X-Git-Url: http://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fsource%2Fuser-manual.sgml;h=29ce5b1d5f821811c8f1c286a4b6fbb998d8f02d;hb=8459f40f646d1503eac7600aa352c42227903655;hp=06daeb7a8a0e6de951b064327297394c177986c1;hpb=1e1d5c254bb2b4241dfe6ebc5573a7560535de59;p=privoxy.git diff --git a/doc/source/user-manual.sgml b/doc/source/user-manual.sgml index 06daeb7a..29ce5b1d 100644 --- a/doc/source/user-manual.sgml +++ b/doc/source/user-manual.sgml @@ -8,7 +8,8 @@ - + + @@ -17,6 +18,7 @@ + ]> + + Copyright &my-copy; 2001, 2002 by + Privoxy Developers + + + +$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.110 2002/05/14 19:10:45 oes Exp $ + + - - - - By: Privoxy Developers - - - + @@ -71,7 +95,7 @@ The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use Privoxy. - + &p-intro; @@ -82,7 +106,7 @@ url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/. Please see the Contact section on how to contact the developers. - + @@ -91,13 +115,6 @@ - - - - - - - Introduction @@ -147,39 +164,28 @@ packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code. For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our Privoxy Project - Page. For installing and compiling the source code, please look - into our Developer Manual. - - - - If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using - possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute - version directly from the - CVS repository or simply download the nightly CVS - tarball. Again, we refer you to the Developer Manual. + Page. - - &supported; - - Note: If you have a previous Junkbuster or Privoxy installation on your system, you will need to remove it. Some platforms do this for you as part of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform). - - - In any case be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to you. See the note to upgraders section below. + +Binary Packages + +How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system: + + -Red Hat and SuSE RPMs +Red Hat and SuSE RPMs RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm, @@ -207,17 +213,17 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. Otherwise, RPM will try to remove Junkbuster automatically, before installing Privoxy. - + -Debian +Debian FIXME. - + -Windows +Windows Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through @@ -225,20 +231,20 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not use the registry of Windows. - + -Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX +Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX Create a new directory, cd to it, then unzip and untar the archive. For the most part, you'll have to figure out where things go. FIXME. - + -OS/2 +OS/2 First, make sure that no previous installations of @@ -258,10 +264,10 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. The directory you choose to install Privoxy into will contain all of the configuration files. - + -Max OSX +Max OSX Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file in the finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then, @@ -273,10 +279,10 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. automatically on system bring-up via /System/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy. - + -AmigaOS +AmigaOS Copy and then unpack the lha archive to a suitable location. All necessary files will be installed into Privoxy @@ -292,7 +298,33 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that Privoxy is still running). + + + + +Building from Source + + + The most convenient way to obtain the Privoxy sources + is to download the source tarball from our project + page. + + + + If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using + possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute + version directly from the + CVS repository or simply download the nightly CVS + tarball. + + + +&buildsource; + + + @@ -301,14 +333,17 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. Note to Upgraders - There are very significant changes from older versions of - Junkbuster to the current - Privoxy. Configuration is substantially - changed. Junkbuster 2.0.x and earlier - configuration files will not migrate. The functionality of the old - blockfile, cookiefile and - imagelist, are now combined into the - actions files. + There are very significant changes from earlier + Junkbuster versions to the current + Privoxy. The number, names, syntax, and + purposes of configuration files have substantially changed. + Junkbuster 2.0.x configuration + files will not migrate, Junkbuster 2.9.x + and Privoxy configurations will need to be + ported. The functionalities of the old blockfile, + cookiefile and imagelist + are now combined into the actions + files. default.action, is the main actions file. Local exceptions should best be put into user.action. @@ -385,32 +420,68 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. - Install Privoxy. See the section Installing. + If upgrading, please back up any configuration files. See + the Note to Upgraders Section. + + + + Install Privoxy. See the Installation Section for platform specific + information. + - Start Privoxy. See the section Starting Privoxy. + Start Privoxy, if the installation program has + not done this already. See the section Starting + Privoxy. - Change your browser's configuration to use the proxy localhost on port - 8118. See the section Starting Privoxy. + Set your browser to use Privoxy as HTTP and HTTPS + proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of + 127.0.0.1 and port 8118. + (Junkbuster and earlier versions of + Privoxy used port 8000.) See the section Starting Privoxy. - Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. Please see the section - Contacting the Developers on how to report - bugs or problems with websites or to get help. You may want to change the - file user.action to further tweak your new browsing - experience. + Flush your browser's caches, to remove any cached ad images. - + + + + + Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. You may want to customize the + user.action file to + personalize your new browsing experience. See the Configuration section for more configuration + options, and how to further customize your installation. + + + + + + If you experience problems with sites that misbehave, see + the Anatomy of an Action section in the + Appendix. + + + + + + Please see the section Contacting the + Developers on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get + help. + + @@ -424,8 +495,8 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. Before launching Privoxy for the first time, you will want to configure your browser(s) to use Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is - localhost for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions used port - 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done! + 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions + used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done! @@ -435,7 +506,7 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process. For Internet Explorer: Tools -> Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting. Then, check Use Proxy and fill in the appropriate info (Address: - localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too. + 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too. @@ -759,8 +830,8 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the - actions list, which is where the ad, banner, cookie, - and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of + actions files, which is where the ad, banner, + cookie, and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of Privoxy. This is an easy way to adjust various aspects of Privoxy configuration. The actions file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail below. @@ -771,7 +842,8 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph have problems with your current actions and filters. You can in fact use it as a test to see whether it is Privoxy causing the problem or not. Privoxy continues - to run as a proxy in this case, but all filtering is disabled. There + to run as a proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e. + Privoxy acts like a normal forwarding proxy. There is even a toggle Bookmarklet offered, so that you can toggle Privoxy with one click from your browser. @@ -808,7 +880,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph - The main configuration file is named config + The main configuration file is named config on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and config.txt on Windows. This is a required file. @@ -816,25 +888,29 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph - default.action (the main actions file) is used to define - the default settings for various actions relating to images, banners, - pop-ups, access restrictions, banners and cookies. + default.action (the main actions file) + is used to define which actions relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups, + content modification, cookie handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many + exceptions (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable + Privoxy to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on + as many websites as possible. Multiple actions files may be defined in config. These are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally - preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in - default.action are probably best applied in - user.action, which should be preserved across - upgrades. standard.action is also included. This is mostly - for Privoxy's internal use. + preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in + default.action (which you will most propably want + to define sooner or later) are probably best applied in + user.action, where you can preserve them across + upgrades. standard.action is for + Privoxy's internal use. There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/ + url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status (Shortcut: http://p.p/show-status/) for the + url="http://p.p/show-status">http://p.p/show-status) for the various actions files. @@ -854,7 +930,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph All files use the # character to denote a - comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) angd understand line continuation + comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation through placing a backslash ("\") as the very last character in a line. If the # is preceded by a backslash, it looses its special function. Placing a # in front of an otherwise @@ -909,8 +985,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph - confdir /etc/privoxy - + confdir /etc/privoxy @@ -952,61 +1027,6 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph be modified, such as log files. -user-manual - - - Specifies: - - - Location of the Privoxy User Manual. - - - - - Type of value: - - A fully qualified URI - - - - Default value: - - http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/ - - - - Effect if unset: - - - The default will be used. - - - - - Notes: - - - The User Manual is used for help hints from some of the internal CGI pages. - It is normally packaged with the binary distributions, and would make more - sense to have this pointed at a locally installed copy. - - - A more useful example (Unix): - - -   user-manual  file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/ - - - - If this option is defined, it must come first! It is needed before the rest of - config is read. - - - - - - - confdir @@ -1106,14 +1126,14 @@ actionsfile Specifies: - The actions file(s) to use + The actions file(s) to use Type of value: - File name, relative to confdir + File name, relative to confdir, without the .action suffix @@ -1121,7 +1141,7 @@ actionsfile - standard # Internal purposes, recommended not editing + standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended default # Main actions file @@ -1192,7 +1212,7 @@ actionsfile No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all +filter{name} - actions in the actions files are turned off + actions in the actions files are turned neutral. @@ -1372,7 +1392,6 @@ actionsfile - @@ -1390,6 +1409,72 @@ actionsfile you, what you block and why you do that, your policies etc. +user-manual + + + Specifies: + + + Location of the Privoxy User Manual. + + + + + Type of value: + + A fully qualified URI + + + + Default value: + + Unset + + + + Effect if unset: + + + http://www.privoxy.org/version/user-manual/ + will be used, where version is the Privoxy version. + + + + + Notes: + + + The User Manual URI is used for help links from some of the internal CGI pages. + The manual itself is normally packaged with the binary distributions, so you propably want + to set this to a locally installed copy. For multi-user setups, you could provide a copy on + a local webserver for all your users and use the corresponding URL here. + + + Examples: + + + Unix, in local filesystem: + + + user-manual  file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/ + + + Any platform, on local webserver (called local-webserver): + + + user-manual  http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/ + + + + If set, this option should be the first option in the config file, because + it is used while the config file is being read. + + + + + + + trust-info-url @@ -1706,14 +1791,14 @@ actionsfile Default value: - localhost:8118 + 127.0.0.1:8118 Effect if unset: - Bind to localhost (127.0.0.1), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for + Bind to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for home users who run Privoxy on the same machine as their browser. @@ -1969,8 +2054,9 @@ ACLs: permit-access and deny-access Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems administrators, and are not usually needed by individual users. For a typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that - Privoxy only listens on the localhost or internal (home) - network address by means of the listen-address option. + Privoxy only listens on the localhost + (127.0.0.1) or internal (home) network address by means of the + listen-address option. Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a substitute @@ -2571,7 +2657,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a The actions files are used to define what actions - Privoxy takes for which URLs, and thus determines + Privoxy takes for which URLs, and thus determine how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There are three such files included with Privoxy (as of @@ -2585,7 +2671,9 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a standard.action - is used by the web based editor, to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section in default.action. These have increasing levels of - aggressiveness. It is not recommend to edit this file. + aggressiveness and have no influence on your browsing unless + you select them explicitly in the editor. It is not recommend + to edit this file. @@ -2618,11 +2706,18 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - An actions file typically has sections. Near the top, aliases are - optionally defined (discussed below), then the default set of rules - which will apply universally to all sites and pages. And then below that, - exceptions to the defined universal policies. + An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use + aliases in an actions file, you have to place the (optional) + alias section at the top of that file. + Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all + sites and pages (be very careful with using such a + universal set in user.action or any other actions file after + default.action, because it will override the result + from consulting any previous file). And then below that, + exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard + user.action as an appendix to default.action, + with the advantage that is a separate file, which makes preserving your + personal settings across Privoxy upgrades easier. @@ -2630,7 +2725,8 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking - fooled, and much more. See below for a complete list of actions. + fooled, and much more. See below for a complete list + of actions. @@ -2661,14 +2757,18 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a How to Edit - The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by + The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from http://config.privoxy.org/show-status. + The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a + per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like + Cautious, Medium or Advanced. If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the - the actions files. + the actions files. Look at default.action which is richly + commented. @@ -2686,7 +2786,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is - compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the list of + compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not, @@ -2697,7 +2797,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - You can trace this process by visiting http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info. @@ -2708,7 +2808,7 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - + Patterns Generally, a pattern has the form <domain>/<path>, @@ -2905,73 +3005,84 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a +, and turned off if preceded with a -. So a - +action means do that action, e.g. - +block means please block the following URL - patterns. + +action means do that action, e.g. + +block means please block URLs that match the + following patterns, and -block means don't + block URLs that match the following patterns, even if +block + previously applied. + + + + + Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and + separated by whitespace, like in + {+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}, + followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply. + Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section + of the actions file. - Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly braces (e.g. - {+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs (or patterns that match URLs) to - which the action applies. There are three classes of actions: + There are three classes of actions: - - Boolean, i.e the action can only be on or - off. Examples: - + Boolean, i.e the action can only be enabled or + disabled. Syntax: + - - - - {+name} # enable this action - {-name} # disable this action - - - + + +name # enable action name + -name # disable action name + + + Example: +block - Parameterized, e.g. +/-hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }, - where some value is required in order to enable this type of action. - Examples: + Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action. + Syntax: + + + + +name{param} # enable action and set parameter to param, + # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary + -name # disable action. The parameter can be omitted - - - - {+name{param}} # enable action and set parameter to param - {-name} # disable action (parameter) can be omitted - - - + Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action, + the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored. + + + Example: +hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 } - - Multi-value, e.g. {+/-add-header{Name: value}} or - {+/-send-wafer{name=value}}), where some value needs to be defined - in addition to simply enabling the action. Examples: + Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions, + but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the + same URL, but with different parameters, all the parameters + from all matches are remembered. This is used for actions + that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple + headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax: - - - - {+name{param=value}} # enable action and set param to value - {-name{param=value}} # remove the parameter param completely - {-name} # disable this action totally and remove param too - - - + + +name{param} # enable action and add param to the list of parameters + -name{param} # remove the parameter param from the list of parameters + # If it was the last one left, disable the action. + -name # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list + + + Examples: +add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text} and + +filter{html-annoyances} @@ -2994,12 +3105,12 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in config (the default installation has three actions files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than - one action! + one pattern and thus more than one set of actions! - The list of valid Privoxy actions are: + The list of valid Privoxy actions are: @@ -3013,45 +3124,44 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a -<emphasis>+add-header</emphasis> +<emphasis>add-header</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Multi-value. + Confuse log analysis, custom applications - + - Typical uses: + Effect: - Send a user defined HTTP header to the web server. + Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server. - Possible values: + Type: + - - Any value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked. - + Multi-value. - Example usage: + Parameter: - - {+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}} - .example.com - + + Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked. + It is recommended that you use the X- prefix + for custom headers. + - + Notes: @@ -3063,175 +3173,215 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a + + + Example usage: + + + +add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks} + + + -<emphasis>+block</emphasis> +<emphasis>block</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + Block ads or other obnoxious content - Typical uses: + Effect: - Used to block a URL from reaching your browser. The URL may be - anything, but is typically used to block ads or other obnoxious - content. + Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the requests are not + forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with a substitute page or image, + as determined by the handle-as-image + and set-image-blocker actions. - Possible values: + Type: + - N/A + Boolean. - + - Example usage: + Parameter: - - {+block} - .banners.example.com - .ads.r.us - + N/A - + Notes: - If a URL matches one of the blocked patterns, Privoxy - will intercept the URL and display its special BLOCKED page - instead. If there is sufficient space, a large red banner will appear with - a friendly message about why the page was blocked, and a way to go there - anyway. If there is insufficient space a smaller BLOCKED - page will appear without the red banner. - Click here - to view the default blocked HTML page (Privoxy must be running - for this to work as intended!). + Privoxy sends a special BLOCKED page + for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request + was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the + force feature enabled). The BLOCKED page adapts to the available + screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or minaturized and text-only + if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using Privoxy + right now, you can take a look at the + BLOCKED + page. - - A very important exception is if the URL matches both - +block and +handle-as-image, - then it will be handled by - +set-image-blocker - (see below). It is important to understand this process, in order - to understand how Privoxy is able to deal with - ads and other objectionable content. + A very important exception occurs if both + block and handle-as-image, + apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If + set-image-blocker + (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter, + if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent. - The +filter - action can also perform some of the - same functionality as +block, but by virtue of very - different programming techniques, and is most often used for different - reasons. + It is important to understand this process, in order + to understand how Privoxy deals with + ads and other unwanted content. + + The filter + action can perform a very similar task, by blocking + banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the + document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place. + Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two. + + + + + + Example usage (section): + + + {+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page +.nasty-stuff.example.com + +{+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image +.ad.doubleclick.net +.ads.r.us + + - - -<emphasis>+deanimate-gifs</emphasis> + +<emphasis>crunch-incoming-cookies</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Parameterized. + + Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system + - Typical uses: + Effect: - To stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images. + Deletes any Set-Cookie: HTTP headers from server replies. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: - last or first + N/A - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+deanimate-gifs{last}} - .example.com - + + This action is only concerned with incoming cookies. For + outgoing cookies, use + crunch-outgoing-cookies. + Use both to disable cookies completely. + + + It makes no sense at all to use this action in conjunction + with the session-cookies-only action, + since it would prevent the session cookies from being set. + - Notes: + Example usage: - De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last frame. - This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If - the option first is given, the first frame of the animation - is used as the replacement. If last is given, the last - frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for - most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire - last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame). + +crunch-incoming-cookies - + - -<emphasis>+downgrade-http-version</emphasis> + +<emphasis>crunch-outgoing-cookies</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + + Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system + - Typical uses: + Effect: - +downgrade-http-version will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to - HTTP/1.0 and downgrade the responses as well. + Deletes any Cookie: HTTP headers from client requests. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: N/A @@ -3240,23 +3390,27 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+downgrade-http-version} - .example.com - + + This action is only concerned with outgoing cookies. For + incoming cookies, use + crunch-incoming-cookies. + Use both to disable cookies completely. + + + It makes no sense at all to use this action in conjunction + with the session-cookies-only action, + since it would prevent the session cookies from being read. + - Notes: + Example usage: - Use this action for servers that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that - Privoxy doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1 is - only partially implemented. Default is not to downgrade requests. This is - an infrequently needed action, and is used to help with rare problem sites only. + +crunch-outgoing-cookies @@ -3264,698 +3418,767 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a + - -<emphasis>+fast-redirects</emphasis> + +<emphasis>deanimate-gifs</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images. - Typical uses: + Effect: - The +fast-redirects action enables interception of - redirect requests from one server to another, which - are used to track users.Privoxy can cut off - all but the last valid URL in a redirect request and send a local redirect - back to your browser without contacting the intermediate site(s). + De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image. - Possible values: + Type: + - - N/A - + Parameterized. - + - Example usage: + Parameter: - - {+fast-redirects} - .example.com - + + last or first + - + Notes: - - Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they - will link to some script on their own server, giving the destination as a - parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs - resulting from this scheme typically look like: - http://some.place/some_script?http://some.where-else. - - Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the - URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable, - since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go - to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your - browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds - the advertisers. + This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If + the option first is given, the first frame of the animation + is used as the replacement. If last is given, the last + frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for + most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire + last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame). - This is a normally on feature, and often requires exceptions - for sites that are sensitive to defeating this mechanism. + You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF + objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like + a GIF. + + Example usage: + + + +deanimate-gifs{last} + + + - - -<emphasis>+filter</emphasis> + +<emphasis>downgrade-http-version</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Parameterized. + Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1 - Typical uses: + Effect: - Apply page filtering as defined by named sections of the - default.filter file to the specified site(s). - Filtering can be any modification of the raw - page content, including re-writing or deletion of content. + Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: - +filter must include the name of one of the section identifiers - from default.filter (or whatever - filterfile is specified in config). + N/A - - Example usage (from the current default.filter): + + Notes: - - - - +filter{html-annoyances}: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse. - - - - - - +filter{js-annoyances}: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse - - - - - - +filter{content-cookies}: Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content - - - - - - +filter{popups}: Kill all popups in JS and HTML - - - - - - +filter{frameset-borders}: Give frames a border and make them resizable - - - - - - +filter{webbugs}: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking) - - - - - - +filter{refresh-tags}: Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups) - - - - - - +filter{fun}: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun! - - - - - - +filter{nimda}: Remove Nimda (virus) code. - - - - - - +filter{banners-by-size}: Kill banners by size (very efficient!) - - - - - - +filter{shockwave-flash}: Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects - - - - - - +filter{crude-parental}: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez" - - + + This is a left-over from the time when Privoxy + didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the + unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server + out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there + is a chance you might need this action. + - Notes: + Example usage (section): - - This is potentially a very powerful feature! And requires a knowledge - of regular expressions if you want to roll your own. - Filtering operates on a line by line basis throughout the entire page. - - - Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to - slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has - passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way - since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more - noticeable on slower connections. - - - Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the - +block - action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. In the overall - scheme of things, filtering is one of the first things Privoxy - does with a web page. So other most other actions are applied to the - already filtered page. - + + {+downgrade-http-version} +problem-host.example.com + - - -<emphasis>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</emphasis> + +<emphasis>fast-redirects</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links - Typical uses: + Effect: - Block any existing X-Forwarded-for HTTP header, and do not add a new one. + Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests. - Possible values: + Type: + - - N/A - + Boolean. - + - Example usage: + Parameter: - - {+hide-forwarded-for-headers} - .example.com - + + N/A + Notes: + + Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they + will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a + parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs + resulting from this scheme typically look like: + http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?target=http://some.where.else. + - It is fairly safe to leave this on. It does not seem to break many sites. + Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the + URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable, + since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go + to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your + browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds + the advertisers. + + + This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement. + It is likely to break some sites. There is a bunch of exceptions to this action in + default.action, should you decide to turn it on by default. + + Example usage: + + + {+fast-redirects} + + + + - -<emphasis>+hide-from-header</emphasis> + +<emphasis>filter</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Parameterized. + Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc. - Typical uses: + Effect: - To block the browser from sending your email address in a From: - header. + Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action applies, are filterd on-the-fly + through the specified regular expression based substitutions. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Parameterized. + + + + + Parameter: - Keyword: block, or any user defined value. + The name of a filter, as defined in the filter file + (typically default.filter, set by the + filterfile + option in the config file) - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+hide-from-header{block}} - .example.com - + + For your convenience, there are a bunch of pre-defined filters available + in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the example below for + a list. + + + This is potentially a very powerful feature! But rolling your own + filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML. + + + Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to + slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has + passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way + since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more + noticeable on slower connections. + + + At this time, Privoxy cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed + documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that + would normally be sent compressed, use the + prevent-compression + action in conjuction with filter. + + + Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the + block + action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. + + + Feedback with suggestions for new or improved filters is particularly + welcome! + - Notes: + Example usage (with filters from the distribution default.filter file): - The keyword block will completely remove the header - (not to be confused with the +block action). - Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to send to the web - server. + + +filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse. + + + + +filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse + + + + +filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size (very efficient!) + + + + +filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content + + + + +filter{popups} # Kill all popups in JS and HTML + + + + +filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking) + + + + +filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun! + + + + +filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizable + + + + +filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups) + + + + +filter{nimda} # Remove Nimda (virus) code. + + + + +filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects + + + + +filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez" - - -<emphasis>+hide-referer</emphasis> - + +<emphasis>handle-as-image</emphasis> + - Type: - + Typical use: - Parameterized. + Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images if they get blocked) - Typical uses: + Effect: - Don't send the Referer: (sic) HTTP header to the web site. - Or, alternately send a forged header instead. + This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images. + If the block action also applies, + the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML blocked + page, or a replacement image (as determined by the set-image-blocker action) will be sent to the + client as a substitute for the blocked content. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: - Prevent the header from being sent with the keyword, block. - Or, forge a URL to one from the same server as the request. - Or, set to user defined value of your choice. + N/A - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+hide-referer{forge}} - .example.com - + + The below generic example section is actually part of default.action. + It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should + be left intact. + + + Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with + block, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't + reflect the file type, like in the second example section. + + + Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (inline) ad + frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly. + Forcing handle-as-image in this situation will not replace the + ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages. + - Notes: + Example usage (sections): - forge is the preferred option here, since some servers will - not send images back otherwise. + # Generic image extensions: +# +{+handle-as-image} +/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$ + +# These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be +# blocked as images: +# +{+block +handle-as-image} +some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi?output=trash + +# Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content? +ad.doubleclick.net + - - +hide-referrer is an alternate spelling of - +hide-referer. It has the exact same parameters, and can be freely - mixed with, +hide-referer. (referrer is the - correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it - requires it to be spelled as referer.) - - - -<emphasis>+hide-user-agent</emphasis> + +<emphasis>hide-forwarded-for-headers</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Parameterized. + Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request - Typical uses: + Effect: - To change the User-Agent: header so web servers can't tell - your browser type. Who's business is it anyway? + Deletes any existing X-Forwarded-for: HTTP header from client requests, + and prevents adding a new one. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: - Any user defined string. + N/A - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}} - .msn.com - + + It is fairly safe to leave this on. + + + This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged + X-Forwarded-for: headers using random IP addresses from a specified network, + to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different + users sharing the same proxy. + - Notes: + Example usage: - - Warning! This breaks many web sites that depend on this in order - to determine how the target browser will respond to various - requests. Use with caution. + + +hide-forwarded-for-headers - + - -<emphasis>+handle-as-image</emphasis> + +<emphasis>hide-from-header</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address - Typical uses: + Effect: - To define what Privoxy should treat - automatically as an image, and is an important ingredient of how - ads are handled. + Deletes any existing From: HTTP header, or replaces it with the + specified string. - Possible values: + Type: + - - N/A - + Parameterized. - + - Example usage: + Parameter: - - {+handle-as-image} - /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico) - + + Keyword: block, or any user defined value. + - + Notes: - This only has meaning if the URL (or pattern) also is - +blocked, in which case a user definable image can - be sent rather than a HTML page. This is integral to the whole concept of - ad blocking: the URL must match both a +block rule, - and +handle-as-image. - (See +set-image-blocker - below for control over what will actually be displayed by the browser.) + The keyword block will completely remove the header + (not to be confused with the block + action). + + + Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web + server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that + is actually used by a real person. - There is little reason to change the default definition for this action. + This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send + From: headers anymore. + + Example usage: + + + +hide-from-header{block} or + +hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com} + + + - -<emphasis>+set-image-blocker</emphasis> - + +<emphasis>hide-referrer</emphasis> + - Type: - + Typical use: - Parameterized. + Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site - Typical uses: + Effect: - Decide what to do with URLs that end up tagged with both - +block - and +handle-as-image, - e.g an advertisement. + Deletes the Referer: (sic) HTTP header from the client request, + or replaces it with a forged one. - Possible values: + Type: + - - There are four available options: -set-image-blocker will send a HTML - blocked page, usually resulting in a broken - image icon. - +set-image-blocker{blank} will send a - 1x1 transparent GIF image. - +set-image-blocker{pattern} will send a - checkerboard type pattern (the default). And finally, - +set-image-blocker{http://xyz.com} will - send a HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the - advantage of the icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed - up the display. - + Parameterized. - + - Example usage: + Parameter: - - {+set-image-blocker{blank}} - .example.com - + + + block to delete the header completely. + + + forge to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to. + + + Any other string to set a user defined referrer. + + - + Notes: - If you want invisible ads, they need to meet - criteria as matching both images and blocked - actions. And then, image-blocker should be set to - blank for invisibility. Note you cannot treat HTML pages as - images in most cases. For instance, frames require an HTML page to - display. So a frame that is an ad, typically cannot be treated as an image. - Forcing an image in this situation just will not work - reliably. + forge is the preferred option here, since some servers will + not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable + content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded + by their banners. + + hide-referer is an alternate spelling of + hide-referrer and the two can be can be freely + substituted with each other. (referrer is the + correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it + requires it to be spelled as referer.) + + + Example usage: + + + +hide-referrer{forge} or + +hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/} + + + + - -<emphasis>+limit-connect</emphasis> + +<emphasis>hide-user-agent</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Parameterized. + Conceal your type of browser and client operating system - Typical uses: + Effect: - By default, Privoxy only allows HTTP CONNECT - requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use - +limit-connect to disable this altogether, or to allow - more ports. + Replaces the value of the User-Agent: HTTP header + in client requests with the specified value. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Parameterized. + + + + + Parameter: - Any valid port number, or port number range. + Any user-defined string. - Example usages: + Notes: - - - - - +limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified. - +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK. - +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK. - - + + Warning! This breaks many web sites that in order to customize their + content for the different browser types depend on looking + at this header (which, btw, is NOT a smart way to + do that!). + + + Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever diffrerent types of + browsers will access the same Privoxy is + not recommended. In single-user, single-browser + setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from + the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your + OS. + + + This action is scheduled for improvement. + + - Notes: + Example usage: - The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites - (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply: the proxy connects - to the server on the specified port, and then short-circuits its - connections to the client and to the remote proxy. - This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be - abused as TCP relays very easily. - - - If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to forbid - CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list of ports and - port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum defaulting to 0 and - max to 65K). - - - If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to - change this one. - + +hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)} + - + - -<emphasis>+prevent-compression</emphasis> + +<emphasis>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows - Typical uses: + Effect: - Prevent the specified websites from compressing HTTP data. + While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens + pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: N/A @@ -3964,124 +4187,167 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+prevent-compression} - .example.com - + + This action is easily confused with a built-in harwired filter + action, but there are important differences: For kill-popups, + the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while + downloading. But kill-popups doesn't catch as many pop-ups as + filter{popups} does. + + + Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you + can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make + sense to combine it with any filter action, + since as soon as one filter applies, + the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of + the kill-popups action over it's filter equivalent. + + + Killing all pop-ups is a dangerous business. Many shops and banks rely on + pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and killing only the unwanted pop-ups + would require artificial intelligance in Privoxy. + If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those + really nasty windows that appear when you close an other + one), you might want to use + filter{js-annoyances} instead. + + + - Notes: + Example usage: - - Some websites do this, which can be a problem for - Privoxy, since - +filter, - +kill-popups - and +gif-deanimate - will not work on compressed data. This will slow down connections to those - websites, though. Default typically is to turn - prevent-compression on. - + +kill-popups - + - -<emphasis>+session-cookies-only</emphasis> + +<emphasis>limit-connect</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + Prevent abuse of Privoxy as a TCP relay - Typical uses: + Effect: - Allow cookies for the current browser session only. + Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable. - Possible values: + Type: + - - N/A - + Parameterized. - + - Example usage (disabling): + Parameter: - - {-session-cookies-only} - .example.com - + + A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum + defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K). + - + Notes: - If websites set cookies, +session-cookies-only will make sure - they are erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes - profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so - that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all - sites, and is the recommended setting. + By default, i.e. if no limit-connect action applies, + Privoxy only allows HTTP CONNECT + requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use + limit-connect if more fine-grained control is desired + for some or all destinations. - +prevent-*-cookies actions should be turned off as well (see - below), for +session-cookies-only to work. Or, else no cookies - will get through at all. For, persistent cookies that survive - across browser sessions, see below as well. - + The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites + (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply: + the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then + short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server. + This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be + abused as TCP relays very easily. + + + If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to + change this one, since the default is already very restrictive. + + + Example usages: + + + + + + +limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified. ++limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK. ++limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK. ++limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK (gaping security hole!) + + + - - -<emphasis>+prevent-reading-cookies</emphasis> + +<emphasis>prevent-compression</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + + Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be + passed through filters + - Typical uses: + Effect: - Explicitly prevent the web server from reading any cookies on your - system. + Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: N/A @@ -4090,28 +4356,45 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+prevent-reading-cookies} - .example.com - + + More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which + is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the filter, deanimate-gifs + and kill-popups actions to work, + Privoxy needs access to the uncompressed data. + Unfortunately, Privoxy can't yet(!) uncompress, filter, and + re-compress the content on the fly. So if you want to ensure that all websites, including + those that normally compress, can be filtered, you need to use this action. + + + This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any of the above-mentioned + actions, you will typically want to use prevent-compression in conjunction + with them. + + + Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed + documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you use prevent-compression + per default, you'll have to add exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that. + - Notes: + Example usage (sections): - Often used in conjunction with +prevent-setting-cookies to - disable cookies completely. Note that - +session-cookies-only - requires these to both be disabled (or else it never gets any cookies to cache). - - - For persistent cookies to work (i.e. they survive across browser - sessions and reboots), all three cookie settings should be off - for the specified sites. + # Set default: +# +{+prevent-compression} +/ # Match all sites + +# Make exceptions for ill sites: +# +{-prevent-compression} +www.debianhelp.org +www.pclinuxonline.com @@ -4121,30 +4404,39 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - -<emphasis>+prevent-setting-cookies</emphasis> + +<emphasis>send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + + Feed log analysis scripts with useless data. + - Typical uses: + Effect: - Explicitly block the web server from storing cookies on your - system. + Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright + on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + + + Parameter: N/A @@ -4153,21 +4445,22 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+prevent-setting-cookies} - .example.com - + + The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you. + + + This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration. + - Notes: + Example usage: - Often used in conjunction with +prevent-reading-cookies to - disable cookies completely (see above). + +send-vanilla-wafer @@ -4177,93 +4470,105 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - -<emphasis>+kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popups"></emphasis> + +<emphasis>send-wafer</emphasis> + - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + + Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data. + - Typical uses: + Effect: - Stop those annoying JavaScript pop-up windows! + Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request. - Possible values: + Type: + + + Multi-value. + + + + + Parameter: - N/A + A string of the form name=value. - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+kill-popups} - .example.com - + + Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request, + resulting in multiple cookies being sent. + + + This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration. + - - Notes: + Example usage (section): - +kill-popups uses a built in filter to disable pop-ups - that use the window.open() function, etc. This is - one of the first actions processed by Privoxy - as it contacts the remote web server. This action is not always 100% reliable, - and is supplemented by +filter{popups}. - - - - -<emphasis>+send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis> + +<emphasis>session-cookies-only</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Boolean. + + Allow only temporary session cookies (for the current browser session only). + - Typical uses: + Effect: - Sends a cookie for every site stating that you do not accept any copyright - on cookies sent to you, and asking them not to track you. + Deletes the expires field from Set-Cookie: server headers. + Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between sessions. + + Type: + + + Boolean. + + + - Possible values: + Parameter: N/A @@ -4272,68 +4577,112 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a - Example usage: + Notes: - - {+send-vanilla-wafer} - .example.com - + + This is less strict than crunch-incoming-cookies / + crunch-outgoing-cookies and allows you to browse + websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly. + + + Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by + session-cookies-only and will forget about them between sessions. + This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so + that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all + sites, and is the recommended setting. + + + It makes no sense at all to use session-cookies-only + together with crunch-incoming-cookies or + crunch-outgoing-cookies. If you do, cookies + will be plainly killed. + + + Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an expires + field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure. + - Notes: + Example usage: - This action only applies if you are using a jarfile - for saving cookies. Of course, this is a (relatively) unique header and - could conceivably be used to track you. + +session-cookies-only - - -<emphasis>+send-wafer</emphasis> + +<emphasis>set-image-blocker</emphasis> - Type: - + Typical use: - Multi-value. + Choose the replacement for blocked images - Typical uses: + Effect: - This allows you to send an arbitrary, user definable cookie. + This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If both + block and handle-as-image also + apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image, + then the parameter of this action decides what will be + sent as a replacement. - Possible values: + Type: + - - User specified cookie name and corresponding value. - + Parameterized. - + - Example usage: - - - {+send-wafer{name=value}} - .example.com - + Parameter: + + + + + pattern to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually + decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted. + + + + + blank to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear + completely, but makes it hard to detect where Privoxy has blocked + images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if Privoxy + has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons. + + + + + target-url to + send a redirect to target-url. You can redirect + to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via file:/// URL). + + + A good application of redirects is to use special Privoxy-built-in + URLs, which send the built-in images, as target-url. + This has the same visual effect as specifying blank or pattern in + the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting + it over and over again. + + + @@ -4341,12 +4690,41 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a Notes: - This can be specified multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you - like. + The URLs for the built-in images are http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=type, where type is + either blank or pattern. + + + There is a third (advanced) type, called auto. It is NOT to be + used in set-image-blocker, but meant for use from filters. + Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image. + + Example usage: + + + Built-in pattern: + + + +set-image-blocker{pattern} + + + Redirect to the BSD devil: + + + +set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif} + + + Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching: + + + +set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern} + + + @@ -4364,13 +4742,124 @@ forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a actions. + + + + +Aliases + + Custom actions, known to Privoxy + as aliases, can be defined by combining other actions. + These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions. + Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab, + =, + { and }, but we strongly + recommend that you only use a to z, + 0 to 9, +, and -. + Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a + + or - sign, since they are merely textually + expanded. + + + Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they must be + defined in a special section at the top of the file! + And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may + have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible + within that file. + + + There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently + used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you + decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called + shop, you can later change your policy on shops in + one place, and your changes will take effect everywhere + in the actions file where the shop alias is used. Calling aliases + by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable. + + + Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though: + Privoxy's built-in web-based action file + editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands + them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved, + but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases + with it. + This is likely to change in future versions of Privoxy. + + + + Now let's define some aliases... + + + + + # Useful custom aliases we can use later. + # + # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section + # must be at the top of the actions file! + # + {{alias}} + + # These aliases just save typing later: + # + +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies + -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies + +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image + + # These aliases define combinations of actions + # that are useful for certain types of sites: + # + fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups + shop = -crunch-all-cookies -fast-redirects + + # Aliases defined from other aliases, for really lazy people ;-) + # + c0 = +crunch-all-cookies + c1 = -crunch-all-cookies + + + + ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an + actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further + up for the / pattern): + + + + # These sites are either very complex or very keen on + # user data and require minimal interference to work: + # + {fragile} + .office.microsoft.com + .windowsupdate.microsoft.com + .nytimes.com + + # Shopping sites: + # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data) + # + {shop} + .quietpc.com + .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com + .scan.co.uk + + # These shops require pop-ups: + # + {shop -kill-popups -filter{popups}} + .dabs.com + .overclockers.co.uk + + + + Aliases like shop and fragile are often used for + problem sites that require some actions to be disabled + in order to function properly. + + - + Sample Actions Files - Remember that the meaning of any of the above references is reversed by preceding + Remember that the meaning of each action is reversed by preceding the action with a -, in place of the +. Also, that some actions are turned on in the default section of the actions file, and require little to no additional configuration. These are just on. @@ -4411,29 +4900,39 @@ for-privoxy-version=3.0 # defined they can be used just like any built-in action -- but within # this file only! Aliases do not require a + or - sign. ########################################################################## +{{alias}} # Some useful aliases. # Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested. - -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies \ +# +mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies \ -session-cookies-only # Alias to both block and treat as if an image for ad blocking # purposes. - +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image - -# Fragile sites should have the minimum changes: - fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \ - -prevent-cookies -kill-popups +# ++block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image # Shops should be allowed to set persistent cookies - shop = -filter -prevent-cookies -session-cookies-only +# +shop = -filter mercy-for-cookies +# Fragile sites should receive minimum interference: +# +fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \ + mercy-for-cookies -kill-popups ########################################################################## -# Begin default action settings. Anything in this section will match -# all URLs -- UNLESS we have exceptions that also match, defined below this -# section. We will show all potential actions here whether they are on -# or off. We could omit any disabled action if we wanted, since all +# Matching starts here. Remember that at this time, all actions are +# disabled, so we need to explicitly enable the ones we want. +# +# We begin with "default" action settings, i.e. we define a set of actions +# for a pattern ("/") that matches all URLs. This default set will be +# applied to all requests as a start, and can be partly or wholly overridden +# by later matches further down this file, or in user.action. +# +# We will show all potential actions here whether they are enabled +# or not. We could omit any disabled action if we wanted, since all # actions are 'off' by default anyway. Shown for completeness only. # Actions are enabled if preceded by a '+', otherwise they are disabled # (unless an alias has been defined without this). @@ -4464,8 +4963,8 @@ for-privoxy-version=3.0 -limit-connect \ +prevent-compression \ -session-cookies-only \ - -prevent-reading-cookies \ - -prevent-setting-cookies \ + -crunch-outgoing-cookies \ + -crunch-incoming-cookies \ -kill-popups \ -send-vanilla-wafer \ -send-wafer \ @@ -4603,20 +5102,20 @@ for-privoxy-version=3.0 # Any aliases you want to use need to be re-defined here. # Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested. - -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies \ - -session-cookies-only + -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies \ + -session-cookies-only # Fragile sites should have the minimum changes: fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \ - -prevent-cookies -kill-popups + -crunch-all-cookies -kill-popups # Allow persistent cookies for a few regular sites that we # trust via our above alias. These will be saved from one browser session # to the next. We are explicity turning off any and all cookie handling, -# even though the prevent-*-cookie settings were disabled in our above +# even though the crunch-*-cookies settings were disabled in our above # default.action anyway. So cookies from these domains will come through # unmolested. - { -prevent-cookies } + { -crunch-all-cookies } .sun.com .yahoo.com .msdn.microsoft.com @@ -4647,98 +5146,12 @@ for-privoxy-version=3.0 - - - - -Aliases - - Custom actions, known to Privoxy - as aliases, can be defined by combining other actions. - These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions. - Currently, an alias can contain any character except space, tab, =, - { or }. But please use only a- - z, 0-9, +, and - -. Alias names are not case sensitive, and - must be defined before other actions in the - actions file! And there can only be one set of aliases - defined per file. Each actions file may have its own aliases, but they are - only visible within that file. Aliases do not requir a + or - - sign in front, since they are merely expanded. - - - - Now let's define a few aliases: - - - - - - - # Useful custom aliases we can use later. These must come first! - {{alias}} - +prevent-cookies = +prevent-setting-cookies +prevent-reading-cookies - -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies - fragile = -block -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups - shop = -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects - +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image - - # Aliases defined from other aliases, for people who don't like to type - # too much: ;-) - c0 = +prevent-cookies - c1 = -prevent-cookies - #... etc. Customize to your heart's content. - - - - - - - Some examples using our shop and fragile - aliases from above. These would appear in the lower sections of an - actions file as exceptions to the default actions (as defined in the - upper section): - - - - - - - # These sites are very complex and require - # minimal interference. - {fragile} - .office.microsoft.com - .windowsupdate.microsoft.com - .nytimes.com - - # Shopping sites - but we still want to block ads. - {shop} - .quietpc.com - .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com - .scan.co.uk - # These shops require pop-ups also - {shop -kill-popups} - .dabs.com - .overclockers.co.uk - - - - - - - The shop and fragile aliases are often used for - problem sites that require most actions to be disabled - in order to function properly. - - - - @@ -4916,16 +5329,22 @@ Requests + + -Copyright and History +<application>Privoxy</application> Copyright, License and History -Copyright ©right; - + +License + + &license; + + @@ -4938,6 +5357,9 @@ Requests + + + See Also @@ -5456,7 +5878,7 @@ Requests First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then filtered as deterimed by the - +prevent-setting-cookies, + +crunch-incoming-cookies, +session-cookies-only, and +downgrade-http-version actions. @@ -5577,8 +5999,8 @@ Requests +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect - +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies - -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer } + +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -crunch-outgoing-cookies + -crunch-incoming-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer } / { -session-cookies-only } @@ -5647,8 +6069,8 @@ Requests +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect - +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies - -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer + +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -crunch-outgoing-cookies + -crunch-incoming-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer @@ -5715,8 +6137,8 @@ Requests +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal} +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{blank} - +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-setting-cookies - -prevent-reading-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer } + +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -crunch-incoming-cookies + -crunch-outgoing-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer } / { +block +handle-as-image } @@ -5831,6 +6253,41 @@ Requests Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. $Log: user-manual.sgml,v $ + Revision 1.110 2002/05/14 19:10:45 oes + Restored alphabetical order of actions + + Revision 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes + Renamed the prevent-*-cookies actions, extended aliases section and moved it before the example AFs + + Revision 1.108 2002/05/14 15:29:12 oes + Completed proofreading the actions chapter + + Revision 1.107 2002/05/12 03:20:41 hal9 + Small clarifications for 127.0.0.1 vs localhost for listen-address since this + apparently an important distinction for some OS's. + + Revision 1.106 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9 + This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs + are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright + changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ). + + Revision 1.105 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9 + Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs. + + Revision 1.104 2002/05/04 08:44:45 swa + bumped version + + Revision 1.103 2002/05/04 00:40:53 hal9 + -Remove the TOC first page kludge. It's fixed proper now in ldp.dsl.in. + -Some minor additions to Quickstart. + + Revision 1.102 2002/05/03 17:46:00 oes + Further proofread & reactivated short build instructions + + Revision 1.101 2002/05/03 03:58:30 hal9 + Move the user-manual config directive to top of section. Add note about + Privoxy needing read permissions for configs, and write for logs. + Revision 1.100 2002/04/29 03:05:55 hal9 Add clarification on differences of new actions files.