PHP folder protection using Apache

Black_Rider

I know that a lot of people have asked this topic. However is it possible to protect folders using PHP and .htaccess. I want to do it such that if anybody directly accesses the files in a folder such as PDFs, ZIPs, PowerPoint Presentations, etc, Apache redirects them to a login page which is written in PHP. However if they were logged in before they went to the protected folder, it would allow them direct access to the files that they want to access.

Is this possible?

Merve

You don't need PHP for this. All you need is htacess.

Black_Rider

How can I get a .htaccess to redirect to another page when the contents of the folder are accessed?

Also can .htaccess interact with PHP sessions or look for cookies? Or will have I have to let the page that I redirect to handle working with sessions and the like?