Why am I getting 403 Forbidden when I enter a url directly but not when I click the link?

Question

When I enter the URL of a page on my site directly into my address bar, I get a 403 Forbidden error, yet when I post the link on a forum etc and click it from there, I am able to access the site fine.

Answer 1

Without being shown the url, or being able to see the configuration, I'd say the most likely reason is that your apache settings are denying access based on the referrer.