Misleading hyperlinks of non downloadable files

[Tom68]

Dear All,

I have recently updgraded my Joomla website from jD 4.0.52 to jD 4.1.5. After this update I noticed the following undesirable behavior:

jDownloads Configuration

jDownloads > Contro Panel > Options > Permissions
    - Public = inherited
    - Registered = inherited

jDownloads > Contro Panel > Options > Content Plugin
    Default Layout = Files link only 3.9

jDownload example

• I have 3 downloadable files with access = public
• ... referenced by a subcategory with access = public
• ... and a main category with access = registered
• An article with access = public points to these downloadable files per {jd_file file==123}

Behavior under jD 4.0.52

Public users see a page with the name of the downloadable files written, but without any hyperlink associated with these files. When they click on the file name nothing happens.

Registered users see a page with the name of the downloadable files written, with hyperlinks associated with these files. When they click on these hyperlinks the corresponding file is opened.

Behavior under jD 4.1.5

Public users see a page with the name of the downloadable files written, WITH hyperlinks associated with these files. When they click on these hyperlinks an new page opens telling them that they lack the permission to access the selected file. On the same page a form to log in is displayed. My feeling is, that this is a page managed by Joomla rather than jDownloads.

Registered users see a page with the name of the downloadable files written, with hyperlinks associated with these files. When they click on these hyperlinks the corresponding file is opened.

Problem

The behavior under jD 4.1.5 is undesirable because public users are mislead to believe they could download a file (because of the link associated with that file) and learn only after clicking, that they are not authorized to do so.

So, could you please restore the behavior of jD 4.0.52?

Regards
Tom

[ColinM]

Clearly there is no problem with a logged in user.
When a user is not logged-in then jD is offering the chance to login at that stage without having to exit from jD. If the user could not login anyway there is no difference but if a Registered user had forgotten to log in then this avoids having to exit jD, goto the login and then return to the downloading sequence.
Best wishes
ColinN

[Tom68]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your quick reply.
So, you say the new behavior was intentionally implemented. In other words "it's a feature, not a bug"?

Regards
Tom

[Tom68]

When a user is not logged-in then jD is offering the chance to login at that stage without having to exit from jD. If the user could not login anyway there is no difference but if a Registered user had forgotten to log in then this avoids having to exit jD, goto the login and then return to the downloading sequence.

Well, as a result now the traffic at my website has strongly increased, because all search engines and AI robots are interested in these new links causing many 302 redirects in the log file. And guess, whose job it is to check these log files on a regular basis? 

Regards
Tom