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76 NAME="CONFIGURATION">3. Configuration</H1
82 NAME="GETUPDATES">3.1. Where can I get updated Actions Files?</H3
84 > Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updated actions files will be
85 made available on the <A
86 HREF="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118"
91 HREF="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/"
97 > If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
101 > or the actions file, <A
102 HREF="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/"
105 to our announce mailing list</A
106 >, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
114 NAME="NEWCONFIG">3.2. Can I use my old config files?</H3
116 > The syntax, number, and purpose of configuration files has substantially
120 > and earlier versions
124 >. The old files, like <TT
128 will not work at all. If you are upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will
129 need to port your configuration data to the new format. Note that even the
130 pattern syntax has changed! Even configuration files from the 2.9.x versions
131 will need to be adapted, as configuration syntax has been very much in flow
140 NAME="AEN266">3.3. What is an <SPAN
146 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
151 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
158 > might take while processing a certain
159 request, are configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions
160 that apply to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.</P
162 > Actions can be defined on a <A
163 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
167 for single URLs, whole web sites, groups or parts thereof etc. Actions can also be
168 grouped together and then applied to requests matching one or more patterns.
169 There are many possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example,
170 if you are blocking cookies as one of your default actions, but need to accept
171 cookies from a given site, you would need to define an exception for this
172 site in one of your actions files, preferably in <TT
182 NAME="ACTIONSS">3.4. The <SPAN
185 > concept confuses me. Please list
191 > For a comprehensive discussion of the actions concept, please refer
193 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
198 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
203 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
205 >list of all actions</A
208 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
212 > to get you started.</P
219 NAME="AEN285">3.5. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
222 > Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
223 with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
227 >'s user interface with your web browser
229 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/"
231 >http://config.privoxy.org/</A
241 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
244 change the current configuration</A
253 NAME="AEN293">3.6. There are several different <SPAN
262 > v2.9.15, three actions files
263 are being included, to be used for
264 different purposes: These are
272 which is actively maintained by the <SPAN
279 >, where users are encouraged
280 to make their private customizations, and <TT
284 which is for internal <SPAN
289 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
291 >the actions chapter</A
294 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
298 detailed explanation.</P
300 > Earlier versions included three different versions of the
304 > file. The new scheme allows for
305 greater flexibility of local configuration, and for browser based
306 selection of pre-defined <SPAN
308 >"aggressiveness"</SPAN
316 NAME="YAHOO">3.7. How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/GMX account work?</H3
318 > The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of these services.
319 It will, however, make all cookies temporary, so that your browser will forget your
320 login credentials in between browser sessions. If you would like not to have to log
321 in manually each time you access those websites, simply turn off all cookie handling
325 > file. An example for yahoo might
337 ># Allow all cookies for Yahoo login:
340 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
342 >crunch-incoming-cookies</A
344 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
346 >crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
348 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
350 >session-cookies-only</A
352 .login.yahoo.com</PRE
364 NAME="CONFIGFILES">3.8. What's the difference between the
379 > is not entirely trivial. To help you get
380 started, we provide you with three different default action <SPAN
384 the web based actions file editor at <A
385 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
387 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
389 The following table shows you, which of the most important features are enabled in each
398 >Table 1. Default Configurations</B
433 >Ad-blocking by URL</TD
455 >Ad-filtering by size</TD
477 >GIF de-animation</TD
609 >JavaScript taming</TD
653 >Fun text replacements</TD
675 >Image tag reordering</TD
697 >Ad-filtering by link</TD
719 > Where the defaults are likely to break some sites, exceptions for
723 > sites are included, but in
724 general, the more aggressive your default settings are, the more
725 exceptions you will have to make later. See the <A
726 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
730 deatiled discussion.</P
737 NAME="BROWSECONFIG">3.9. Why can I change the configuration
738 with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</H3
740 > It may seem strange that regular users can edit the config files with their
741 browsers, although the whole <TT
745 belongs to the user <SPAN
748 >, with only 644 permissions.
751 > When you use the browser-based editor, <SPAN
755 itself is writing to the config files. Because
759 > is running as the user <SPAN
763 it can update the config files.
769 > for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in
770 a LAN), you will probably want to turn the web-based editor and remote toggle
771 features off by setting <SPAN
776 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS"
778 >enable-edit-actions</A
787 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-REMOTE-TOGGLE"
789 >enable-remote-toggle</A
794 HREF="../user-manual/config.html"
796 >main configuration file</A
800 > Note that in the default configuration, only local users (i.e. those on
804 >) can connect to <SPAN
808 so this is not (normally) a security problem.
816 NAME="AEN431">3.10. What is the <TT
819 > file? What is a <SPAN
825 HREF="../user-manual/filter-file.html"
838 > are defined, which can be used to modify or
839 remove, web page content on the fly. Filters apply to <SPAN
846 in the page source, including HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used
847 to accomplish this. There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common
848 annoyances. The filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the
850 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER"
857 > in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically
858 disabled for inappropriate MIME types.</P
860 > If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at
864 > with a text editor and define
865 your own filters. This is potentially a very powerful feature, but
866 requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP. </P
868 > Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
869 but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included
874 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
876 >web-based actions file editor</A
884 NAME="AEN447">3.11. How can I set up <SPAN
887 > to act as a proxy for my
893 > only responds to requests
897 > (localhost). To have it act as a server for
898 a network, this needs to be changed in the <A
899 HREF="../user-manual/config.html"
901 >main configuration file</A
906 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS"
911 option, which may be commented out with a <SPAN
915 it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
916 and port number to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
920 > on port 8118, this line
931 > listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118</PRE
937 > Save the file, and restart <SPAN
941 all browsers on the network then to use this address and port number.</P
946 > on a LAN with untrusted users,
947 we recommend that you double-check the <A
948 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL"
950 >access control and security</A
959 NAME="AEN465">3.12. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</H3
961 > The replacement for blocked images can be controlled with the <A
962 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
966 >set-image-blocker</TT
969 >. You have the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF
973 >), or a redirect to a custom image of your choice.
974 Note that this choice only has effect for images which are blocked as images, i.e.
975 whose URLs match both a <TT
978 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
992 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"
998 > If you want to see nothing, then change the <A
999 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
1003 >set-image-blocker</TT
1009 >. This can be done by editing the
1013 > file, or trough the <A
1014 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
1016 >web-based actions file editor</A
1024 NAME="AEN482">3.13. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</H3
1027 HREF="general.html#WHATSANAD"
1028 >telling which image is an ad and which
1030 >, is mostly guesswork. While we hope that the standard configuration
1031 is rather smart, it can and will make errors. The checkerboard image is visually
1032 decent, but it shows you that and where images were blocked, which can be very
1033 helpful in case some navigation aid or otherwise innocent image was
1034 erraneously blocked. Some people might also enjoy seeing how many banners
1048 NAME="AEN487">3.14. I see some images being replaced by a text
1049 instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</H3
1051 > This happens when the banners are not embedded in the HTML code of the
1052 page itself, but in separate HTML (sub)documents that are loaded into (i)frames
1053 or (i)layers, and these external HTML documents are blocked. Being non-images
1054 they get replaced by a substitute HTML page rather than a substitute image,
1055 which wouldn't work out technically, since the browser expects and accepts
1056 only HTML when it has requested an HTML document. </P
1058 > The substitute page adapts to the available space and shows itself as a
1059 miniature two-liner if loaded into small frames, or full-blown with a
1060 large red "BLOCKED" banner if space allows.</P
1062 > If you prefer the banners to be blocked by images, you must see to it that
1063 the HTML documents in which they are embedded are not blocked. Clicking
1067 > link offered in the substitute page will show
1068 you which rule blocked the page. After changing the rule and un-blocking
1069 the HTML documents, the browser will try to load the actual banner images
1070 and the usual image blocking will (hopefully!) kick in.</P
1077 NAME="SRVANY">3.15. Can <SPAN
1083 > Yes, it can run as a system service using <B
1087 The only catch is that this will effectively disable the
1091 > icon (and its menu!) in the taskbar. You can have
1092 one or the other, but not both at this time :( </P
1094 > There is a pending feature request for this functionality. See the discussion
1096 HREF="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118"
1098 >http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</A
1100 for details, and a sample configuration. </P
1107 NAME="OTHERPROXY">3.16. How can I make <SPAN
1116 > This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
1120 > with those of a caching proxy.
1122 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
1124 >forwarding chapter</A
1127 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
1131 describes how to do this.</P
1138 NAME="PORT-80">3.17. Can I just set <SPAN
1142 and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</H3
1144 > No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
1145 of proxies known as <SPAN
1147 >"transparent"</SPAN
1148 > proxies (see below).</P
1155 NAME="TRANSPARENT">3.18. Can <SPAN
1160 >"transparent"</SPAN
1166 > currently does not have this ability,
1167 though it is planned for a future release. Transparent proxies require
1168 special handling of the request headers beyond what
1172 > is now capable of.</P
1177 > behind another proxy that has
1178 this ability should work though.
1180 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
1182 >forwarding chapter</A
1185 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
1189 a transparent proxy to be used for chaining we recommend Transproxy
1191 HREF="http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/"
1193 >http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/</A
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