I have a folder I set up on the server. PDF files will be uploaded to it for use with my business. However, I don't want anybody being able to access them unless they click on a link from my website. I was thinking I would use htaccess so that I could only allow visitors that came from a link on my site, but I can't seem to get it working. I have browsed hundreds of pages over hours and hours and can't seem to make any headway.

I have a request into my host to see if they have something funky on their servers. I have tried various variations of

# deny all except those indicated here
<Limit GET POST PUT>
order deny,allow
deny from all
allow from domain.com
</Limit>

But I get an access denied no matter how I access the files (even when clicking on a link from the site). Any thoughts?

why not restrict access using php then you can create and administer access accounts

a much better solution

Your htaccess file is blocking people based on the hostname of their IP, not the referring URL. Google "htaccess referrer" and you'll find your answer