Hello,
I am currently using a plugin called External Media without Import to add large image files to my site without using up a lot of storage. I am trying to use Patreon image locking for these files, but it seems that any of the externally hosted files will not lock. Is this possible, or does image locking only work on images that have been uploaded to Wordpress?
Indeed, the internal locking mechanism of PW wouldnt lock these images since it cannot control the remote image. Even if PW locked them someone could just see the image via the link. Unless there is something that prevents direct viewing of image at that remote source. Additionally grabbing a remote image and then processing it to obscure it and put the locking interface costs more resources server-wise.
There are 3 ways to go around this:
This would lock entire post including the image. Anyone needing to see the image would need to unlock the post. The image would be available via the link to anyone who has the link though. Unless there is a referrer check or something that prevents direct viewing of images from that source.
This allows you to lock parts of your post. You can just put the remote image inside that shortcode. This would make the post visible to all, but only the image locked. Again, anyone with the link could access the image outside your site. Unless there is a referrer check or something that prevents direct viewing of images from that source.
This would allow you to use PW’s image locking function with its image obscuring features and ‘click on the image to unlock’ interface.