere
      Originally Posted by trevord92 View Post

      Assuming the download page isn't called index.html then you should be able to put a simple index file in the folder that redirects back to the main page (lots of examples on the web, I use a simple metarefresh) - that alongside a noindex nofollow tag in the download page itself should stop the better behaved search engines from finding or indexing the pages.

      Using obscure page and file names should help reduce the piracy aspect.
      Interesting... Thanks for the tip, I'll do that index redirect thing

      Also, yeah, I did name the files (including the folder) to weird names (15-character names made up of all sorts of weird symbols).

      One more thing I'm not sure what to do about is the opt-in form. In the opt-in form's code there is a "return URL" somewhere that takes the subscribers to the download page after they opt into my email series, so, if someone takes a look at the code they will be able to locate this file and download the report by bypassing the opting in process.

      Any suggestions on how to hide this file, as well?
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      Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value - Albert Einstein

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  • Profile picture of the author trevord92
    The return url on the optin form isn't something I've encountered recently - I use Aweber who handle that kind of thing.

    So it could be as simple as change autoresponder otherwise it's fingers crossed that not too many people look at your source code and make sure the return url is tagged as noindex/nofollow so that search engines don't see it as an indexable link.
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  • Profile picture of the author monere
    I'm not changing the autoresponder yet, so I guess I'll cross my fingers then

    Noindex / nofollow? Hmm... OK, let's do that

    Thanks again for the tips. I guess I'll be good with this layer or security... at least until I see if the sales funnel works, at which point I might invest into something more secure.

    Cheers
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