I got an email last week from one of my readers, Noel Perlas informing me that JaypeeOnline’s post images weren’t being displayed or were missing in Google Reader. I wasn’t aware of this problem because I don’t check my blog’s RSS feeds and I haven’t received any complaints from other readers prior to that.
Anyways, I went ahead and checked it myself with Google Reader and indeed, the post images from JaypeeOnline’s RSS feed were missing and the only thing I could see is the image alt attribute.
Google Reader showing image alt attribute
I did some research and I found out that Google Reader can’t access images from blogs that have enabled hotlink protection. For those who don’t know, I’ve disabled hotlinking to all my images using .htaccess rules which I discussed on an earlier post entitled – How To: Prevent Bandwidth Theft or Hotlinking. After editing my .htaccess file and adding a couple more rules to allow Google Reader access to my images, the post images now show up on Google Reader.
Google Reader showing blog post image
If you have the same problem with Google Reader not displaying your blog’s post images and have disabled hotlinking via .htaccess, just follow this short and simple tutorial.
NOTE: Make sure you back up your existing .htaccess file before you do any modifications. In case something goes wrong, you can always revert to the original file.
The following is the basic code or .htaccess rule to disable hotlinking or protect images from hotlinking:
# Disable Hotlinking
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?domain.com/ [NC]
RewriteRule .*.(jpeg|jpg|gif|png)$ - [F]
NOTE: Replace ?domain.com/ with your own blog URL.
The following code/htaccess rule is the one that will allow Google Reader access to the hotlink-protected images from your server. If you noticed, there are two lines. The first line is for the regular Google Reader and the second one is for Google Reader Mobile just in case you have readers who use that.
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.google.com/reader/view/.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/.*$ [NC]
Now, combine the previous code to basic disable hotlinking code and you should have this:
# Disable Hotlinking
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www.)?domain.com/ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.google.com/reader/view/.*$ [NC]
RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://www.google.com/reader/m/view/.*$ [NC]
RewriteRule .*.(jpeg|jpg|gif|png)$ - [F]
Copy and paste the code to your .htaccess file, save it and upload it back to your web server. That should fix the issue and solve your problem with Google Reader not displaying your blog post images.
To my readers who use Google Reader to get updates from JaypeeOnline, I apologize if you guys weren’t seeing the images included in each blog post these past few weeks/months. I wasn’t aware that there was this issue with Google Reader. I would appreciate it if you guys can let me know if you experience any issues or problems with JaypeeOnline’s RSS feed on Google Reader or other news aggregator sites or apps.
Btw, thank you Noel for letting me know about this! I wouldn’t have known there was a problem if you haven’t told me about it. I really appreciate it.
Has anyone else had the same problem with Google Reader? What did you do to solve the problem? Was this tutorial helpful? Please share your thoughts via the comment section. Thank you and have a nice day!
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December 16th, 2009 at 6:52 am
Okay I am also facing the same issue. My Google reader URL is like http://www.google.co.in/reader.....n&tab= ( as i am from india)
But you have used http://www.google.com/ in the code. Will it work fine ?
Amit Banerjee´s last blog ..Twitter Trends – The Most Talked About Topics in Twitter for 2009
June 7th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
@Michael – Yep, that’s how it works. You’re welcome! ;)
June 7th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
so that how it works, thanks.
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:25 pm
@Jd – If you’re experiencing the same issue with Google Reader and follow the steps provided in this tutorial then most likely your problem would be solved. :)
May 22nd, 2009 at 1:16 pm
I have had the same problem with Google Reader .. I hope this information will help solve the problem…
May 9th, 2009 at 4:20 am
@ark – Yeah, good thing Noel told me about it. If not, I wouldn’t have known there was something wrong with my RSS feeds in Google Reader. Btw, if you follow the steps in this short tutorial, you’ll only be giving access to Google Reader but still disable hotlinking by other sources. :)
May 9th, 2009 at 4:17 am
Ah, kaya pala di ko nakikita ang mga images sa gmail ko. If I disable hotlinking, how can I prevent other people from linking to my images without affecting my google reader?
arks last blog post..How to Make an Instant $15 from Payperpost
May 5th, 2009 at 11:15 pm
@elmot – Now that you’re on WordPress, you need to know about these kind of stuff. Hehe :D
May 5th, 2009 at 11:14 pm
same here. since i am on blogger, i would not have to sweat it out learning all those codes which i will admit i have a phobia with, oh, not really, a total idiot with it maybe, ehehe
elmots last blog post..A Kiss of Death to Lady Justice
April 30th, 2009 at 6:35 am
@jan – I don’t think you have to worry about it if you’re in Blogger because images uploaded on your account aren’t protected from hotlinking so they’ll show up on RSS feed aggregators. However, what you need to worry about is the potential of having other blogs hotlinking your images. :P
April 30th, 2009 at 6:30 am
I thought of asking you if this applies as well in blogspot blogs, but I checked my reader this morning. I’ve subscribed to my own feed via email – well you know, to check how’s my feed is doing – and it’s showing pictures and graphics.
Well, that’s potential headache for me out of the way. At least I don’t have to go under the hood on that one. lol
jans last blog post..My Grandson, Me and the Politics of Blogging
April 28th, 2009 at 9:25 am
@Michael – You’re welcome! Glad to know that via this post you found the code and Google Reader both useful. Thanks for stopping by!
April 28th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Very informative Jaypee. I haven’t actually used Google Reader myself, but after reading your post it looks like I should be using it. Very time saving and efficient looking.
Thanks not only for the code, but for introducing me to Google Reader.
April 27th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
@jhay – Yeah, I know you upload your images on an image hosting service and you certainly don’t need to protect your images from hotlinking.
In my case, I prefer having my images on my server coz it gives me more control over it and anyways, I can protect it from bandwidth theft or hotlinking. I have more than 1,000 images but they don’t occupy too much space. Just make sure you resize and optimize before you upload your images. :)
April 27th, 2009 at 6:48 pm
I’m not using hotlink protection for my blog images because most of it are hosted offsite on some of the image hosting services I use.
It eliminates the threat of bandwidth theft due to hotlinking images altogether and saves disk space on my server. :D
jhays last blog post..PhotoHunt: Protect(ion)