2 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/contacting.sgml,v $
4 Purpose : Entity included in other project documents.
6 $Id: contacting.sgml,v 2.46 2017/01/23 13:03:06 fabiankeil Exp $
8 Copyright (C) 2001-2011 Privoxy Developers https://www.privoxy.org/
11 ======================================================================
12 This file used for inclusion with other documents only.
13 ======================================================================
15 This file is included into:
27 <!-- Careful of the literallayout tags and finished formatting -->
30 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve
31 <application>Privoxy</application> and its configuration.
32 However, please note the following hints, so we can
33 provide you with the best support.
36 <sect2 id="sufficient-information"><title>Please provide sufficient information</title>
38 A lot of support requests don't contain enough information and can't
39 be solved without a lot of back and forth which causes unnecessary
40 delays. Reading this section should help to prevent that.
43 Before contacting us to report a problem, please try to verify that it is a
44 <application>Privoxy</application> problem, and not a browser or site problem
45 or documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
47 try <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">toggling
48 off</ulink> <application>Privoxy</application>, and see if the problem persists.
52 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the default
53 configuration to see if the problem is configuration related.
54 If you're having problems with a feature that is disabled by default,
55 please ask around on the mailing list if others can reproduce the problem.
59 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the problem may have been found
60 and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time
61 to <ulink url="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/installation.html">upgrade
62 to the latest version</ulink> and verify that the problem still exists.
65 Please be sure to provide the following information when reporting problems
66 or requesting support:
72 The exact <application>Privoxy</application> version you are using.
78 The operating system and versions you run
79 <application>Privoxy</application> on, e.g. <application>Windows
86 The name, platform, and version of the <application>browser</application>
87 you were using (e.g. <application>Internet Explorer v5.5</application> for Mac).
93 The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
94 problem (e.g. <literal>http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123</literal>).
100 Whether your version of <application>Privoxy</application> is one supplied
101 by the <application>Privoxy</application> developers via SourceForge,
102 or if you got your copy somewhere else.
108 Whether you are using <application>Privoxy</application> together with
109 another proxy such as <application>Tor</application>. If so, please
110 temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
116 Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does
117 <application>Privoxy</application> work without it?
123 Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
124 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each
125 action taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the
126 <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">logfile directive</ulink>
127 is being used and the following <ulink
128 url="../user-manual/config.html#DEBUG">debug options</ulink> are enabled
131 <literallayout>debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through.
132 # See also debug 1024.
133 debug 2 # show each connection status
134 debug 4 # show I/O status
135 debug 8 # show header parsing
136 debug 128 # debug redirects
137 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
138 debug 512 # Common Log Format
139 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through,
140 # and the reason why.
141 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
142 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
143 debug 65536 # Log applying actions</literallayout>
145 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
147 <literallayout>debug 64 # debug regular expression filters</literallayout>
149 If you suspect that Privoxy interprets the request or the response
150 incorrectly, please enable
152 <literallayout>debug 32768 # log all data read from the network</literallayout>
154 It's easy for us to ignore log messages that aren't relevant but missing
155 log messages may make it impossible to investigate a problem. If you aren't
156 sure which of the debug directives are relevant, please just enable all of them
157 and let us worry about it.
160 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please don't
161 submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive information
162 as long as it's clear that you removed something.
169 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem
170 report, but if you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate
171 between your messages and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that
172 may respond to your request if they have the same problem or already
173 found a solution. Note that due to spam the trackers may not always
174 allow to post without being logged into SourceForge. If that's the
175 case, you are still free to create a login that isn't directly linked
176 to your name, though.
180 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting
181 it, as we may request additional information. If you use a SF id,
182 you should automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
183 Please don't bother to add an email address when using the tracker.
184 If you prefer to communicate through email, just use one of the mailing
189 If you are new to reporting problems, you might be interested in
190 <ulink url="http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html"
191 >How to Report Bugs Effectively</ulink>.
195 The <ulink url="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">appendix
196 of the Privoxy User Manual</ulink> also has helpful information
197 on understanding <literal>actions</literal>, and <literal>action</literal> debugging.
200 <sect2 id="contact-support"><title>Get Support</title>
202 All users are welcome to discuss their issues on the <ulink
203 url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo/privoxy-users">users
204 mailing list</ulink>, where the developers also hang around.
208 Please don't send private support requests to individual Privoxy
209 developers, either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
213 If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons,
214 please send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging
215 system. Answers to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's
216 mail server in which case the developer wasted time writing a response you
217 don't get. From your point of view it will look like your message has
218 been completely ignored, so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
222 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
223 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a
224 delay of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly
225 mention Privoxy or one of its features, your message may be accidentally
230 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds
231 to come up with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear
232 that you want to get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to
233 the mailing list only, and you won't see them.
238 <sect2 id="reporting"><title>Reporting Problems</title>
240 <quote>Problems</quote> for our purposes, come in two forms:
246 Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that
247 don't function properly due to one <application>Privoxy</application>
248 <quote>action</quote> or another being turned <quote>on</quote>.
254 <quote>Bugs</quote> in the programming code that makes up
255 <application>Privoxy</application>, such as that might cause a crash.
256 Documentation issues, for example spelling errors and unclear descriptions,
263 <sect3 id="contact-ads"><title>Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</title>
265 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
266 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related problem of
267 <filename>default.action</filename> file, to
268 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288">
269 https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288</ulink>,
270 the Actions File Tracker.
276 <sect3 id="contact-bugs"><title>Reporting Bugs</title>
279 Before reporting bugs, please make sure that the bug has <emphasis>not already been submitted</emphasis>
280 and observe the additional hints at the top of the <ulink
281 url="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=11118&atid=111118">submit
282 form</ulink>. If already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the
283 original report that might help to solve the issue.
288 <sect2 id="security-contact"><title>Reporting security problems</title>
290 If you discovered a security problem or merely suspect that a bug might
291 be a security issue, please mail Fabian Keil <fk@fabiankeil.de>
292 (OpenPGP fingerprint: 4F36 C17F 3816 9136 54A1 E850 6918 2291 8BA2 371C).
295 Usually you should get a response within a day, otherwise it's
296 likely that either your mail or the response didn't make it.
297 If that happens, please mail to the developer list to request a
302 <sect2 id="mailing-lists"><title>Mailing Lists</title>
304 If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
305 feel free to use one of the mailing lists.
306 To discuss issues that haven't been completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy
307 users list. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to
308 the project are always welcome on the developers list.
309 You can find an overview of all <application>Privoxy</application>-related mailing lists,
310 including list archives, at:
311 <ulink url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo">https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo</ulink>.
312 The lists hosted on privoxy.org have been created in 2016, the previously-used
313 lists hosted at SourceForge are deprecated but the archives may still be useful:
314 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118">https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118</ulink>.
318 <sect2 id="sf-trackers"><title>SourceForge support trackers</title>
321 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118">SourceForge support trackers</ulink>
322 may be used as well, but have various technical problems that are unlikely to
323 be fixed anytime soon. If you don't get a timely response, please try the
324 mailing list as well.