1 <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN" [
2 <!entity % dummy "IGNORE">
3 <!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
4 <!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
5 <!entity p-intro SYSTEM "privoxy.sgml">
6 <!entity seealso SYSTEM "seealso.sgml">
7 <!entity buildsource SYSTEM "buildsource.sgml">
8 <!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
9 <!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
10 <!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
11 <!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
12 <!entity p-authors SYSTEM "p-authors.sgml">
13 <!entity config SYSTEM "p-config.sgml">
14 <!entity p-version "3.0.7">
15 <!entity p-status "stable">
16 <!entity % p-authors-formal "INCLUDE"> <!-- include additional text, etc -->
17 <!entity % p-not-stable "IGNORE">
18 <!entity % p-stable "INCLUDE">
19 <!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
20 <!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
21 <!entity % p-readme "IGNORE">
22 <!entity % user-man "IGNORE">
23 <!entity % config-file "IGNORE">
24 <!entity % p-supp-userman "IGNORE"> <!-- Omit some from supported.sgml -->
25 <!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
26 <!entity % draft "IGNORE"> <!-- WIP stuff -->
27 <!entity my-app "<application>Privoxy</application>">
30 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml,v $
33 This file belongs into
34 ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
36 $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.30 2007/04/25 15:10:36 fabiankeil Exp $
38 Copyright (C) 2001-2007 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
41 ========================================================================
42 NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
43 anything in this, or other Privoxy documentation.
44 ========================================================================
51 <title>Privoxy &p-version; User Manual</title>
55 <!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
56 <!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
57 <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001 - 2007 by
58 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
62 <pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.30 2007/04/25 15:10:36 fabiankeil Exp $</pubdate>
66 Note: the following should generate a separate page, and a live link to it,
67 all nicely done. But it doesn't for some mysterious reason. Please leave
68 commented unless it can be fixed proper. For the time being, the
69 copyright/license declarations will be in their own sgml.
82 This is here to keep vim syntax file from breaking :/
83 If I knew enough to fix it, I would.
84 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE! HB: hal@foobox.net
90 The <citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> gives users information on how to
91 install, configure and use <ulink
92 url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
95 <!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
97 <!-- end privoxy.sgml -->
100 You can find the latest version of the <citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> at <ulink
101 url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
102 Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> on how to
103 contact the developers.
107 <!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
113 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
114 <sect1 label="1" id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
116 This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
117 <application>Privoxy</application>, v.&p-version;<![%p-not-stable;[,
118 and is mostly complete at this point. The most up to date reference for the
119 time being is still the comments in the source files and in the individual
120 configuration files. Development of a new version is currently nearing
121 completion, and includes significant changes and enhancements over
122 earlier versions. ]]>.
125 <!-- include only in non-stable versions -->
128 Since this is a &p-status; version, not all new features are well tested. This
129 documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with
130 CVS sources). And there <emphasis>may be</emphasis> bugs, though hopefully
135 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
136 <sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
138 In addition to the core
139 features of ad blocking and
140 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookie</ulink> management,
141 <application>Privoxy</application> provides many supplemental
142 features<![%p-not-stable;[, some of them currently under development]]>,
143 that give the end-user more control, more privacy and more freedom:
145 <!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
147 <!-- end boilerplate -->
152 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
155 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
156 <sect1 id="installation"><title>Installation</title>
159 <application>Privoxy</application> is available both in convenient pre-compiled
160 packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code.
161 For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our
162 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project
168 On some platforms, the installer may remove previously installed versions, if
169 found. (See below for your platform). In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup
170 your old configuration if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> See the <link
171 linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link> section below.
174 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
175 <sect2 id="installation-packages"><title>Binary Packages</title>
177 How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
180 <!-- XXX: The installation sections should be sorted -->
182 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
183 <sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat and Fedora RPMs</title>
186 RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
187 and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location
188 of configuration files.
192 Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
193 <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
194 need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
195 <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods.
199 If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM:
200 <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm</literal>. This
201 will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version.
205 Also note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
206 on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
207 Otherwise, RPM will try to remove <application>Junkbuster</application>
208 automatically if found, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
212 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
213 <sect3 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian</title>
215 DEBs can be installed with <literal>apt-get install privoxy</literal>,
216 and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location of
221 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
222 <sect3 id="installation-pack-win"><title>Windows</title>
225 Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
226 the installation process. You will find the configuration files
227 in the same directory as you installed <application>Privoxy</application> in.
230 Version 3.0.4 introduced full <application>Windows</application> service
231 functionality. On Windows only, the <application>Privoxy</application>
232 program has two new command line arguments to install and uninstall
233 <application>Privoxy</application> as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>.
237 <term>Arguments:</term>
240 <replaceable class="parameter">--install</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
243 <replaceable class="parameter">--uninstall</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
249 After invoking <application>Privoxy</application> with
250 <command>--install</command>, you will need to bring up the
251 <application>Windows</application> service console to assign the user you
252 want <application>Privoxy</application> to run under, and whether or not you
253 want it to run whenever the system starts. You can start the
254 <application>Windows</application> services console with the following
255 command: <command>services.msc</command>. If you do not take the manual step
256 of modifying <application>Privoxy's</application> service settings, it will
257 not start. Note too that you will need to give Privoxy a user account that
258 actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
259 write to its log and configuration files.
264 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
265 <sect3 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris, NetBSD, HP-UX</title>
268 Create a new directory, <literal>cd</literal> to it, then unzip and
269 untar the archive. For the most part, you'll have to figure out where
270 things go. <!-- FIXME, more info needed? -->
274 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
275 <sect3 id="installation-os2"><title>OS/2</title>
278 First, make sure that no previous installations of
279 <application>Junkbuster</application> and / or
280 <application>Privoxy</application> are left on your
281 system. Check that no <application>Junkbuster</application>
282 or <application>Privoxy</application> objects are in
288 Then, just double-click the WarpIN self-installing archive, which will
289 guide you through the installation process. A shadow of the
290 <application>Privoxy</application> executable will be placed in your
291 startup folder so it will start automatically whenever OS/2 starts.
295 The directory you choose to install <application>Privoxy</application>
296 into will contain all of the configuration files.
300 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
301 <sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Mac OSX</title>
303 Unzip the downloaded file (you can either double-click on the file
304 from the finder, or from the desktop if you downloaded it there).
305 Then, double-click on the package installer icon named
306 <literal>Privoxy.pkg</literal>
307 and follow the installation process.
308 <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the folder
309 <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal>.
310 It will start automatically whenever you start up. To prevent it from
311 starting automatically, remove or rename the folder
312 <literal>/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
315 To start Privoxy by hand, double-click on
316 <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> in the
317 <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder.
318 Or, type this command in the Terminal:
322 /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
326 You will be prompted for the administrator password.
330 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
331 <sect3 id="installation-amiga"><title>AmigaOS</title>
333 Copy and then unpack the <filename>lha</filename> archive to a suitable location.
334 All necessary files will be installed into <application>Privoxy</application>
335 directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just
336 remove this directory.
340 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
341 <sect3 id="installation-tbz"><title>FreeBSD</title>
344 Privoxy is part of FreeBSD's Ports Collection, you can build and install
345 it with <literal>cd /usr/ports/www/privoxy; make install clean</literal>.
348 If you don't use the ports, you can fetch and install
349 the package with <literal>pkg_add -r privoxy</literal>.
352 The port skeleton and the package can also be downloaded from the
353 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">File Release
354 Page</ulink>, but if you're interested in stable releases only you don't
355 gain anything by using them.
359 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
360 <sect3 id="installattion-gentoo"><title>Gentoo</title>
362 Gentoo source packages (Ebuilds) for <application>Privoxy</application> are
363 contained in the Gentoo Portage Tree (they are not on the download page,
364 but there is a Gentoo section, where you can see when a new
365 <application>Privoxy</application> Version is added to the Portage Tree).
368 Before installing <application>Privoxy</application> under Gentoo just do
369 first <literal>emerge rsync</literal> to get the latest changes from the
370 Portage tree. With <literal>emerge privoxy</literal> you install the latest
374 Configuration files are in <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename>, the
375 documentation is in <filename>/usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;</filename>
376 and the Log directory is in <filename>/var/log/privoxy</filename>.
382 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
383 <sect2 id="installation-source"><title>Building from Source</title>
386 The most convenient way to obtain the <application>Privoxy</application> sources
387 is to download the source tarball from our
388 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118&package_id=10571">project download
393 If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
394 possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
395 version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
396 CVS repository</ulink>.
398 deprecated...out of business.
399 or simply download <ulink
400 url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.bz2">the nightly CVS
405 <!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
407 <!-- end boilerplate -->
410 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
411 <sect2 id="installation-keepupdated"><title>Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date</title>
413 As user feedback comes in and development continues, we will make updated versions
414 of both the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link> (as a <ulink
415 url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118&release_id=103670">separate
416 package</ulink>) and the software itself (including the actions file) available for
421 If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
422 <application>Privoxy</application> or the actions file, <ulink
423 url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/">subscribe
424 to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
428 In order not to lose your personal changes and adjustments when updating
429 to the latest <literal>default.action</literal> file we <emphasis>strongly
430 recommend</emphasis> that you use <literal>user.action</literal> and
431 <literal>user.filter</literal> for your local
432 customizations of <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
433 linkend="actions-file">Chapter on actions files</link> for details.
441 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
443 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
444 <sect1 id="whatsnew">
445 <title>What's New in this Release</title>
447 There are many improvements and new features since <application>Privoxy 3.0.6</application>, the last stable release:
454 Header filtering can be done with dedicated header filters now. As a result
455 the actions <q>filter-client-headers</q> and <q>filter-server-headers</q>
456 that were introduced with <application>Privoxy 3.0.5</application> to apply
457 the content filters to the headers as, well have been removed again.
461 <!-- pre-3.0.6 changes:
464 There are a number of new <link linkend="actions-file">actions</link>:
472 <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite</link></literal>
477 <literal><link linkend="crunch-client-header">crunch-client-header</link></literal>
482 <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>
487 <literal><link linkend="crunch-server-header">crunch-server-header</link></literal>
492 <literal><link linkend="filter-client-headers">filter-client-headers</link></literal>
497 <literal><link linkend="filter-server-headers">filter-server-headers</link></literal>
502 <literal><link linkend="force-text-mode">force-text-mode</link></literal>
507 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal>
512 <literal><link linkend="hide-accept-language">hide-accept-language</link></literal>
517 <literal><link linkend="hide-content-disposition">hide-content-disposition</link></literal>
522 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
527 <literal><link linkend="inspect-jpegs">inspect-jpegs</link></literal>
532 <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>
537 <literal><link linkend="redirect">redirect</link></literal>
542 <literal><link linkend="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link></literal>
549 In addition, <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects</link></literal>
550 has been significantly improved with enhanced syntax.
553 And <literal><link linkend="hide-referrer">hide-referrer</link></literal>
554 has a new option, <literal>conditional block</literal>.
561 <application>MS-Windows</application> versions can now be
563 linkend="installation-pack-win">installed and
564 started as a <emphasis>Windows service</emphasis></link>.
570 <filename>config</filename> has two new options:
572 linkend="enable-remote-http-toggle">enable-remote-http-toggle</link>,
574 linkend="forwarded-connect-retries">forwarded-connect-retries</link>.
577 And there is improved handling of the <link
578 linkend="user-manual">user-manual</link>
579 option, for placing documentation and help files on the local system.
585 There are six new <link linkend="FILTER">filters</link>.
591 Actions files problems and suggestions are now being directed to:
592 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288</ulink>.
593 Please use this to report such configuration related problems as missed
594 ads, sites that don't function properly due to one action or another,
595 innocent images being blocked, etc.
601 In addition, there are numerous bug fixes and significant enhancements,
602 including error pages should no longer be cached if the problem is fixed,
603 much better DNS error handling, various logging improvements, and
604 configuration updates for better ad blocking and junk elimination.
612 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
614 <sect2 id="upgradersnote">
615 <title>Note to Upgraders</title>
618 A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading from earlier
619 versions of <application>Privoxy</application>:
627 Some installers may remove earlier versions completely, including
628 configuration files. Save any important configuration files!
633 On the other hand, other installers may not overwrite any existing configuration
634 files, thinking you will want to do that. You may want to manually check
635 your saved files against the newer versions to see if the improvements have
636 merit, or whether there are new options that you may want to consider.
637 There are a number of new features, but most won't be available unless
638 these features are incorporated into your configuration somehow.
643 See the full documentation on
644 <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects</link></literal>
645 which has changed syntax, and will require adjustments to local configs,
646 such as <filename>user.action</filename>. You must reference the new
651 { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
660 The <filename>jarfile</filename>,
661 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookie</ulink> logger, is off by default now.
667 What constitutes a <quote>default</quote> configuration has changed,
668 and you may want to review which actions are <quote>on</quote> by
669 default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
670 you may have been used to, may now be <quote>off</quote> by default.
671 There are also a number of new actions and filters you may want to
672 consider, most of which are not fully incorporated into the default
673 settings as yet (see above).
679 The default actions setting is now <literal>Cautious</literal>. Previous
680 releases had a default setting of <literal>Medium</literal>. Experienced
681 users may want to adjust this, as it is fairly conservative by &my-app;
682 standards and past practices. See <ulink
683 url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
684 http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>. New users
685 should try the default settings for a while before turning up the volume.
691 The default setting has filtering turned <emphasis>off</emphasis>, which
692 subsequently means that compression is <emphasis>on</emphasis>. Remember
693 that filtering does not work on compressed pages, so if you use, or want to
694 use, filtering, you will need to force compression off. Example:
698 { +<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{google} +<link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link> }
702 Or if you use a number of filters, or filter many sites, you may just want
703 to turn off compression for all sites in
704 <filename>default.action</filename> (or
705 <filename>user.action</filename>).
712 Also, <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> is
713 off by default now. If you've liked this feature in the past, you may want
714 to turn it back on in <filename>user.action</filename> now.
721 <!-- I think it is best to keep this somewhat vague, in case -->
722 <!-- the situation changes under our feet. -->
723 Some installers may not automatically start
724 <application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
734 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
735 <sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using Privoxy</title>
741 Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
742 linkend="installation">Installation Section</link> below for platform specific
749 Advanced users and those who want to offer <application>Privoxy</application>
750 service to more than just their local machine should check the <link
751 linkend="config">main config file</link>, especially the <link
752 linkend="access-control">security-relevant</link> options. These are
759 Start <application>Privoxy</application>, if the installation program has
760 not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
761 <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
767 Set your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application> as HTTP and
768 HTTPS (SSL) <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>
769 by setting the proxy configuration for address of
770 <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> and port <literal>8118</literal>.
771 <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> activate proxying for <literal>FTP</literal> or
772 any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)! It won't work!
778 Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
779 If using <application>Privoxy</application> to manage
780 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
781 you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
787 A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
788 most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
789 configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
790 to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
793 See the <link linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more
794 configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
795 You might also want to look at the <link
796 linkend="quickstart-ad-blocking">next section</link> for a quick
797 introduction to how <application>Privoxy</application> blocks ads and
804 If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
805 blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
806 <application>Privoxy's</application> behavior, take a look at the <link
807 linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>. As a quick start, you might
808 find the <link linkend="act-examples">richly commented examples</link>
809 helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <ulink
810 url="http://config.privoxy.org">web-based user interface</ulink>. The
811 Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
812 Action</link></quote> has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
813 <quote>misbehave</quote>.
819 For easy access to &my-app;'s most important controls, drag the provided
820 <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklets</link> into your browser's
827 Please see the section <link linkend="contact">Contacting the
828 Developers</link> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
835 Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
843 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
845 <sect2 id="quickstart-ad-blocking">
846 <title>Quickstart to Ad Blocking</title>
848 NOTE: This section is deliberately redundant for those that don't
849 want to read the whole thing (which is getting lengthy).
852 Ad blocking is but one of <application>Privoxy's</application>
853 array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
854 user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.
857 This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
858 you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
859 information provided below, though this is highly recommended.
862 First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
863 more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
864 things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
865 may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
866 extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
867 <quote>problem</quote> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
868 configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
869 not an easy way to eliminate <emphasis>all</emphasis> ads. Either take
870 the easy way and settle for <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads blocked with the
871 default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
872 habits and preferences.
875 Secondly, a brief explanation of <application>Privoxy's </application>
876 <quote>actions</quote>. <quote>Actions</quote> in this context, are
877 the directives we use to tell <application>Privoxy</application> to perform
878 some task relating to WWW transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
879 <application>Privoxy</application> to take some <quote>action</quote>. Each
880 action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
881 <application>actions</application> in <application>Privoxy's</application>
882 arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <link
883 linkend="actions">Actions</link>, and <link linkend="actions-file">action
884 configuration files</link>, are explained in depth below.
887 Actions are specified in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
888 followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
889 can actually be URL type <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> that use
890 wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
891 actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.
894 When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
895 of the sections as defined in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
896 or not. If so, then <application>Privoxy</application> will perform the
897 respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
898 pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
899 use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
900 original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
901 embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
902 or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
903 such embedded URLs. &my-app; can deal with each URL individually, so, for
904 instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
909 The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <literal><link
910 linkend="block">block</link></literal>, <literal><link
911 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
913 linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal>,and
914 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>:
922 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> - this is perhaps
923 the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
924 This action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns
925 that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads,
926 but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply
927 stops any communication with the remote server and sends
928 <application>Privoxy</application>'s own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
929 let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
935 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> -
936 tells <application>Privoxy</application> to treat this URL as an image.
937 <application>Privoxy</application>'s default configuration already does this
938 for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
939 is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
940 important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
941 some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
942 <application>Privoxy</application> BLOCKED page (which would only result in
943 a <quote>broken image</quote> icon). There are some limitations to this
944 though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
945 an entire HTML page in most situations.
951 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> -
952 sends an empty document instead of <application>Privoxy's</application>
953 normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
954 HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
961 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> - tells
962 <application>Privoxy</application> what to display in place of an ad image that
963 has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
964 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action somewhere in the
965 configuration, <emphasis>and</emphasis>, it must also match an
966 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action.
969 The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
973 <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
974 replacement is obvious. This is the default.
979 <emphasis>blank</emphasis> - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
980 This is the so-called <quote>invisible</quote> configuration option.
985 <emphasis>http://<URL></emphasis> - A redirect to any image anywhere
986 of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
995 The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
996 the special <application>Privoxy</application> editor at <ulink
997 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
998 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>). This
999 is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
1000 appropriate <quote>actions</quote> file, and click
1001 <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>. It is best to put personal or
1002 local preferences in <filename>user.action</filename> since this is not
1003 meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
1004 other files. Here you can insert new <quote>actions</quote>, and URLs for ad
1005 blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
1006 <application>Privoxy</application> will detect these changes automatically.
1010 A quick and simple step by step example:
1018 Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
1019 <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote> from the
1027 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1032 Find <filename>user.action</filename> in the top section, and click
1033 on <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>:
1036 <!-- image of editor and actions files selections -->
1038 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Actions Files in Use</title>
1041 <imagedata fileref="files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
1044 <phrase>[ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]</phrase>
1053 You should have a section with only
1054 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> listed under
1055 <quote>Actions:</quote>.
1056 If not, click a <quote><guibutton>Insert new section below</guibutton></quote>
1057 button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
1058 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button right under the word <quote>Actions:</quote>.
1059 This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
1060 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> near the top, and click
1061 in the <quote>Enabled</quote> column, then <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote>
1062 just below the list.
1067 Now, in the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> actions section,
1068 click the <quote><guibutton>Add</guibutton></quote> button, and paste the URL the
1069 browser got from <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote>.
1070 Remove the <literal>http://</literal> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
1071 <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote> (or
1072 <quote><guibutton>OK</guibutton></quote> if in a pop-up window).
1077 Now go back to the original page, and press <keycap>SHIFT-Reload</keycap>
1078 (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
1086 This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
1087 wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
1088 site. For a more extensive explanation of <quote>patterns</quote>, and
1089 the entire actions concept, see <link linkend="actions-file">the Actions
1094 For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
1095 to now go to the <link linkend="act-examples">Actions Files Tutorial</link>.
1096 The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
1099 There are also various
1100 <link linkend="filter">filters</link> that can be used for ad blocking
1101 (filters are a special subset of actions). These
1102 fall into the <quote>advanced</quote> usage category, and are explained in
1103 depth in later sections.
1110 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1113 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1114 <sect1 id="startup">
1115 <title>Starting Privoxy</title>
1117 Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
1118 will want to configure your browser(s) to use
1119 <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
1120 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>. The default is
1121 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions
1122 used port 8000). This is the one configuration step <emphasis>that must be done
1126 Please note that <application>Privoxy</application> can only proxy HTTP and
1127 HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other protocols.
1130 <!-- image of Mozilla Proxy configuration -->
1132 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
1133 Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) Settings</title>
1136 <imagedata fileref="proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
1139 <phrase>[ Screenshot of Mozilla Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
1147 With <application>Firefox</application>, this is typically set under:
1151 <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>General</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
1156 Or optionally on some platforms:
1160 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>General</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
1166 With <application>Netscape</application> (and
1167 <application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under:
1172 <!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
1173 <!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
1174 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton> -> <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
1179 For <application>Internet Explorer v.5-6</application>:
1183 <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Internet Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connections</guibutton> -> <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
1187 Then, check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info
1188 (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS
1189 proxy support too (sometimes labeled <quote>Secure</quote>). Make sure any
1190 checkboxes like <quote>Use the same proxy server for all protocols</quote> is
1191 <emphasis>UNCHECKED</emphasis>. You want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
1194 <!-- image of IE Proxy configuration -->
1196 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
1197 Internet Explorer HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings</title>
1200 <imagedata fileref="proxy2.jpg" format="jpg">
1203 <phrase>[ Screenshot of IE Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
1211 After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
1212 re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. Remove
1213 any <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
1214 if you want <application>Privoxy</application> to manage that. You are now
1215 ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
1216 <application>Privoxy</application>!
1220 <application>Privoxy</application> itself is typically started by specifying the
1221 main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
1222 file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
1223 will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
1224 directory. Except on Win32 where it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>.
1227 <sect2 id="start-redhat">
1228 <title>Red Hat and Fedora</title>
1230 A default Red Hat installation may not start &my-app; upon boot. It will use
1231 the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
1236 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
1244 # service privoxy start
1249 <sect2 id="start-debian">
1250 <title>Debian</title>
1252 We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts &my-app; upon booting per
1253 default. It will use the file
1254 <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
1259 # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
1265 omitting 10/31/06 HB
1267 <sect2 id="start-suse">
1270 We use a script. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename>
1271 as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting
1281 <sect2 id="start-windows">
1282 <title>Windows</title>
1284 Click on the &my-app; Icon to start <application>Privoxy</application>. If no configuration file is
1285 specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
1286 for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
1287 automatically start &my-app; when the system starts if you chose that option
1291 <application>Privoxy</application> can run with full Windows service functionality.
1292 On Windows only, the &my-app; program has two new command line arguments
1293 to install and uninstall &my-app; as a service. See the
1294 <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Windows Installation
1295 instructions</link> for details.
1299 <sect2 id="start-unices">
1300 <title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</title>
1302 Example Unix startup command:
1306 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
1311 <sect2 id="start-os2">
1314 During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
1315 start automatically when the system restarts. You can start it manually by
1316 double-clicking on the <application>Privoxy</application> icon in the
1317 <application>Privoxy</application> folder.
1321 <sect2 id="start-macosx">
1322 <title>Mac OSX</title>
1324 During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
1325 start automatically when the system restarts. To start &my-app; manually,
1326 double-click on the <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> icon in the
1327 <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder. Or, type this command
1332 /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
1336 You will be prompted for the administrator password.
1341 <sect2 id="start-amigaos">
1342 <title>AmigaOS</title>
1344 Start <application>Privoxy</application> (with RUN <>NIL:) in your
1345 <filename>startnet</filename> script (AmiTCP), in
1346 <filename>s:user-startup</filename> (RoadShow), as startup program in your
1347 startup script (Genesis), or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx).
1348 <application>Privoxy</application> will automatically quit when you quit your
1349 TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that
1350 <application>Privoxy</application> is still running).
1354 <sect2 id="start-gentoo">
1355 <title>Gentoo</title>
1357 A script is again used. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config
1358 </filename> as its main configuration file.
1362 /etc/init.d/privoxy start
1366 Note that <application>Privoxy</application> is not automatically started at
1367 boot time by default. You can change this with the <literal>rc-update</literal>
1372 rc-update add privoxy default
1380 See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
1384 must find a better place for this paragraph
1387 The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
1388 point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the
1389 <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions</quote></ulink> files. These are
1390 where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
1391 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several
1392 such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
1396 You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
1397 persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
1398 default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
1399 session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
1400 configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
1401 to edit <filename>user.action</filename> (or through the web based interface)
1402 and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
1403 more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
1404 case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
1408 Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
1409 sites is the popup-killing (through the <ulink
1410 url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink> and
1412 url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>
1413 actions), because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
1414 popups (explained below).
1418 <application>Privoxy</application> is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all of
1419 the optional 1.1 features are as yet supported. In the unlikely event that
1420 you experience inexplicable problems with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
1421 (like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
1422 try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
1423 Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
1424 Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> config option in
1425 <filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
1426 requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
1430 After running <application>Privoxy</application> for a while, you can
1431 start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site,
1432 preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can
1433 be customized. <quote>Actions</quote>
1434 can be adjusted by pointing your browser to
1435 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1436 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
1437 and then follow the link to <quote>View & Change the Current Configuration</quote>.
1438 (This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
1442 In fact, various aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
1443 configuration can be viewed from this page, including
1444 current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
1445 the browser's request headers, and <quote>actions</quote> that apply
1446 to a given URL. In addition to the actions file
1447 editor mentioned above, <application>Privoxy</application> can also
1448 be turned <quote>on</quote> and <quote>off</quote> (toggled) from this page.
1452 If you encounter problems, try loading the page without
1453 <application>Privoxy</application>. If that helps, enter the URL where
1454 you have the problems into <ulink url="http://p.p/show-url-info">the browser
1455 based rule tracing utility</ulink>. See which rules apply and why, and
1456 then try turning them off for that site one after the other, until the problem
1457 is gone. When you have found the culprit, you might want to turn the rest on
1462 If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <link
1463 linkend="actions-file">read more about the actions concept</link>
1464 or even dive deep into the <link linkend="actionsanat">Appendix
1469 If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
1470 Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
1471 section <link linkend="contact"><quote>Contacting the
1472 Developers</quote></link> below.
1477 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1478 <sect2 id="cmdoptions">
1479 <title>Command Line Options</title>
1481 <application>Privoxy</application> may be invoked with the following
1482 command-line options:
1490 <emphasis>--version</emphasis>
1493 Print version info and exit. Unix only.
1498 <emphasis>--help</emphasis>
1501 Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
1506 <emphasis>--no-daemon</emphasis>
1509 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
1510 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
1515 <emphasis>--pidfile FILE</emphasis>
1519 On startup, write the process ID to <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>. Delete the
1520 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> on exit. Failure to create or delete the
1521 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> is non-fatal. If no <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>
1522 option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
1527 <emphasis>--user USER[.GROUP]</emphasis>
1531 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
1532 <emphasis>USER</emphasis>, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
1533 privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
1538 <emphasis>--chroot</emphasis>
1542 Before changing to the user ID given in the <emphasis>--user</emphasis> option,
1543 chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the &my-app;
1544 process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
1545 the impact of possible vulnerabilities in &my-app; to the files contained in that hierarchy.
1551 <emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
1554 If no <emphasis>configfile</emphasis> is included on the command line,
1555 <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
1556 <quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
1557 where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
1558 full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
1559 <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
1567 On <application>MS Windows</application> only there are two additional
1568 command-line options to allow <application>Privoxy</application> to install and
1569 run as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>. See the
1570 <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Window Installation section</link>
1578 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1581 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1582 <sect1 id="configuration"><title>Privoxy Configuration</title>
1584 All <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is stored
1585 in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
1586 Many important aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> can
1587 also be controlled easily with a web browser.
1591 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1594 <title>Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser</title>
1596 <application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface can be reached through the special
1597 URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1598 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
1599 which is a built-in page and works without Internet access.
1600 You will see the following section:
1604 <!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
1607 <bridgehead renderas="sect2"> Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
1611 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View & change the current configuration</ulink>
1614 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">View the source code version numbers</ulink>
1617 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">View the request headers.</ulink>
1620 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">Look up which actions apply to a URL and why</ulink>
1623 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
1626 ▪ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/
1627 &p-version;/user-manual/">Documentation</ulink>
1635 This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
1636 <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, which is where the ad, banner,
1637 cookie, and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
1638 <application>Privoxy</application>. This is an easy way to adjust various
1639 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. The actions
1640 file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail below.
1644 <quote>Toggle Privoxy On or Off</quote> is handy for sites that might
1645 have problems with your current actions and filters. You can in fact use
1646 it as a test to see whether it is <application>Privoxy</application>
1647 causing the problem or not. <application>Privoxy</application> continues
1648 to run as a proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e.
1649 <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal forwarding proxy. There
1650 is even a toggle <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklet</link> offered, so
1651 that you can toggle <application>Privoxy</application> with one click from
1657 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1662 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1664 <sect2 id="confoverview">
1665 <title>Configuration Files Overview</title>
1667 For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
1668 <filename>/etc/privoxy/</filename> by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and
1669 AmigaOS these are all in the same directory as the
1670 <application>Privoxy</application> executable. <![%p-not-stable;[ The name
1671 and number of configuration files has changed from previous versions, and is
1672 subject to change as development progresses.]]>
1676 The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
1677 some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the
1678 principle configuration files are:
1686 The <link linkend="config">main configuration file</link> is named <filename>config</filename>
1687 on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and <filename>config.txt</filename>
1688 on Windows. This is a required file.
1694 <filename>default.action</filename> (the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>)
1695 is used to define which <quote>actions</quote> relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups,
1696 content modification, cookie handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many
1697 exceptions (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable
1698 <application>Privoxy</application> to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on
1699 as many websites as possible.
1702 Multiple actions files may be defined in <filename>config</filename>. These
1703 are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally
1704 preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
1705 <filename>default.action</filename> (which you will most probably want
1706 to define sooner or later) are probably best applied in
1707 <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can preserve them across
1708 upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is only for
1709 <application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
1712 There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
1714 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1716 url="http://p.p/show-status">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>) for the
1717 various actions files.
1723 <quote>Filter files</quote> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
1724 file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
1725 viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
1726 lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
1727 whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
1728 <filename>default.filter</filename> includes various filters made
1729 available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive than
1730 others, and all should be used with caution. You may define additional
1731 filter files in <filename>config</filename> as you can with
1732 actions files. We suggest <filename>user.filter</filename> for any
1733 locally defined filters or customizations.
1741 The syntax of all configuration files has remained the same throughout the
1742 3.x series. There have been enhancements, but no changes that would preclude
1743 the use of any configuration file from one version to the next. (There is
1744 one exception: <link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">+fast-redirects</link> which
1745 has enhanced syntax and will require updating any local configs from earlier
1750 All files use the <quote><literal>#</literal></quote> character to denote a
1751 comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
1752 through placing a backslash ("<literal>\</literal>") as the very last character
1753 in a line. If the <literal>#</literal> is preceded by a backslash, it looses
1754 its special function. Placing a <literal>#</literal> in front of an otherwise
1755 valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
1756 out" that line. Blank lines are ignored.
1760 The actions files and filter files
1761 can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
1762 maximum flexibility.
1766 After making any changes, there is no need to restart
1767 <application>Privoxy</application> in order for the changes to take
1768 effect. <application>Privoxy</application> detects such changes
1769 automatically. Note, however, that it may take one or two additional
1770 requests for the change to take effect. When changing the listening address
1771 of <application>Privoxy</application>, these <quote>wake up</quote> requests
1772 must obviously be sent to the <emphasis>old</emphasis> listening address.
1777 While under development, the configuration content is subject to change.
1778 The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this.
1779 Also, what constitutes a <quote>default</quote> setting, may change, so
1780 please check all your configuration files on important issues.
1786 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1789 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
1791 <!-- **************************************************** -->
1792 <!-- Include config.sgml here -->
1793 <!-- This is where the entire config file is detailed. -->
1795 <!-- end include -->
1798 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1802 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
1804 <sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
1807 The actions files are used to define what <emphasis>actions</emphasis>
1808 <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
1809 how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
1810 transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof).
1811 There are a number of such actions, with a wide range of functionality.
1812 Each action does something a little different.
1813 These actions give us a veritable arsenal of tools with which to exert
1814 our control, preferences and independence. Actions can be combined so that
1815 their effects are aggregated when applied against a given set of URLs.
1819 are three action files included with <application>Privoxy</application> with
1827 <filename>default.action</filename> - is the primary action file
1828 that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
1829 provide a base level of functionality for
1830 <application>Privoxy's</application> array of features. So it is
1831 a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well as-is for most users.
1832 This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and <link
1833 linkend="installation-keepupdated">making available to users</link>.
1834 The user's preferences as set in <filename>standard.action</filename>,
1835 e.g. either <literal>Cautious</literal> (the default),
1836 <literal>Medium</literal>, or <literal>Advanced</literal> (see
1842 <filename>user.action</filename> - is intended to be for local site
1843 preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
1844 has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
1845 thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
1850 <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used only by the web based editor
1851 at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
1852 http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>,
1853 to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
1854 in <filename>default.action</filename>.
1857 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Cautious</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Medium</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Advanced</guibutton>
1860 These have increasing levels of aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no
1861 influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the
1862 editor</emphasis>. A default installation should be pre-set to
1863 <literal>Cautious</literal> (versions prior to 3.0.5 were set to
1864 <literal>Medium</literal>). New users should try this for a while before
1865 adjusting the settings to more aggressive levels. The more aggressive
1866 the settings, then the more likelihood there is of problems such as sites
1867 not working as they should.
1870 The <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button allows you to turn each
1871 action on/off individually for fine-tuning. The <guibutton>Cautious</guibutton>
1872 button changes the actions list to low/safe settings which will activate
1873 ad blocking and a minimal set of &my-app;'s features, and subsequently
1874 there will be less of a chance for accidental problems. The
1875 <guibutton>Medium</guibutton> button sets the list to a medium level of
1876 other features and a low level set of privacy features. The
1877 <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> button sets the list to a high level of
1878 ad blocking and medium level of privacy. See the chart below. The latter
1879 three buttons over-ride any changes via with the
1880 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button. More fine-tuning can be done in the
1881 lower sections of this internal page.
1884 It is not recommend to edit the <filename>standard.action</filename> file
1888 The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
1889 <filename>standard.action</filename> are:
1892 <table frame=all><title>Default Configurations</title>
1893 <tgroup cols=4 align=left colsep=1 rowsep=1>
1894 <colspec colname=c1>
1895 <colspec colname=c2>
1896 <colspec colname=c3>
1897 <colspec colname=c4>
1900 <entry>Feature</entry>
1901 <entry>Cautious</entry>
1902 <entry>Medium</entry>
1903 <entry>Advanced</entry>
1908 <!-- <entry>f1</entry> -->
1909 <!-- <entry>f2</entry> -->
1910 <!-- <entry>f3</entry> -->
1911 <!-- <entry>f4</entry> -->
1917 <entry>Ad-blocking Aggressiveness</entry>
1918 <entry>medium</entry>
1924 <entry>Ad-filtering by size</entry>
1931 <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
1937 <entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
1938 <entry>blocks only</entry>
1939 <entry>blocks only</entry>
1940 <entry>blocks only</entry>
1944 <entry>Privacy Features</entry>
1946 <entry>medium</entry>
1947 <entry>medium/high</entry>
1951 <entry>Cookie handling</entry>
1953 <entry>session-only</entry>
1958 <entry>Referer forging</entry>
1966 <entry>GIF de-animation</entry>
1974 <entry>Fast redirects</entry>
1981 <entry>HTML taming</entry>
1988 <entry>JavaScript taming</entry>
1995 <entry>Web-bug killing</entry>
2002 <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
2018 The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
2019 file, and are processed in the order they are defined (e.g.
2020 <filename>default.action</filename> is typically processed before
2021 <filename>user.action</filename>). The content of these can all be viewed and
2023 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2024 The over-riding principle when applying actions, is that the last action that
2025 matches a given URL, wins. The broadest, most general rules go first
2026 (defined in <filename>default.action</filename>),
2027 followed by any exceptions (typically also in
2028 <filename>default.action</filename>), which are then followed lastly by any
2029 local preferences (typically in <emphasis>user</emphasis><filename>.action</filename>).
2030 Generally, <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word.
2034 An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
2035 <quote>aliases</quote> in an actions file, you have to place the (optional)
2036 <link linkend="aliases">alias section</link> at the top of that file.
2037 Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all
2038 sites and pages (be <emphasis>very careful</emphasis> with using such a
2039 universal set in <filename>user.action</filename> or any other actions file after
2040 <filename>default.action</filename>, because it will override the result
2041 from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
2042 exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
2043 <filename>user.action</filename> as an appendix to <filename>default.action</filename>,
2044 with the advantage that is a separate file, which makes preserving your
2045 personal settings across <application>Privoxy</application> upgrades easier.
2049 Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
2050 just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
2051 or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
2052 written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
2053 fooled, and much more. See below for a <link linkend="actions">complete list
2057 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2059 <title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
2061 Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
2062 or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
2063 techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
2064 certainly a matter of personal taste. And, things can always change, requiring
2065 refinements in the configuration. In general, it can be said that the more
2066 <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
2067 actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
2068 will have to make later. If, for example, you want to crunch all cookies per
2069 default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
2070 regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful purposes, like maybe
2071 your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
2075 We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
2076 distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
2077 things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
2078 Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).
2082 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2084 <title>How to Edit</title>
2086 The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
2087 using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
2088 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2089 The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a
2090 per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like
2091 <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or <quote>Advanced</quote>.
2092 Warning: the <quote>Advanced</quote> setting is more aggressive, and
2093 will be more likely to cause problems for some sites. Experienced users only!
2097 If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
2098 the actions files with your favorite text editor. Look at
2099 <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly commented with many
2105 <sect2 id="actions-apply">
2106 <title>How Actions are Applied to Requests</title>
2108 Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
2109 like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will
2110 be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a
2111 heading line (often split up to multiple lines for readability) which consist
2112 of a list of actions, separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces.
2113 Below that, there is a list of URL and tag patterns, each on a separate line.
2117 To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
2118 compared to all URL patterns in each <quote>action file</quote>.
2119 Every time it matches, the list of applicable actions for the request is
2120 incrementally updated, using the heading of the section in which the
2121 pattern is located. The same is done again for tags and tag patterns later on.
2125 If multiple applying sections set the same action differently,
2126 the last match wins. If not, the effects are aggregated.
2127 E.g. a URL might match a regular section with a heading line of <literal>{
2128 +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link> }</literal>,
2129 then later another one with just <literal>{
2130 +<link linkend="block">block</link> }</literal>, resulting
2131 in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply. And there may well be
2132 cases where you will want to combine actions together. Such a section then
2138 { +<literal>handle-as-image</literal> +<literal>block</literal> }
2139 # Block these as if they were images. Send no block page.
2141 media.example.com/.*banners
2142 .example.com/images/ads/</screen>
2146 You can trace this process for URL patterns and any given URL by visiting <ulink
2147 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
2151 Examples and more detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
2152 Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</link> section.
2156 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2157 <sect2 id="af-patterns">
2158 <title>Patterns</title>
2160 As mentioned, <application>Privoxy</application> uses <quote>patterns</quote>
2161 to determine what <emphasis>actions</emphasis> might apply to which sites and
2162 pages your browser attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild
2163 card type <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
2164 flexibility. This allows one expression to be expanded and potentially match
2165 against many similar patterns.
2169 Generally, a URL pattern has the form
2170 <literal><domain>/<path></literal>, where both the
2171 <literal><domain></literal> and <literal><path></literal> are
2172 optional. (This is why the special <literal>/</literal> pattern matches all
2173 URLs). Note that the protocol portion of the URL pattern (e.g.
2174 <literal>http://</literal>) should <emphasis>not</emphasis> be included in
2175 the pattern. This is assumed already!
2178 The pattern matching syntax is different for the domain and path parts of
2179 the URL. The domain part uses a simple globbing type matching technique,
2180 while the path part uses a more flexible
2181 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2182 Expressions (PCRE)</quote></ulink> based syntax.
2187 <term><literal>www.example.com/</literal></term>
2190 is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2191 regardless of which document on that server is requested. So ALL pages in
2192 this domain would be covered by the scope of this action. Note that a
2193 simple <literal>example.com</literal> is different and would NOT match.
2198 <term><literal>www.example.com</literal></term>
2201 means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <literal>/</literal> may
2207 <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html</literal></term>
2210 matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
2211 on <literal>www.example.com</literal>.
2216 <term><literal>/index.html</literal></term>
2219 matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
2220 i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server anywhere.
2225 <term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
2228 matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
2229 there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>. So its
2237 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2238 <sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
2241 The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
2242 domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
2248 <term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
2251 matches any domain that <emphasis>ENDS</emphasis> in
2252 <literal>.example.com</literal>
2257 <term><literal>www.</literal></term>
2260 matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
2261 <literal>www.</literal>
2266 <term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
2269 matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>.
2270 And, by the way, also included would be any files or documents that exist
2271 within that domain since no path limitations are specified. (Correctly
2272 speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as
2273 a domain.) This might be <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2274 <literal>news.example.de</literal>, or
2275 <literal>www.example.net/cgi/testing.pl</literal> for instance. All these
2283 Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
2284 themselves. These work similarly to shell globbing type wild-cards:
2285 <quote>*</quote> represents zero or more arbitrary characters (this is
2287 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2288 Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax of <quote>.*</quote>),
2289 <quote>?</quote> represents any single character (this is equivalent to the
2290 regular expression syntax of a simple <quote>.</quote>), and you can define
2291 <quote>character classes</quote> in square brackets which is similar to
2292 the same regular expression technique. All of this can be freely mixed:
2297 <term><literal>ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2300 matches <quote>adserver.example.com</quote>,
2301 <quote>ads.example.com</quote>, etc but not <quote>sfads.example.com</quote>
2306 <term><literal>*ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2309 matches all of the above, and then some.
2314 <term><literal>.?pix.com</literal></term>
2317 matches <literal>www.ipix.com</literal>,
2318 <literal>pictures.epix.com</literal>, <literal>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</literal> etc.
2323 <term><literal>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</literal></term>
2326 matches <literal>www1.example.com</literal>,
2327 <literal>www4.example.cc</literal>, <literal>wwwd.example.cy</literal>,
2328 <literal>wwwz.example.com</literal> etc., but <emphasis>not</emphasis>
2329 <literal>wwww.example.com</literal>.
2336 While flexible, this is not the sophistication of full regular expression based syntax.
2341 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2344 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2345 <sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
2348 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible (PCRE)
2349 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2350 Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax
2351 (through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
2352 matching the path portion (after the slash), and is thus more flexible.
2356 There is an <link linkend="regex">Appendix</link> with a brief quick-start into regular
2357 expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
2358 at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
2359 You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
2360 useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
2361 url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>.
2365 Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
2366 i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
2367 for the beginning of a line).
2371 Please also note that matching in the path is <emphasis>CASE INSENSITIVE</emphasis>
2372 by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
2373 <quote>(?-i)</quote> switch: <literal>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</literal> will match
2374 only documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
2375 <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
2380 <term><literal>.example.com/.*</literal></term>
2383 Is equivalent to just <quote>.example.com</quote>, since any documents
2384 within that domain are matched with or without the <quote>.*</quote>
2385 regular expression. This is redundant
2390 <term><literal>.example.com/.*/index.html</literal></term>
2393 Will match any page in the domain of <quote>example.com</quote> that is
2394 named <quote>index.html</quote>, and that is part of some path. For
2395 example, it matches <quote>www.example.com/testing/index.html</quote> but
2396 NOT <quote>www.example.com/index.html</quote> because the regular
2397 expression called for at least two <quote>/'s</quote>, thus the path
2398 requirement. It also would match
2399 <quote>www.example.com/testing/index_html</quote>, because of the
2400 special meta-character <quote>.</quote>.
2405 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)?index\.html</literal></term>
2408 This regular expression is conditional so it will match any page
2409 named <quote>index.html</quote> regardless of path which in this case can
2410 have one or more <quote>/'s</quote>. And this one must contain exactly
2411 <quote>.html</quote> (but does not have to end with that!).
2416 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)</literal></term>
2419 This regular expression will match any path of <quote>example.com</quote>
2420 that contains any of the words <quote>ads</quote>, <quote>banner</quote>,
2421 <quote>banners</quote> (because of the <quote>?</quote>) or <quote>junk</quote>.
2422 The path does not have to end in these words, just contain them.
2427 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)/.*\.(jpe?g|gif|png)$</literal></term>
2430 This is very much the same as above, except now it must end in either
2431 <quote>.jpg</quote>, <quote>.jpeg</quote>, <quote>.gif</quote> or <quote>.png</quote>. So this
2432 one is limited to common image formats.
2439 There are many, many good examples to be found in <filename>default.action</filename>,
2440 and more tutorials below in <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>.
2447 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2450 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2451 <sect3 id="tag-pattern"><title>The Tag Pattern</title>
2454 Tag patterns are used to change the applying actions based on the
2455 request's tags. Tags can be created with either the
2456 <link linkend="CLIENT-HEADER-FILTER">client-header-tagger</link>
2457 or the <link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-FILTER">server-header-tagger</link> action.
2461 Tag patterns have to start with <quote>TAG:</quote>, so &my-app;
2462 can tell them apart from URL patterns. Everything after the colon
2463 including white space, is interpreted as a regular expression with
2464 path patterns syntax, except that tag patterns aren't left-anchored
2465 automatically (Privoxy doesn't silently add a <quote>^</quote>,
2466 you have to do it yourself if you need it).
2470 To match all requests that are tagged with <quote>foo</quote>
2471 your pattern line should be <quote>TAG:^foo$</quote>,
2472 <quote>TAG:foo</quote> would work as well, but it would also
2473 match requests whose tags contain <quote>foo</quote> somewhere.
2477 Sections can contain URL and tag patterns at the same time,
2478 but tag patterns are checked after the URL patterns and thus
2479 always overrule them, even if they are located before the URL patterns.
2483 Once a new tag is added, Privoxy checks right away if it's matched by one
2484 of the tag patterns and updates the action settings accordingly. As a result
2485 tags can be used to activate other tagger actions, as long as these other
2486 taggers look for headers that haven't already be parsed.
2490 For example you could tag client requests which use the POST method,
2491 use this tag to activate another tagger that adds a tag if cookies
2492 are send, and then block based on the cookie tag. However if you'd
2493 reverse the position of the described taggers, and activated the method
2494 tagger based on the cookie tagger, no method tags would be created.
2495 The method tagger would look for the request line, but at the time
2496 the cookie tag is created the request line has already been parsed.
2500 While this is a limitation you should be aware of, this kind of
2501 indirection is seldom needed anyway and even the example doesn't
2502 make too much sense.
2509 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2512 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2514 <sect2 id="actions">
2515 <title>Actions</title>
2517 All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
2518 somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
2519 <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
2520 <literal>+action</literal> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
2521 <literal>+block</literal> means <quote>please block URLs that match the
2522 following patterns</quote>, and <literal>-block</literal> means <quote>don't
2523 block URLs that match the following patterns, even if <literal>+block</literal>
2524 previously applied.</quote>
2529 Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and
2530 separated by whitespace, like in
2531 <literal>{+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}</literal>,
2532 followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply.
2533 Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section
2534 of the actions file.
2538 Actions fall into three categories:
2545 Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>enabled</quote> or
2546 <quote>disabled</quote>. Syntax:
2550 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # enable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>
2551 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></screen>
2554 Example: <literal>+block</literal>
2561 Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
2566 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and set parameter to <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>,
2567 # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
2568 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</screen>
2571 Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
2572 the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
2575 Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</literal>
2581 Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
2582 but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
2583 same URL, but with different parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> the parameters
2584 from <emphasis>all</emphasis> matches are remembered. This is used for actions
2585 that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
2586 headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
2590 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and add <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> to the list of parameters
2591 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # remove the parameter <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> from the list of parameters
2592 # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
2593 <replaceable class="parameter">-name</replaceable> # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</screen>
2596 Examples: <literal>+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</literal> and
2597 <literal>+filter{html-annoyances}</literal>
2605 If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
2606 taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
2607 normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
2608 privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
2609 files will give a good starting point).
2613 Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
2614 to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
2615 in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files such
2616 as <filename>user.action</filename>). For multi-valued actions, the actions
2617 are applied in the order they are specified. Actions files are processed in
2618 the order they are defined in <filename>config</filename> (the default
2619 installation has three actions files). It also quite possible for any given
2620 URL to match more than one <quote>pattern</quote> (because of wildcards and
2621 regular expressions), and thus to trigger more than one set of actions! Last
2625 <!-- start actions listing -->
2627 The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> actions are:
2631 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2632 <!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
2633 <!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
2635 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2638 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2640 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
2641 <title>add-header</title>
2645 <term>Typical use:</term>
2647 <para>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</para>
2652 <term>Effect:</term>
2655 Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
2662 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2664 <para>Multi-value.</para>
2669 <term>Parameter:</term>
2672 Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
2673 It is recommended that you use the <quote><literal>X-</literal></quote> prefix
2683 This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
2684 headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
2685 <quote>HTTP headers</quote> are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
2692 <term>Example usage:</term>
2695 <screen>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</screen>
2703 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2704 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
2705 <title>block</title>
2709 <term>Typical use:</term>
2711 <para>Block ads or other unwanted content</para>
2716 <term>Effect:</term>
2719 Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the
2720 requests are trapped by &my-app; and the requested URL is never retrieved,
2721 but is answered locally with a substitute page or image, as determined by
2723 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
2725 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>, and
2727 linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> actions.
2735 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2737 <para>Boolean.</para>
2742 <term>Parameter:</term>
2752 <application>Privoxy</application> sends a special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
2753 for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request
2754 was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the
2755 force feature enabled). The <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page adapts to the available
2756 screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or miniaturized and text-only
2757 if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using <application>Privoxy</application>
2758 right now, you can take a look at the
2759 <ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
2763 A very important exception occurs if <emphasis>both</emphasis>
2764 <literal>block</literal> and <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
2765 apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
2766 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
2767 (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
2768 if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
2771 It is important to understand this process, in order
2772 to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
2773 ads and other unwanted content. Blocking is a core feature, and one
2774 upon which various other features depend.
2777 The <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
2778 action can perform a very similar task, by <quote>blocking</quote>
2779 banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
2780 document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
2781 Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two.
2787 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
2791 # Block and replace with "blocked" page
2792 .nasty-stuff.example.com
2794 {+block +handle-as-image}
2795 # Block and replace with image
2799 {+block +handle-as-empty-document}
2800 # Block and then ignore
2801 adserver.exampleclick.net/.*\.js$</screen>
2811 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2812 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-filter">
2813 <title>client-header-filter</title>
2817 <term>Typical use:</term>
2820 Rewrite or remove single client headers.
2826 <term>Effect:</term>
2829 All client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
2830 the specified regular expression based substitutions.
2837 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2839 <para>Parameterized.</para>
2844 <term>Parameter:</term>
2847 The name of a client-header filter, as defined in one of the
2848 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
2857 Client-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
2858 all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
2859 you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
2860 You can do that by using tags though.
2863 Client-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
2864 and use their output as input.
2867 Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
2868 to learn which client-header filters are available by default, and how to
2875 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
2879 {+client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}}
2890 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2891 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-tagger">
2892 <title>client-header-tagger</title>
2896 <term>Typical use:</term>
2899 Block requests based on their headers.
2905 <term>Effect:</term>
2908 Client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
2909 the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
2917 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2919 <para>Parameterized.</para>
2924 <term>Parameter:</term>
2927 The name of a client-header tagger, as defined in one of the
2928 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
2937 Client-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
2938 and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
2942 Client-header taggers are the first actions that are executed
2943 and their tags can be used to control every other action.
2949 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
2953 # Tag every request with the User-Agent header
2954 {+client-header-filter{user-agent}}
2965 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2966 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="content-type-overwrite">
2970 <title>content-type-overwrite</title>
2974 <term>Typical use:</term>
2976 <para>Stop useless download menus from popping up, or change the browser's rendering mode</para>
2981 <term>Effect:</term>
2984 Replaces the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header.
2991 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
2993 <para>Parameterized.</para>
2998 <term>Parameter:</term>
3010 The <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header is used by the
3011 browser to decide what to do with the document. The value of this
3012 header can cause the browser to open a download menu instead of
3013 displaying the document by itself, even if the document's format is
3014 supported by the browser.
3017 The declared content type can also affect which rendering mode
3018 the browser chooses. If XHTML is delivered as <quote>text/html</quote>,
3019 many browsers treat it as yet another broken HTML document.
3020 If it is send as <quote>application/xml</quote>, browsers with
3021 XHTML support will only display it, if the syntax is correct.
3024 If you see a web site that proudly uses XHTML buttons, but sets
3025 <quote>Content-Type: text/html</quote>, you can use &my-app;
3026 to overwrite it with <quote>application/xml</quote> and validate
3027 the web master's claim inside your XHTML-supporting browser.
3028 If the syntax is incorrect, the browser will complain loudly.
3031 You can also go the opposite direction: if your browser prints
3032 error messages instead of rendering a document falsely declared
3033 as XHTML, you can overwrite the content type with
3034 <quote>text/html</quote> and have it rendered as broken HTML document.
3037 By default <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal> only replaces
3038 <quote>Content-Type:</quote> headers that look like some kind of text.
3039 If you want to overwrite it unconditionally, you have to combine it with
3040 <literal><link linkend="force-text-mode">force-text-mode</link></literal>.
3041 This limitation exists for a reason, think twice before circumventing it.
3044 Most of the time it's easier to replace this action with a custom
3045 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
3046 It allows you to activate it for every document of a certain site and it will still
3047 only replace the content types you aimed at.
3050 Of course you can apply <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal>
3051 to a whole site and then make URL based exceptions, but it's a lot
3052 more work to get the same precision.
3058 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
3061 <screen># Check if www.example.net/ really uses valid XHTML
3062 { +content-type-overwrite{application/xml} }
3065 # but leave the content type unmodified if the URL looks like a style sheet
3066 {-content-type-overwrite}
3067 www.example.net/.*\.css$
3068 www.example.net/.*style
3077 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3078 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-client-header">
3082 <title>crunch-client-header</title>
3086 <term>Typical use:</term>
3088 <para>Remove a client header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
3093 <term>Effect:</term>
3096 Deletes every header sent by the client that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
3103 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3105 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3110 <term>Parameter:</term>
3122 This action allows you to block client headers for which no dedicated
3123 <application>Privoxy</application> action exists.
3124 <application>Privoxy</application> will remove every client header that
3125 contains the string you supplied as parameter.
3128 Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
3129 use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
3130 they contain the same string.
3133 <literal>crunch-client-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
3134 If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
3135 parts of them, you should use a
3136 <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header filter</link></literal>.
3140 Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
3147 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3150 <screen># Block the non-existent "Privacy-Violation:" client header
3151 { +crunch-client-header{Privacy-Violation:} }
3161 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3162 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-if-none-match">
3163 <title>crunch-if-none-match</title>
3169 <term>Typical use:</term>
3171 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
3176 <term>Effect:</term>
3179 Deletes the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header.
3186 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3188 <para>Boolean.</para>
3193 <term>Parameter:</term>
3205 Removing the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header
3206 is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
3207 reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote> which
3208 would cause the browser to use a cached copy of the page.
3211 It is also useful to make sure the header isn't used as a cookie
3215 Blocking the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> header shouldn't cause any
3216 caching problems, as long as the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> header
3217 isn't blocked as well.
3220 It is recommended to use this action together with
3221 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
3223 <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>.
3229 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3232 <screen># Let the browser revalidate cached documents without being tracked across sessions
3233 { +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
3234 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
3235 +crunch-if-none-match}
3244 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3245 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
3246 <title>crunch-incoming-cookies</title>
3250 <term>Typical use:</term>
3253 Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
3259 <term>Effect:</term>
3262 Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
3269 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3271 <para>Boolean.</para>
3276 <term>Parameter:</term>
3288 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies. For
3289 <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies, use
3290 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
3291 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
3294 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3295 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3296 since it would prevent the session cookies from being set. See also
3297 <literal><link linkend="filter-content-cookies">filter-content-cookies</link></literal>.
3303 <term>Example usage:</term>
3306 <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
3314 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3315 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-server-header">
3316 <title>crunch-server-header</title>
3322 <term>Typical use:</term>
3324 <para>Remove a server header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
3329 <term>Effect:</term>
3332 Deletes every header sent by the server that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
3339 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3341 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3346 <term>Parameter:</term>
3358 This action allows you to block server headers for which no dedicated
3359 <application>Privoxy</application> action exists. <application>Privoxy</application>
3360 will remove every server header that contains the string you supplied as parameter.
3363 Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
3364 use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
3365 they contain the same string.
3368 <literal>crunch-server-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
3369 If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
3370 parts of them, you should use a custom
3371 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
3375 Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
3382 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3385 <screen># Crunch server headers that try to prevent caching
3386 { +crunch-server-header{no-cache} }
3395 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3396 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
3397 <title>crunch-outgoing-cookies</title>
3401 <term>Typical use:</term>
3404 Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
3410 <term>Effect:</term>
3413 Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
3420 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3422 <para>Boolean.</para>
3427 <term>Parameter:</term>
3439 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies. For
3440 <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies, use
3441 <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
3442 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
3445 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3446 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3447 since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
3453 <term>Example usage:</term>
3456 <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
3465 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3466 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
3467 <title>deanimate-gifs</title>
3471 <term>Typical use:</term>
3473 <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
3478 <term>Effect:</term>
3481 De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
3488 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3490 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3495 <term>Parameter:</term>
3498 <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
3507 This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
3508 the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
3509 is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
3510 frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
3511 most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
3512 last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
3515 You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
3516 objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
3523 <term>Example usage:</term>
3526 <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
3533 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3534 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
3535 <title>downgrade-http-version</title>
3539 <term>Typical use:</term>
3541 <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
3546 <term>Effect:</term>
3549 Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
3556 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3558 <para>Boolean.</para>
3563 <term>Parameter:</term>
3575 This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
3576 didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
3577 unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
3578 out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there
3579 is a chance you might need this action.
3585 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3588 <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
3589 problem-host.example.com</screen>
3597 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3598 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
3599 <title>fast-redirects</title>
3603 <term>Typical use:</term>
3605 <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links.</para>
3610 <term>Effect:</term>
3613 Detects redirection URLs and redirects the browser without contacting
3614 the redirection server first.
3621 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3623 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3628 <term>Parameter:</term>
3633 <quote>simple-check</quote> to just search for the string <quote>http://</quote>
3634 to detect redirection URLs.
3639 <quote>check-decoded-url</quote> to decode URLs (if necessary) before searching
3640 for redirection URLs.
3651 Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
3652 will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
3653 parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
3654 resulting from this scheme typically look like:
3655 <quote>http://www.example.org/click-tracker.cgi?target=http%3a//www.example.net/</quote>.
3658 Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
3659 URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
3660 since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
3661 to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
3662 browser asks the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
3666 This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
3667 If it is enabled by default, you will have to create some exceptions to
3668 this action. It can lead to failures in several ways:
3671 Not every URLs with other URLs as parameters is evil.
3672 Some sites offer a real service that requires this information to work.
3673 For example a validation service needs to know, which document to validate.
3674 <literal>fast-redirects</literal> assumes that every URL parameter that
3675 looks like another URL is a redirection target, and will always redirect to
3676 the last one. Most of the time the assumption is correct, but if it isn't,
3677 the user gets redirected anyway.
3680 Another failure occurs if the URL contains other parameters after the URL parameter.
3682 <quote>http://www.example.org/?redirect=http%3a//www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
3683 contains the redirection URL <quote>http://www.example.net/</quote>,
3684 followed by another parameter. <literal>fast-redirects</literal> doesn't know that
3685 and will cause a redirect to <quote>http://www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
3686 Depending on the target server configuration, the parameter will be silently ignored
3687 or lead to a <quote>page not found</quote> error. You can prevent this problem by
3688 first using the <literal><link linkend="redirect">redirect</link></literal> action
3689 to remove the last part of the URL, but it requires a little effort.
3692 To detect a redirection URL, <literal>fast-redirects</literal> only
3693 looks for the string <quote>http://</quote>, either in plain text
3694 (invalid but often used) or encoded as <quote>http%3a//</quote>.
3695 Some sites use their own URL encoding scheme, encrypt the address
3696 of the target server or replace it with a database id. In theses cases
3697 <literal>fast-redirects</literal> is fooled and the request reaches the
3698 redirection server where it probably gets logged.
3704 <term>Example usage:</term>
3708 { +fast-redirects{simple-check} }
3711 { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
3712 another.example.com/testing</screen>
3721 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3722 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
3723 <title>filter</title>
3727 <term>Typical use:</term>
3729 <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size),
3730 do fun text replacements, add personalized effects, etc.</para>
3735 <term>Effect:</term>
3738 All instances of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which
3739 this action applies, can be filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular
3740 expression based substitutions. (Note: as of version 3.0.3 plain text documents
3741 are exempted from filtering, because web servers often use the
3742 <literal>text/plain</literal> MIME type for all files whose type they don't know.)
3749 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3751 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3756 <term>Parameter:</term>
3759 The name of a content filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>.
3760 Filters can be defined in one or more files as defined by the
3761 <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
3762 option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>.
3763 <filename>default.filter</filename> is the collection of filters
3764 supplied by the developers. Locally defined filters should go
3765 in their own file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>.
3768 When used in its negative form,
3769 and without parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> filtering is completely disabled.
3778 For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
3779 in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
3783 Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
3784 slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
3785 passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
3786 since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
3787 noticeable on slower connections.
3790 <quote>Rolling your own</quote>
3791 filters requires a knowledge of
3792 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
3793 Expressions</quote></ulink> and
3794 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html"><quote>HTML</quote></ulink>.
3795 This is very powerful feature, and potentially very intrusive.
3796 Filters should be used with caution, and where an equivalent
3797 <quote>action</quote> is not available.
3800 The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
3801 <literal><link linkend="buffer-limit">buffer-limit</link></literal>
3802 option in the main <link linkend="config">config file</link>. The
3803 default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
3804 data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
3807 Inappropriate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
3808 (Again, only text-based types except plain text). Encrypted SSL data
3809 (from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either, since this would violate
3810 the integrity of the secure transaction. In some situations it might
3811 be necessary to protect certain text, like source code, from filtering
3812 by defining appropriate <literal>-filter</literal> exceptions.
3815 Compressed content can't be filtered either, unless &my-app;
3816 is compiled with zlib support (requires at least &my-app; 3.0.7),
3817 in which case &my-app; will decompress the content before filtering
3821 If you use a &my-app; version without zlib support, but want filtering to work on
3822 as much documents as possible, even those that would normally be sent compressed,
3823 you must use the <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
3824 action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
3827 Content filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
3828 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
3829 action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
3830 works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
3831 based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
3835 <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or
3836 improved filters is particularly welcome!
3839 The below list has only the names and a one-line description of each
3840 predefined filter. There are <link linkend="predefined-filters">more
3841 verbose explanations</link> of what these filters do in the <link
3842 linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>.
3848 <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file).
3849 See <link linkend="PREDEFINED-FILTERS">the Predefined Filters section</link> for
3850 more explanation on each:</term>
3853 <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
3854 <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
3857 <anchor id="filter-js-events">
3858 <screen>+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (Radically destructive! Only for extra nasty sites)</screen>
3861 <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
3862 <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse</screen>
3865 <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
3866 <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content</screen>
3869 <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
3870 <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</screen>
3873 <anchor id="filter-unsolicited-popups">
3874 <screen>+filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
3877 <anchor id="filter-all-popups">
3878 <screen>+filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
3881 <anchor id="filter-img-reorder">
3882 <screen>+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective</screen>
3885 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
3886 <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size</screen>
3889 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-link">
3890 <screen>+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners by their links to known clicktrackers</screen>
3893 <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
3894 <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</screen>
3897 <anchor id="filter-tiny-textforms">
3898 <screen>+filter{tiny-textforms} # Extend those tiny textareas up to 40x80 and kill the hard wrap</screen>
3901 <anchor id="filter-jumping-windows">
3902 <screen>+filter{jumping-windows} # Prevent windows from resizing and moving themselves</screen>
3905 <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
3906 <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</screen>
3909 <anchor id="filter-demoronizer">
3910 <screen>+filter{demoronizer} # Fix MS's non-standard use of standard charsets</screen>
3913 <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
3914 <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
3917 <anchor id="filter-quicktime-kioskmode">
3918 <screen>+filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies savable</screen>
3921 <anchor id="filter-fun">
3922 <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
3925 <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
3926 <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Crude parental filtering (demo only)</screen>
3929 <anchor id="filter-ie-exploits">
3930 <screen>+filter{ie-exploits} # Disable some known Internet Explorer bug exploits</screen>
3933 <anchor id="filter-site-specifics">
3934 <screen>+filter{site-specifics} # Custom filters for specific site related problems</screen>
3937 <anchor id="filter-google">
3938 <screen>+filter{google} # Removes text ads and other Google specific improvements</screen>
3941 <anchor id="filter-yahoo">
3942 <screen>+filter{yahoo} # Removes text ads and other Yahoo specific improvements</screen>
3945 <anchor id="filter-msn">
3946 <screen>+filter{msn} # Removes text ads and other MSN specific improvements</screen>
3949 <anchor id="filter-blogspot">
3950 <screen>+filter{blogspot} # Cleans up Blogspot blogs</screen>
3953 <anchor id="filter-no-ping">
3954 <screen>+filter{no-ping} # Removes non-standard ping attributes from anchor and area tags</screen>
3962 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3963 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="force-text-mode">
3964 <title>force-text-mode</title>
3970 <term>Typical use:</term>
3972 <para>Force <application>Privoxy</application> to treat a document as if it was in some kind of <emphasis>text</emphasis> format. </para>
3977 <term>Effect:</term>
3980 Declares a document as text, even if the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> isn't detected as such.
3987 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3989 <para>Boolean.</para>
3994 <term>Parameter:</term>
4006 As explained <literal><link linkend="filter">above</link></literal>,
4007 <application>Privoxy</application> tries to only filter files that are
4008 in some kind of text format. The same restrictions apply to
4009 <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite</link></literal>.
4010 <literal>force-text-mode</literal> declares a document as text,
4011 without looking at the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> first.
4015 Think twice before activating this action. Filtering binary data
4016 with regular expressions can cause file damage.
4023 <term>Example usage:</term>
4036 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4037 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward-override">
4038 <title>forward-override</title>
4044 <term>Typical use:</term>
4046 <para>Change the forwarding settings based on User-Agent or request origin</para>
4051 <term>Effect:</term>
4054 Overrules the forward directives in the configuration files.
4061 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4063 <para>Multi-value.</para>
4068 <term>Parameter:</term>
4072 <para><quote>forward .</quote> to use a direct connection without any additional proxies.</para>
4076 <quote>forward 127.0.0.1:8123</quote> to use the HTTP proxy listening at 127.0.0.1 port 8123.
4081 <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 .</quote> to use the socks4a proxy listening at 127.0.0.1 port 9050.
4082 Replace <q>forward-socks4a</q> with <q>forward-socks4</q> to use a socks4 connection (with local DNS
4083 resolution) instead.
4088 <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 proxy.example.org:8000</quote> to use the socks4a proxy
4089 listening at 127.0.0.1 port 9050 to reach the HTTP proxy listening at proxy.example.org port 8000.
4090 Replace <q>forward-socks4a</q> with <q>forward-socks4</q> to use a socks4 connection (with local DNS
4091 resolution) instead.
4102 This action takes parameters similar to the <!-- I hope this link actual works -->
4103 <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives in the configuration
4104 file, but without the URL pattern. It can be used as replacement, but normally it's only
4105 used in cases where matching based on the request URL isn't sufficient.
4109 Please read the description for the <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives before
4110 using this action. Forwarding to the wrong people will reduce your privacy and increase the
4111 chances of man-in-the-middle attacks.
4114 If the ports are missing or invalid, default values will be used. This might change
4115 in the future and you shouldn't rely on it. Otherwise incorrect syntax causes Privoxy
4119 Use the <link linkend="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">show-url-info CGI page</link>
4120 to verify that your forward settings do what you thought the do.
4127 <term>Example usage:</term>
4131 # Always use direct connections for requests previously tagged as
4132 # <quote>User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2.0</quote> and make sure
4133 # resuming downloads continues to work.
4134 # This way you can continue to use Tor for your normal browsing,
4135 # without overloading the Tor network with your FreeBSD ports updates
4136 # or downloads of bigger files like ISOs.
4137 {+forward-override{forward .} \
4138 -hide-if-modified-since \
4139 -overwrite-last-modified \
4141 TAG:^User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2.0$
4150 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4151 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-empty-document">
4152 <title>handle-as-empty-document</title>
4158 <term>Typical use:</term>
4160 <para>Mark URLs that should be replaced by empty documents <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis></para>
4165 <term>Effect:</term>
4168 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs.
4169 If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
4170 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote>
4171 page, or an empty document will be sent to the client as a substitute for the blocked content.
4172 The <emphasis>empty</emphasis> document isn't literally empty, but actually contains a single space.
4179 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4181 <para>Boolean.</para>
4186 <term>Parameter:</term>
4198 Some browsers complain about syntax errors if JavaScript documents
4199 are blocked with <application>Privoxy's</application>
4200 default HTML page; this option can be used to silence them.
4201 And of course this action can also be used to eliminate the &my-app;
4202 BLOCKED message in frames.
4205 The content type for the empty document can be specified with
4206 <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{}</link></literal>,
4207 but usually this isn't necessary.
4213 <term>Example usage:</term>
4216 <screen># Block all documents on example.org that end with ".js",
4217 # but send an empty document instead of the usual HTML message.
4218 {+block +handle-as-empty-document}
4228 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4229 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
4230 <title>handle-as-image</title>
4234 <term>Typical use:</term>
4236 <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they do get blocked</emphasis>, rather than HTML pages)</para>
4241 <term>Effect:</term>
4244 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
4245 If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
4246 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>blocked</quote>
4247 page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <literal><link
4248 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> action) will be sent to the
4249 client as a substitute for the blocked content.
4256 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4258 <para>Boolean.</para>
4263 <term>Parameter:</term>
4275 The below generic example section is actually part of <filename>default.action</filename>.
4276 It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
4280 Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
4281 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
4282 reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
4285 Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (in-line) ad
4286 frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
4287 Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
4288 ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
4294 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
4297 <screen># Generic image extensions:
4300 /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
4302 # These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
4303 # blocked as images:
4305 {+block +handle-as-image}
4306 some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi?output=trash
4308 # Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content?
4318 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4319 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-accept-language">
4320 <title>hide-accept-language</title>
4326 <term>Typical use:</term>
4328 <para>Pretend to use different language settings.</para>
4333 <term>Effect:</term>
4336 Deletes or replaces the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> HTTP header in client requests.
4343 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4345 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4350 <term>Parameter:</term>
4353 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4362 Faking the browser's language settings can be useful to make a
4363 foreign User-Agent set with
4364 <literal><link linkend="hide-user-agent">hide-user-agent</link></literal>
4368 However some sites with content in different languages check the
4369 <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> to decide which one to take by default.
4370 Sometimes it isn't possible to later switch to another language without
4371 changing the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header first.
4374 Therefore it's a good idea to either only change the
4375 <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header to languages you understand,
4376 or to languages that aren't wide spread.
4379 Before setting the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header
4380 to a rare language, you should consider that it helps to
4381 make your requests unique and thus easier to trace.
4382 If you don't plan to change this header frequently,
4383 you should stick to a common language.
4389 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
4392 <screen># Pretend to use Canadian language settings.
4393 {+hide-accept-language{en-ca} \
4394 +hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; OpenBSD i386; en-CA; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060628 Firefox/1.5.0.4} \
4404 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4405 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-content-disposition">
4406 <title>hide-content-disposition</title>
4412 <term>Typical use:</term>
4414 <para>Prevent download menus for content you prefer to view inside the browser.</para>
4419 <term>Effect:</term>
4422 Deletes or replaces the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header set by some servers.
4429 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4431 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4436 <term>Parameter:</term>
4439 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4448 Some servers set the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header for
4449 documents they assume you want to save locally before viewing them.
4450 The <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header contains the file name
4451 the browser is supposed to use by default.
4454 In most browsers that understand this header, it makes it impossible to
4455 <emphasis>just view</emphasis> the document, without downloading it first,
4456 even if it's just a simple text file or an image.
4459 Removing the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header helps
4460 to prevent this annoyance, but some browsers additionally check the
4461 <quote>Content-Type:</quote> header, before they decide if they can
4462 display a document without saving it first. In these cases, you have
4463 to change this header as well, before the browser stops displaying
4467 It is also possible to change the server's file name suggestion
4468 to another one, but in most cases it isn't worth the time to set
4475 <term>Example usage:</term>
4478 <screen># Disarm the download link in Sourceforge's patch tracker
4480 +content-type-overwrite{text/plain}\
4481 +hide-content-disposition{block} }
4482 .sourceforge.net/tracker/download\.php</screen>
4490 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4491 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-if-modified-since">
4492 <title>hide-if-modified-since</title>
4498 <term>Typical use:</term>
4500 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
4505 <term>Effect:</term>
4508 Deletes the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> HTTP client header or modifies its value.
4515 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4517 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4522 <term>Parameter:</term>
4525 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or a user defined value that specifies a range of hours.
4534 Removing this header is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
4535 reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the
4536 browser to use a cached copy of the page.
4539 Instead of removing the header, <literal>hide-if-modified-since</literal> can
4540 also add or subtract a random amount of time to/from the header's value.
4541 You specify a range of minutes where the random factor should be chosen from and
4542 <application>Privoxy</application> does the rest. A negative value means
4543 subtracting, a positive value adding.
4546 Randomizing the value of the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> makes
4547 sure it isn't used as a cookie replacement, but you will run into
4548 caching problems if the random range is too high.
4551 It is a good idea to only use a small negative value and let
4552 <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>
4553 handle the greater changes.
4556 It is also recommended to use this action together with
4557 <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
4563 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
4566 <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
4567 { +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
4568 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
4569 +crunch-if-none-match}
4578 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4579 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
4580 <title>hide-forwarded-for-headers</title>
4586 <term>Typical use:</term>
4588 <para>Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request</para>
4593 <term>Effect:</term>
4596 Deletes any existing <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> HTTP header from client requests,
4597 and prevents adding a new one.
4604 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4606 <para>Boolean.</para>
4611 <term>Parameter:</term>
4623 It is fairly safe to leave this on.
4626 This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged
4627 <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> headers using random IP addresses from a specified network,
4628 to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different
4629 users sharing the same proxy.
4635 <term>Example usage:</term>
4638 <screen>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</screen>
4646 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4647 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
4648 <title>hide-from-header</title>
4652 <term>Typical use:</term>
4654 <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
4659 <term>Effect:</term>
4662 Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
4670 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4672 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4677 <term>Parameter:</term>
4680 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4689 The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
4690 (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
4694 Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
4695 server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
4696 is actually used by a real person.
4699 This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
4700 <quote>From:</quote> headers anymore.
4706 <term>Example usage:</term>
4709 <screen>+hide-from-header{block}</screen> or
4710 <screen>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</screen>
4718 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4719 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
4720 <title>hide-referrer</title>
4721 <anchor id="hide-referer">
4724 <term>Typical use:</term>
4726 <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
4731 <term>Effect:</term>
4734 Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
4735 or replaces it with a forged one.
4742 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4744 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4749 <term>Parameter:</term>
4753 <para><quote>conditional-block</quote> to delete the header completely if the host has changed.</para>
4756 <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header unconditionally.</para>
4759 <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
4762 <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
4772 <literal>conditional-block</literal> is the only parameter,
4773 that isn't easily detected in the server's log file. If it blocks the
4774 referrer, the request will look like the visitor used a bookmark or
4775 typed in the address directly.
4778 Leaving the referrer unmodified for requests on the same host
4779 allows the server owner to see the visitor's <quote>click path</quote>,
4780 but in most cases she could also get that information by comparing
4781 other parts of the log file: for example the User-Agent if it isn't
4782 a very common one, or the user's IP address if it doesn't change between
4786 Always blocking the referrer, or using a custom one, can lead to
4787 failures on servers that check the referrer before they answer any
4788 requests, in an attempt to prevent their valuable content from being
4789 embedded or linked to elsewhere.
4792 Both <literal>conditional-block</literal> and <literal>forge</literal>
4793 will work with referrer checks, as long as content and valid referring page
4794 are on the same host. Most of the time that's the case.
4797 <literal>hide-referer</literal> is an alternate spelling of
4798 <literal>hide-referrer</literal> and the two can be can be freely
4799 substituted with each other. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
4800 correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
4801 requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
4807 <term>Example usage:</term>
4810 <screen>+hide-referrer{forge}</screen> or
4811 <screen>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</screen>
4819 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4820 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
4821 <title>hide-user-agent</title>
4825 <term>Typical use:</term>
4827 <para>Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
4832 <term>Effect:</term>
4835 Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
4836 in client requests with the specified value.
4843 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4845 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4850 <term>Parameter:</term>
4853 Any user-defined string.
4863 This can lead to problems on web sites that depend on looking at this header in
4864 order to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
4865 way, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the right thing to do: good web sites
4866 work browser-independently).
4868 <ulink url="http://www.javascriptkit.com/javaindex.shtml">smart way to do
4874 Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
4875 browsers will access the same <application>Privoxy</application> is
4876 <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>. In single-user, single-browser
4877 setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
4878 the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
4879 OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
4880 sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
4881 reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
4882 let <application>Mozilla</application> enter, yet forging to a
4883 <application>Netscape 6.1</application> user-agent works just fine.
4884 (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
4887 This action is scheduled for improvement.
4893 <term>Example usage:</term>
4896 <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
4904 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4905 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="inspect-jpegs">
4906 <title>inspect-jpegs</title>
4912 <term>Typical use:</term>
4914 <para>To protect against the MS buffer over-run in JPEG processing</para>
4919 <term>Effect:</term>
4922 Protect against a known exploit
4929 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4931 <para>Boolean.</para>
4936 <term>Parameter:</term>
4948 See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028. JPEG images are one of the most
4949 common image types found across the Internet. The exploit as described can
4950 allow execution of code on the target system, giving an attacker access
4951 to the system in question by merely planting an altered JPEG image, which
4952 would have no obvious indications of what lurks inside. This action
4953 prevents unwanted intrusion.
4960 <term>Example usage:</term>
4962 <para><screen>+inspect-jpegs</screen></para>
4971 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4972 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popups">
4973 <title>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></title>
4977 <term>Typical use:</term>
4979 <para>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows (deprecated)</para>
4984 <term>Effect:</term>
4987 While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens
4988 pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
4995 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4997 <para>Boolean.</para>
5002 <term>Parameter:</term>
5014 This action is basically a built-in, hardwired special-purpose filter
5015 action, but there are important differences: For <literal>kill-popups</literal>,
5016 the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
5017 downloading. But <literal>kill-popups</literal> doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
5019 linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>all-popups</replaceable>}</link></literal>
5020 does and is not as smart as <literal><link
5021 linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>unsolicited-popups</replaceable>}</link>
5025 Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
5026 can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
5027 sense to combine it with any <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action,
5028 since as soon as one <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> applies,
5029 the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
5030 the <literal>kill-popups</literal> action over its filter equivalent.
5033 Killing all pop-ups unconditionally is problematic. Many shops and banks rely on
5034 pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and the <literal><link
5035 linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>unsolicited-popups</replaceable>}</link>
5036 </literal> does a better job of catching only the unwanted ones.
5039 If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
5040 <emphasis>really nasty</emphasis> windows that appear when you close an other
5041 one), you might want to use
5043 linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>js-annoyances</replaceable>}</literal>
5047 This action is most appropriate for browsers that don't have any controls
5048 for unwanted pop-ups. Not recommended for general usage.
5053 An alternate spelling is <literal>+kill-popup</literal>, which is
5061 <term>Example usage:</term>
5063 <para><screen>+kill-popups</screen></para>
5070 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5071 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
5072 <title>limit-connect</title>
5076 <term>Typical use:</term>
5078 <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP proxy relay or disable SSL for untrusted sites</para>
5083 <term>Effect:</term>
5086 Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
5093 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5095 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5100 <term>Parameter:</term>
5103 A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
5104 defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
5113 By default, i.e. if no <literal>limit-connect</literal> action applies,
5114 <application>Privoxy</application> only allows HTTP CONNECT
5115 requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
5116 <literal>limit-connect</literal> if more fine-grained control is desired
5117 for some or all destinations.
5120 The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
5121 (<quote>https://</quote> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
5122 the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
5123 short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
5124 This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
5125 abused as TCP relays very easily.
5128 <application>Privoxy</application> relays HTTPS traffic without seeing
5129 the decoded content. Websites can leverage this limitation to circumvent &my-app;'s
5130 filters. By specifying an invalid port range you can disable HTTPS entirely.
5131 If you plan to disable SSL by default, consider enabling
5132 <literal><link linkend="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks ">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link></literal>
5133 as well, to be able to quickly create exceptions.
5139 <term>Example usages:</term>
5141 <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
5142 <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
5143 <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
5145 <screen>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
5146 +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
5147 +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
5148 +limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK
5149 +limit-connect{,} # No HTTPS/SSL traffic is allowed</screen>
5156 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5157 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
5158 <title>prevent-compression</title>
5162 <term>Typical use:</term>
5165 Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
5166 passed through <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>s.
5172 <term>Effect:</term>
5175 Removes the Accept-Encoding header which can be used to ask for compressed transfer.
5182 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5184 <para>Boolean.</para>
5189 <term>Parameter:</term>
5201 More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
5202 is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But the <literal><link
5203 linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>, <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
5204 and <literal><link linkend="kill-popups">kill-popups</link></literal> actions need
5205 access to the uncompressed data.
5208 When compiled with zlib support (available since &my-app; 3.0.7), content that should be
5209 filtered is decompressed on-the-fly and you don't have to worry about this action.
5210 If you are using an older &my-app; version, or one that hasn't been compiled with zlib
5211 support, this action can be used to convince the server to send the content uncompressed.
5214 Most text-based instances compress very well, the size is seldom decreased by less than 50%,
5215 for markup-heavy instances like news feeds saving more than 90% of the original size isn't
5219 Not using compression will therefore slow down the transfer, and you should only
5220 enable this action if you really need it. As of &my-app; 3.0.7 it's disabled in all
5221 predefined action settings.
5224 Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
5225 documents correctly. Broken PHP applications tend to send an empty document body,
5226 some IIS versions only send the beginning of the content. If you enable
5227 <literal>prevent-compression</literal> per default, you might want to add
5228 exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
5234 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
5238 # Selectively turn off compression, and enable a filter
5240 { +filter{tiny-textforms} +prevent-compression }
5241 # Match only these sites
5246 # Or instead, we could set a universal default:
5248 { +prevent-compression }
5251 # Then maybe make exceptions for broken sites:
5253 { -prevent-compression }
5254 .compusa.com/</screen>
5263 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5264 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="overwrite-last-modified">
5265 <title>overwrite-last-modified</title>
5271 <term>Typical use:</term>
5273 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
5278 <term>Effect:</term>
5281 Deletes the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> HTTP server header or modifies its value.
5288 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5290 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5295 <term>Parameter:</term>
5298 One of the keywords: <quote>block</quote>, <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote>
5299 and <quote>randomize</quote>
5308 Removing the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header is useful for filter
5309 testing, where you want to force a real reload instead of getting status
5310 code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the browser to reuse the old
5311 version of the page.
5314 The <quote>randomize</quote> option overwrites the value of the
5315 <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with a randomly chosen time
5316 between the original value and the current time. In theory the server
5317 could send each document with a different <quote>Last-Modified:</quote>
5318 header to track visits without using cookies. <quote>Randomize</quote>
5319 makes it impossible and the browser can still revalidate cached documents.
5322 <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote> overwrites the value of the
5323 <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with the current time. You could use
5324 this option together with
5325 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>
5326 to further customize your random range.
5329 The preferred parameter here is <quote>randomize</quote>. It is safe
5330 to use, as long as the time settings are more or less correct.
5331 If the server sets the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header to the time
5332 of the request, the random range becomes zero and the value stays the same.
5333 Therefore you should later randomize it a second time with
5334 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>,
5338 It is also recommended to use this action together with
5339 <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
5345 <term>Example usage:</term>
5348 <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
5349 { +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
5350 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
5351 +crunch-if-none-match}
5360 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5361 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="redirect">
5362 <title>redirect</title>
5368 <term>Typical use:</term>
5371 Redirect requests to other sites.
5377 <term>Effect:</term>
5380 Convinces the browser that the requested document has been moved
5381 to another location and the browser should get it from there.
5388 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5390 <para>Parameterized</para>
5395 <term>Parameter:</term>
5398 An absolute URL or a single pcrs command.
5407 Requests to which this action applies are answered with a
5408 HTTP redirect to URLs of your choosing. The new URL is
5409 either provided as parameter, or derived by applying a
5410 single pcrs command to the original URL.
5413 This action will be ignored if you use it together with
5414 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>.
5415 It can be combined with
5416 <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link></literal>
5417 to redirect to a decoded version of a rewritten URL.
5420 Use this action carefully, make sure not to create redirection loops
5421 and be aware that using your own redirects might make it
5422 possible to fingerprint your requests.
5428 <term>Example usages:</term>
5431 <screen># Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
5432 { +redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css} }
5433 example.com/stylesheet\.css
5435 # Create a short, easy to remember nickname for a favorite site
5436 # (relies on the browser accept and forward invalid URLs to &my-app;)
5437 { +redirect{http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/actions-file.html} }
5440 # Always use the expanded view for Undeadly.org articles
5441 # (Note the $ at the end of the URL pattern to make sure
5442 # the request for the rewritten URL isn't redirected as well)
5443 {+redirect{s@$@&mode=expanded@}}
5444 undeadly.org/cgi\?action=article&sid=\d*$</screen>
5453 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5454 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
5455 <title>send-vanilla-wafer</title>
5459 <term>Typical use:</term>
5462 Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
5468 <term>Effect:</term>
5471 Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
5472 on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
5479 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5481 <para>Boolean.</para>
5486 <term>Parameter:</term>
5498 The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
5501 This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
5507 <term>Example usage:</term>
5510 <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
5519 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5520 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
5521 <title>send-wafer</title>
5525 <term>Typical use:</term>
5528 Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
5534 <term>Effect:</term>
5537 Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
5544 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5546 <para>Multi-value.</para>
5551 <term>Parameter:</term>
5554 A string of the form <quote><replaceable class="option">name</replaceable>=<replaceable
5555 class="parameter">value</replaceable></quote>.
5564 Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
5565 resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
5568 This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
5573 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5576 <screen>{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
5577 my-internal-testing-server.void</screen>
5585 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5586 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-filter">
5587 <title>server-header-filter</title>
5591 <term>Typical use:</term>
5594 Rewrite or remove single server headers.
5600 <term>Effect:</term>
5603 All server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly
5604 through the specified regular expression based substitutions.
5611 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
5613 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5618 <term>Parameter:</term>
5621 The name of a server-header filter, as defined in one of the
5622 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
5631 Server-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
5632 all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
5633 you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
5634 You can do that by using tags though.
5637 Server-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
5638 and use their output as input.
5641 Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
5642 to learn which server-header filters are available by default, and how to
5648 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5652 {+server-header-filter{html-to-xml}}
5653 example.org/xml-instance-that-is-delivered-as-html
5655 {+server-header-filter{xml-to-html}}
5656 example.org/instance-that-is-delivered-as-xml-but-is-not
5666 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5667 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-tagger">
5668 <title>server-header-tagger</title>
5672 <term>Typical use:</term>
5675 Disable or disable filters based on the Content-Type header.
5681 <term>Effect:</term>
5684 Server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
5685 the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
5693 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
5695 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5700 <term>Parameter:</term>
5703 The name of a server-header tagger, as defined in one of the
5704 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
5713 Server-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
5714 and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
5718 Server-header taggers are executed before all other header actions
5719 that modify server headers. Their tags can be used to control
5720 all of the other server-header actions, the content filters
5721 and the crunch actions (<link linkend="redirect">redirect</link>
5722 and <link linkend="block">block</link>).
5725 Obviously crunching based on tags created by server-header taggers
5726 doesn't prevent the request from showing up in the server's log file.
5732 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5736 # Tag every request with the declared content type
5737 {+client-header-filter{content-type}}
5748 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5749 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
5750 <title>session-cookies-only</title>
5754 <term>Typical use:</term>
5757 Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current
5758 browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
5764 <term>Effect:</term>
5767 Deletes the <quote>expires</quote> field from <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote>
5768 server headers. Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and
5769 forget them in between sessions.
5776 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5778 <para>Boolean.</para>
5783 <term>Parameter:</term>
5795 This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
5796 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
5797 websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
5800 Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
5801 <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
5802 This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
5803 that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
5804 sites, and is the recommended setting.
5807 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
5808 together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
5809 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
5810 will be plainly killed.
5813 Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
5814 field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
5817 This setting also has no effect on cookies that may have been stored
5818 previously by the browser before starting <application>Privoxy</application>.
5819 These would have to be removed manually.
5822 <application>Privoxy</application> also uses
5823 the <link linkend="filter-content-cookies">content-cookies filter</link>
5824 to block some types of cookies. Content cookies are not effected by
5825 <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>.
5831 <term>Example usage:</term>
5834 <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
5842 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5843 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
5844 <title>set-image-blocker</title>
5848 <term>Typical use:</term>
5850 <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
5855 <term>Effect:</term>
5858 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <emphasis>both</emphasis>
5859 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><link
5860 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> <emphasis>also</emphasis>
5861 apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
5862 <emphasis>then</emphasis> the parameter of this action decides what will be
5863 sent as a replacement.
5870 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5872 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5877 <term>Parameter:</term>
5882 <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
5883 decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
5888 <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
5889 completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
5890 images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
5891 has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
5896 <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
5897 send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
5898 to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem via <quote>file:///</quote> URL.
5899 (But note that not all browsers support redirecting to a local file system).
5902 A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
5903 URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
5904 This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
5905 the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
5906 it over and over again.
5917 The URLs for the built-in images are <quote>http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<replaceable
5918 class="parameter">type</replaceable></quote>, where <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable> is
5919 either <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote>.
5922 There is a third (advanced) type, called <quote>auto</quote>. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> to be
5923 used in <literal>set-image-blocker</literal>, but meant for use from <link linkend="filter-file">filters</link>.
5924 Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
5930 <term>Example usage:</term>
5936 <screen>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</screen>
5939 Redirect to the BSD daemon:
5942 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</screen>
5945 Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
5948 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</screen>
5956 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5957 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks">
5958 <title>treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</title>
5964 <term>Typical use:</term>
5966 <para>Block forbidden connects with an easy to find error message.</para>
5971 <term>Effect:</term>
5974 If this action is enabled, <application>Privoxy</application> no longer
5975 makes a difference between forbidden connects and ordinary blocks.
5982 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5984 <para>Boolean</para>
5989 <term>Parameter:</term>
5999 By default <application>Privoxy</application> answers
6000 <link linkend="limit-connect">forbidden <quote>Connect</quote> requests</link>
6001 with a short error message inside the headers. If the browser doesn't display
6002 headers (most don't), you just see an empty page.
6005 With this action enabled, <application>Privoxy</application> displays
6006 the message that is used for ordinary blocks instead. If you decide
6007 to make an exception for the page in question, you can do so by
6008 following the <quote>See why</quote> link.
6011 For <quote>Connect</quote> requests the clients tell
6012 <application>Privoxy</application> which host they are interested
6013 in, but not which document they plan to get later. As a result, the
6014 <quote>Go there anyway</quote> wouldn't work and is therefore suppressed.
6020 <term>Example usage:</term>
6023 <screen>+treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</screen>
6031 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6033 <title>Summary</title>
6035 Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
6036 misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
6037 a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
6038 content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
6039 and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
6040 linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
6046 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6047 <sect2 id="aliases">
6048 <title>Aliases</title>
6050 Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
6051 as <quote>aliases</quote>, can be defined by combining other actions.
6052 These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
6053 Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab,
6055 <quote>{</quote> and <quote>}</quote>, but we <emphasis>strongly
6056 recommend</emphasis> that you only use <quote>a</quote> to <quote>z</quote>,
6057 <quote>0</quote> to <quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and <quote>-</quote>.
6058 Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a
6059 <quote>+</quote> or <quote>-</quote> sign, since they are merely textually
6063 Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they <emphasis>must be
6064 defined in a special section at the top of the file!</emphasis>
6065 And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may
6066 have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible
6070 There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
6071 used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
6072 decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called
6073 <quote>shop</quote>, you can later change your policy on shops in
6074 <emphasis>one</emphasis> place, and your changes will take effect everywhere
6075 in the actions file where the <quote>shop</quote> alias is used. Calling aliases
6076 by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.
6079 Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though:
6080 <application>Privoxy</application>'s built-in web-based action file
6081 editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands
6082 them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
6083 but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases
6088 Now let's define some aliases...
6093 # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
6095 # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
6096 # must be at the top of the actions file!
6100 # These aliases just save typing later:
6101 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
6103 +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6104 -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6105 +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
6106 allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
6108 # These aliases define combinations of actions
6109 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
6111 fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> -<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link>
6113 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link>
6115 # Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
6117 c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
6118 c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</screen>
6122 ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
6123 actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
6124 up for the <quote>/</quote> pattern):
6129 # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
6130 # user data and require minimal interference to work:
6133 .office.microsoft.com
6134 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
6135 # Gmail is really mail.google.com, not gmail.com
6139 # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
6143 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
6146 # These shops require pop-ups:
6148 {-kill-popups -filter{all-popups} -filter{unsolicited-popups}}
6150 .overclockers.co.uk</screen>
6154 Aliases like <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> are typically used for
6155 <quote>problem</quote> sites that require more than one action to be disabled
6156 in order to function properly.
6162 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6163 <sect2 id="act-examples">
6164 <title>Actions Files Tutorial</title>
6166 The above chapters have shown <link linkend="actions-file">which actions files
6167 there are and how they are organized</link>, how actions are <link
6168 linkend="actions">specified</link> and <link linkend="actions-apply">applied
6169 to URLs</link>, how <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> work, and how to
6170 define and use <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link>. Now, let's look at an
6171 example <filename>default.action</filename> and <filename>user.action</filename>
6172 file and see how all these pieces come together:
6175 <sect3><title>default.action</title>
6178 Every config file should start with a short comment stating its purpose:
6182 <screen># Sample default.action file <ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net></screen>
6186 Then, since this is the <filename>default.action</filename> file, the
6187 first section is a special section for internal use that you needn't
6188 change or worry about:
6193 ##########################################################################
6194 # Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
6195 ##########################################################################
6198 for-privoxy-version=3.0</screen>
6202 After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example
6203 section from the above <link linkend="aliases">chapter on aliases</link>,
6204 that also explains why and how aliases are used:
6209 ##########################################################################
6211 ##########################################################################
6214 # These aliases just save typing later:
6215 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
6217 +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6218 -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6219 +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
6220 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
6222 # These aliases define combinations of actions
6223 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
6225 fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link>
6226 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></screen>
6230 Now come the regular sections, i.e. sets of actions, accompanied
6231 by URL patterns to which they apply. Remember <emphasis>all actions
6232 are disabled when matching starts</emphasis>, so we have to explicitly
6233 enable the ones we want.
6237 The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only
6238 one pattern, <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, but this pattern
6239 <link linkend="af-patterns">matches all URLs</link>. Therefore, the
6240 set of actions used in this <quote>default</quote> section <emphasis>will
6241 be applied to all requests as a start</emphasis>. It can be partly or
6242 wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or in user.action,
6243 but it will still be largely responsible for your overall browsing
6248 Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
6249 no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless,
6250 to have a complete listing for your reference. (Remember: a <quote>+</quote>
6251 preceding the action name enables the action, a <quote>-</quote> disables!).
6252 Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
6253 multiple lines with line continuation.
6258 ##########################################################################
6259 # "Defaults" section:
6260 ##########################################################################
6262 -<link linkend="ADD-HEADER">add-header</link> \
6263 -<link linkend="CLIENT-HEADER-FILTER">client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}</link> \
6264 -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> \
6265 -<link linkend="CONTENT-TYPE-OVERWRITE">content-type-overwrite</link> \
6266 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-CLIENT-HEADER">crunch-client-header</link> \
6267 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-IF-NONE-MATCH">crunch-if-none-match</link> \
6268 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> \
6269 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-SERVER-HEADER">crunch-server-header</link> \
6270 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link> \
6271 +<link linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</link> \
6272 -<link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">downgrade-http-version</link> \
6273 -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link> \
6274 -<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
6275 -<link linkend="FILTER-JS-EVENTS">filter{js-events}</link> \
6276 +<link linkend="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">filter{html-annoyances}</link> \
6277 -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link> \
6278 +<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
6279 -<link linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{unsolicited-popups}</link> \
6280 -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> \
6281 -<link linkend="FILTER-IMG-REORDER">filter{img-reorder}</link> \
6282 -<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
6283 -<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK">filter{banners-by-link}</link> \
6284 +<link linkend="FILTER-WEBBUGS">filter{webbugs}</link> \
6285 -<link linkend="FILTER-TINY-TEXTFORMS">filter{tiny-textforms}</link> \
6286 -<link linkend="FILTER-JUMPING-WINDOWS">filter{jumping-windows}</link> \
6287 -<link linkend="FILTER-FRAMESET-BORDERS">filter{frameset-borders}</link> \
6288 -<link linkend="FILTER-DEMORONIZER">filter{demoronizer}</link> \
6289 -<link linkend="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">filter{shockwave-flash}</link> \
6290 -<link linkend="FILTER-QUICKTIME-KIOSKMODE">filter{quicktime-kioskmode}</link> \
6291 -<link linkend="FILTER-FUN">filter{fun}</link> \
6292 -<link linkend="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">filter{crude-parental}</link> \
6293 +<link linkend="FILTER-IE-EXPLOITS">filter{ie-exploits}</link> \
6294 -<link linkend="FILTER-GOOGLE">filter{google}</link> \
6295 -<link linkend="FILTER-YAHOO">filter{yahoo}</link> \
6296 -<link linkend="FILTER-MSN">filter{msn}</link> \
6297 -<link linkend="FILTER-BLOGSPOT">filter{blogspot}</link> \
6298 -<link linkend="FILTER-NO-PING">filter{no-ping}</link> \
6299 -<link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> \
6300 -<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT">handle-as-empty-document</link> \
6301 -<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> \
6302 -<link linkend="HIDE-ACCEPT-LANGUAGE">hide-accept-language</link> \
6303 -<link linkend="HIDE-CONTENT-DISPOSITION">hide-content-disposition</link> \
6304 -<link linkend="HIDE-IF-MODIFIED-SINCE">hide-if-modified-since</link> \
6305 +<link linkend="HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">hide-forwarded-for-headers</link> \
6306 +<link linkend="HIDE-FROM-HEADER">hide-from-header{block}</link> \
6307 +<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer{forge}</link> \
6308 -<link linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT">hide-user-agent</link> \
6309 -<link linkend="INSPECT-JPEGS">inspect-jpegs</link> \
6310 -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> \
6311 -<link linkend="LIMIT-CONNECT">limit-connect</link> \
6312 +<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link> \
6313 -<link linkend="OVERWRITE-LAST-MODIFIED">overwrite-last-modified</link> \
6314 -<link linkend="REDIRECT">redirect</link> \
6315 -<link linkend="SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">send-vanilla-wafer</link> \
6316 -<link linkend="SEND-WAFER">send-wafer</link> \
6317 -<link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-FILTER">server-header-filter{xml-to-html}</link> \
6318 -<link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-FILTER">server-header-filter{html-to-xml}</link> \
6319 +<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> \
6320 +<link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker{pattern}</link> \
6321 -<link linkend="TREAT-FORBIDDEN-CONNECTS-LIKE-BLOCKS">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link> \
6323 / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.</screen>
6327 The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding
6328 the user agent, are part of a <quote>general policy</quote> that applies
6329 universally and won't get any exceptions defined later. Other choices,
6330 like not blocking (which is <emphasis>understandably</emphasis> the
6331 default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify explicitly what we
6332 want to block in later sections.
6336 The first of our specialized sections is concerned with <quote>fragile</quote>
6337 sites, i.e. sites that require minimum interference, because they are either
6338 very complex or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that
6339 make them unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use
6340 our pre-defined <literal>fragile</literal> alias instead of stating the list
6341 of actions explicitly:
6346 ##########################################################################
6347 # Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
6348 ##########################################################################
6350 # "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
6353 .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
6354 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
6355 mail.google.com</screen>
6359 Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically
6360 require cookies to log in, and pop-up windows for shopping
6361 carts or item details. Again, we'll use a pre-defined alias:
6370 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
6372 .scan.co.uk</screen>
6375 <!-- No longer needed BEGIN OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK
6378 Then, there are sites which rely on pop-up windows (yuck!) to work.
6379 Since we made pop-up-killing our default above, we need to make exceptions
6380 now. <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/">Mozilla</ulink> users, who
6381 can turn on smart handling of unwanted pop-ups in their browsers, can
6383 -<literal><link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link></literal> (and
6384 -<literal><link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></literal>) above
6385 and hence don't need this section. Anyway, disabling an already disabled
6386 action doesn't hurt, so we'll define our exceptions regardless of what was
6387 chosen in the defaults section:
6392 # These sites require pop-ups too :(
6394 { -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> }
6397 .deutsche-bank-24.de</screen>
6400 END OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK -->
6403 The <literal><link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link></literal>
6404 action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some sites. So disable
6405 it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:
6410 { -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> }
6414 .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
6415 .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
6416 .nytimes.com</screen>
6420 It is important that <application>Privoxy</application> knows which
6421 URLs belong to images, so that <emphasis>if</emphasis> they are to
6422 be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
6423 Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it
6424 would destroy the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it
6425 would feed the advertisers (in terms of money <emphasis>and</emphasis>
6426 information). We can mark any URL as an image with the <literal><link
6427 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action,
6428 and marking all URLs that end in a known image file extension is a
6434 ##########################################################################
6436 ##########################################################################
6438 # Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
6439 # blocked further down this file:
6441 { +<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> }
6442 /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$</screen>
6446 And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to
6447 generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
6448 request is for an image. Hence we block them <emphasis>and</emphasis>
6449 mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
6450 <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
6451 course just as well use <literal>+<link linkend="block">block</link>
6452 +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> here.)
6453 Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
6454 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
6455 action. Since all URLs have matched the default section with its
6456 <literal>+<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link>{pattern}</literal>
6457 action before, it still applies and needn't be repeated:
6462 # Known ad generators:
6467 .ad.*.doubleclick.net
6468 .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
6469 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
6475 One of the most important jobs of <application>Privoxy</application>
6476 is to block banners. Many of these can be <quote>blocked</quote>
6477 by the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{banners-by-size}</literal>
6478 action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
6479 images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
6480 them anymore, and hence they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally
6481 doesn't catch all banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we
6482 need a comprehensive list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the
6483 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action to them.
6486 First comes many generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
6487 matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
6488 a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
6489 to keep the example short:
6494 ##########################################################################
6495 # Block these fine banners:
6496 ##########################################################################
6497 { <link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link> }
6505 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
6506 /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
6508 # Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
6510 .hitbox.com</screen>
6514 It's quite remarkable how many advertisers actually call their banner
6515 servers ads.<replaceable>company</replaceable>.com, or call the directory
6516 in which the banners are stored simply <quote>banners</quote>. So the above
6517 generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
6520 But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want
6521 to block. The pattern <literal>.*ads.</literal> e.g. catches
6522 <quote>nasty-<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.nasty-corp.com</quote> as intended,
6523 but also <quote>downlo<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.sourcefroge.net</quote> or
6524 <quote><emphasis>ads</emphasis>l.some-provider.net.</quote> So here come some
6525 well-known exceptions to the <literal>+<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
6529 Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
6530 <quote>downloads.sourcefroge.net</quote>: Initially, all actions are deactivated,
6531 so it wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the
6532 URL, but just deactivates the <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
6533 action once again. Then it matches <literal>.*ads.</literal>, an exception to the
6534 general non-blocking policy, and suddenly
6535 <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link></literal> applies. And now, it'll match
6536 <literal>.*loads.</literal>, where <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">-block</link></literal>
6537 applies, so (unless it matches <emphasis>again</emphasis> further down) it ends up
6538 with no <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal> action applying.
6543 ##########################################################################
6544 # Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
6545 ##########################################################################
6549 { -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
6550 adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
6551 adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
6552 adobe. # (has nothing to do with ads either)
6553 ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
6554 .edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
6555 .*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
6563 www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
6564 www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv</screen>
6568 Filtering source code can have nasty side effects,
6569 so make an exception for our friends at sourceforge.net,
6570 and all paths with <quote>cvs</quote> in them. Note that
6571 <literal>-<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link></literal>
6572 disables <emphasis>all</emphasis> filters in one fell swoop!
6577 # Don't filter code!
6579 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
6584 .sourceforge.net</screen>
6588 The actual <filename>default.action</filename> is of course much more
6589 comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.
6594 <sect3><title>user.action</title>
6597 So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies,
6598 which would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now,
6599 you might want to be more specific and have customized rules that
6600 are more suitable to your personal habits and preferences. These would
6601 be for narrowly defined situations like your ISP or your bank, and should
6602 be placed in <filename>user.action</filename>, which is parsed after all other
6603 actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any previously
6604 defined actions. <filename>user.action</filename> is also a
6605 <emphasis>safe</emphasis> place for your personal settings, since
6606 <filename>default.action</filename> is actively maintained by the
6607 <application>Privoxy</application> developers and you'll probably want
6608 to install updated versions from time to time.
6612 So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
6613 <filename>user.action</filename>:
6617 <!-- brief sample user.action here -->
6621 # My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com></screen>
6625 As <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link> are local to the actions
6626 file that they are defined in, you can't use the ones from
6627 <filename>default.action</filename>, unless you repeat them here:
6632 # Aliases are local to the file they are defined in.
6633 # (Re-)define aliases for this file:
6637 # These aliases just save typing later, and the alias names should
6638 # be self explanatory.
6640 +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
6641 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
6642 allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
6643 allow-popups = -filter{all-popups} -kill-popups
6644 +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
6645 -block-as-image = -block
6647 # These aliases define combinations of actions that are useful for
6648 # certain types of sites:
6650 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referrer -kill-popups
6651 shop = -crunch-all-cookies allow-popups
6653 # Allow ads for selected useful free sites:
6655 allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} -filter{banners-by-link}
6657 # Alias for specific file types that are text, but might have conflicting
6658 # MIME types. We want the browser to force these to be text documents.
6659 handle-as-text = -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> +-<link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{text/plain}</link> +-<link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-CONTENT-DISPOSITION">hide-content-disposition</link></screen>
6664 Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
6665 you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
6666 to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
6667 <literal>allow-all-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
6668 that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and the
6669 processing of cookies to make them only temporary.
6674 { allow-all-cookies }
6678 .redhat.com</screen>
6682 Your bank is allergic to some filter, but you don't know which, so you disable them all:
6687 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
6688 .your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
6692 Some file types you may not want to filter for various reasons:
6697 # Technical documentation is likely to contain strings that might
6698 # erroneously get altered by the JavaScript-oriented filters:
6703 # And this stupid host sends streaming video with a wrong MIME type,
6704 # so that Privoxy thinks it is getting HTML and starts filtering:
6706 stupid-server.example.com/</screen>
6710 Example of a simple <link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> action. Say you've
6711 seen an ad on your favourite page on example.com that you want to get rid of.
6712 You have right-clicked the image, selected <quote>copy image location</quote>
6713 and pasted the URL below while removing the leading http://, into a
6714 <literal>{ +block }</literal> section. Note that <literal>{ +handle-as-image
6715 }</literal> need not be specified, since all URLs ending in
6716 <literal>.gif</literal> will be tagged as images by the general rules as set
6717 in default.action anyway:
6722 { +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
6723 www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor\.gif
6724 another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
6728 The URLs of dynamically generated banners, especially from large banner
6729 farms, often don't use the well-known image file name extensions, which
6730 makes it impossible for <application>Privoxy</application> to guess
6731 the file type just by looking at the URL.
6732 You can use the <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above for
6734 Note that objects which match this rule but then turn out NOT to be an
6735 image are typically rendered as a <quote>broken image</quote> icon by the
6736 browser. Use cautiously.
6745 ar.atwola.com/</screen>
6749 Now you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
6750 but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
6751 were again too lazy to give <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>, so
6752 you just used the <literal>fragile</literal> alias on the site, and
6753 -- <emphasis>whoa!</emphasis> -- it worked. The <literal>fragile</literal>
6754 aliases disables those actions that are most likely to break a site. Also,
6755 good for testing purposes to see if it is <application>Privoxy</application>
6756 that is causing the problem or not. We later find other regular sites
6757 that misbehave, and add those to our personalized list of troublemakers:
6765 .mybank.com</screen>
6769 You like the <quote>fun</quote> text replacements in <filename>default.filter</filename>,
6770 but it is disabled in the distributed actions file. (My colleagues on the team just
6771 don't have a sense of humour, that's why! ;-). So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
6772 update-safe config, once and for all:
6777 { +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
6778 / # For ALL sites!</screen>
6782 Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions
6783 to the filters in <filename>default.action</filename> for things that
6784 really shouldn't be filtered, like code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since
6785 <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word, these exceptions
6786 won't be valid for the <quote>fun</quote> filtering specified here.
6790 You might also worry about how your favourite free websites are
6791 funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
6792 to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
6793 sites that you feel provide value to you:
6805 Note that <literal>allow-ads</literal> has been aliased to
6806 <literal>-<link linkend="block">block</link></literal>,
6807 <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-size">filter{banners-by-size}</link></literal>, and
6808 <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-link">filter{banners-by-link}</link></literal> above.
6812 Invoke another alias here to force an over-ride of the MIME type <literal>
6813 application/x-sh</literal> which typically would open a download type
6814 dialog. In my case, I want to look at the shell script, and then I can save
6815 it should I choose to.
6825 <filename>user.action</filename> is generally the best place to define
6826 exceptions and additions to the default policies of
6827 <filename>default.action</filename>. Some actions are safe to have their
6828 default policies set here though. So let's set a default policy to have a
6829 <quote>blank</quote> image as opposed to the checkerboard pattern for
6830 <emphasis>ALL</emphasis> sites. <quote>/</quote> of course matches all URL
6836 { +<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker{blank}</link> }
6837 / # ALL sites</screen>
6843 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6847 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6849 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
6851 <sect1 id="filter-file">
6852 <title>Filter Files</title>
6855 On-the-fly text substitutions need
6856 to be defined in a <quote>filter file</quote>. Once defined, they
6857 can then be invoked as an <quote>action</quote>.
6861 &my-app; supports three different filter actions:
6862 <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> to
6863 rewrite the content that is send to the client,
6864 <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header-filter</link></literal>
6865 to rewrite headers that are send by the client, and
6866 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header-filter</link></literal>
6867 to rewrite headers that are send by the server, and
6871 &my-app; also supports two tagger actions:
6872 <literal><link linkend="client-header-tagger">client-header-tagger</link></literal>
6874 <literal><link linkend="server-header-tagger">server-header-tagger</link></literal>.
6875 Taggers and filters use the same syntax in the filter files, the differnce
6876 is that taggers don't modify the text they are filtering, but use a rewritten
6877 version of the filtered text as tag. The tags can then be used to change the
6878 applying actions through sections with <link linkend="tag-pattern">tag-patterns</link>.
6883 Multiple filter files can be defined through the <literal> <link
6884 linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config directive. The filters
6885 as supplied by the developers will be found in
6886 <filename>default.filter</filename>. It is recommended that any locally
6887 defined or modified filters go in a separately defined file such as
6888 <filename>user.filter</filename>.
6893 Command tasks for content filters are to eliminate common annoyances in
6894 HTML and JavaScript, such as pop-up windows,
6895 exit consoles, crippled windows without navigation tools, the
6896 infamous <BLINK> tag etc, to suppress images with certain
6897 width and height attributes (standard banner sizes or web-bugs),
6898 or just to have fun.
6902 Content filtering works on any text-based document type, including
6903 HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc. (all <literal>text/*</literal>
6904 MIME types, <emphasis>except</emphasis> <literal>text/plain</literal>).
6905 Substitutions are made at the source level, so if you want to <quote>roll
6906 your own</quote> filters, you should first be familiar with HTML syntax,
6907 and, of course, regular expressions.
6911 Just like the <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, the
6912 filter file is organized in sections, which are called <emphasis>filters</emphasis>
6913 here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts with one of the
6914 <emphasis>keywords</emphasis> <literal>FILTER:</literal>,
6915 <literal>CLIENT-HEADER-FILTER:</literal> or <literal>SERVER-HEADER-FILTER:</literal>
6916 followed by the filter's <emphasis>name</emphasis>, and a short (one line)
6917 <emphasis>description</emphasis> of what it does. Below that line
6918 come the <emphasis>jobs</emphasis>, i.e. lines that define the actual
6919 text substitutions. By convention, the name of a filter
6920 should describe what the filter <emphasis>eliminates</emphasis>. The
6921 comment is used in the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
6922 user interface</ulink>.
6926 Once a filter called <replaceable>name</replaceable> has been defined
6927 in the filter file, it can be invoked by using an action of the form
6928 +<literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>name</replaceable>}</literal>
6929 in any <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>.
6933 Filter definitions start with a header line that contains the filter
6934 type, the filter name and the filter description.
6935 A content filter header line for a filter called <quote>foo</quote> could look
6940 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"</screen>
6944 Below that line, and up to the next header line, come the jobs that
6945 define what text replacements the filter executes. They are specified
6946 in a syntax that imitates <ulink url="http://www.perl.org/">Perl</ulink>'s
6947 <literal>s///</literal> operator. If you are familiar with Perl, you
6948 will find this to be quite intuitive, and may want to look at the
6949 PCRS documentation for the subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most
6950 notably, the non-standard option letter <literal>U</literal> is supported,
6951 which turns the default to ungreedy matching.
6956 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
6957 Expressions</quote></ulink>, you might want to take a look at
6958 the <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>, and
6959 see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl
6961 <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html">the
6962 <literal>s///</literal> operator's syntax</ulink> and <ulink
6963 url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
6964 expressions</ulink> in general.
6965 The below examples might also help to get you started.
6969 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
6971 <sect2><title>Filter File Tutorial</title>
6973 Now, let's complete our <quote>foo</quote> content filter. We have already defined
6974 the heading, but the jobs are still missing. Since all it does is to replace
6975 <quote>foo</quote> with <quote>bar</quote>, there is only one (trivial) job
6980 <screen>s/foo/bar/</screen>
6984 But wait! Didn't the comment say that <emphasis>all</emphasis> occurrences
6985 of <quote>foo</quote> should be replaced? Our current job will only take
6986 care of the first <quote>foo</quote> on each page. For global substitution,
6987 we'll need to add the <literal>g</literal> option:
6991 <screen>s/foo/bar/g</screen>
6995 Our complete filter now looks like this:
6998 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
6999 s/foo/bar/g</screen>
7003 Let's look at some real filters for more interesting examples. Here you see
7004 a filter that protects against some common annoyances that arise from JavaScript
7005 abuse. Let's look at its jobs one after the other:
7011 FILTER: js-annoyances Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
7013 # Get rid of JavaScript referrer tracking. Test page: http://www.randomoddness.com/untitled.htm
7015 s|(<script.*)document\.referrer(.*</script>)|$1"Not Your Business!"$2|Usg</screen>
7019 Following the header line and a comment, you see the job. Note that it uses
7020 <literal>|</literal> as the delimiter instead of <literal>/</literal>, because
7021 the pattern contains a forward slash, which would otherwise have to be escaped
7022 by a backslash (<literal>\</literal>).
7026 Now, let's examine the pattern: it starts with the text <literal><script.*</literal>
7027 enclosed in parentheses. Since the dot matches any character, and <literal>*</literal>
7028 means: <quote>Match an arbitrary number of the element left of myself</quote>, this
7029 matches <quote><script</quote>, followed by <emphasis>any</emphasis> text, i.e.
7030 it matches the whole page, from the start of the first <script> tag.
7034 That's more than we want, but the pattern continues: <literal>document\.referrer</literal>
7035 matches only the exact string <quote>document.referrer</quote>. The dot needed to
7036 be <emphasis>escaped</emphasis>, i.e. preceded by a backslash, to take away its
7037 special meaning as a joker, and make it just a regular dot. So far, the meaning is:
7038 Match from the start of the first <script> tag in a the page, up to, and including,
7039 the text <quote>document.referrer</quote>, if <emphasis>both</emphasis> are present
7040 in the page (and appear in that order).
7044 But there's still more pattern to go. The next element, again enclosed in parentheses,
7045 is <literal>.*</script></literal>. You already know what <literal>.*</literal>
7046 means, so the whole pattern translates to: Match from the start of the first <script>
7047 tag in a page to the end of the last <script> tag, provided that the text
7048 <quote>document.referrer</quote> appears somewhere in between.
7052 This is still not the whole story, since we have ignored the options and the parentheses:
7053 The portions of the page matched by sub-patterns that are enclosed in parentheses, will be
7054 remembered and be available through the variables <literal>$1, $2, ...</literal> in
7055 the substitute. The <literal>U</literal> option switches to ungreedy matching, which means
7056 that the first <literal>.*</literal> in the pattern will only <quote>eat up</quote> all
7057 text in between <quote><script</quote> and the <emphasis>first</emphasis> occurrence
7058 of <quote>document.referrer</quote>, and that the second <literal>.*</literal> will
7059 only span the text up to the <emphasis>first</emphasis> <quote></script></quote>
7060 tag. Furthermore, the <literal>s</literal> option says that the match may span
7061 multiple lines in the page, and the <literal>g</literal> option again means that the
7062 substitution is global.
7066 So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
7067 <quote>document.referrer</quote>. Remember the parts of the script from
7068 (and including) the start tag up to (and excluding) the string
7069 <quote>document.referrer</quote> as <literal>$1</literal>, and the part following
7070 that string, up to and including the closing tag, as <literal>$2</literal>.
7074 Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
7075 lets look at the substitute: <literal>$1"Not Your Business!"$2</literal> is
7076 easy to read: The text remembered as <literal>$1</literal>, followed by
7077 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> (<emphasis>including</emphasis>
7078 the quotation marks!), followed by the text remembered as <literal>$2</literal>.
7079 This produces an exact copy of the original string, with the middle part
7080 (the <quote>document.referrer</quote>) replaced by <literal>"Not Your
7081 Business!"</literal>.
7085 The whole job now reads: Replace <quote>document.referrer</quote> by
7086 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> wherever it appears inside a
7087 <script> tag. Note that this job won't break JavaScript syntax,
7088 since both the original and the replacement are syntactically valid
7089 string objects. The script just won't have access to the referrer
7090 information anymore.
7094 We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but
7095 this time only point out the constructs of special interest:
7100 # The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
7102 s/window\.status\s*=\s*(['"]).*?\1/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
7106 <literal>\s</literal> stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline,
7107 carriage return, form feed), so that <literal>\s*</literal> means: <quote>zero
7108 or more whitespace</quote>. The <literal>?</literal> in <literal>.*?</literal>
7109 makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
7110 option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
7111 <emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>. Finally, <literal>\1</literal> is
7112 a back-reference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
7113 with the difference that in the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>, a backslash indicates
7114 a back-reference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
7118 So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
7119 strings to the <quote>window.status</quote> object with a dummy assignment
7120 (using a variable name that is hopefully odd enough not to conflict with
7121 real variables in scripts). Thus, it catches many cases where e.g. pointless
7122 descriptions are displayed in the status bar instead of the link target when
7123 you move your mouse over links.
7128 # Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
7130 s/(<body [^>]*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU</screen>
7135 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">OnUnload
7136 event binding</ulink> in the HTML DOM was a <emphasis>CRIME</emphasis>.
7137 When I close a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta.
7138 This job replaces the <quote>onunload</quote> attribute in
7139 <quote><body></quote> tags with the dummy word <literal>never</literal>.
7140 Note that the <literal>i</literal> option makes the pattern matching
7141 case-insensitive. Also note that ungreedy matching alone doesn't always guarantee
7142 a minimal match: In the first parenthesis, we had to use <literal>[^>]*</literal>
7143 instead of <literal>.*</literal> to prevent the match from exceeding the
7144 <body> tag if it doesn't contain <quote>OnUnload</quote>, but the page's
7149 The last example is from the fun department:
7154 FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
7156 # Spice the daily news:
7158 s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig</screen>
7162 Note the <literal>(?!\.com)</literal> part (a so-called negative lookahead)
7163 in the job's pattern, which means: Don't match, if the string
7164 <quote>.com</quote> appears directly following <quote>microsoft</quote>
7165 in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being trashed, while
7166 still replacing the word everywhere else.
7171 # Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
7173 s* industry[ -]leading \
7175 | customer[ -]focused \
7176 | market[ -]driven \
7177 | award[ -]winning # Comments are OK, too! \
7178 | high[ -]performance \
7179 | solutions[ -]based \
7183 *<font color="red"><b>BINGO!</b></font> \
7188 The <literal>x</literal> option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for
7189 e.g. the liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
7197 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
7199 <sect2 id="predefined-filters"><title>The Pre-defined Filters</title>
7203 Note each filter is also listed in the +filter action section above. Please
7204 keep these listings in sync.
7209 The distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file contains a selection of
7210 pre-defined filters for your convenience:
7215 <term><emphasis>js-annoyances</emphasis></term>
7218 The purpose of this filter is to get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse.
7223 replaces JavaScript references to the browser's referrer information
7224 with the string "Not Your Business!". This compliments the <literal><link
7225 linkend="hide-referrer">hide-referrer</link></literal> action on the content level.
7230 removes the bindings to the DOM's
7231 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">unload
7232 event</ulink> which we feel has no right to exist and is responsible for most <quote>exit consoles</quote>, i.e.
7233 nasty windows that pop up when you close another one.
7238 removes code that causes new windows to be opened with undesired properties, such as being
7239 full-screen, non-resizeable, without location, status or menu bar etc.
7245 Use with caution. This is an aggressive filter, and can break sites that
7246 rely heavily on JavaScript.
7252 <term><emphasis>js-events</emphasis></term>
7255 This is a very radical measure. It removes virtually all JavaScript event bindings, which
7256 means that scripts can not react to user actions such as mouse movements or clicks, window
7257 resizing etc, anymore. Use with caution!
7260 We <emphasis>strongly discourage</emphasis> using this filter as a default since it breaks
7261 many legitimate scripts. It is meant for use only on extra-nasty sites (should you really
7268 <term><emphasis>html-annoyances</emphasis></term>
7271 This filter will undo many common instances of HTML based abuse.
7274 The <literal>BLINK</literal> and <literal>MARQUEE</literal> tags
7275 are neutralized (yeah baby!), and browser windows will be created as
7276 resizeable (as of course they should be!), and will have location,
7277 scroll and menu bars -- even if specified otherwise.
7283 <term><emphasis>content-cookies</emphasis></term>
7286 Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialog, where they can be intercepted
7288 <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>
7289 and <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>
7290 actions. But web sites increasingly make use of HTML meta tags and JavaScript
7291 to sneak cookies to the browser on the content level.
7294 This filter disables most HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets
7295 cookies. It cannot detect all clever uses of these types of code, so it
7296 should not be relied on as an absolute fix. Use it wherever you would also
7297 use the cookie crunch actions.
7303 <term><emphasis>refresh tags</emphasis></term>
7306 Disable any refresh tags if the interval is greater than nine seconds (so
7307 that redirections done via refresh tags are not destroyed). This is useful
7308 for dial-on-demand setups, or for those who find this HTML feature
7315 <term><emphasis>unsolicited-popups</emphasis></term>
7318 This filter attempts to prevent only <quote>unsolicited</quote> pop-up
7319 windows from opening, yet still allow pop-up windows that the user
7320 has explicitly chosen to open. It was added in version 3.0.1,
7321 as an improvement over earlier such filters.
7324 Technical note: The filter works by redefining the window.open JavaScript
7325 function to a dummy function, <literal>PrivoxyWindowOpen()</literal>,
7326 during the loading and rendering phase of each HTML page access, and
7327 restoring the function afterward.
7330 This is recommended only for browsers that cannot perform this function
7331 reliably themselves. And be aware that some sites require such windows
7332 in order to function normally. Use with caution.
7338 <term><emphasis>all-popups</emphasis></term>
7341 Attempt to prevent <emphasis>all</emphasis> pop-up windows from opening.
7342 Note this should be used with even more discretion than the above, since
7343 it is more likely to break some sites that require pop-ups for normal
7344 usage. Use with caution.
7350 <term><emphasis>img-reorder</emphasis></term>
7353 This is a helper filter that has no value if used alone. It makes the
7354 <literal>banners-by-size</literal> and <literal>banners-by-link</literal>
7355 (see below) filters more effective and should be enabled together with them.
7361 <term><emphasis>banners-by-size</emphasis></term>
7364 This filter removes image tags purely based on what size they are. Fortunately
7365 for us, many ads and banner images tend to conform to certain standardized
7366 sizes, which makes this filter quite effective for ad stripping purposes.
7369 Occasionally this filter will cause false positives on images that are not ads,
7370 but just happen to be of one of the standard banner sizes.
7373 Recommended only for those who require extreme ad blocking. The default
7374 block rules should catch 95+% of all ads <emphasis>without</emphasis> this filter enabled.
7380 <term><emphasis>banners-by-link</emphasis></term>
7383 This is an experimental filter that attempts to kill any banners if
7384 their URLs seem to point to known or suspected click trackers. It is currently
7385 not of much value and is not recommended for use by default.
7391 <term><emphasis>webbugs</emphasis></term>
7394 Webbugs are small, invisible images (technically 1X1 GIF images), that
7395 are used to track users across websites, and collect information on them.
7396 As an HTML page is loaded by the browser, an embedded image tag causes the
7397 browser to contact a third-party site, disclosing the tracking information
7398 through the requested URL and/or cookies for that third-party domain, without
7399 the user ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party site.
7400 HTML-ized spam also uses a similar technique to verify email addresses.
7403 This filter removes the HTML code that loads such <quote>webbugs</quote>.
7409 <term><emphasis>tiny-textforms</emphasis></term>
7412 A rather special-purpose filter that can be used to enlarge textareas (those
7413 multi-line text boxes in web forms) and turn off hard word wrap in them.
7414 It was written for the sourceforge.net tracker system where such boxes are
7415 a nuisance, but it can be handy on other sites, too.
7418 It is not recommended to use this filter as a default.
7424 <term><emphasis>jumping-windows</emphasis></term>
7427 Many consider windows that move, or resize themselves to be abusive. This filter
7428 neutralizes the related JavaScript code. Note that some sites might not display
7429 or behave as intended when using this filter. Use with caution.
7435 <term><emphasis>frameset-borders</emphasis></term>
7438 Some web designers seem to assume that everyone in the world will view their
7439 web sites using the same browser brand and version, screen resolution etc,
7440 because only that assumption could explain why they'd use static frame sizes,
7441 yet prevent their frames from being resized by the user, should they be too
7442 small to show their whole content.
7445 This filter removes the related HTML code. It should only be applied to sites
7452 <term><emphasis>demoronizer</emphasis></term>
7455 Many Microsoft products that generate HTML use non-standard extensions (read:
7456 violations) of the ISO 8859-1 aka Latin-1 character set. This can cause those
7457 HTML documents to display with errors on standard-compliant platforms.
7460 This filter translates the MS-only characters into Latin-1 equivalents.
7461 It is not necessary when using MS products, and will cause corruption of
7462 all documents that use 8-bit character sets other than Latin-1. It's mostly
7463 worthwhile for Europeans on non-MS platforms, if weird garbage characters
7464 sometimes appear on some pages, or user agents that don't correct for this on
7467 My version of Mozilla (ancient) shows litte square boxes for quote
7468 characters, and apostrophes on moronized pages. So many pages have this, I
7469 can read them fine now. HB 08/27/06
7476 <term><emphasis>shockwave-flash</emphasis></term>
7479 A filter for shockwave haters. As the name suggests, this filter strips code
7480 out of web pages that is used to embed shockwave flash objects.
7488 <term><emphasis>quicktime-kioskmode</emphasis></term>
7491 Change HTML code that embeds Quicktime objects so that kioskmode, which
7492 prevents saving, is disabled.
7498 <term><emphasis>fun</emphasis></term>
7501 Text replacements for subversive browsing fun. Make fun of your favorite
7502 Monopolist or play buzzword bingo.
7508 <term><emphasis>crude-parental</emphasis></term>
7511 A demonstration-only filter that shows how <application>Privoxy</application>
7512 can be used to delete web content on a keyword basis.
7518 <term><emphasis>ie-exploits</emphasis></term>
7521 An experimental collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
7522 code that exploits known security holes in Internet Explorer.
7525 Presently, it only protects against Nimda and a cross-site scripting bug, and
7526 would need active maintenance to provide more substantial protection.
7532 <term><emphasis>site-specifics</emphasis></term>
7535 Some web sites have very specific problems, the cure for which doesn't apply
7536 anywhere else, or could even cause damage on other sites.
7539 This is a collection of such site-specific cures which should only be applied
7540 to the sites they were intended for, which is what the supplied
7541 <filename>default.action</filename> file does. Users shouldn't need to change
7542 anything regarding this filter.
7548 <term><emphasis>google</emphasis></term>
7551 A CSS based block for Google text ads. Also removes a width limitation
7552 and the toolbar advertisement.
7558 <term><emphasis>yahoo</emphasis></term>
7561 Another CSS based block, this time for Yahoo text ads. And removes
7562 a width limitation as well.
7568 <term><emphasis>msn</emphasis></term>
7571 Another CSS based block, this time for MSN text ads. And removes
7572 tracking URLs, as well as a width limitation.
7578 <term><emphasis>blogspot</emphasis></term>
7581 Cleans up some Blogspot blogs. Read the fine print before using this one!
7584 This filter also intentionally removes some navigation stuff and sets the
7585 page width to 100%. As a result, some rounded <quote>corners</quote> would
7586 appear to early or not at all and as fixing this would require a browser
7587 that understands background-size (CSS3), they are removed instead.
7593 <term><emphasis>xml-to-html</emphasis></term>
7596 Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from xml to html.
7602 <term><emphasis>html-to-xml</emphasis></term>
7605 Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from html to xml.
7611 <term><emphasis>no-ping</emphasis></term>
7614 Removes the non-standard <literal>ping</literal> attribute from
7615 anchor and area HTML tags.
7621 <term><emphasis>hide-tor-exit-notation</emphasis></term>
7624 Client-header filter to remove the <command>Tor</command> exit node notation
7625 found in Host and Referer headers.
7628 If &my-app; and <command>Tor</command> are chained and &my-app;
7629 is configured to use socks4a, one can use <quote>http://www.example.org.foobar.exit/</quote>
7630 to access the host <quote>www.example.org</quote> through the
7631 <command>Tor</command> exit node <quote>foobar</quote>.
7634 As the HTTP client isn't aware of this notation, it treats the
7635 whole string <quote>www.example.org.foobar.exit</quote> as host and uses it
7636 for the <quote>Host</quote> and <quote>Referer</quote> headers. From the
7637 server's point of view the resulting headers are invalid and can cause problems.
7640 An invalid <quote>Referer</quote> header can trigger <quote>hot-linking</quote>
7641 protections, an invalid <quote>Host</quote> header will make it impossible for
7642 the server to find the right vhost (several domains hosted on the same IP address).
7645 This client-header filter removes the <quote>foo.exit</quote> part in those headers
7646 to prevent the mentioned problems. Note that it only modifies
7647 the HTTP headers, it doesn't make it impossible for the server
7648 to detect your <command>Tor</command> exit node based on the IP address
7649 the request is coming from.
7656 <term><emphasis> </emphasis></term>
7670 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7674 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7676 <sect1 id="templates">
7677 <title>Privoxy's Template Files</title>
7679 All <application>Privoxy</application> built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the
7680 <ulink url="http://show-the-404-error.page"><quote>404 - No Such Domain</quote>
7681 error page</ulink>, the <ulink
7682 url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
7684 and all pages of its <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
7685 user interface</ulink>, are generated from <emphasis>templates</emphasis>.
7686 (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for the above links to work as
7691 These templates are stored in a subdirectory of the <link linkend="confdir">configuration
7692 directory</link> called <filename>templates</filename>. On Unixish platforms,
7694 <ulink url="file:///etc/privoxy/templates/"><filename>/etc/privoxy/templates/</filename></ulink>.
7698 The templates are basically normal HTML files, but with place-holders (called symbols
7699 or exports), which <application>Privoxy</application> fills at run time. You can
7700 edit the templates with a normal text editor, should you want to customize them.
7701 (<emphasis>Not recommended for the casual user</emphasis>). Note that
7702 just like in configuration files, lines starting with <literal>#</literal> are
7703 ignored when the templates are filled in.
7707 The place-holders are of the form <literal>@name@</literal>, and you will
7708 find a list of available symbols, which vary from template to template,
7709 in the comments at the start of each file. Note that these comments are not
7710 always accurate, and that it's probably best to look at the existing HTML
7711 code to find out which symbols are supported and what they are filled in with.
7715 A special application of this substitution mechanism is to make whole
7716 blocks of HTML code disappear when a specific symbol is set. We use this
7717 for many purposes, one of them being to include the beta warning in all
7718 our user interface (CGI) pages when <application>Privoxy</application>
7719 is in an alpha or beta development stage:
7724 <!-- @if-unstable-start -->
7726 ... beta warning HTML code goes here ...
7728 <!-- if-unstable-end@ --></screen>
7732 If the "unstable" symbol is set, everything in between and including
7733 <literal>@if-unstable-start</literal> and <literal>if-unstable-end@</literal>
7734 will disappear, leaving nothing but an empty comment:
7738 <screen><!-- --></screen>
7742 There's also an if-then-else construct and an <literal>#include</literal>
7743 mechanism, but you'll sure find out if you are inclined to edit the
7748 All templates refer to a style located at
7749 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet"><literal>http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet</literal></ulink>.
7750 This is, of course, locally served by <application>Privoxy</application>
7751 and the source for it can be found and edited in the
7752 <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> template.
7757 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7761 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7763 <sect1 id="contact"><title>Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature
7766 <!-- Include contacting.sgml boilerplate: -->
7768 <!-- end boilerplate -->
7772 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7775 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7776 <sect1 id="copyright"><title>Privoxy Copyright, License and History</title>
7778 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
7780 <!-- end copyright -->
7782 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7783 <sect2><title>License</title>
7784 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
7786 <!-- end copyright -->
7788 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7791 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7793 <sect2 id="history"><title>History</title>
7794 <!-- Include history.sgml: -->
7796 <!-- end history -->
7799 <sect2 id="authors"><title>Authors</title>
7800 <!-- Include p-authors.sgml: -->
7802 <!-- end authors -->
7807 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7810 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7811 <sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
7812 <!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
7814 <!-- end seealso -->
7819 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7820 <sect1 id="appendix"><title>Appendix</title>
7823 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7825 <title>Regular Expressions</title>
7827 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl-style <quote>regular
7828 expressions</quote> in its <link linkend="actions-file">actions
7829 files</link> and <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>,
7830 through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> and
7833 <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/">PCRS</ulink> libraries.
7835 <application>PCRS</application> libraries.
7839 If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what <quote>regular
7840 expressions</quote> are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
7841 introduction only. A full explanation would require a <ulink
7842 url="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex/">book</ulink> ;-)
7846 Regular expressions provide a language to describe patterns that can be
7847 run against strings of characters (letter, numbers, etc), to see if they
7848 match the string or not. The patterns are themselves (sometimes complex)
7849 strings of literal characters, combined with wild-cards, and other special
7850 characters, called meta-characters. The <quote>meta-characters</quote> have
7851 special meanings and are used to build complex patterns to be matched against.
7852 Perl Compatible Regular Expressions are an especially convenient
7853 <quote>dialect</quote> of the regular expression language.
7857 To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
7858 characters when listing files with the <command>dir</command> command in DOS.
7859 <literal>*.*</literal> matches all filenames. The <quote>special</quote>
7860 character here is the asterisk which matches any and all characters. We can be
7861 more specific and use <literal>?</literal> to match just individual
7862 characters. So <quote>dir file?.text</quote> would match
7863 <quote>file1.txt</quote>, <quote>file2.txt</quote>, etc. We are pattern
7864 matching, using a similar technique to <quote>regular expressions</quote>!
7868 Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much more
7869 powerful. There are many more <quote>special characters</quote> and ways of
7870 building complex patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common ones,
7871 and then some examples:
7876 <emphasis>.</emphasis> - Matches any single character, e.g. <quote>a</quote>,
7877 <quote>A</quote>, <quote>4</quote>, <quote>:</quote>, or <quote>@</quote>.
7879 </simplelist></para>
7883 <emphasis>?</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE
7886 </simplelist></para>
7890 <emphasis>+</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE
7893 </simplelist></para>
7897 <emphasis>*</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE
7900 </simplelist></para>
7904 <emphasis>\</emphasis> - The <quote>escape</quote> character denotes that
7905 the following character should be taken literally. This is used where one of the
7906 special characters (e.g. <quote>.</quote>) needs to be taken literally and
7907 not as a special meta-character. Example: <quote>example\.com</quote>, makes
7908 sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded to its
7909 meta-character meaning of any single character).
7911 </simplelist></para>
7915 <emphasis>[ ]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
7916 any of the enclosed characters are encountered. For instance, <quote>[0-9]</quote>
7917 matches any numeric digit (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine
7918 this with <quote>+</quote> to match any digit one of more times: <quote>[0-9]+</quote>.
7920 </simplelist></para>
7924 <emphasis>( )</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
7925 or multiple sub-expressions.
7927 </simplelist></para>
7931 <emphasis>|</emphasis> - The <quote>bar</quote> character works like an
7932 <quote>or</quote> conditional statement. A match is successful if the
7933 sub-expression on either side of <quote>|</quote> matches. As an example:
7934 <quote>/(this|that) example/</quote> uses grouping and the bar character
7935 and would match either <quote>this example</quote> or <quote>that
7936 example</quote>, and nothing else.
7938 </simplelist></para>
7941 These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
7942 <application>Privoxy</application>, and is a long way from a definitive
7943 list. This is enough to get us started with a few simple examples which may
7944 be more illuminating:
7948 <emphasis><literal>/.*/banners/.*</literal></emphasis> - A simple example
7949 that uses the common combination of <quote>.</quote> and <quote>*</quote> to
7950 denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at all.
7951 So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression pattern
7952 (<quote>.*</quote>) another literal forward slash, the string
7953 <quote>banners</quote>, another forward slash, and lastly another
7954 <quote>.*</quote>. We are building
7955 a directory path here. This will match any file with the path that has a
7956 directory named <quote>banners</quote> in it. The <quote>.*</quote> matches
7957 any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward slashes, so it
7958 might expand into a much longer looking path. For example, this could match:
7959 <quote>/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif</quote>, or just
7960 <quote>/banners/annoying.html</quote>, or almost an infinite number of other
7961 possible combinations, just so it has <quote>banners</quote> in the path
7966 And now something a little more complex:
7970 <emphasis><literal>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/</literal></emphasis> -
7971 We have several literal forward slashes again (<quote>/</quote>), so we are
7972 building another expression that is a file path statement. We have another
7973 <quote>.*</quote>, so we are matching against any conceivable sub-path, just so
7974 it matches our expression. The only true literal that <emphasis>must
7975 match</emphasis> our pattern is <application>adv</application>, together with
7976 the forward slashes. What comes after the <quote>adv</quote> string is the
7981 Remember the <quote>?</quote> means the preceding expression (either a
7982 literal character or anything grouped with <quote>(...)</quote> in this case)
7983 can exist or not, since this means either zero or one match. So
7984 <quote>((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))</quote> is optional, as are the
7985 individual sub-expressions: <quote>(er)</quote>,
7986 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, and the <quote>s</quote>. The <quote>|</quote>
7987 means <quote>or</quote>. We have two of those. For instance,
7988 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, can expand to match either <quote>ing</quote>
7989 <emphasis>OR</emphasis> <quote>ements?</quote>. What is being done here, is an
7990 attempt at matching as many variations of <quote>advertisement</quote>, and
7991 similar, as possible. So this would expand to match just <quote>adv</quote>,
7992 or <quote>advert</quote>, or <quote>adverts</quote>, or
7993 <quote>advertising</quote>, or <quote>advertisement</quote>, or
7994 <quote>advertisements</quote>. You get the idea. But it would not match
7995 <quote>advertizements</quote> (with a <quote>z</quote>). We could fix that by
7996 changing our regular expression to:
7997 <quote>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/</quote>, which would then match
8002 <emphasis><literal>/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g)</literal></emphasis> - Again
8003 another path statement with forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets
8004 <quote>[ ]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
8005 shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the same as
8006 saying <quote>0123456789</quote>. So any digit matches. The <quote>+</quote>
8007 means one or more of the preceding expression must be included. The preceding
8008 expression here is what is in the square brackets -- in this case, any digit
8009 one through nine. Then, at the end, we have a grouping: <quote>(gif|jpe?g)</quote>.
8010 This includes a <quote>|</quote>, so this needs to match the expression on
8011 either side of that bar character also. A simple <quote>gif</quote> on one side, and the other
8012 side will in turn match either <quote>jpeg</quote> or <quote>jpg</quote>,
8013 since the <quote>?</quote> means the letter <quote>e</quote> is optional and
8014 can be matched once or not at all. So we are building an expression here to
8015 match image GIF or JPEG type image file. It must include the literal
8016 string <quote>advert</quote>, then one or more digits, and a <quote>.</quote>
8017 (which is now a literal, and not a special character, since it is escaped
8018 with <quote>\</quote>), and lastly either <quote>gif</quote>, or
8019 <quote>jpeg</quote>, or <quote>jpg</quote>. Some possible matches would
8020 include: <quote>//advert1.jpg</quote>,
8021 <quote>/nasty/ads/advert1234.gif</quote>,
8022 <quote>/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg</quote>. It would not match
8023 <quote>advert1.gif</quote> (no leading slash), or
8024 <quote>/adverts232.jpg</quote> (the expression does not include an
8025 <quote>s</quote>), or <quote>/advert1.jsp</quote> (<quote>jsp</quote> is not
8026 in the expression anywhere).
8030 We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
8031 can understand the default <application>Privoxy</application>
8032 configuration files, and maybe use this knowledge to customize your own
8033 installation. There is much, much more that can be done with regular
8034 expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you can learn more on
8039 More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
8040 <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>
8044 For information on regular expression based substitutions and their applications
8045 in filters, please see the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file tutorial</link>
8050 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
8053 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8055 <title>Privoxy's Internal Pages</title>
8058 Since <application>Privoxy</application> proxies each requested
8059 web page, it is easy for <application>Privoxy</application> to
8060 trap certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to
8061 <application>Privoxy</application>, and see how it is
8062 configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these
8063 rules and other configuration options, and even turn
8064 <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering off, all with
8070 The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access
8071 to <application>Privoxy</application>. Of course,
8072 <application>Privoxy</application> must be running to access these. If
8073 not, you will get a friendly error message. Internet access is not
8086 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
8090 There is a shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> (But it
8091 doesn't provide a fall-back to a real page, in case the request is not
8092 sent through <application>Privoxy</application>)
8098 Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
8099 editing of actions files:
8103 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
8110 Show the source code version numbers:
8114 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">http://config.privoxy.org/show-version</ulink>
8121 Show the browser's request headers:
8125 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">http://config.privoxy.org/show-request</ulink>
8132 Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
8136 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
8143 Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, <quote>Privoxy</quote> continues
8144 to run, but only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
8148 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>
8152 Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
8156 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable</ulink>
8161 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable</ulink>
8170 These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
8174 <sect3 id="bookmarklets">
8175 <title>Bookmarklets</title>
8177 Below are some <quote>bookmarklets</quote> to allow you to easily access a
8178 <quote>mini</quote> version of some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
8179 special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer, but should work
8180 equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which support
8181 JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not by
8182 clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
8185 To save them, right-click the link and choose <quote>Add to Favorites</quote>
8186 (IE) or <quote>Add Bookmark</quote> (Netscape). You will get a warning that
8187 the bookmark <quote>may not be safe</quote> - just click OK. Then you can run the
8188 Bookmarklet directly from your favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access,
8189 you can put them on the <quote>Links</quote> bar (IE) or the <quote>Personal
8190 Toolbar</quote> (Netscape), and run them with a single click.
8199 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Enable</ulink>
8206 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Disable</ulink>
8213 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
8220 url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy- View Status</ulink>
8226 <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions/index.php?url='+escape(location.href),'Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Actions File Feedback</ulink>
8232 <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info?url='+escape(location.href),'Why').focus());">Privoxy - Why?</ulink>
8239 Credit: The site which gave us the general idea for these bookmarklets is
8240 <ulink url="http://www.bookmarklets.com/">www.bookmarklets.com</ulink>. They
8241 have more information about bookmarklets.
8250 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8252 <title>Chain of Events</title>
8254 Let's take a quick look at how some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
8255 core features are triggered, and the ensuing sequence of events when a web
8256 page is requested by your browser:
8263 First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
8264 the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, which will in turn,
8265 relay the request to the remote web server after passing the following
8271 <application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
8272 pages (e.g <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
8277 Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
8279 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link> patterns. If
8280 so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
8281 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>
8283 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"><quote>+handle-as-empty-document</quote></link>
8284 are then checked, and if there is no match, an
8285 HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back to the browser. Otherwise, if
8286 it does match, an image is returned for the former, and an empty text
8287 document for the latter. The type of image would depend on the setting of
8288 <link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></link>
8289 (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
8294 Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the
8295 <filename>trust</filename> file, then that is done.
8300 If the URL pattern matches the <link
8301 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link> action,
8302 it is then processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
8307 Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
8308 of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. <link
8309 linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></link>,
8310 etc.), headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and
8316 Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web
8322 First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
8323 things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
8324 filtered as determined by the
8325 <link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"><quote>+crunch-incoming-cookies</quote></link>,
8326 <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>,
8327 and <link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></link>
8333 If the <link linkend="KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></link>
8334 action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript document, the popup-code in the
8335 response is filtered on-the-fly as it is received.
8340 If any <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
8342 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
8343 action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
8344 read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
8345 <filename>default.filter</filename> and any other filter files) are
8346 processed against the buffered content. Filters are applied in the order
8347 they are specified in one of the filter files. Animated GIFs, if present,
8348 are reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
8349 setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
8350 <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
8353 If neither a <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
8355 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
8356 matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
8357 to the client browser as it becomes available.
8362 As the browser receives the now (possibly filtered) page content, it
8363 reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
8364 source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
8365 frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a
8366 separate request (this is easily viewable in <application>Privoxy's</application>
8367 logs). And each such request is in turn processed just as above. Note that a
8368 complex web page will have many, many such embedded URLs. If these
8369 secondary requests are to a different server, then quite possibly a very
8370 differing set of actions is triggered.
8377 NOTE: This is somewhat of a simplistic overview of what happens with each URL
8378 request. For the sake of brevity and simplicity, we have focused on
8379 <application>Privoxy's</application> core features only.
8385 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8386 <sect2 id="actionsanat">
8387 <title>Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</title>
8390 The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
8391 <link linkend="ACTIONS">actions</link> and <link linkend="FILTER">filters</link>
8392 to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
8393 easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need to be able to
8394 <emphasis>see</emphasis> just what <application>Privoxy</application> is
8395 doing. Especially, if something <application>Privoxy</application> is doing
8396 is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little daunting to look at
8397 the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend to be filled with
8398 <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> whose consequences are not
8403 One quick test to see if <application>Privoxy</application> is causing a problem
8404 or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
8405 step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
8406 and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!). Looking at the
8407 logs is a good idea too.
8410 Another easy troubleshooting step to try is if you have done any
8411 customization of your installation, revert back to the installed
8412 defaults and see if that helps. There are times the developers get complaints
8413 about one thing or another, and the problem is more related to a customized
8414 configuration issue.
8418 <application>Privoxy</application> also provides the
8419 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
8420 page that can show us very specifically how <application>actions</application>
8421 are being applied to any given URL. This is a big help for troubleshooting.
8425 First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then
8426 <application>Privoxy</application> will tell us
8427 how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
8428 help with filtering effects (i.e. the <link
8429 linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action) from
8430 one of the filter files since this is handled very
8431 differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
8432 URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
8433 such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
8434 you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
8435 -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
8436 will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
8437 Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
8442 Let's try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
8443 and look at it one section at a time in a sample configuration (your real
8444 configuration may vary):
8449 Matches for http://google.com:
8451 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8455 -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
8456 -content-type-overwrite
8457 -crunch-client-header
8458 -crunch-if-none-match
8459 -crunch-incoming-cookies
8460 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
8461 -crunch-server-header
8462 +deanimate-gifs {last}
8463 -downgrade-http-version
8464 +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
8466 -filter {content-cookies}
8467 -filter {all-popups}
8468 -filter {banners-by-link}
8469 -filter {tiny-textforms}
8470 -filter {frameset-borders}
8471 -filter {demoronizer}
8472 -filter {shockwave-flash}
8473 -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
8475 -filter {crude-parental}
8476 -filter {site-specifics}
8477 -filter {js-annoyances}
8478 -filter {html-annoyances}
8479 +filter {refresh-tags}
8480 -filter {unsolicited-popups}
8481 +filter {img-reorder}
8482 +filter {banners-by-size}
8484 +filter {jumping-windows}
8485 +filter {ie-exploits}
8492 -handle-as-empty-document
8494 -hide-accept-language
8495 -hide-content-disposition
8496 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
8497 +hide-from-header {block}
8498 -hide-if-modified-since
8499 +hide-referrer {forge}
8504 -overwrite-last-modified
8505 +prevent-compression
8509 -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
8510 -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
8511 +session-cookies-only
8512 +set-image-blocker {pattern}
8513 -treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks }
8516 { -session-cookies-only }
8522 In file: user.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8523 (no matches in this file)
8528 This is telling us how we have defined our
8529 <link linkend="ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></link>, and
8530 which ones match for our test case, <quote>google.com</quote>.
8531 Displayed is all the actions that are available to us. Remember,
8532 the <literal>+</literal> sign denotes <quote>on</quote>. <literal>-</literal>
8533 denotes <quote>off</quote>. So some are <quote>on</quote> here, but many
8534 are <quote>off</quote>. Each example we try may provide a slightly different
8535 end result, depending on our configuration directives.
8539 is for our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line
8540 listing, is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default
8541 settings. If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the
8542 section just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This
8543 will apply to all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end
8544 of the listing -- <quote> / </quote>.
8548 But we have defined additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
8549 rules, and then we list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions
8550 would apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit
8551 matches for <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous
8552 cookie setting, which was for <link
8553 linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>
8554 (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google, at
8555 least that is how it is in this example. The second turns
8556 <emphasis>off</emphasis> any <link
8557 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link>
8558 action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
8559 dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
8560 sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
8561 <quote>www.google.com</quote> or <quote>mail.google.com</quote>. But it would not
8562 match <quote>www.google.de</quote>! So, apparently, we have these two actions
8563 defined as exceptions to the general rules at the top somewhere in the lower
8564 part of our <filename>default.action</filename> file, and
8565 <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter sections.
8569 Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
8570 So there is nothing google-specific that we might have added to our own, local
8571 configuration. If there was, those actions would over-rule any actions from
8572 previously processed files, such as <filename>default.action</filename>.
8573 <filename>user.action</filename> typically has the last word. This is the
8574 best place to put hard and fast exceptions,
8578 And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
8579 <application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
8580 to <quote>google.com</quote>:
8591 -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
8592 -content-type-overwrite
8593 -crunch-client-header
8594 -crunch-if-none-match
8595 -crunch-incoming-cookies
8596 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
8597 -crunch-server-header
8598 +deanimate-gifs {last}
8599 -downgrade-http-version
8600 +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
8602 -filter {content-cookies}
8603 -filter {all-popups}
8604 -filter {banners-by-link}
8605 -filter {tiny-textforms}
8606 -filter {frameset-borders}
8607 -filter {demoronizer}
8608 -filter {shockwave-flash}
8609 -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
8611 -filter {crude-parental}
8612 -filter {site-specifics}
8613 -filter {js-annoyances}
8614 -filter {html-annoyances}
8615 +filter {refresh-tags}
8616 -filter {unsolicited-popups}
8617 +filter {img-reorder}
8618 +filter {banners-by-size}
8620 +filter {jumping-windows}
8621 +filter {ie-exploits}
8628 -handle-as-empty-document
8630 -hide-accept-language
8631 -hide-content-disposition
8632 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
8633 +hide-from-header {block}
8634 -hide-if-modified-since
8635 +hide-referrer {forge}
8640 -overwrite-last-modified
8641 +prevent-compression
8645 -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
8646 -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
8647 -session-cookies-only
8648 +set-image-blocker {pattern}
8649 -treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks </screen>
8653 Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
8654 <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>,
8655 which are activated specifically for this site in our configuration,
8656 and thus show in the <quote>Final Results</quote>.
8660 Now another example, <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>:
8672 { +block +handle-as-image }
8673 .[a-vx-z]*.doubleclick.net
8678 We'll just show the interesting part here - the explicit matches. It is
8679 matched three different times. Two <quote>+block</quote> sections,
8680 and a <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
8681 which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
8682 <quote>+block-as-image</quote>. (<link
8683 linkend="ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></link> are defined in
8684 the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
8689 Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
8690 image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively
8691 would also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys
8692 though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
8693 URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
8694 is done here -- as both a <link
8695 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link>
8696 <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
8697 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
8698 The custom alias <quote><literal>+block-as-image</literal></quote> just
8699 simplifies the process and make it more readable.
8703 One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
8704 This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm ...
8710 Matches for http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
8712 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8716 -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
8717 -content-type-overwrite
8718 -crunch-client-header
8719 -crunch-if-none-match
8720 -crunch-incoming-cookies
8721 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
8722 -crunch-server-header
8724 -downgrade-http-version
8725 +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
8727 -filter {content-cookies}
8728 -filter {all-popups}
8729 -filter {banners-by-link}
8730 -filter {tiny-textforms}
8731 -filter {frameset-borders}
8732 -filter {demoronizer}
8733 -filter {shockwave-flash}
8734 -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
8736 -filter {crude-parental}
8737 -filter {site-specifics}
8738 -filter {js-annoyances}
8739 -filter {html-annoyances}
8740 +filter {refresh-tags}
8741 -filter {unsolicited-popups}
8742 +filter {img-reorder}
8743 +filter {banners-by-size}
8745 +filter {jumping-windows}
8746 +filter {ie-exploits}
8753 -handle-as-empty-document
8755 -hide-accept-language
8756 -hide-content-disposition
8757 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
8758 +hide-from-header{block}
8759 +hide-referer{forge}
8763 -overwrite-last-modified
8764 +prevent-compression
8768 -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
8769 -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
8770 +session-cookies-only
8771 +set-image-blocker{blank}
8772 -treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks }
8775 { +block +handle-as-image }
8781 Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote> in our
8782 configuration! But we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the
8783 blank page. It is actually triggering two different actions here, and
8784 the effects are aggregated so that the URL is blocked, and &my-app; is told
8785 to treat the block as if it were an image. But this is, of course, all wrong.
8786 We could now add a new action below this (or better in our own
8787 <filename>user.action</filename> file) that explicitly
8788 <emphasis>un</emphasis> blocks (
8789 <link linkend="BLOCK"><quote>{-block}</quote></link>) paths with
8790 <quote>adsl</quote> in them (remember, last match in the configuration
8791 wins). There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
8803 Now the page displays ;-)
8804 Remember to flush your browser's caches when making these kinds of changes to
8805 your configuration to insure that you get a freshly delivered page! Or, try
8806 using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
8810 But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like
8817 { +block +handle-as-image }
8823 That actually was very helpful and pointed us quickly to where the problem
8824 was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
8825 rules in the first section of <filename>default.action</filename> is causing
8826 the problem. This would require some guesswork, and maybe a little trial and
8827 error to isolate the offending rule. One likely cause would be one of the
8828 <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> actions.
8829 These tend to be harder to troubleshoot.
8830 Try adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off
8831 <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>:
8839 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
8847 <quote><literal>{ shop }</literal></quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
8848 <quote><literal>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</literal></quote>.
8849 Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
8857 # Disable ALL filter actions for sites in this section
8865 This would turn off all filtering for these sites. This is best
8866 put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
8867 exceptions. Note that when a simple domain pattern is used by itself (without
8868 the subsequent path portion), all sub-pages within that domain are included
8869 automatically in the scope of the action.
8873 Images that are inexplicably being blocked, may well be hitting the
8874 <link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"><quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote></link>
8876 that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well
8877 <emphasis>most of the time</emphasis> since these tend to be standardized).
8881 <quote><literal>{ fragile }</literal></quote> is an alias that disables most
8882 actions that are the most likely to cause trouble. This can be used as a
8883 last resort for problem sites.
8889 # Handle with care: easy to break
8891 mybank.example.com</screen>
8896 <emphasis>Remember to flush caches!</emphasis> Note that the
8897 <literal>mail.google</literal> reference lacks the TLD portion (e.g.
8898 <quote>.com</quote>. This will effectively match any TLD with
8899 <literal>google</literal> in it, such as <literal>mail.google.de</literal>,
8903 If this still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining
8904 actions one by one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
8913 This program is free software; you can redistribute it
8914 and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
8915 Public License as published by the Free Software
8916 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
8917 your option) any later version.
8919 This program is distributed in the hope that it will
8920 be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
8921 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
8922 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
8923 License for more details.
8925 The GNU General Public License should be included with
8926 this file. If not, you can view it at
8927 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
8928 or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
8929 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
8932 $Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
8933 Revision 2.30 2007/04/25 15:10:36 fabiankeil
8934 - Describe installation for FreeBSD.
8935 - Start to document taggers and tag patterns.
8936 - Don't confuse devils and daemons.
8938 Revision 2.29 2007/04/05 11:47:51 fabiankeil
8939 Some updates regarding header filtering,
8940 handling of compressed content and redirect's
8941 support for pcrs commands.
8943 Revision 2.28 2006/12/10 23:42:48 hal9
8944 Fix various typos reported by Adam P. Thanks.
8946 Revision 2.27 2006/11/14 01:57:47 hal9
8947 Dump all docs prior to 3.0.6 release. Various minor changes to faq and user
8950 Revision 2.26 2006/10/24 11:16:44 hal9
8953 Revision 2.25 2006/10/18 10:50:33 hal9
8954 Add note that since filters are off in Cautious, compression is ON. Turn off
8955 compression to make filters work on all sites.
8957 Revision 2.24 2006/10/03 11:13:54 hal9
8958 More references to the new filters. Include html this time around.
8960 Revision 2.23 2006/10/02 22:43:53 hal9
8961 Contains new filter definitions from Fabian, and few other miscellaneous
8964 Revision 2.22 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9
8965 Final commit of probably various minor changes here and there. Unless
8966 something changes this should be ready for pending release.
8968 Revision 2.21 2006/09/20 03:21:36 david__schmidt
8969 Just the tiniest tweak. Wafer thin!
8971 Revision 2.20 2006/09/10 14:53:54 hal9
8972 Results of spell check. User manual has some updates to standard.actions file
8975 Revision 2.19 2006/09/08 12:19:02 fabiankeil
8976 Adjust hide-if-modified-since example values
8977 to reflect the recent changes.
8979 Revision 2.18 2006/09/08 02:38:57 hal9
8981 -Fix a number of broken links.
8982 -Migrate the new Windows service command line options, and reference as
8984 -Rebuild so that can be used with the new "user-manual" config capabilities.
8987 Revision 2.17 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
8988 Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
8990 Revision 2.16 2006/09/02 12:49:37 hal9
8991 Various small updates for new actions, filterfiles, etc.
8993 Revision 2.15 2006/08/30 11:15:22 hal9
8994 More work on the new actions, especially filter-*-headers, and What's New
8995 section. User Manual is close to final form for 3.0.4 release. Some tinkering
8996 and proof reading left to do.
8998 Revision 2.14 2006/08/29 10:59:36 hal9
8999 Add a "Whats New in this release" Section. Further work on multiple filter
9000 files, and assorted other minor changes.
9002 Revision 2.13 2006/08/22 11:04:59 hal9
9003 Silence warnings and errors. This should build now. New filters were only
9004 stubbed in. More to be done.
9006 Revision 2.12 2006/08/14 08:40:39 fabiankeil
9007 Documented new actions that were part of
9008 the "minor Privoxy improvements".
9010 Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:51 david__schmidt
9011 Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
9012 with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
9014 Revision 1.123.2.43 2005/05/23 09:59:10 hal9
9017 Revision 1.123.2.42 2004/12/04 14:39:57 hal9
9018 Fix two minor typos per bug SF report.
9020 Revision 1.123.2.41 2004/03/23 12:58:42 oes
9023 Revision 1.123.2.40 2004/02/27 12:48:49 hal9
9024 Add comment re: redirecting to local file system for set-image-blocker may
9025 is dependent on browser.
9027 Revision 1.123.2.39 2004/01/30 22:31:40 oes
9028 Added a hint re bookmarklets to Quickstart section
9030 Revision 1.123.2.38 2004/01/30 16:47:51 oes
9031 Some minor clarifications
9033 Revision 1.123.2.37 2004/01/29 22:36:11 hal9
9034 Updates for no longer filtering text/plain, and demoronizer default settings,
9035 and copyright notice dates.
9037 Revision 1.123.2.36 2003/12/10 02:26:26 hal9
9038 Changed the demoronizer filter description.
9040 Revision 1.123.2.35 2003/11/06 13:36:37 oes
9041 Updated link to nightly CVS tarball
9043 Revision 1.123.2.34 2003/06/26 23:50:16 hal9
9044 Add a small bit on filtering and problems re: source code being corrupted.
9046 Revision 1.123.2.33 2003/05/08 18:17:33 roro
9047 Use apt-get instead of dpkg to install Debian package, which is more
9048 solid, uses the correct and most recent Debian version automatically.
9050 Revision 1.123.2.32 2003/04/11 03:13:57 hal9
9051 Add small note about only one filterfile (as opposed to multiple actions
9054 Revision 1.123.2.31 2003/03/26 02:03:43 oes
9055 Updated hard-coded copyright dates
9057 Revision 1.123.2.30 2003/03/24 12:58:56 hal9
9058 Add new section on Predefined Filters.
9060 Revision 1.123.2.29 2003/03/20 02:45:29 hal9
9061 More problems with \-\-chroot causing markup problems :(
9063 Revision 1.123.2.28 2003/03/19 00:35:24 hal9
9064 Manual edit of revision log because 'chroot' (even inside a comment) was
9065 causing Docbook to hang here (due to double hyphen and the processor thinking
9068 Revision 1.123.2.27 2003/03/18 19:37:14 oes
9069 s/Advanced|Radical/Adventuresome/g to avoid complaints re fun filter
9071 Revision 1.123.2.26 2003/03/17 16:50:53 oes
9072 Added documentation for new chroot option
9074 Revision 1.123.2.25 2003/03/15 18:36:55 oes
9075 Adapted to the new filters
9077 Revision 1.123.2.24 2002/11/17 06:41:06 hal9
9078 Move default profiles table from FAQ to U-M, and other minor related changes.
9081 Revision 1.123.2.23 2002/10/21 02:32:01 hal9
9082 Updates to the user.action examples section. A few new ones.
9084 Revision 1.123.2.22 2002/10/12 00:51:53 hal9
9085 Add demoronizer to filter section.
9087 Revision 1.123.2.21 2002/10/10 04:09:35 hal9
9088 s/Advanced/Radical/ and added very brief note.
9090 Revision 1.123.2.20 2002/10/10 03:49:21 hal9
9091 Add notes to session-cookies-only and Quickstart about pre-existing
9092 cookies. Also, note content-cookies work differently.
9094 Revision 1.123.2.19 2002/09/26 01:25:36 hal9
9095 More explanation on Privoxy patterns, more on content-cookies and SSL.
9097 Revision 1.123.2.18 2002/08/22 23:47:58 hal9
9098 Add 'Documentation' to Privoxy Menu shot in Configuration section to match
9101 Revision 1.123.2.17 2002/08/18 01:13:05 hal9
9102 Spell checked (only one typo this time!).
9104 Revision 1.123.2.16 2002/08/09 19:20:54 david__schmidt
9105 Update to Mac OSX startup script name
9107 Revision 1.123.2.15 2002/08/07 17:32:11 oes
9108 Converted some internal links from ulink to link for PDF creation; no content changed
9110 Revision 1.123.2.14 2002/08/06 09:16:13 oes
9111 Nits re: actions file download
9113 Revision 1.123.2.13 2002/08/02 18:23:19 g_sauthoff
9114 Just 2 small corrections to the Gentoo sections
9116 Revision 1.123.2.12 2002/08/02 18:17:21 g_sauthoff
9117 Added 2 Gentoo sections
9119 Revision 1.123.2.11 2002/07/26 15:20:31 oes
9120 - Added version info to title
9121 - Added info on new filters
9122 - Revised parts of the filter file tutorial
9123 - Added info on where to get updated actions files
9125 Revision 1.123.2.10 2002/07/25 21:42:29 hal9
9126 Add brief notes on not proxying non-HTTP protocols.
9128 Revision 1.123.2.9 2002/07/11 03:40:28 david__schmidt
9130 Updated Mac OSX sections due to installation location change
9132 Revision 1.123.2.8 2002/06/09 16:36:32 hal9
9133 Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
9135 Revision 1.123.2.7 2002/06/09 00:29:34 hal9
9136 Touch ups on filtering, in actions section and Anatomy.
9138 Revision 1.123.2.6 2002/06/06 23:11:03 hal9
9139 Fix broken link. Linkchecked all docs.
9141 Revision 1.123.2.5 2002/05/29 02:01:02 hal9
9142 This is break out of the entire config section from u-m, so it can
9143 eventually be used to generate the comments, etc in the main config file
9144 so that these are in sync with each other.
9146 Revision 1.123.2.4 2002/05/27 03:28:45 hal9
9147 Ooops missed something from David.
9149 Revision 1.123.2.3 2002/05/27 03:23:17 hal9
9150 Fix FIXMEs for OS2 and OSX startup. Fix Redhat typos (should be Red Hat).
9151 That's a wrap, I think.
9153 Revision 1.123.2.2 2002/05/26 19:02:09 hal9
9154 Move Amiga stuff around to take of FIXME in start up section.
9156 Revision 1.123.2.1 2002/05/26 17:04:25 hal9
9157 -Spellcheck, very minor edits, and sync across branches
9159 Revision 1.123 2002/05/24 23:19:23 hal9
9160 Include new image (Proxy setup). More fun with guibutton.
9161 Minor corrections/clarifications here and there.
9163 Revision 1.122 2002/05/24 13:24:08 oes
9164 Added Bookmarklet for one-click pre-filled access to show-url-info
9166 Revision 1.121 2002/05/23 23:20:17 oes
9167 - Changed more (all?) references to actions to the
9168 <literal><link> style.
9169 - Small fixes in the actions chapter
9170 - Small clarifications in the quickstart to ad blocking
9171 - Removed <emphasis> from <title>s since the new doc CSS
9172 renders them red (bad in TOC).
9174 Revision 1.120 2002/05/23 19:16:43 roro
9175 Correct Debian specials (installation and startup).
9177 Revision 1.119 2002/05/22 17:17:05 oes
9180 Revision 1.118 2002/05/21 04:54:55 hal9
9181 -New Section: Quickstart to Ad Blocking
9182 -Reformat Actions Anatomy to match new CGI layout
9184 Revision 1.117 2002/05/17 13:56:16 oes
9185 - Reworked & extended Templates chapter
9186 - Small changes to Regex appendix
9187 - #included authors.sgml into (C) and hist chapter
9189 Revision 1.116 2002/05/17 03:23:46 hal9
9190 Fixing merge conflict in Quickstart section.
9192 Revision 1.115 2002/05/16 16:25:00 oes
9193 Extended the Filter File chapter & minor fixes
9195 Revision 1.114 2002/05/16 09:42:50 oes
9196 More ulink->link, added some hints to Quickstart section
9198 Revision 1.113 2002/05/15 21:07:25 oes
9199 Extended and further commented the example actions files
9201 Revision 1.112 2002/05/15 03:57:14 hal9
9202 Spell check. A few minor edits here and there for better syntax and
9205 Revision 1.111 2002/05/14 23:01:36 oes
9208 Revision 1.110 2002/05/14 19:10:45 oes
9209 Restored alphabetical order of actions
9211 Revision 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes
9212 Renamed the prevent-*-cookies actions, extended aliases section and moved it before the example AFs
9214 Revision 1.108 2002/05/14 15:29:12 oes
9215 Completed proofreading the actions chapter
9217 Revision 1.107 2002/05/12 03:20:41 hal9
9218 Small clarifications for 127.0.0.1 vs localhost for listen-address since this
9219 apparently an important distinction for some OS's.
9221 Revision 1.106 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9
9222 This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs
9223 are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright
9224 changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ).
9226 Revision 1.105 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9
9227 Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs.
9229 Revision 1.104 2002/05/04 08:44:45 swa
9232 Revision 1.103 2002/05/04 00:40:53 hal9
9233 -Remove the TOC first page kludge. It's fixed proper now in ldp.dsl.in.
9234 -Some minor additions to Quickstart.
9236 Revision 1.102 2002/05/03 17:46:00 oes
9237 Further proofread & reactivated short build instructions
9239 Revision 1.101 2002/05/03 03:58:30 hal9
9240 Move the user-manual config directive to top of section. Add note about
9241 Privoxy needing read permissions for configs, and write for logs.
9243 Revision 1.100 2002/04/29 03:05:55 hal9
9244 Add clarification on differences of new actions files.
9246 Revision 1.99 2002/04/28 16:59:05 swa
9247 more structure in starting section
9249 Revision 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9
9250 This is the break up of configuration.html into multiple files. This
9251 will probably break links elsewhere :(
9253 Revision 1.97 2002/04/27 21:04:42 hal9
9254 -Rewrite of Actions File example.
9255 -Add section for user-manual directive in config.
9257 Revision 1.96 2002/04/27 05:32:00 hal9
9258 -Add short section to Filter Files to tie in with +filter action.
9259 -Start rewrite of examples in Actions Examples (not finished).
9261 Revision 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa
9262 bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
9264 Revision 1.94 2002/04/26 05:24:36 hal9
9265 -Add most of Andreas suggestions to Chain of Events section.
9266 -A few other minor corrections and touch up.
9268 Revision 1.92 2002/04/25 18:55:13 hal9
9269 More catchups on new actions files, and new actions names.
9270 Other assorted cleanups, and minor modifications.
9272 Revision 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9
9273 Add 'Chain of Events' section.
9275 Revision 1.90 2002/04/23 21:41:25 hal9
9276 Linuxconf is deprecated on RH, substitute chkconfig.
9278 Revision 1.89 2002/04/23 21:05:28 oes
9279 Added hint for startup on Red Hat
9281 Revision 1.88 2002/04/23 05:37:54 hal9
9282 Add AmigaOS install stuff.
9284 Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
9285 Updated OSX installation section
9286 Added a few English tweaks here an there
9288 Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
9289 Re-write actions section.
9291 Revision 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9
9292 Fix ugly typo (mine).
9294 Revision 1.84 2002/04/18 21:17:13 hal9
9295 Spell Redhat correctly (ie Red Hat). A few minor grammar corrections.
9297 Revision 1.83 2002/04/18 18:21:12 oes
9298 Added RPM install detail
9300 Revision 1.82 2002/04/18 12:04:50 oes
9303 Revision 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes
9304 Extended Install section - needs fixing by packagers
9306 Revision 1.80 2002/04/18 10:45:19 oes
9307 Moved text to buildsource.sgml, renamed some filters, details
9309 Revision 1.79 2002/04/18 03:18:06 hal9
9310 Spellcheck, and minor touchups.
9312 Revision 1.78 2002/04/17 18:04:16 oes
9315 Revision 1.77 2002/04/17 13:51:23 oes
9316 Proofreading, part one
9318 Revision 1.76 2002/04/16 04:25:51 hal9
9319 -Added 'Note to Upgraders' and re-ordered the 'Quickstart' section.
9320 -Note about proxy may need requests to re-read config files.
9322 Revision 1.75 2002/04/12 02:08:48 david__schmidt
9323 Remove OS/2 building info... it is already in the developer-manual
9325 Revision 1.74 2002/04/11 00:54:38 hal9
9326 Add small section on submitting actions.
9328 Revision 1.73 2002/04/10 18:45:15 swa
9331 Revision 1.72 2002/04/10 04:06:19 hal9
9332 Added actions feedback to Bookmarklets section
9334 Revision 1.71 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9
9335 Version update. Spell chkconfig correctly :)
9337 Revision 1.70 2002/04/08 20:53:56 swa
9340 Revision 1.69 2002/04/06 05:07:29 hal9
9341 -Add privoxy-man-page.sgml, for man page.
9342 -Add authors.sgml for AUTHORS (and p-authors.sgml)
9343 -Reworked various aspects of various docs.
9344 -Added additional comments to sub-docs.
9346 Revision 1.68 2002/04/04 18:46:47 swa
9347 consistent look. reuse of copyright, history et. al.
9349 Revision 1.67 2002/04/04 17:27:57 swa
9350 more single file to be included at multiple points. make maintaining easier
9352 Revision 1.66 2002/04/04 06:48:37 hal9
9353 Structural changes to allow for conditional inclusion/exclusion of content
9354 based on entity toggles, e.g. 'entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE"'. And
9355 definition of internal entities, e.g. 'entity p-version "2.9.13"' that will
9356 eventually be set by Makefile.
9357 More boilerplate text for use across multiple docs.
9359 Revision 1.65 2002/04/03 19:52:07 swa
9360 enhance squid section due to user suggestion
9362 Revision 1.64 2002/04/03 03:53:43 hal9
9363 A few minor bug fixes, and touch ups. Ready for review.
9365 Revision 1.63 2002/04/01 16:24:49 hal9
9366 Define entities to include boilerplate text. See doc/source/*.
9368 Revision 1.62 2002/03/30 04:15:53 hal9
9369 - Fix privoxy.org/config links.
9370 - Paste in Bookmarklets from Toggle page.
9371 - Move Quickstart nearer top, and minor rework.
9373 Revision 1.61 2002/03/29 01:31:08 hal9
9376 Revision 1.60 2002/03/27 01:57:34 hal9
9377 Added more to Anatomy section.
9379 Revision 1.59 2002/03/27 00:54:33 hal9
9380 Touch up intro for new name.
9382 Revision 1.58 2002/03/26 22:29:55 swa
9383 we have a new homepage!
9385 Revision 1.57 2002/03/24 20:33:30 hal9
9386 A few minor catch ups with name change.
9388 Revision 1.56 2002/03/24 16:17:06 swa
9389 configure needs to be generated.
9391 Revision 1.55 2002/03/24 16:08:08 swa
9392 we are too lazy to make a block-built
9393 privoxy logo. hence removed the option.
9395 Revision 1.54 2002/03/24 15:46:20 swa
9396 name change related issue.
9398 Revision 1.53 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa
9399 name change. changed filenames.
9401 Revision 1.52 2002/03/24 11:01:06 swa
9404 Revision 1.51 2002/03/23 15:13:11 swa
9405 renamed every reference to the old name with foobar.
9406 fixed "application foobar application" tag, fixed
9407 "the foobar" with "foobar". left junkbustser in cvs
9408 comments and remarks to history untouched.
9410 Revision 1.50 2002/03/23 05:06:21 hal9
9413 Revision 1.49 2002/03/21 17:01:05 hal9
9414 New section in Appendix.
9416 Revision 1.48 2002/03/12 06:33:01 hal9
9417 Catching up to Andreas and re_filterfile changes.
9419 Revision 1.47 2002/03/11 13:13:27 swa
9420 correct feedback channels
9422 Revision 1.46 2002/03/10 00:51:08 hal9
9423 Added section on JB internal pages in Appendix.
9425 Revision 1.45 2002/03/09 17:43:53 swa
9428 Revision 1.44 2002/03/09 17:08:48 hal9
9429 New section on Jon's actions file editor, and move some stuff around.
9431 Revision 1.43 2002/03/08 00:47:32 hal9
9432 Added imageblock{pattern}.
9434 Revision 1.42 2002/03/07 18:16:55 swa
9437 Revision 1.41 2002/03/07 16:46:43 hal9
9438 Fix a few markup problems for jade.
9440 Revision 1.40 2002/03/07 16:28:39 swa
9441 provide correct feedback channels
9443 Revision 1.39 2002/03/06 16:19:28 hal9
9444 Note on perceived filtering slowdown per FR.
9446 Revision 1.38 2002/03/05 23:55:14 hal9
9447 Stupid I did it again. Double hyphen in comment breaks jade.
9449 Revision 1.37 2002/03/05 23:53:49 hal9
9450 jade barfs on '- -' embedded in comments. - -user option broke it.
9452 Revision 1.36 2002/03/05 22:53:28 hal9
9453 Add new - - user option.
9455 Revision 1.35 2002/03/05 00:17:27 hal9
9456 Added section on command line options.
9458 Revision 1.34 2002/03/04 19:32:07 oes
9459 Changed default port to 8118
9461 Revision 1.33 2002/03/03 19:46:13 hal9
9462 Emphasis on where/how to report bugs, etc
9464 Revision 1.32 2002/03/03 09:26:06 joergs
9465 AmigaOS changes, config is now loaded from PROGDIR: instead of
9466 AmiTCP:db/junkbuster/ if no configuration file is specified on the
9469 Revision 1.31 2002/03/02 22:45:52 david__schmidt
9472 Revision 1.30 2002/03/02 22:00:14 hal9
9473 Updated 'New Features' list. Ran through spell-checker.
9475 Revision 1.29 2002/03/02 20:34:07 david__schmidt
9476 Update OS/2 build section
9478 Revision 1.28 2002/02/24 14:34:24 jongfoster
9479 Formatting changes. Now changing the doctype to DocBook XML 4.1
9480 will work - no other changes are needed.
9482 Revision 1.27 2002/01/11 14:14:32 hal9
9483 Added a very short section on Templates
9485 Revision 1.26 2002/01/09 20:02:50 hal9
9486 Fix bug re: auto-detect config file changes.
9488 Revision 1.25 2002/01/09 18:20:30 hal9
9489 Touch ups for *.action files.
9491 Revision 1.24 2001/12/02 01:13:42 hal9
9494 Revision 1.23 2001/12/02 00:20:41 hal9
9495 Updates for recent changes.
9497 Revision 1.22 2001/11/05 23:57:51 hal9
9498 Minor update for startup now daemon mode.
9500 Revision 1.21 2001/10/31 21:11:03 hal9
9501 Correct 2 minor errors
9503 Revision 1.18 2001/10/24 18:45:26 hal9
9504 *** empty log message ***
9506 Revision 1.17 2001/10/24 17:10:55 hal9
9507 Catching up with Jon's recent work, and a few other things.
9509 Revision 1.16 2001/10/21 17:19:21 swa
9510 wrong url in documentation
9512 Revision 1.15 2001/10/14 23:46:24 hal9
9513 Various minor changes. Fleshed out SEE ALSO section.
9515 Revision 1.13 2001/10/10 17:28:33 hal9
9518 Revision 1.12 2001/09/28 02:57:04 hal9
9521 Revision 1.11 2001/09/28 02:25:20 hal9
9524 Revision 1.9 2001/09/27 23:50:29 hal9
9525 A few changes. A short section on regular expression in appendix.
9527 Revision 1.8 2001/09/25 00:34:59 hal9
9528 Some additions, and re-arranging.
9530 Revision 1.7 2001/09/24 14:31:36 hal9
9533 Revision 1.6 2001/09/24 14:10:32 hal9
9534 Including David's OS/2 installation instructions.
9536 Revision 1.2 2001/09/13 15:27:40 swa
9539 Revision 1.1 2001/09/12 15:36:41 swa
9540 source files for junkbuster documentation
9542 Revision 1.3 2001/09/10 17:43:59 swa
9543 first proposal of a structure.
9545 Revision 1.2 2001/06/13 14:28:31 swa
9546 docs should have an author.
9548 Revision 1.1 2001/06/13 14:20:37 swa
9549 first import of project's documentation for the webserver.