How to use Prevent Direct Access – PDA Gold plugins

We’d like to clarify a few important points when using our Prevent Direct Access (PDA) plugins.

1. We will move protected files into our _pda folder for performance purposes

Here’s why we’re doing it.

Basically, PDA uses a script to check if users have permission to access protected files. So if we keep the protected file in its original uploads folder, the script will run on both protected and unprotected ones, which will slow down your site quite significantly.

For this reason, our PDA plugin only redirects and handles requests for protected files which locate under _pda directory.

So once a file is protected, it will be moved to the _pda folder, and likewise, moved back to the original folder once unprotected.

2. What if my private files are still accessible to the public
When you’re using Multisite network, NGINX, or IIS servers, your private files might still be accessible to anyone after protection.

If so, you will need to implement our rewrite rules manually depending on the hosting you’re using.

3. How to deactivate PDA plugin properly

It’s important to note that all protected files will become public when you deactivate our plugin. Therefore, we have to move all your protected files back to the original folder automatically so that you can use them as normal.

It takes time if there are thousands of files or you’re using multisite mode. The file moving process might be interrupted and some files remain in the _pda folder after the plugin is deactivated successfully. As a result, you will see a 404 error when accessing the files.

To avoid this from happening, you should unprotect all your protected files before deactivating our plugin or deactivate the plugin separately in network mode (instead of network deactivation).

In case you get the error, don’t worry, just go to our _pda folder and move the files manually.

Feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions.

• This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by BWPS Team. Reason: Nginx
• This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by BWPS Team.