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38 >Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</TH
46 HREF="installation.html"
81 >3.1. Where can I get updated Actions Files?</A
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.
115 >3.2. Can I use my old config files?</A
118 > The syntax, number, and purpose of configuration files has substantially
122 > and earlier versions
126 >. The old files, like <TT
130 will not work at all. If you are upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will
131 need to port your configuration data to the new format. Note that even the
132 pattern syntax has changed! Even configuration files from the 2.9.x versions
133 will need to be adapted, as configuration syntax has been very much in flow
143 >3.3. What is an <SPAN
150 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
155 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
162 > might take while processing a certain
163 request, are configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions
164 that apply to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.</P
166 > Actions can be defined on a <A
167 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
171 for single URLs, whole web sites, groups or parts thereof etc. Actions can also be
172 grouped together and then applied to requests matching one or more patterns.
173 There are many possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example,
174 if you are blocking cookies as one of your default actions, but need to accept
175 cookies from a given site, you would need to define an exception for this
176 site in one of your actions files, preferably in <TT
190 > concept confuses me. Please list
197 > For a comprehensive discussion of the actions concept, please refer
199 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
204 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
209 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
211 >list of all actions</A
214 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
218 > to get you started.</P
226 >3.5. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
230 > Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
231 with a text editor. The probably easiest way is to access
235 >'s user interface with your web browser
237 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/"
239 >http://config.privoxy.org/</A
249 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
252 change the current configuration</A
262 >3.6. There are several different <SPAN
272 > v2.9.15, three actions files
273 are being included, to be used for
274 different purposes: These are
282 which is actively maintained by the <SPAN
289 >, where users are encouraged
290 to make their private customizations, and <TT
294 which is for internal <SPAN
299 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html"
301 >the actions chapter</A
304 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
308 detailed explanation.</P
310 > Earlier versions included three different versions of the
314 > file. The new scheme allows for
315 greater flexibility of local configuration, and for browser based
316 selection of pre-defined <SPAN
318 >"aggressiveness"</SPAN
327 >3.7. How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/GMX account work?</A
330 > The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of these services.
331 It will, however, make all cookies temporary, so that your browser will forget your
332 login credentials in between browser sessions. If you would like not to have to log
333 in manually each time you access those websites, simply turn off all cookie handling
337 > file. An example for yahoo might
349 ># Allow all cookies for Yahoo login:
352 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
354 >crunch-incoming-cookies</A
356 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
358 >crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
360 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
362 >session-cookies-only</A
364 .login.yahoo.com</PRE
377 >3.8. What's the difference between the
393 > is not entirely trivial. To help you get
394 started, we provide you with three different default action <SPAN
398 the web based actions file editor at <A
399 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
401 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
403 The following table shows you, which of the most important features are enabled in each
414 >Table 1. Default Configurations</B
449 >Ad-blocking by URL</TD
471 >Ad-filtering by size</TD
493 >GIF de-animation</TD
625 >JavaScript taming</TD
669 >Fun text replacements</TD
691 >Image tag reordering</TD
713 >Ad-filtering by link</TD
735 > Where the defaults are likely to break some sites, exceptions for
739 > sites are included, but in
740 general, the more aggressive your default settings are, the more
741 exceptions you will have to make later. See the <A
742 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
746 deatiled discussion.</P
754 >3.9. Why can I change the configuration
755 with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</A
758 > It may seem strange that regular users can edit the config files with their
759 browsers, although the whole <TT
763 belongs to the user <SPAN
766 >, with only 644 permissions.
769 > When you use the browser-based editor, <SPAN
773 itself is writing to the config files. Because
777 > is running as the user <SPAN
781 it can update the config files.
787 > for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in
788 a LAN), you will probably want to turn the web-based editor and remote toggle
789 features off by setting <SPAN
794 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS"
796 >enable-edit-actions</A
805 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-REMOTE-TOGGLE"
807 >enable-remote-toggle</A
812 HREF="../user-manual/config.html"
814 >main configuration file</A
818 > Note that in the default configuration, only local users (i.e. those on
822 >) can connect to <SPAN
826 so this is not (normally) a security problem.
835 >3.10. What is the <TT
838 > file? What is a <SPAN
845 HREF="../user-manual/filter-file.html"
855 > are defined, which can be used to modify or
856 remove, web page content on the fly. Filters apply to <I
860 in the page source, including HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used
861 to accomplish this. There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common
862 annoyances. The filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the
864 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER"
871 > in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically
872 disabled for inappropriate MIME types.</P
874 > If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at
878 > with a text editor and define
879 your own filters. This is potentially a very powerful feature, but
880 requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP. </P
882 > Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
883 but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included
888 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
890 >web-based actions file editor</A
899 >3.11. How can I set up <SPAN
902 > to act as a proxy for my
909 > only responds to requests
913 > (localhost). To have it act as a server for
914 a network, this needs to be changed in the <A
915 HREF="../user-manual/config.html"
917 >main configuration file</A
922 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS"
927 option, which may be commented out with a <SPAN
931 it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
932 and port number to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
936 > on port 8118, this line
937 schould look like:</P
947 > listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118</PRE
953 > Save the file, and restart <SPAN
957 all browsers on the network then to use this address and port number.</P
962 > on a LAN with untrusted users,
963 we recommend that you double-check the <A
964 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL"
966 >access control and security</A
976 >3.12. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</A
979 > The replacement for blocked images can be controlled with the <A
980 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
984 >set-image-blocker</TT
987 >. You have the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF
991 >), or a redirect to a custom image of your choice.
992 Note that this choice only has effect for images which are blocked as images, i.e.
993 whose URLs match both a <TT
996 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
1007 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK"
1013 > If you want to see nothing, then change the <A
1014 HREF="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
1018 >set-image-blocker</TT
1024 >. This can be done by editing the
1028 > file, or trough the <A
1029 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
1031 >web-based actions file editor</A
1040 >3.13. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</A
1044 HREF="general.html#WHATSANAD"
1045 >telling which image is an ad and which
1047 >, is mostly guesswork. While we hope that the standard configuration
1048 is rather smart, it can and will make errors. The checkerboard image is visually
1049 decent, but it shows you that and where images were blocked, which can be very
1050 helpful in case some navigation aid or otherwise innocent image was
1051 erraneously blocked. Some people might also enjoy seeing how many banners
1063 >3.14. I see some images being replaced by a text
1064 instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</A
1067 > This happens when the banners are not embedded in the HTML code of the
1068 page itself, but in separate HTML (sub)documents that are loaded into (i)frames
1069 or (i)layers, and these external HTML documents are blocked. Being non-images
1070 they get replaced by a substitute HTML page rather than a substitute image,
1071 which wouldn't work out technically, since the browser expects and accepts
1072 only HTML when it has requested an HTML document. </P
1074 > The substitute page adapts to the available space and shows itself as a
1075 miniature two-liner if loaded into small frames, or full-blown with a
1076 large red "BLOCKED" banner if space allows.</P
1078 > If you prefer the banners to be blocked by images, you must see to it that
1079 the HTML documents in which they are embedded are not blocked. Clicking
1083 > link offered in the substitute page will show
1084 you which rule blocked the page. After changing the rule and un-blocking
1085 the HTML documents, the browser will try to load the actual banner images
1086 and the usual image blocking will (hopefully!) kick in.</P
1101 > Yes, it can run as a system service using <B
1105 The only catch is that this will effectively disable the
1109 > icon (and its menu!) in the taskbar. You can have
1110 one or the other, but not both at this time :( </P
1112 > There is a pending feature request for this functionality. See the discussion
1114 HREF="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118"
1116 >http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</A
1118 for details, and a sample configuration. </P
1126 >3.16. How can I make <SPAN
1136 > This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
1140 > with those of a caching proxy.
1142 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
1144 >forwarding chapter</A
1147 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
1151 describes how to do this.</P
1164 >"transparent"</SPAN
1171 > currently does not have this ability,
1172 though it is planned for a future release. Transparent proxies require
1173 special handling of the request headers beyond what
1177 > is now capable of.</P
1182 > behind another proxy that has
1183 this ability should work though.
1185 HREF="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING"
1187 >forwarding chapter</A
1190 HREF="../user-manual/index.html"
1194 a transparent proxy to be used for chaining we recommend Transproxy
1196 HREF="http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/"
1198 >http://www.transproxy.nlc.net.au/</A
1217 HREF="installation.html"
projects / privoxy.git / blob