-<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN">
+<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN"[
+<!entity % dummy "INCLUDE">
+<!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
+<!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
+]>
<!--
File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/faq.sgml,v $
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.33 2002/03/29 01:31:48 hal9 Exp $
+ $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.36 2002/03/31 23:18:47 hal9 Exp $
Written by and Copyright (C) 2001 the SourceForge
Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com
+
+
-->
+
<article id="index">
<artheader>
<title>Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</title>
-<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.33 2002/03/29 01:31:48 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.36 2002/03/31 23:18:47 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
<authorgroup>
<author>
</authorgroup>
<abstract>
+<![%dummy;[
+<para>
+ <comment>
+ This is here to keep vim syntax file from breaking :/
+ If I knew enough to fix it, I would.
+ PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE! HB: hal@foobox.net
+ </comment>
+</para>
+]]>
<para>
This FAQ gives users and developers alike answers to frequently asked
- questions about <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ questions about <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org">Privoxy</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> is a web proxy with advanced filtering
to continue development.
</para>
-
<para>
You can find the latest version of the document at <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</ulink>.
Please see the Contact section in the
of this effort is <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> started with the same
+ <application>Privoxy</application> started with the
<application>Junkbuster 2.0.2</application> code base, but has advanced
significantly at this point.
</para>
<sect3 id="features"><title>What are some of the new features?</title>
<!--
- This section is in both user-manual and faq. Please keep in sync!!!
--->
-<para>
- <itemizedlist>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Integrated browser based configuration and control utility (<ulink
- url="http://p.p">http://p.p</ulink>). Browser-based tracing of rule
- and filter effects.
- </para>
- </listitem>
-<!--
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Modularized configuration that will allow for system wide settings, and
- individual user settings. (not implemented yet, probably a 3.1 feature)
- </para>
- </listitem>
--->
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- HTTP/1.1 compliant (most, but not all 1.1 features are supported).
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files, and
- generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
- previous versions.
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- GIF de-animation.
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size,
- invisible <quote>web-bugs</quote>, JavaScript, pop-ups, status bar abuse,
- etc.)
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
-
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Multi-threaded (POSIX and native threads).
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Auto-detection and re-reading of config file changes.
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- User-customizable HTML templates (e.g. 404 error page).
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
- </para>
-</listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
- </para>
-</listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Builds from source on most UNIX-like systems. Packages available for: Linux
- (RedHat, SuSE, or Debian), Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac OSX, OS/2, HP-UX 11 and AmigaOS.
-
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- In addition, the configuration is much more powerful and versatile over-all.
- </para>
-</listitem>
-
- </itemizedlist>
-</para>
+Include newfeatures.sgml
+-->
+&newfeatures;
</sect3>
Any browser that can be configured to use a <quote>proxy</quote>, which
should be virtually all browsers. Direct browser support is not necessary
since <application>Privoxy</application> runs as a separate application and
- just exchanges standard HTML data with your browser.
+ just exchanges standard HTML data with your browser, just like a web server
+ does.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="whichos">
<title>Which operating systems are supported?</title>
-<para>
- Right now Win32, Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS, Linux, and many
- flavors of Unix.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Source code is available, so porting to other operating systems,
- is always a possibility.
-
-</para>
+<!--
+Include supported.sgml here:
+-->
+&supported;
</sect3>
<sect3 id="newinstall"><title>Can I install
Note: Some installers may automatically uninstall
<application>Junkbuster</application>, if present!
</para>
-
+
</sect3>
<sect3>
<sect3 id="newconfig"><title>Can I use my old config files?</title>
<para>
- There are major changes to <application>Junkbuster</application>
- configuration from version 2.0.x to 2.9.x and later. The older files will
- not work at all. If this is the case, you will need to re-enter your old
- data into the new configuration structure. This is probably also a good
- recommendation even if upgrading from 2.9.x to 3.x since there were
- many minor changes along the way.
+ There are major changes to <application>Junkbuster</application>,
+ <application>Privoxy</application>, configuration from version 2.0.x to
+ 2.9.x and later. Most of the older files will not work at all. This is
+ especially true of <filename>blocklist</filename>. If this is the case, you
+ will need to re-enter your old data into the new configuration structure.
+ This is probably also a good recommendation even if upgrading from 2.9.x to
+ 3.x since there were many minor changes along the way.
</para>
</sect3>
The easiest way to do this, is to access <application>Privoxy</application>
with your web browser at <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>,
and then select
- "<ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/config/edit-actions">Edit the actions list</ulink>"
+ "<ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org">Edit the actions list</ulink>"
from the selection list. You can also do this by editing the appropriate
file with a text editor.
</para>
<quote>Edit Actions List</quote> selection at <ulink
url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>. Or by hand editing the appropriate
actions file. This will only effect what is defined as <quote>images</quote>
- though. Also, any URLs that generate the bright red <quote>Blocked</quote>
+ though. Also, some URLs that generate the bright red <quote>Blocked</quote>
banner, can be moved to the <quote>+image-blocker</quote> section for the
- same reason.
-
+ same reason, but there are some limits and risks to this (see below).
</para>
</sect3>
for you to see why. These are handled differently than what has been defined
explicitly as <quote>images</quote> (e.g. ad banners). Depending on the
URL itself, it is sometimes hard for <application>Privoxy</application> to
- really know whether it is indeed an ad image or not.
+ really know whether there is indeed an ad image there or not. And there are
+ limitations as to what <application>Privoxy</application> can do to
+ <quote>fool</quote> the browser.
</para>
<para>
- If you want them to be treated as if they were images, so that they can be
- made invisible, then move the offending URL from the <quote>+block</quote>
- section to the <quote>+imageblock</quote> section of your actions file. Just
- be forewarned, if make any URL is made <quote>invisible</quote>, you may not
- have any inkling that something has been removed from that page.
+ For instance, if the ad is in a frame, then it is embedded in the separate
+ HTML page used for the frame. In this case, you cannot just substitute an
+ aribitray image (like we would for a <quote>blank</quote> image), for an HTML
+ page. The browser is expecting an HTML page, and that is what it must have
+ for frames. So this situation can be a little trickier to deal with, and
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will use the <quote>Blocked</quote> page.
</para>
+
<para>
- Alternately, you could modify the <quote><filename>block</filename></quote>
- HTML template that is used by <application>Privoxy</application> to display
- this, and make it something more to your liking.
+ If you want these to be treated as if they were images, so that they can be
+ made invisible, you can try moving the offending URL from the
+ <quote>+block</quote> section to the <quote>+imageblock</quote> section of
+ your actions file. Just be forewarned, if any URL is made
+ <quote>invisible</quote>, you may not have any inkling that something has
+ been removed from that page, or why. If this approach does not work, then you are
+ probably dealing with a frame (or <quote>ilayer</quote>), and the only thing
+ that can go there is an HTML page of some sort.
+</para>
+<para>
+ To deal with this situation, you could modify the
+ <quote><filename>block</filename></quote> HTML template that is used by
+ <application>Privoxy</application> to display this, and make it something
+ more to your liking. Currently, there is no configuration option for this.
+ You will have to modify, or create your own page, and use this to replace
+ <filename>templates/blocked</filename>, which is what
+ <application>Privoxy</application> uses to display the <quote>Blocked</quote>
+ page.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Another way to deal with this is find why and where
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is blocking the frame, and
+ diable this. Then let the <quote>+image-blocker</quote> action
+ handle the ad that is embedded in the frame's HTML page.
</para>
</sect3>
<para>
With recent versions of <application>Privoxy</application> (version 2.9.x), you can get some
information about <application>Privoxy</application> and change some settings by going to
-http://p.p/ or, equivalently, http://www.privoxy.org/config/
+<ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> or, equivalently, <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
(Note that p.p is far easier to type but may not work in some
-configurations).
+configurations. With the name change to <application>Privoxy</application>,
+this is changed from the previous http://i.j.b/ or earlier 2.9.x versions).
</para>
<para>
-These pages are *not* forwarded to a server on the Internet - instead they are
-handled by a special web server which is built in to <application>Privoxy</application>.
+These pages are <emphasis>not</emphasis> forwarded to a server on the Internet
+- instead they are handled by a special web server which is built in to
+<application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
<para>
-If you are not running <application>Privoxy</application>, then http://p.p/ will fail, and
-http://www.privoxy.org/config/ will return a web page telling you
-you're not running <application>Privoxy</application>.
+If you are not running <application>Privoxy</application>, then <ulink
+url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> will fail, and <ulink
+url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink> will
+return a web page telling you you're not running
+<application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
<para>
<para>
If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you
applied. Try pasting the full URL of the offending ad into <ulink
- url="http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-url-info">http://www.privoxy.org/config/show-url-info</ulink>
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
and see if any actions match your new rule.
</para>
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: faq.sgml,v $
+Revision 1.36 2002/03/31 23:18:47 hal9
+More on dealing with BLOCKED.
+
+Revision 1.35 2002/03/30 04:14:19 hal9
+Fix privoxy.org/config links.
+
+Revision 1.34 2002/03/29 04:35:56 hal9
+Touch ups.
+
Revision 1.33 2002/03/29 01:31:48 hal9
Several new Q/A's and other touch ups.