4. Quickstart to + Using Privoxy
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Install Privoxy. See the Installation Section below for platform + specific information.
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Advanced users and those who want to offer Privoxy service to more than just their local + machine should check the main config file, + especially the security-relevant options. These are + off by default.
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Start Privoxy, if the + installation program has not done this already (may vary according to + platform). See the section Starting + Privoxy.
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Set your browser to use Privoxy + as HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) proxy + by setting the proxy configuration for address of 127.0.0.1 and port 8118. + DO NOT activate proxying + for FTP or any protocols besides HTTP and + HTTPS (SSL) unless you intend to prevent your browser from using + these protocols.
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Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached + ad images. If using Privoxy to + manage cookies, you should remove any currently stored cookies + too.
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A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point + for most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to + adjust the configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need + arises. Little to no initial configuration is required in most cases, + you may want to enable the web-based action editor though. Be sure to read the + warnings first.
+ +See the Configuration section for + more configuration options, and how to customize your installation. + You might also want to look at the next section for a quick + introduction to how Privoxy blocks + ads and banners.
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If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are + blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune Privoxy's behavior, take a look at the actions files. As a quick start, you might + find the richly commented + examples helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files + through the web-based user interface. The Appendix "Troubleshooting: Anatomy + of an Action" has hints on how to understand and debug + actions that "misbehave".
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Please see the section Contacting the + Developers on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to + get help.
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Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
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4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking
+ +Ad blocking is but one of Privoxy's + array of features. Many of these features are for the technically + minded advanced user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common + ground for everybody.
+ +This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so you can + get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive + information provided below, though this is highly recommended.
+ +First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking + SPAM: the more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to + block things that were not intended. And the more likely that some + things may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you + want extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more + "problem" sites, and to spend more time + adjusting the configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In + short, there is not an easy way to eliminate all ads. Either take the easy way and + settle for most ads blocked + with the default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your + personal surfing habits and preferences.
+ +Secondly, a brief explanation of Privoxy's "actions". + "Actions" in this context, are the + directives we use to tell Privoxy to + perform some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We + tell Privoxy to take some "action". Each action has a unique name and function. + While there are many potential actions + in Privoxy's arsenal, only a few are + used for ad blocking. Actions, + and action configuration files, are + explained in depth below.
+ +Actions are specified in Privoxy's + configuration, followed by one or more URLs to which the action should + apply. URLs can actually be URL type patterns that use wildcards so they + can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The actions, together + with the URL patterns are called a section.
+ +When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or + more of the sections as defined in Privoxy's configuration, or not. If so, then + Privoxy will perform the respective + actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web pages + may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will use to + load additional components of the page, as it parses the original + page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL embedded + in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server, or a + server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many + such embedded URLs. Privoxy can deal + with each URL individually, so, for instance, the main page text is not + touched, but images from such-and-such server are blocked.
+ +The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: block, handle-as-image, + handle-as-empty-document,and + set-image-blocker:
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block - this is perhaps the + single most used action, and is particularly important for ad + blocking. This action stops any contact between your browser and + any URL patterns that match this action's configuration. It can be + used for blocking ads, but also anything that is determined to be + unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any communication with the + remote server and sends Privoxy's + own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened + (with some exceptions, see below).
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handle-as-image - + tells Privoxy to treat this URL as + an image. Privoxy's default + configuration already does this for all common image types (e.g. + GIF), but there are many situations where this is not so easy to + determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly + important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image + of some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, + instead of the Privoxy BLOCKED + page (which would only result in a "broken + image" icon). There are some limitations to this though. For + instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for an + entire HTML page in most situations.
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handle-as-empty-document + - sends an empty document instead of Privoxy's normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is + useful for file types that are neither HTML nor images, such as + blocking JavaScript files.
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set-image-blocker - + tells Privoxy what to display in + place of an ad image that has hit a block rule. For this to come + into play, the URL must match a block action somewhere in the + configuration, and, it + must also match an handle-as-image + action.
+ +The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad + are:
+ ++ +
+ ++ + +pattern - a checkerboard + pattern, so that an ad replacement is obvious. This is the + default. ++ +
+ ++ + +blank - A very small empty GIF + image is displayed. This is the so-called "invisible" configuration option. ++ +
++ + +http://<URL> - A redirect + to any image anywhere of the user's choosing (advanced + usage). +
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Advanced users will eventually want to explore Privoxy filters as well. Filters are very + different from blocks. A "block" blocks a site, page, or unwanted contented. + Filters are a way of filtering or modifying what is actually on the + page. An example filter usage: a text replacement of "no-no" for "nasty-word". + That is a very simple example. This process can be used for ad + blocking, but it is more in the realm of advanced usage and has some + pitfalls to be wary off.
+ +The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your + browser through the special Privoxy + editor at http://config.privoxy.org/show-status (shortcut: http://p.p/show-status). This is an + internal page, and does not require Internet access.
+ +Note that as of Privoxy 3.0.7 beta + the action editor is disabled by default. Check the enable-edit-actions + section in the configuration file to learn why and in which cases + it's safe to enable again.
+ +If you decided to enable the action editor, select the appropriate + "actions" file, and click "Edit". It is best to put + personal or local preferences in user.action + since this is not meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will + over-ride the settings in other files. Here you can insert new + "actions", and URLs for ad blocking or other + purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration. Privoxy will detect these changes + automatically.
+ +A quick and simple step by step example:
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Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select + "Copy Link + Location" from the pop-up menu.
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Set your browser to http://config.privoxy.org/show-status
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Find user.action in the top section, + and click on "Edit":
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You should have a section with only block listed under "Actions:". If not, click a "Insert new section + below" button, and in the new section that just + appeared, click the Edit button + right under the word "Actions:". This + will bring up a list of all actions. Find block near the + top, and click in the "Enabled" column, + then "Submit" just below the list.
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Now, in the block actions section, click the + "Add" + button, and paste the URL the browser got from "Copy Link + Location". Remove the http:// at the beginning of the URL. Then, click + "Submit" + (or "OK" + if in a pop-up window).
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Now go back to the original page, and press SHIFT-Reload (or flush all browser caches). The image + should be gone now.
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This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons + to use a wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images + from the same site. For a more extensive explanation of "patterns", and the entire actions concept, see the Actions section.
+ +For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you + might want to now go to the Actions Files Tutorial. The ideas + explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
+ +There are also various filters that can be used for ad blocking + (filters are a special subset of actions). These fall into the + "advanced" usage category, and are explained + in depth in later sections.
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