Redirect to WP 404 page not Server?

Hello @gkhillboro,

Thank you for reaching our support!

Could you please share a sample URL with us? Also, you can try Basic Troubleshooting. Please reach out to us by email at support(at)wpfolio.com for faster and more convenient support.

Hi there, thanks for the quick reply!

Sure, a sample file would be:

https://pwds.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/SW-PIPC-Programme-Handbook-v14_.pdf

And the page we have set up that people should land on is:
https://pwds.nhs.uk/error-restricted-content/

We followed the initial troubleshooting, however none of the scenarios there really fit this issue ??

Thanks! Our .htaccess PDA section is below:

BEGIN WordPress

The directives (lines) between "BEGIN WordPress" and "END WordPress" are

dynamically generated, and should only be modified via WordPress filters.

Any changes to the directives between these markers will be overwritten.

Prevent Direct Access Rewrite Rules

RewriteRule private/([a-zA-Z0-9]+)$ index.php?pda_v3_pf=$1 [L]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !facebookexternalhit/[0-9]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !Twitterbot/[0-9]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} !Googlebot/[0-9]
RewriteRule wp-content/uploads/pda(\/[A-Za-z0-9@.\/&+-]+)+.([A-Za-z0-9_@.\/&+-]+)$ index.php?pda_v3_pf=$1&is_direct_access=true&file_type=$2 [QSA,L]

Prevent Direct Access Rewrite Rules End

Prevent Direct Access Prevent Hotlinking Rules

RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^https://pwds.nhs.uk/ [NC]
RewriteRule .(gif|jpg|jpeg|bmp|zip|rar|mp3|flv|swf|xml|png|css|pdf)$ - [F]

Prevent Direct Access Prevent Hotlinking Rules End

Hello @gkhillboro,

Thanks for your response. It seems like the URL you shared is, before the file was protected. As the URL will change once the file is protected along with the location.

Can you try to protect the file again after unprotecting it and then share the URL?

Hi, thanks, I’m not sure I follow.

That’s the actual URL of the file.
That’s the URL the people would have previously had access to, that we wanted shut down and redirected.
That’s what appears in Google results if you search for this document

pipc pwds pdf handbook
=
https://prnt.sc/f_STwkyHciDg

Hope that helps clarify ??

Hello @gkhillboro,

The search engine indexed the URLs before the file was protected. 

Use the Google Search Console (previously known as Google Webmaster Tools) to request the removal of the old URL from Google’s search index. This will prompt Google to re-crawl your website and update its search results accordingly.

You can utilize the Redirection plugin to redirect old URLs to new ones.
For more detailed information, you can refer to the following link: https://preventdirectaccess.com/docs/blocks-google-search-indexing/

Feel free to reach back should you need further assistance. You can contact us at support(at)wpfolio.com