I have uploaded images in correct folder but they do not show up on website? What is hotlink protection?

This issue comes up often as a result of misconfiguration of "Hotlink Protection" in cPanel. This feature is available under section Security in cPanel. When this is activated and is not maintained with changing domain names etc. the rules that are added to do "hotlink" protection get obselete resulting in this issue.

Hotlink protection prevents other websites from directly linking to files on your account. For example you have a very high quality image on your site that someone can "steal" and show it on their website. Typically they will not copy it on their account but instead just link it your website. This way, not only they are using it without permission they are also using your account bandwidth. If there is a lot of site visitors on their website, this can cause problem for your account because you are serving that image for their site visitors for free and using your account resources (including bandwidth).

If you do need to enable this feature to protect images from hotlinking, please make sure the rules include all domains that are used for accessing your website. Also test them in different browsers to make sure they are working. These rules are placed in a special file named .htaccess (yes it starts with a dot), under public_html folder.

Let us know if you face any problem with this feature.
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