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 "UNRELEASED">
16 <!entity % p-authors-formal "INCLUDE"> <!-- include additional text, etc -->
17 <!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
18 <!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
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 2.38 2007/09/22 16:01:42 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 2.38 2007/09/22 16:01:42 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 <quote>filter-client-headers</quote> and <quote>filter-server-headers</quote>
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 <filename>standard.action</filename> now only includes the enabled actions.
644 Not all actions as before.
650 See the full documentation on
651 <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects</link></literal>
652 which has changed syntax, and will require adjustments to local configs,
653 such as <filename>user.action</filename>. You must reference the new
658 { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
668 Logging is off by default now. If you need logging, it can be turned on
669 in the <link linkend="logfile">config file</link>.
675 Three other config file settings are now off by default:
676 <link linkend="enable-remote-toggle">enable-remote-toggle</link>,
677 <link linkend="enable-remote-http-toggle">enable-remote-http-toggle</link>,
678 and <link linkend="enable-edit-actions">enable-edit-actions</link>.
679 If you use or want these, you will need to explicitly enable them, and
680 be aware of the security issues involved.
687 What constitutes a <quote>default</quote> configuration has changed,
688 and you may want to review which actions are <quote>on</quote> by
689 default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
690 you may have been used to, may now be <quote>off</quote> by default.
691 There are also a number of new actions and filters you may want to
692 consider, most of which are not fully incorporated into the default
693 settings as yet (see above).
700 The default actions setting is now <literal>Cautious</literal>. Previous
701 releases had a default setting of <literal>Medium</literal>. Experienced
702 users may want to adjust this, as it is fairly conservative by &my-app;
703 standards and past practices. See <ulink
704 url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
705 http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>. New users
706 should try the default settings for a while before turning up the volume.
712 The default setting has filtering turned <emphasis>off</emphasis>, which
713 subsequently means that compression is <emphasis>on</emphasis>. Remember
714 that filtering does not work on compressed pages, so if you use, or want to
715 use, filtering, you will need to force compression off. Example:
719 { +<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{google} +<link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link> }
723 Or if you use a number of filters, or filter many sites, you may just want
724 to turn off compression for all sites in
725 <filename>default.action</filename> (or
726 <filename>user.action</filename>).
733 Also, <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> is
734 off by default now. If you've liked this feature in the past, you may want
735 to turn it back on in <filename>user.action</filename> now.
742 Some installers may not automatically start
743 <application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
754 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
755 <sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using Privoxy</title>
761 Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
762 linkend="installation">Installation Section</link> below for platform specific
769 Advanced users and those who want to offer <application>Privoxy</application>
770 service to more than just their local machine should check the <link
771 linkend="config">main config file</link>, especially the <link
772 linkend="access-control">security-relevant</link> options. These are
779 Start <application>Privoxy</application>, if the installation program has
780 not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
781 <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
787 Set your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application> as HTTP and
788 HTTPS (SSL) <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>
789 by setting the proxy configuration for address of
790 <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> and port <literal>8118</literal>.
791 <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> activate proxying for <literal>FTP</literal> or
792 any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)! It won't work!
798 Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
799 If using <application>Privoxy</application> to manage
800 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
801 you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
807 A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
808 most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
809 configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
810 to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
813 See the <link linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more
814 configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
815 You might also want to look at the <link
816 linkend="quickstart-ad-blocking">next section</link> for a quick
817 introduction to how <application>Privoxy</application> blocks ads and
824 If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
825 blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
826 <application>Privoxy's</application> behavior, take a look at the <link
827 linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>. As a quick start, you might
828 find the <link linkend="act-examples">richly commented examples</link>
829 helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <ulink
830 url="http://config.privoxy.org">web-based user interface</ulink>. The
831 Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
832 Action</link></quote> has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
833 <quote>misbehave</quote>.
839 For easy access to &my-app;'s most important controls, drag the provided
840 <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklets</link> into your browser's
847 Please see the section <link linkend="contact">Contacting the
848 Developers</link> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
855 Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
863 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
865 <sect2 id="quickstart-ad-blocking">
866 <title>Quickstart to Ad Blocking</title>
868 NOTE: This section is deliberately redundant for those that don't
869 want to read the whole thing (which is getting lengthy).
872 Ad blocking is but one of <application>Privoxy's</application>
873 array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
874 user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.
877 This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
878 you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
879 information provided below, though this is highly recommended.
882 First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
883 more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
884 things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
885 may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
886 extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
887 <quote>problem</quote> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
888 configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
889 not an easy way to eliminate <emphasis>all</emphasis> ads. Either take
890 the easy way and settle for <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads blocked with the
891 default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
892 habits and preferences.
895 Secondly, a brief explanation of <application>Privoxy's </application>
896 <quote>actions</quote>. <quote>Actions</quote> in this context, are
897 the directives we use to tell <application>Privoxy</application> to perform
898 some task relating to WWW transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
899 <application>Privoxy</application> to take some <quote>action</quote>. Each
900 action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
901 <application>actions</application> in <application>Privoxy's</application>
902 arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <link
903 linkend="actions">Actions</link>, and <link linkend="actions-file">action
904 configuration files</link>, are explained in depth below.
907 Actions are specified in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
908 followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
909 can actually be URL type <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> that use
910 wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
911 actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.
914 When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
915 of the sections as defined in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
916 or not. If so, then <application>Privoxy</application> will perform the
917 respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
918 pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
919 use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
920 original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
921 embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
922 or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
923 such embedded URLs. &my-app; can deal with each URL individually, so, for
924 instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
929 The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <literal><link
930 linkend="block">block</link></literal>, <literal><link
931 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
933 linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal>,and
934 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>:
942 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> - this is perhaps
943 the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
944 This action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns
945 that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads,
946 but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply
947 stops any communication with the remote server and sends
948 <application>Privoxy</application>'s own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
949 let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
955 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> -
956 tells <application>Privoxy</application> to treat this URL as an image.
957 <application>Privoxy</application>'s default configuration already does this
958 for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
959 is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
960 important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
961 some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
962 <application>Privoxy</application> BLOCKED page (which would only result in
963 a <quote>broken image</quote> icon). There are some limitations to this
964 though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
965 an entire HTML page in most situations.
971 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> -
972 sends an empty document instead of <application>Privoxy's</application>
973 normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
974 HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
981 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> - tells
982 <application>Privoxy</application> what to display in place of an ad image that
983 has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
984 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action somewhere in the
985 configuration, <emphasis>and</emphasis>, it must also match an
986 <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action.
989 The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
993 <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
994 replacement is obvious. This is the default.
999 <emphasis>blank</emphasis> - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
1000 This is the so-called <quote>invisible</quote> configuration option.
1005 <emphasis>http://<URL></emphasis> - A redirect to any image anywhere
1006 of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
1015 The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
1016 the special <application>Privoxy</application> editor at <ulink
1017 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1018 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>). This
1019 is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
1020 appropriate <quote>actions</quote> file, and click
1021 <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>. It is best to put personal or
1022 local preferences in <filename>user.action</filename> since this is not
1023 meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
1024 other files. Here you can insert new <quote>actions</quote>, and URLs for ad
1025 blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
1026 <application>Privoxy</application> will detect these changes automatically.
1030 A quick and simple step by step example:
1038 Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
1039 <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote> from the
1047 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1052 Find <filename>user.action</filename> in the top section, and click
1053 on <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>:
1056 <!-- image of editor and actions files selections -->
1058 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Actions Files in Use</title>
1061 <imagedata fileref="files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
1064 <phrase>[ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]</phrase>
1073 You should have a section with only
1074 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> listed under
1075 <quote>Actions:</quote>.
1076 If not, click a <quote><guibutton>Insert new section below</guibutton></quote>
1077 button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
1078 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button right under the word <quote>Actions:</quote>.
1079 This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
1080 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> near the top, and click
1081 in the <quote>Enabled</quote> column, then <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote>
1082 just below the list.
1087 Now, in the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> actions section,
1088 click the <quote><guibutton>Add</guibutton></quote> button, and paste the URL the
1089 browser got from <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote>.
1090 Remove the <literal>http://</literal> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
1091 <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote> (or
1092 <quote><guibutton>OK</guibutton></quote> if in a pop-up window).
1097 Now go back to the original page, and press <keycap>SHIFT-Reload</keycap>
1098 (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
1106 This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
1107 wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
1108 site. For a more extensive explanation of <quote>patterns</quote>, and
1109 the entire actions concept, see <link linkend="actions-file">the Actions
1114 For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
1115 to now go to the <link linkend="act-examples">Actions Files Tutorial</link>.
1116 The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
1119 There are also various
1120 <link linkend="filter">filters</link> that can be used for ad blocking
1121 (filters are a special subset of actions). These
1122 fall into the <quote>advanced</quote> usage category, and are explained in
1123 depth in later sections.
1130 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1133 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1134 <sect1 id="startup">
1135 <title>Starting Privoxy</title>
1137 Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
1138 will want to configure your browser(s) to use
1139 <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
1140 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>. The default is
1141 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions
1142 used port 8000). This is the one configuration step <emphasis>that must be done
1146 Please note that <application>Privoxy</application> can only proxy HTTP and
1147 HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other protocols.
1150 <!-- image of Mozilla Proxy configuration -->
1152 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
1153 Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) Settings</title>
1156 <imagedata fileref="proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
1159 <phrase>[ Screenshot of Mozilla Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
1167 With <application>Firefox</application>, this is typically set under:
1171 <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>General</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
1176 Or optionally on some platforms:
1180 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>General</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
1186 With <application>Netscape</application> (and
1187 <application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under:
1192 <!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
1193 <!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
1194 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton> -> <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
1199 For <application>Internet Explorer v.5-6</application>:
1203 <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Internet Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connections</guibutton> -> <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
1207 Then, check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info
1208 (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS
1209 proxy support too (sometimes labeled <quote>Secure</quote>). Make sure any
1210 checkboxes like <quote>Use the same proxy server for all protocols</quote> is
1211 <emphasis>UNCHECKED</emphasis>. You want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
1214 <!-- image of IE Proxy configuration -->
1216 <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
1217 Internet Explorer HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings</title>
1220 <imagedata fileref="proxy2.jpg" format="jpg">
1223 <phrase>[ Screenshot of IE Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
1231 After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
1232 re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. Remove
1233 any <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
1234 if you want <application>Privoxy</application> to manage that. You are now
1235 ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
1236 <application>Privoxy</application>!
1240 <application>Privoxy</application> itself is typically started by specifying the
1241 main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
1242 file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
1243 will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
1244 directory. Except on Win32 where it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>.
1247 <sect2 id="start-redhat">
1248 <title>Red Hat and Fedora</title>
1250 A default Red Hat installation may not start &my-app; upon boot. It will use
1251 the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
1256 # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
1264 # service privoxy start
1269 <sect2 id="start-debian">
1270 <title>Debian</title>
1272 We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts &my-app; upon booting per
1273 default. It will use the file
1274 <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
1279 # /etc/init.d/privoxy start
1285 omitting 10/31/06 HB
1287 <sect2 id="start-suse">
1290 We use a script. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename>
1291 as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting
1301 <sect2 id="start-windows">
1302 <title>Windows</title>
1304 Click on the &my-app; Icon to start <application>Privoxy</application>. If no configuration file is
1305 specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
1306 for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
1307 automatically start &my-app; when the system starts if you chose that option
1311 <application>Privoxy</application> can run with full Windows service functionality.
1312 On Windows only, the &my-app; program has two new command line arguments
1313 to install and uninstall &my-app; as a service. See the
1314 <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Windows Installation
1315 instructions</link> for details.
1319 <sect2 id="start-unices">
1320 <title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</title>
1322 Example Unix startup command:
1326 # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
1331 <sect2 id="start-os2">
1334 During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
1335 start automatically when the system restarts. You can start it manually by
1336 double-clicking on the <application>Privoxy</application> icon in the
1337 <application>Privoxy</application> folder.
1341 <sect2 id="start-macosx">
1342 <title>Mac OSX</title>
1344 During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
1345 start automatically when the system restarts. To start &my-app; manually,
1346 double-click on the <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> icon in the
1347 <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder. Or, type this command
1352 /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
1356 You will be prompted for the administrator password.
1361 <sect2 id="start-amigaos">
1362 <title>AmigaOS</title>
1364 Start <application>Privoxy</application> (with RUN <>NIL:) in your
1365 <filename>startnet</filename> script (AmiTCP), in
1366 <filename>s:user-startup</filename> (RoadShow), as startup program in your
1367 startup script (Genesis), or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx).
1368 <application>Privoxy</application> will automatically quit when you quit your
1369 TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that
1370 <application>Privoxy</application> is still running).
1374 <sect2 id="start-gentoo">
1375 <title>Gentoo</title>
1377 A script is again used. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config
1378 </filename> as its main configuration file.
1382 /etc/init.d/privoxy start
1386 Note that <application>Privoxy</application> is not automatically started at
1387 boot time by default. You can change this with the <literal>rc-update</literal>
1392 rc-update add privoxy default
1400 See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
1404 must find a better place for this paragraph
1407 The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
1408 point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the
1409 <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions</quote></ulink> files. These are
1410 where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
1411 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several
1412 such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
1416 You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
1417 persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
1418 default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
1419 session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
1420 configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
1421 to edit <filename>user.action</filename> (or through the web based interface)
1422 and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
1423 more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
1424 case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
1428 Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
1429 sites is the popup-killing (through the <ulink
1430 url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink> and
1432 url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>
1433 actions), because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
1434 popups (explained below).
1438 <application>Privoxy</application> does not support all of the optional HTTP/1.1
1439 features yet. In the unlikely event that you experience inexplicable problems
1440 with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
1441 (like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
1442 try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
1443 Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
1444 Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> config option in
1445 <filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
1446 requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
1450 After running <application>Privoxy</application> for a while, you can
1451 start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site,
1452 preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can
1453 be customized. <quote>Actions</quote>
1454 can be adjusted by pointing your browser to
1455 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1456 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
1457 and then follow the link to <quote>View & Change the Current Configuration</quote>.
1458 (This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
1462 In fact, various aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
1463 configuration can be viewed from this page, including
1464 current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
1465 the browser's request headers, and <quote>actions</quote> that apply
1466 to a given URL. In addition to the actions file
1467 editor mentioned above, <application>Privoxy</application> can also
1468 be turned <quote>on</quote> and <quote>off</quote> (toggled) from this page.
1472 If you encounter problems, try loading the page without
1473 <application>Privoxy</application>. If that helps, enter the URL where
1474 you have the problems into <ulink url="http://p.p/show-url-info">the browser
1475 based rule tracing utility</ulink>. See which rules apply and why, and
1476 then try turning them off for that site one after the other, until the problem
1477 is gone. When you have found the culprit, you might want to turn the rest on
1482 If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <link
1483 linkend="actions-file">read more about the actions concept</link>
1484 or even dive deep into the <link linkend="actionsanat">Appendix
1489 If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
1490 Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
1491 section <link linkend="contact"><quote>Contacting the
1492 Developers</quote></link> below.
1497 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1498 <sect2 id="cmdoptions">
1499 <title>Command Line Options</title>
1501 <application>Privoxy</application> may be invoked with the following
1502 command-line options:
1510 <emphasis>--version</emphasis>
1513 Print version info and exit. Unix only.
1518 <emphasis>--help</emphasis>
1521 Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
1526 <emphasis>--no-daemon</emphasis>
1529 Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
1530 leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
1535 <emphasis>--pidfile FILE</emphasis>
1538 On startup, write the process ID to <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>. Delete the
1539 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> on exit. Failure to create or delete the
1540 <emphasis>FILE</emphasis> is non-fatal. If no <emphasis>FILE</emphasis>
1541 option is given, no PID file will be used. Unix only.
1546 <emphasis>--user USER[.GROUP]</emphasis>
1549 After (optionally) writing the PID file, assume the user ID of
1550 <emphasis>USER</emphasis>, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
1551 privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
1556 <emphasis>--chroot</emphasis>
1559 Before changing to the user ID given in the <emphasis>--user</emphasis> option,
1560 chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the &my-app;
1561 process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
1562 the impact of possible vulnerabilities in &my-app; to the files contained in that hierarchy.
1568 <emphasis>--pre-chroot-nslookup hostname</emphasis>
1571 Specifies a hostname to look up before doing a chroot. On some systems, initializing the
1572 resolver library involves reading config files from /etc and/or loading additional shared
1573 libraries from /lib. On these systems, doing a hostname lookup before the chroot reduces
1574 the number of files that must be copied into the chroot tree.
1577 For fastest startup speed, a good value is a hostname that is not in /etc/hosts but that
1578 your local name server (listed in /etc/resolv.conf) can resolve without recursion
1579 (that is, without having to ask any other name servers). The hostname need not exist,
1580 but if it doesn't, an error message (which can be ignored) will be output.
1586 <emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
1589 If no <emphasis>configfile</emphasis> is included on the command line,
1590 <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
1591 <quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
1592 where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
1593 full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
1594 <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
1602 On <application>MS Windows</application> only there are two additional
1603 command-line options to allow <application>Privoxy</application> to install and
1604 run as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>. See the
1605 <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Window Installation section</link>
1613 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1616 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1617 <sect1 id="configuration"><title>Privoxy Configuration</title>
1619 All <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is stored
1620 in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
1621 Many important aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> can
1622 also be controlled easily with a web browser.
1626 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1629 <title>Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser</title>
1631 <application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface can be reached through the special
1632 URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1633 (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
1634 which is a built-in page and works without Internet access.
1635 You will see the following section:
1639 <!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
1642 <bridgehead renderas="sect2"> Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
1646 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View & change the current configuration</ulink>
1649 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">View the source code version numbers</ulink>
1652 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">View the request headers.</ulink>
1655 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">Look up which actions apply to a URL and why</ulink>
1658 ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
1661 ▪ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/
1662 &p-version;/user-manual/">Documentation</ulink>
1670 This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
1671 <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, which is where the ad, banner,
1672 cookie, and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
1673 <application>Privoxy</application>. This is an easy way to adjust various
1674 aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. The actions
1675 file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail below.
1679 <quote>Toggle Privoxy On or Off</quote> is handy for sites that might
1680 have problems with your current actions and filters. You can in fact use
1681 it as a test to see whether it is <application>Privoxy</application>
1682 causing the problem or not. <application>Privoxy</application> continues
1683 to run as a proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e.
1684 <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal forwarding proxy. There
1685 is even a toggle <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklet</link> offered, so
1686 that you can toggle <application>Privoxy</application> with one click from
1692 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1697 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1699 <sect2 id="confoverview">
1700 <title>Configuration Files Overview</title>
1702 For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
1703 <filename>/etc/privoxy/</filename> by default. For MS Windows, OS/2, and
1704 AmigaOS these are all in the same directory as the
1705 <application>Privoxy</application> executable. <![%p-not-stable;[ The name
1706 and number of configuration files has changed from previous versions, and is
1707 subject to change as development progresses.]]>
1711 The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
1712 some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the
1713 principle configuration files are:
1721 The <link linkend="config">main configuration file</link> is named <filename>config</filename>
1722 on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and <filename>config.txt</filename>
1723 on Windows. This is a required file.
1729 <filename>default.action</filename> (the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>)
1730 is used to define which <quote>actions</quote> relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups,
1731 content modification, cookie handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many
1732 exceptions (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable
1733 <application>Privoxy</application> to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on
1734 as many websites as possible.
1737 Multiple actions files may be defined in <filename>config</filename>. These
1738 are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally
1739 preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
1740 <filename>default.action</filename> (which you will most probably want
1741 to define sooner or later) are probably best applied in
1742 <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can preserve them across
1743 upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is only for
1744 <application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
1747 There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
1749 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
1751 url="http://p.p/show-status">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>) for the
1752 various actions files.
1758 <quote>Filter files</quote> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
1759 file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
1760 viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
1761 lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
1762 whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
1763 <filename>default.filter</filename> includes various filters made
1764 available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive than
1765 others, and all should be used with caution. You may define additional
1766 filter files in <filename>config</filename> as you can with
1767 actions files. We suggest <filename>user.filter</filename> for any
1768 locally defined filters or customizations.
1776 The syntax of the configuration and filter files may change between different
1777 Privoxy versions, unfortunately some enhancements cost backwards compatibility.
1778 <!-- Add link to documentation-->
1782 All files use the <quote><literal>#</literal></quote> character to denote a
1783 comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
1784 through placing a backslash ("<literal>\</literal>") as the very last character
1785 in a line. If the <literal>#</literal> is preceded by a backslash, it looses
1786 its special function. Placing a <literal>#</literal> in front of an otherwise
1787 valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
1788 out" that line. Blank lines are ignored.
1792 The actions files and filter files
1793 can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
1794 maximum flexibility.
1798 After making any changes, there is no need to restart
1799 <application>Privoxy</application> in order for the changes to take
1800 effect. <application>Privoxy</application> detects such changes
1801 automatically. Note, however, that it may take one or two additional
1802 requests for the change to take effect. When changing the listening address
1803 of <application>Privoxy</application>, these <quote>wake up</quote> requests
1804 must obviously be sent to the <emphasis>old</emphasis> listening address.
1809 While under development, the configuration content is subject to change.
1810 The below documentation may not be accurate by the time you read this.
1811 Also, what constitutes a <quote>default</quote> setting, may change, so
1812 please check all your configuration files on important issues.
1818 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1821 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
1823 <!-- **************************************************** -->
1824 <!-- Include config.sgml here -->
1825 <!-- This is where the entire config file is detailed. -->
1827 <!-- end include -->
1830 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1834 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
1836 <sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
1839 The actions files are used to define what <emphasis>actions</emphasis>
1840 <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
1841 how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
1842 transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof).
1843 There are a number of such actions, with a wide range of functionality.
1844 Each action does something a little different.
1845 These actions give us a veritable arsenal of tools with which to exert
1846 our control, preferences and independence. Actions can be combined so that
1847 their effects are aggregated when applied against a given set of URLs.
1851 are three action files included with <application>Privoxy</application> with
1859 <filename>default.action</filename> - is the primary action file
1860 that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
1861 provide a base level of functionality for
1862 <application>Privoxy's</application> array of features. So it is
1863 a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well as-is for most users.
1864 This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and <link
1865 linkend="installation-keepupdated">making available to users</link>.
1866 The user's preferences as set in <filename>standard.action</filename>,
1867 e.g. either <literal>Cautious</literal> (the default),
1868 <literal>Medium</literal>, or <literal>Advanced</literal> (see
1874 <filename>user.action</filename> - is intended to be for local site
1875 preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
1876 has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
1877 thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
1882 <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used only by the web based editor
1883 at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
1884 http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>,
1885 to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
1886 in <filename>default.action</filename>.
1889 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Cautious</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Medium</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Advanced</guibutton>
1892 These have increasing levels of aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no
1893 influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the
1894 editor</emphasis>. A default installation should be pre-set to
1895 <literal>Cautious</literal> (versions prior to 3.0.5 were set to
1896 <literal>Medium</literal>). New users should try this for a while before
1897 adjusting the settings to more aggressive levels. The more aggressive
1898 the settings, then the more likelihood there is of problems such as sites
1899 not working as they should.
1902 The <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button allows you to turn each
1903 action on/off individually for fine-tuning. The <guibutton>Cautious</guibutton>
1904 button changes the actions list to low/safe settings which will activate
1905 ad blocking and a minimal set of &my-app;'s features, and subsequently
1906 there will be less of a chance for accidental problems. The
1907 <guibutton>Medium</guibutton> button sets the list to a medium level of
1908 other features and a low level set of privacy features. The
1909 <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> button sets the list to a high level of
1910 ad blocking and medium level of privacy. See the chart below. The latter
1911 three buttons over-ride any changes via with the
1912 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button. More fine-tuning can be done in the
1913 lower sections of this internal page.
1916 It is not recommend to edit the <filename>standard.action</filename> file
1920 The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
1921 <filename>standard.action</filename> are<!-- different than this table which is out of date -->:
1924 <table frame=all><title>Default Configurations</title>
1925 <tgroup cols=4 align=left colsep=1 rowsep=1>
1926 <colspec colname=c1>
1927 <colspec colname=c2>
1928 <colspec colname=c3>
1929 <colspec colname=c4>
1932 <entry>Feature</entry>
1933 <entry>Cautious</entry>
1934 <entry>Medium</entry>
1935 <entry>Advanced</entry>
1940 <!-- <entry>f1</entry> -->
1941 <!-- <entry>f2</entry> -->
1942 <!-- <entry>f3</entry> -->
1943 <!-- <entry>f4</entry> -->
1949 <entry>Ad-blocking Aggressiveness</entry>
1950 <entry>medium</entry>
1956 <entry>Ad-filtering by size</entry>
1963 <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
1969 <entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
1970 <entry>blocks only</entry>
1971 <entry>blocks only</entry>
1972 <entry>blocks only</entry>
1976 <entry>Privacy Features</entry>
1978 <entry>medium</entry>
1979 <entry>medium/high</entry>
1983 <entry>Cookie handling</entry>
1985 <entry>session-only</entry>
1990 <entry>Referer forging</entry>
1998 <entry>GIF de-animation</entry>
2006 <entry>Fast redirects</entry>
2013 <entry>HTML taming</entry>
2020 <entry>JavaScript taming</entry>
2027 <entry>Web-bug killing</entry>
2034 <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
2050 The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
2051 file, and are processed in the order they are defined (e.g.
2052 <filename>default.action</filename> is typically processed before
2053 <filename>user.action</filename>). The content of these can all be viewed and
2055 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2056 The over-riding principle when applying actions, is that the last action that
2057 matches a given URL wins. The broadest, most general rules go first
2058 (defined in <filename>default.action</filename>),
2059 followed by any exceptions (typically also in
2060 <filename>default.action</filename>), which are then followed lastly by any
2061 local preferences (typically in <emphasis>user</emphasis><filename>.action</filename>).
2062 Generally, <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word.
2066 An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
2067 <quote>aliases</quote> in an actions file, you have to place the (optional)
2068 <link linkend="aliases">alias section</link> at the top of that file.
2069 Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all
2070 sites and pages (be <emphasis>very careful</emphasis> with using such a
2071 universal set in <filename>user.action</filename> or any other actions file after
2072 <filename>default.action</filename>, because it will override the result
2073 from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
2074 exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
2075 <filename>user.action</filename> as an appendix to <filename>default.action</filename>,
2076 with the advantage that it is a separate file, which makes preserving your
2077 personal settings across <application>Privoxy</application> upgrades easier.
2081 Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
2082 just some obnoxious URL whose content you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
2083 or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
2084 written to disk), content can be modified, some JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
2085 fooled, and much more. See below for a <link linkend="actions">complete list
2089 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2091 <title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
2093 Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
2094 or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
2095 techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
2096 certainly a matter of personal taste. And, things can always change, requiring
2097 refinements in the configuration. In general, it can be said that the more
2098 <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
2099 actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
2100 will have to make later. If, for example, you want to crunch all cookies per
2101 default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
2102 regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful purposes, like maybe
2103 your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
2107 We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
2108 distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
2109 things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
2110 Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).
2114 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2116 <title>How to Edit</title>
2118 The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
2119 using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
2120 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
2121 Note: the config file option <link
2122 linkend="enable-edit-actions">enale-edit-actions</link> must be enabled for
2123 this to work. The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single
2124 feature on a per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults
2125 like <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or
2126 <quote>Advanced</quote>. Warning: the <quote>Advanced</quote> setting is more
2127 aggressive, and will be more likely to cause problems for some sites.
2128 Experienced users only!
2132 If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
2133 the actions files with your favorite text editor. Look at
2134 <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly commented with many
2140 <sect2 id="actions-apply">
2141 <title>How Actions are Applied to Requests</title>
2143 Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
2144 like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will
2145 be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a
2146 heading line (often split up to multiple lines for readability) which consist
2147 of a list of actions, separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces.
2148 Below that, there is a list of URL and tag patterns, each on a separate line.
2152 To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
2153 compared to all URL patterns in each <quote>action file</quote>.
2154 Every time it matches, the list of applicable actions for the request is
2155 incrementally updated, using the heading of the section in which the
2156 pattern is located. The same is done again for tags and tag patterns later on.
2160 If multiple applying sections set the same action differently,
2161 the last match wins. If not, the effects are aggregated.
2162 E.g. a URL might match a regular section with a heading line of <literal>{
2163 +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link> }</literal>,
2164 then later another one with just <literal>{
2165 +<link linkend="block">block</link> }</literal>, resulting
2166 in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply. And there may well be
2167 cases where you will want to combine actions together. Such a section then
2173 { +<literal>handle-as-image</literal> +<literal>block</literal> }
2174 # Block these as if they were images. Send no block page.
2176 media.example.com/.*banners
2177 .example.com/images/ads/</screen>
2181 You can trace this process for URL patterns and any given URL by visiting <ulink
2182 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
2186 Examples and more detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
2187 Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</link> section.
2191 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2192 <sect2 id="af-patterns">
2193 <title>Patterns</title>
2195 As mentioned, <application>Privoxy</application> uses <quote>patterns</quote>
2196 to determine what <emphasis>actions</emphasis> might apply to which sites and
2197 pages your browser attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild
2198 card type <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
2199 flexibility. This allows one expression to be expanded and potentially match
2200 against many similar patterns.
2204 Generally, an URL pattern has the form
2205 <literal><domain>/<path></literal>, where both the
2206 <literal><domain></literal> and <literal><path></literal> are
2207 optional. (This is why the special <literal>/</literal> pattern matches all
2208 URLs). Note that the protocol portion of the URL pattern (e.g.
2209 <literal>http://</literal>) should <emphasis>not</emphasis> be included in
2210 the pattern. This is assumed already!
2213 The pattern matching syntax is different for the domain and path parts of
2214 the URL. The domain part uses a simple globbing type matching technique,
2215 while the path part uses a more flexible
2216 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2217 Expressions (PCRE)</quote></ulink> based syntax.
2222 <term><literal>www.example.com/</literal></term>
2225 is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2226 regardless of which document on that server is requested. So ALL pages in
2227 this domain would be covered by the scope of this action. Note that a
2228 simple <literal>example.com</literal> is different and would NOT match.
2233 <term><literal>www.example.com</literal></term>
2236 means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <literal>/</literal> may
2242 <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html$</literal></term>
2245 matches all the documents on <literal>www.example.com</literal>
2246 whose name starts with <literal>/index.html</literal>.
2251 <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html$</literal></term>
2254 matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
2255 on <literal>www.example.com</literal>.
2260 <term><literal>/index.html$</literal></term>
2263 matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
2264 i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server anywhere.
2269 <term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
2272 matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
2273 there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>. So its
2281 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2282 <sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
2285 The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
2286 domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
2292 <term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
2295 matches any domain that <emphasis>ENDS</emphasis> in
2296 <literal>.example.com</literal>
2301 <term><literal>www.</literal></term>
2304 matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
2305 <literal>www.</literal>
2310 <term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
2313 matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>.
2314 And, by the way, also included would be any files or documents that exist
2315 within that domain since no path limitations are specified. (Correctly
2316 speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as
2317 a domain.) This might be <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
2318 <literal>news.example.de</literal>, or
2319 <literal>www.example.net/cgi/testing.pl</literal> for instance. All these
2327 Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
2328 themselves. These work similarly to shell globbing type wild-cards:
2329 <quote>*</quote> represents zero or more arbitrary characters (this is
2331 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2332 Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax of <quote>.*</quote>),
2333 <quote>?</quote> represents any single character (this is equivalent to the
2334 regular expression syntax of a simple <quote>.</quote>), and you can define
2335 <quote>character classes</quote> in square brackets which is similar to
2336 the same regular expression technique. All of this can be freely mixed:
2341 <term><literal>ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2344 matches <quote>adserver.example.com</quote>,
2345 <quote>ads.example.com</quote>, etc but not <quote>sfads.example.com</quote>
2350 <term><literal>*ad*.example.com</literal></term>
2353 matches all of the above, and then some.
2358 <term><literal>.?pix.com</literal></term>
2361 matches <literal>www.ipix.com</literal>,
2362 <literal>pictures.epix.com</literal>, <literal>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</literal> etc.
2367 <term><literal>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</literal></term>
2370 matches <literal>www1.example.com</literal>,
2371 <literal>www4.example.cc</literal>, <literal>wwwd.example.cy</literal>,
2372 <literal>wwwz.example.com</literal> etc., but <emphasis>not</emphasis>
2373 <literal>wwww.example.com</literal>.
2380 While flexible, this is not the sophistication of full regular expression based syntax.
2385 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2388 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2389 <sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
2392 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible (PCRE)
2393 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
2394 Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax
2395 (through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
2396 matching the path portion (after the slash), and is thus more flexible.
2400 There is an <link linkend="regex">Appendix</link> with a brief quick-start into regular
2401 expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
2402 at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
2403 You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
2404 useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
2405 url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>.
2409 Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
2410 i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
2411 for the beginning of a line).
2415 Please also note that matching in the path is <emphasis>CASE INSENSITIVE</emphasis>
2416 by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
2417 <quote>(?-i)</quote> switch: <literal>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</literal> will match
2418 only documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
2419 <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
2424 <term><literal>.example.com/.*</literal></term>
2427 Is equivalent to just <quote>.example.com</quote>, since any documents
2428 within that domain are matched with or without the <quote>.*</quote>
2429 regular expression. This is redundant
2434 <term><literal>.example.com/.*/index.html$</literal></term>
2437 Will match any page in the domain of <quote>example.com</quote> that is
2438 named <quote>index.html</quote>, and that is part of some path. For
2439 example, it matches <quote>www.example.com/testing/index.html</quote> but
2440 NOT <quote>www.example.com/index.html</quote> because the regular
2441 expression called for at least two <quote>/'s</quote>, thus the path
2442 requirement. It also would match
2443 <quote>www.example.com/testing/index_html</quote>, because of the
2444 special meta-character <quote>.</quote>.
2449 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)?index\.html$</literal></term>
2452 This regular expression is conditional so it will match any page
2453 named <quote>index.html</quote> regardless of path which in this case can
2454 have one or more <quote>/'s</quote>. And this one must contain exactly
2455 <quote>.html</quote> (but does not have to end with that!).
2460 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)</literal></term>
2463 This regular expression will match any path of <quote>example.com</quote>
2464 that contains any of the words <quote>ads</quote>, <quote>banner</quote>,
2465 <quote>banners</quote> (because of the <quote>?</quote>) or <quote>junk</quote>.
2466 The path does not have to end in these words, just contain them.
2471 <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)/.*\.(jpe?g|gif|png)$</literal></term>
2474 This is very much the same as above, except now it must end in either
2475 <quote>.jpg</quote>, <quote>.jpeg</quote>, <quote>.gif</quote> or <quote>.png</quote>. So this
2476 one is limited to common image formats.
2483 There are many, many good examples to be found in <filename>default.action</filename>,
2484 and more tutorials below in <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>.
2489 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2492 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2493 <sect3 id="tag-pattern"><title>The Tag Pattern</title>
2496 Tag patterns are used to change the applying actions based on the
2497 request's tags. Tags can be created with either the
2498 <link linkend="CLIENT-HEADER-TAGGER">client-header-tagger</link>
2499 or the <link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-TAGGER">server-header-tagger</link> action.
2503 Tag patterns have to start with <quote>TAG:</quote>, so &my-app;
2504 can tell them apart from URL patterns. Everything after the colon
2505 including white space, is interpreted as a regular expression with
2506 path pattern syntax, except that tag patterns aren't left-anchored
2507 automatically (Privoxy doesn't silently add a <quote>^</quote>,
2508 you have to do it yourself if you need it).
2512 To match all requests that are tagged with <quote>foo</quote>
2513 your pattern line should be <quote>TAG:^foo$</quote>,
2514 <quote>TAG:foo</quote> would work as well, but it would also
2515 match requests whose tags contain <quote>foo</quote> somewhere.
2516 <quote>TAG: foo</quote> wouldn't work as it requires white space.
2520 Sections can contain URL and tag patterns at the same time,
2521 but tag patterns are checked after the URL patterns and thus
2522 always overrule them, even if they are located before the URL patterns.
2526 Once a new tag is added, Privoxy checks right away if it's matched by one
2527 of the tag patterns and updates the action settings accordingly. As a result
2528 tags can be used to activate other tagger actions, as long as these other
2529 taggers look for headers that haven't already be parsed.
2533 For example you could tag client requests which use the POST method,
2534 use this tag to activate another tagger that adds a tag if cookies
2535 are send, and then block based on the cookie tag. However if you'd
2536 reverse the position of the described taggers, and activated the method
2537 tagger based on the cookie tagger, no method tags would be created.
2538 The method tagger would look for the request line, but at the time
2539 the cookie tag is created the request line has already been parsed.
2543 While this is a limitation you should be aware of, this kind of
2544 indirection is seldom needed anyway and even the example doesn't
2545 make too much sense.
2552 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2555 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2557 <sect2 id="actions">
2558 <title>Actions</title>
2560 All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
2561 somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
2562 <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
2563 <literal>+action</literal> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
2564 <literal>+block</literal> means <quote>please block URLs that match the
2565 following patterns</quote>, and <literal>-block</literal> means <quote>don't
2566 block URLs that match the following patterns, even if <literal>+block</literal>
2567 previously applied.</quote>
2572 Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and
2573 separated by whitespace, like in
2574 <literal>{+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}</literal>,
2575 followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply.
2576 Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section
2577 of the actions file.
2581 Actions fall into three categories:
2588 Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>enabled</quote> or
2589 <quote>disabled</quote>. Syntax:
2593 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # enable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>
2594 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></screen>
2597 Example: <literal>+block</literal>
2604 Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
2609 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and set parameter to <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>,
2610 # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
2611 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</screen>
2614 Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
2615 the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
2618 Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; FreeBSD i386; en-US; rv:1.8.1.4) Gecko/20070602 Firefox/2.0.0.4}</literal>
2624 Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
2625 but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
2626 same URL, but with different parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> the parameters
2627 from <emphasis>all</emphasis> matches are remembered. This is used for actions
2628 that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
2629 headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
2633 +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and add <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> to the list of parameters
2634 -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # remove the parameter <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> from the list of parameters
2635 # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
2636 <replaceable class="parameter">-name</replaceable> # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</screen>
2639 Examples: <literal>+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</literal> and
2640 <literal>+filter{html-annoyances}</literal>
2648 If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
2649 taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
2650 normal, non-blocking, non-filtering proxy. You must specifically enable the
2651 privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
2652 files will give a good starting point).
2656 Later defined action sections always over-ride earlier ones of the same type.
2657 So exceptions to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
2658 in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files such
2659 as <filename>user.action</filename>). For multi-valued actions, the actions
2660 are applied in the order they are specified. Actions files are processed in
2661 the order they are defined in <filename>config</filename> (the default
2662 installation has three actions files). It also quite possible for any given
2663 URL to match more than one <quote>pattern</quote> (because of wildcards and
2664 regular expressions), and thus to trigger more than one set of actions! Last
2668 <!-- start actions listing -->
2670 The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> actions are:
2674 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2675 <!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
2676 <!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
2678 <!-- ********************************************************** -->
2681 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2683 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
2684 <title>add-header</title>
2688 <term>Typical use:</term>
2690 <para>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</para>
2695 <term>Effect:</term>
2698 Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
2705 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2707 <para>Multi-value.</para>
2712 <term>Parameter:</term>
2715 Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
2716 It is recommended that you use the <quote><literal>X-</literal></quote> prefix
2726 This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
2727 headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
2728 <quote>HTTP headers</quote> are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
2735 <term>Example usage:</term>
2738 <screen>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</screen>
2746 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2747 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
2748 <title>block</title>
2752 <term>Typical use:</term>
2754 <para>Block ads or other unwanted content</para>
2759 <term>Effect:</term>
2762 Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the
2763 requests are trapped by &my-app; and the requested URL is never retrieved,
2764 but is answered locally with a substitute page or image, as determined by
2766 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
2768 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>, and
2770 linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> actions.
2778 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2780 <para>Boolean.</para>
2785 <term>Parameter:</term>
2795 <application>Privoxy</application> sends a special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
2796 for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request
2797 was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the
2798 force feature enabled). The <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page adapts to the available
2799 screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or miniaturized and text-only
2800 if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using <application>Privoxy</application>
2801 right now, you can take a look at the
2802 <ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
2806 A very important exception occurs if <emphasis>both</emphasis>
2807 <literal>block</literal> and <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
2808 apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
2809 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
2810 (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
2811 if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
2814 It is important to understand this process, in order
2815 to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
2816 ads and other unwanted content. Blocking is a core feature, and one
2817 upon which various other features depend.
2820 The <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
2821 action can perform a very similar task, by <quote>blocking</quote>
2822 banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
2823 document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
2824 Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two.
2830 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
2834 # Block and replace with "blocked" page
2835 .nasty-stuff.example.com
2837 {+block +handle-as-image}
2838 # Block and replace with image
2842 {+block +handle-as-empty-document}
2843 # Block and then ignore
2844 adserver.exampleclick.net/.*\.js$</screen>
2854 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2855 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-filter">
2856 <title>client-header-filter</title>
2860 <term>Typical use:</term>
2863 Rewrite or remove single client headers.
2869 <term>Effect:</term>
2872 All client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
2873 the specified regular expression based substitutions.
2880 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2882 <para>Parameterized.</para>
2887 <term>Parameter:</term>
2890 The name of a client-header filter, as defined in one of the
2891 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
2900 Client-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
2901 all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
2902 you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
2903 You can do that by using tags though.
2906 Client-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
2907 and use their output as input.
2910 Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
2911 to learn which client-header filters are available by default, and how to
2919 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
2923 {+client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}}
2934 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2935 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="client-header-tagger">
2936 <title>client-header-tagger</title>
2940 <term>Typical use:</term>
2943 Block requests based on their headers.
2949 <term>Effect:</term>
2952 Client headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
2953 the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
2961 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
2963 <para>Parameterized.</para>
2968 <term>Parameter:</term>
2971 The name of a client-header tagger, as defined in one of the
2972 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
2981 Client-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
2982 and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
2986 Client-header taggers are the first actions that are executed
2987 and their tags can be used to control every other action.
2993 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
2997 # Tag every request with the User-Agent header
2998 {+client-header-filter{user-agent}}
3009 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3010 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="content-type-overwrite">
3011 <title>content-type-overwrite</title>
3015 <term>Typical use:</term>
3017 <para>Stop useless download menus from popping up, or change the browser's rendering mode</para>
3022 <term>Effect:</term>
3025 Replaces the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header.
3032 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3034 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3039 <term>Parameter:</term>
3051 The <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header is used by the
3052 browser to decide what to do with the document. The value of this
3053 header can cause the browser to open a download menu instead of
3054 displaying the document by itself, even if the document's format is
3055 supported by the browser.
3058 The declared content type can also affect which rendering mode
3059 the browser chooses. If XHTML is delivered as <quote>text/html</quote>,
3060 many browsers treat it as yet another broken HTML document.
3061 If it is send as <quote>application/xml</quote>, browsers with
3062 XHTML support will only display it, if the syntax is correct.
3065 If you see a web site that proudly uses XHTML buttons, but sets
3066 <quote>Content-Type: text/html</quote>, you can use &my-app;
3067 to overwrite it with <quote>application/xml</quote> and validate
3068 the web master's claim inside your XHTML-supporting browser.
3069 If the syntax is incorrect, the browser will complain loudly.
3072 You can also go the opposite direction: if your browser prints
3073 error messages instead of rendering a document falsely declared
3074 as XHTML, you can overwrite the content type with
3075 <quote>text/html</quote> and have it rendered as broken HTML document.
3078 By default <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal> only replaces
3079 <quote>Content-Type:</quote> headers that look like some kind of text.
3080 If you want to overwrite it unconditionally, you have to combine it with
3081 <literal><link linkend="force-text-mode">force-text-mode</link></literal>.
3082 This limitation exists for a reason, think twice before circumventing it.
3085 Most of the time it's easier to replace this action with a custom
3086 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
3087 It allows you to activate it for every document of a certain site and it will still
3088 only replace the content types you aimed at.
3091 Of course you can apply <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal>
3092 to a whole site and then make URL based exceptions, but it's a lot
3093 more work to get the same precision.
3099 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
3102 <screen># Check if www.example.net/ really uses valid XHTML
3103 { +content-type-overwrite{application/xml} }
3106 # but leave the content type unmodified if the URL looks like a style sheet
3107 {-content-type-overwrite}
3108 www.example.net/.*\.css$
3109 www.example.net/.*style
3118 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3119 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-client-header">
3123 <title>crunch-client-header</title>
3127 <term>Typical use:</term>
3129 <para>Remove a client header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
3134 <term>Effect:</term>
3137 Deletes every header sent by the client that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
3144 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3146 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3151 <term>Parameter:</term>
3163 This action allows you to block client headers for which no dedicated
3164 <application>Privoxy</application> action exists.
3165 <application>Privoxy</application> will remove every client header that
3166 contains the string you supplied as parameter.
3169 Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
3170 use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
3171 they contain the same string.
3174 <literal>crunch-client-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
3175 If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
3176 parts of them, you should use a
3177 <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header filter</link></literal>.
3181 Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
3188 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3191 <screen># Block the non-existent "Privacy-Violation:" client header
3192 { +crunch-client-header{Privacy-Violation:} }
3202 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3203 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-if-none-match">
3204 <title>crunch-if-none-match</title>
3210 <term>Typical use:</term>
3212 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
3217 <term>Effect:</term>
3220 Deletes the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header.
3227 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3229 <para>Boolean.</para>
3234 <term>Parameter:</term>
3246 Removing the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header
3247 is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
3248 reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote> which
3249 would cause the browser to use a cached copy of the page.
3252 It is also useful to make sure the header isn't used as a cookie
3253 replacement (unlikely but possible).
3256 Blocking the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> header shouldn't cause any
3257 caching problems, as long as the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> header
3258 isn't blocked or missing as well.
3261 It is recommended to use this action together with
3262 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
3264 <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>.
3270 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3273 <screen># Let the browser revalidate cached documents but don't
3274 # allow the server to use the revalidation headers for user tracking.
3275 {+hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
3276 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
3277 +crunch-if-none-match}
3286 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3287 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
3288 <title>crunch-incoming-cookies</title>
3292 <term>Typical use:</term>
3295 Prevent the web server from setting HTTP cookies on your system
3301 <term>Effect:</term>
3304 Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
3311 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3313 <para>Boolean.</para>
3318 <term>Parameter:</term>
3330 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> HTTP cookies. For
3331 <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> HTTP cookies, use
3332 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
3333 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable HTTP cookies completely.
3336 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3337 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3338 since it would prevent the session cookies from being set. See also
3339 <literal><link linkend="filter-content-cookies">filter-content-cookies</link></literal>.
3345 <term>Example usage:</term>
3348 <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
3356 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3357 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-server-header">
3358 <title>crunch-server-header</title>
3364 <term>Typical use:</term>
3366 <para>Remove a server header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
3371 <term>Effect:</term>
3374 Deletes every header sent by the server that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
3381 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3383 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3388 <term>Parameter:</term>
3400 This action allows you to block server headers for which no dedicated
3401 <application>Privoxy</application> action exists. <application>Privoxy</application>
3402 will remove every server header that contains the string you supplied as parameter.
3405 Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
3406 use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
3407 they contain the same string.
3410 <literal>crunch-server-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
3411 If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
3412 parts of them, you should use a custom
3413 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header filter</link></literal>.
3417 Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
3424 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3427 <screen># Crunch server headers that try to prevent caching
3428 { +crunch-server-header{no-cache} }
3437 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3438 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
3439 <title>crunch-outgoing-cookies</title>
3443 <term>Typical use:</term>
3446 Prevent the web server from reading any HTTP cookies from your system
3452 <term>Effect:</term>
3455 Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
3462 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
3464 <para>Boolean.</para>
3469 <term>Parameter:</term>
3481 This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> HTTP cookies. For
3482 <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> HTTP cookies, use
3483 <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
3484 Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable HTTP cookies completely.
3487 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
3488 with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
3489 since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
3495 <term>Example usage:</term>
3498 <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
3507 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3508 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
3509 <title>deanimate-gifs</title>
3513 <term>Typical use:</term>
3515 <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
3520 <term>Effect:</term>
3523 De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
3530 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3532 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3537 <term>Parameter:</term>
3540 <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
3549 This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
3550 the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
3551 is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
3552 frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
3553 most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
3554 last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
3557 You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
3558 objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
3565 <term>Example usage:</term>
3568 <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
3575 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3576 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
3577 <title>downgrade-http-version</title>
3581 <term>Typical use:</term>
3583 <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
3588 <term>Effect:</term>
3591 Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
3598 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3600 <para>Boolean.</para>
3605 <term>Parameter:</term>
3617 This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
3618 didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
3619 unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
3620 out there. Not all HTTP/1.1 features and requirements are supported yet,
3621 so there is a chance you might need this action.
3627 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
3630 <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
3631 problem-host.example.com</screen>
3639 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3640 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
3641 <title>fast-redirects</title>
3645 <term>Typical use:</term>
3647 <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links.</para>
3652 <term>Effect:</term>
3655 Detects redirection URLs and redirects the browser without contacting
3656 the redirection server first.
3663 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3665 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3670 <term>Parameter:</term>
3675 <quote>simple-check</quote> to just search for the string <quote>http://</quote>
3676 to detect redirection URLs.
3681 <quote>check-decoded-url</quote> to decode URLs (if necessary) before searching
3682 for redirection URLs.
3693 Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
3694 will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
3695 parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
3696 resulting from this scheme typically look like:
3697 <quote>http://www.example.org/click-tracker.cgi?target=http%3a//www.example.net/</quote>.
3700 Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
3701 URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
3702 since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
3703 to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
3704 browser asks the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
3708 This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
3709 If it is enabled by default, you will have to create some exceptions to
3710 this action. It can lead to failures in several ways:
3713 Not every URLs with other URLs as parameters is evil.
3714 Some sites offer a real service that requires this information to work.
3715 For example a validation service needs to know, which document to validate.
3716 <literal>fast-redirects</literal> assumes that every URL parameter that
3717 looks like another URL is a redirection target, and will always redirect to
3718 the last one. Most of the time the assumption is correct, but if it isn't,
3719 the user gets redirected anyway.
3722 Another failure occurs if the URL contains other parameters after the URL parameter.
3724 <quote>http://www.example.org/?redirect=http%3a//www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
3725 contains the redirection URL <quote>http://www.example.net/</quote>,
3726 followed by another parameter. <literal>fast-redirects</literal> doesn't know that
3727 and will cause a redirect to <quote>http://www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
3728 Depending on the target server configuration, the parameter will be silently ignored
3729 or lead to a <quote>page not found</quote> error. You can prevent this problem by
3730 first using the <literal><link linkend="redirect">redirect</link></literal> action
3731 to remove the last part of the URL, but it requires a little effort.
3734 To detect a redirection URL, <literal>fast-redirects</literal> only
3735 looks for the string <quote>http://</quote>, either in plain text
3736 (invalid but often used) or encoded as <quote>http%3a//</quote>.
3737 Some sites use their own URL encoding scheme, encrypt the address
3738 of the target server or replace it with a database id. In theses cases
3739 <literal>fast-redirects</literal> is fooled and the request reaches the
3740 redirection server where it probably gets logged.
3746 <term>Example usage:</term>
3750 { +fast-redirects{simple-check} }
3753 { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
3754 another.example.com/testing</screen>
3763 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
3764 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
3765 <title>filter</title>
3769 <term>Typical use:</term>
3771 <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size),
3772 do fun text replacements, add personalized effects, etc.</para>
3777 <term>Effect:</term>
3780 All instances of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which
3781 this action applies, can be filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular
3782 expression based substitutions. (Note: as of version 3.0.3 plain text documents
3783 are exempted from filtering, because web servers often use the
3784 <literal>text/plain</literal> MIME type for all files whose type they don't know.)
3791 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
3793 <para>Parameterized.</para>
3798 <term>Parameter:</term>
3801 The name of a content filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>.
3802 Filters can be defined in one or more files as defined by the
3803 <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
3804 option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>.
3805 <filename>default.filter</filename> is the collection of filters
3806 supplied by the developers. Locally defined filters should go
3807 in their own file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>.
3810 When used in its negative form,
3811 and without parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> filtering is completely disabled.
3820 For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
3821 in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
3825 Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
3826 slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
3827 passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
3828 since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
3829 noticeable on slower connections.
3832 <quote>Rolling your own</quote>
3833 filters requires a knowledge of
3834 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
3835 Expressions</quote></ulink> and
3836 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html"><quote>HTML</quote></ulink>.
3837 This is very powerful feature, and potentially very intrusive.
3838 Filters should be used with caution, and where an equivalent
3839 <quote>action</quote> is not available.
3842 The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
3843 <literal><link linkend="buffer-limit">buffer-limit</link></literal>
3844 option in the main <link linkend="config">config file</link>. The
3845 default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
3846 data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
3849 Inappropriate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
3850 (Again, only text-based types except plain text). Encrypted SSL data
3851 (from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either, since this would violate
3852 the integrity of the secure transaction. In some situations it might
3853 be necessary to protect certain text, like source code, from filtering
3854 by defining appropriate <literal>-filter</literal> exceptions.
3857 Compressed content can't be filtered either, unless &my-app;
3858 is compiled with zlib support (requires at least &my-app; 3.0.7),
3859 in which case &my-app; will decompress the content before filtering
3863 If you use a &my-app; version without zlib support, but want filtering to work on
3864 as much documents as possible, even those that would normally be sent compressed,
3865 you must use the <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
3866 action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
3869 Content filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
3870 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
3871 action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
3872 works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
3873 based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
3877 <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or
3878 improved filters is particularly welcome!
3881 The below list has only the names and a one-line description of each
3882 predefined filter. There are <link linkend="predefined-filters">more
3883 verbose explanations</link> of what these filters do in the <link
3884 linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>.
3890 <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file).
3891 See <link linkend="PREDEFINED-FILTERS">the Predefined Filters section</link> for
3892 more explanation on each:</term>
3895 <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
3896 <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
3899 <anchor id="filter-js-events">
3900 <screen>+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (Radically destructive! Only for extra nasty sites)</screen>
3903 <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
3904 <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse</screen>
3907 <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
3908 <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content</screen>
3911 <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
3912 <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</screen>
3915 <anchor id="filter-unsolicited-popups">
3916 <screen>+filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
3919 <anchor id="filter-all-popups">
3920 <screen>+filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
3923 <anchor id="filter-img-reorder">
3924 <screen>+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective</screen>
3927 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
3928 <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size</screen>
3931 <anchor id="filter-banners-by-link">
3932 <screen>+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners by their links to known clicktrackers</screen>
3935 <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
3936 <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</screen>
3939 <anchor id="filter-tiny-textforms">
3940 <screen>+filter{tiny-textforms} # Extend those tiny textareas up to 40x80 and kill the hard wrap</screen>
3943 <anchor id="filter-jumping-windows">
3944 <screen>+filter{jumping-windows} # Prevent windows from resizing and moving themselves</screen>
3947 <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
3948 <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</screen>
3951 <anchor id="filter-demoronizer">
3952 <screen>+filter{demoronizer} # Fix MS's non-standard use of standard charsets</screen>
3955 <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
3956 <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
3959 <anchor id="filter-quicktime-kioskmode">
3960 <screen>+filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies savable</screen>
3963 <anchor id="filter-fun">
3964 <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
3967 <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
3968 <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Crude parental filtering (demo only)</screen>
3971 <anchor id="filter-ie-exploits">
3972 <screen>+filter{ie-exploits} # Disable a known Internet Explorer bug exploits</screen>
3975 <anchor id="filter-site-specifics">
3976 <screen>+filter{site-specifics} # Custom filters for specific site related problems</screen>
3979 <anchor id="filter-google">
3980 <screen>+filter{google} # Removes text ads and other Google specific improvements</screen>
3983 <anchor id="filter-yahoo">
3984 <screen>+filter{yahoo} # Removes text ads and other Yahoo specific improvements</screen>
3987 <anchor id="filter-msn">
3988 <screen>+filter{msn} # Removes text ads and other MSN specific improvements</screen>
3991 <anchor id="filter-blogspot">
3992 <screen>+filter{blogspot} # Cleans up Blogspot blogs</screen>
3995 <anchor id="filter-no-ping">
3996 <screen>+filter{no-ping} # Removes non-standard ping attributes from anchor and area tags</screen>
4004 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4005 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="force-text-mode">
4006 <title>force-text-mode</title>
4012 <term>Typical use:</term>
4014 <para>Force <application>Privoxy</application> to treat a document as if it was in some kind of <emphasis>text</emphasis> format. </para>
4019 <term>Effect:</term>
4022 Declares a document as text, even if the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> isn't detected as such.
4029 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4031 <para>Boolean.</para>
4036 <term>Parameter:</term>
4048 As explained <literal><link linkend="filter">above</link></literal>,
4049 <application>Privoxy</application> tries to only filter files that are
4050 in some kind of text format. The same restrictions apply to
4051 <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite</link></literal>.
4052 <literal>force-text-mode</literal> declares a document as text,
4053 without looking at the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> first.
4057 Think twice before activating this action. Filtering binary data
4058 with regular expressions can cause file damage.
4065 <term>Example usage:</term>
4078 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4079 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward-override">
4080 <title>forward-override</title>
4086 <term>Typical use:</term>
4088 <para>Change the forwarding settings based on User-Agent or request origin</para>
4093 <term>Effect:</term>
4096 Overrules the forward directives in the configuration file.
4103 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4105 <para>Multi-value.</para>
4110 <term>Parameter:</term>
4114 <para><quote>forward .</quote> to use a direct connection without any additional proxies.</para>
4118 <quote>forward 127.0.0.1:8123</quote> to use the HTTP proxy listening at 127.0.0.1 port 8123.
4123 <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 .</quote> to use the socks4a proxy listening at
4124 127.0.0.1 port 9050. Replace <quote>forward-socks4a</quote> with <quote>forward-socks4</quote>
4125 to use a socks4 connection (with local DNS resolution) instead.
4130 <quote>forward-socks4a 127.0.0.1:9050 proxy.example.org:8000</quote> to use the socks4a proxy
4131 listening at 127.0.0.1 port 9050 to reach the HTTP proxy listening at proxy.example.org port 8000.
4132 Replace <quote>forward-socks4a</quote> with <quote>forward-socks4</quote> to use a socks4 connection
4133 (with local DNS resolution) instead.
4144 This action takes parameters similar to the <!-- I hope this link actual works -->
4145 <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives in the configuration
4146 file, but without the URL pattern. It can be used as replacement, but normally it's only
4147 used in cases where matching based on the request URL isn't sufficient.
4151 Please read the description for the <link linkend="forwarding">forward</link> directives before
4152 using this action. Forwarding to the wrong people will reduce your privacy and increase the
4153 chances of man-in-the-middle attacks.
4156 If the ports are missing or invalid, default values will be used. This might change
4157 in the future and you shouldn't rely on it. Otherwise incorrect syntax causes Privoxy
4161 Use the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">show-url-info CGI page</ulink>
4162 to verify that your forward settings do what you thought the do.
4169 <term>Example usage:</term>
4173 # Always use direct connections for requests previously tagged as
4174 # <quote>User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2.0</quote> and make sure
4175 # resuming downloads continues to work.
4176 # This way you can continue to use Tor for your normal browsing,
4177 # without overloading the Tor network with your FreeBSD ports updates
4178 # or downloads of bigger files like ISOs.
4179 {+forward-override{forward .} \
4180 -hide-if-modified-since \
4181 -overwrite-last-modified \
4183 TAG:^User-Agent: fetch libfetch/2\.0$
4192 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4193 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-empty-document">
4194 <title>handle-as-empty-document</title>
4200 <term>Typical use:</term>
4202 <para>Mark URLs that should be replaced by empty documents <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis></para>
4207 <term>Effect:</term>
4210 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs.
4211 If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
4212 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote>
4213 page, or an empty document will be sent to the client as a substitute for the blocked content.
4214 The <emphasis>empty</emphasis> document isn't literally empty, but actually contains a single space.
4221 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4223 <para>Boolean.</para>
4228 <term>Parameter:</term>
4240 Some browsers complain about syntax errors if JavaScript documents
4241 are blocked with <application>Privoxy's</application>
4242 default HTML page; this option can be used to silence them.
4243 And of course this action can also be used to eliminate the &my-app;
4244 BLOCKED message in frames.
4247 The content type for the empty document can be specified with
4248 <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{}</link></literal>,
4249 but usually this isn't necessary.
4255 <term>Example usage:</term>
4258 <screen># Block all documents on example.org that end with ".js",
4259 # but send an empty document instead of the usual HTML message.
4260 {+block +handle-as-empty-document}
4270 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4271 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
4272 <title>handle-as-image</title>
4276 <term>Typical use:</term>
4278 <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>
4283 <term>Effect:</term>
4286 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
4287 If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
4288 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>blocked</quote>
4289 page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <literal><link
4290 linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> action) will be sent to the
4291 client as a substitute for the blocked content.
4298 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4300 <para>Boolean.</para>
4305 <term>Parameter:</term>
4317 The below generic example section is actually part of <filename>default.action</filename>.
4318 It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
4322 Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
4323 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
4324 reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
4327 Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (in-line) ad
4328 frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
4329 Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
4330 ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
4336 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
4339 <screen># Generic image extensions:
4342 /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
4344 # These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
4345 # blocked as images:
4347 {+block +handle-as-image}
4348 some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi\?output=trash
4350 # Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content?
4360 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4361 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-accept-language">
4362 <title>hide-accept-language</title>
4368 <term>Typical use:</term>
4370 <para>Pretend to use different language settings.</para>
4375 <term>Effect:</term>
4378 Deletes or replaces the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> HTTP header in client requests.
4385 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4387 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4392 <term>Parameter:</term>
4395 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4404 Faking the browser's language settings can be useful to make a
4405 foreign User-Agent set with
4406 <literal><link linkend="hide-user-agent">hide-user-agent</link></literal>
4410 However some sites with content in different languages check the
4411 <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> to decide which one to take by default.
4412 Sometimes it isn't possible to later switch to another language without
4413 changing the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header first.
4416 Therefore it's a good idea to either only change the
4417 <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header to languages you understand,
4418 or to languages that aren't wide spread.
4421 Before setting the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header
4422 to a rare language, you should consider that it helps to
4423 make your requests unique and thus easier to trace.
4424 If you don't plan to change this header frequently,
4425 you should stick to a common language.
4431 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
4434 <screen># Pretend to use Canadian language settings.
4435 {+hide-accept-language{en-ca} \
4436 +hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; OpenBSD i386; en-CA; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060628 Firefox/1.5.0.4} \
4446 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4447 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-content-disposition">
4448 <title>hide-content-disposition</title>
4454 <term>Typical use:</term>
4456 <para>Prevent download menus for content you prefer to view inside the browser.</para>
4461 <term>Effect:</term>
4464 Deletes or replaces the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header set by some servers.
4471 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4473 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4478 <term>Parameter:</term>
4481 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4490 Some servers set the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header for
4491 documents they assume you want to save locally before viewing them.
4492 The <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header contains the file name
4493 the browser is supposed to use by default.
4496 In most browsers that understand this header, it makes it impossible to
4497 <emphasis>just view</emphasis> the document, without downloading it first,
4498 even if it's just a simple text file or an image.
4501 Removing the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header helps
4502 to prevent this annoyance, but some browsers additionally check the
4503 <quote>Content-Type:</quote> header, before they decide if they can
4504 display a document without saving it first. In these cases, you have
4505 to change this header as well, before the browser stops displaying
4509 It is also possible to change the server's file name suggestion
4510 to another one, but in most cases it isn't worth the time to set
4514 This action will probably be removed in the future,
4515 use server-header filters instead.
4521 <term>Example usage:</term>
4524 <screen># Disarm the download link in Sourceforge's patch tracker
4526 +content-type-overwrite{text/plain}\
4527 +hide-content-disposition{block} }
4528 .sourceforge.net/tracker/download\.php</screen>
4536 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4537 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-if-modified-since">
4538 <title>hide-if-modified-since</title>
4544 <term>Typical use:</term>
4546 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
4551 <term>Effect:</term>
4554 Deletes the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> HTTP client header or modifies its value.
4561 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4563 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4568 <term>Parameter:</term>
4571 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or a user defined value that specifies a range of hours.
4580 Removing this header is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
4581 reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the
4582 browser to use a cached copy of the page.
4585 Instead of removing the header, <literal>hide-if-modified-since</literal> can
4586 also add or subtract a random amount of time to/from the header's value.
4587 You specify a range of minutes where the random factor should be chosen from and
4588 <application>Privoxy</application> does the rest. A negative value means
4589 subtracting, a positive value adding.
4592 Randomizing the value of the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> makes
4593 sure it isn't used as a cookie replacement, but you will run into
4594 caching problems if the random range is too high.
4597 It is a good idea to only use a small negative value and let
4598 <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>
4599 handle the greater changes.
4602 It is also recommended to use this action together with
4603 <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
4609 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
4612 <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
4613 { +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
4614 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
4615 +crunch-if-none-match}
4624 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4625 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
4626 <title>hide-forwarded-for-headers</title>
4629 <term>Typical use:</term>
4631 <para>Improve privacy by not embedding the source of the request in the HTTP headers.</para>
4636 <term>Effect:</term>
4639 Deletes any existing <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> HTTP header from client requests,
4640 and prevents adding a new one.
4647 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4649 <para>Boolean.</para>
4654 <term>Parameter:</term>
4666 It is safe to leave this on.
4672 <term>Example usage:</term>
4675 <screen>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</screen>
4683 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4684 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
4685 <title>hide-from-header</title>
4689 <term>Typical use:</term>
4691 <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
4696 <term>Effect:</term>
4699 Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
4707 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4709 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4714 <term>Parameter:</term>
4717 Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
4726 The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
4727 (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
4731 Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
4732 server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
4733 is actually used by a real person.
4736 This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
4737 <quote>From:</quote> headers anymore.
4743 <term>Example usage:</term>
4746 <screen>+hide-from-header{block}</screen> or
4747 <screen>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</screen>
4755 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4756 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
4757 <title>hide-referrer</title>
4758 <anchor id="hide-referer">
4761 <term>Typical use:</term>
4763 <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
4768 <term>Effect:</term>
4771 Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
4772 or replaces it with a forged one.
4779 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4781 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4786 <term>Parameter:</term>
4790 <para><quote>conditional-block</quote> to delete the header completely if the host has changed.</para>
4794 <para><quote>conditional-forge</quote> to forge the header if the host has changed.</para>
4798 <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header unconditionally.</para>
4801 <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
4804 <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
4814 <literal>conditional-block</literal> is the only parameter,
4815 that isn't easily detected in the server's log file. If it blocks the
4816 referrer, the request will look like the visitor used a bookmark or
4817 typed in the address directly.
4820 Leaving the referrer unmodified for requests on the same host
4821 allows the server owner to see the visitor's <quote>click path</quote>,
4822 but in most cases she could also get that information by comparing
4823 other parts of the log file: for example the User-Agent if it isn't
4824 a very common one, or the user's IP address if it doesn't change between
4828 Always blocking the referrer, or using a custom one, can lead to
4829 failures on servers that check the referrer before they answer any
4830 requests, in an attempt to prevent their valuable content from being
4831 embedded or linked to elsewhere.
4834 Both <literal>conditional-block</literal> and <literal>forge</literal>
4835 will work with referrer checks, as long as content and valid referring page
4836 are on the same host. Most of the time that's the case.
4839 <literal>hide-referer</literal> is an alternate spelling of
4840 <literal>hide-referrer</literal> and the two can be can be freely
4841 substituted with each other. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
4842 correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
4843 requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
4849 <term>Example usage:</term>
4852 <screen>+hide-referrer{forge}</screen> or
4853 <screen>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</screen>
4861 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4862 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
4863 <title>hide-user-agent</title>
4867 <term>Typical use:</term>
4869 <para>Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
4874 <term>Effect:</term>
4877 Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
4878 in client requests with the specified value.
4885 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4887 <para>Parameterized.</para>
4892 <term>Parameter:</term>
4895 Any user-defined string.
4905 This can lead to problems on web sites that depend on looking at this header in
4906 order to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
4907 way, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the right thing to do: good web sites
4908 work browser-independently).
4910 <ulink url="http://www.javascriptkit.com/javaindex.shtml">smart way to do
4916 Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
4917 browsers will access the same <application>Privoxy</application> is
4918 <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>. In single-user, single-browser
4919 setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
4920 the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
4921 OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
4922 sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
4923 reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
4924 let <application>Mozilla</application> enter, yet forging to a
4925 <application>Netscape 6.1</application> user-agent works just fine.
4926 (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
4929 More information on known user-agent strings can be found at
4930 <ulink url="http://www.user-agents.org/">http://www.user-agents.org/</ulink>
4932 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_agent</ulink>.
4938 <term>Example usage:</term>
4941 <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
4949 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
4950 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="inspect-jpegs">
4951 <title>inspect-jpegs</title>
4957 <term>Typical use:</term>
4959 <para>To protect against the MS buffer over-run in JPEG processing</para>
4964 <term>Effect:</term>
4967 Protect against a known exploit
4974 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
4976 <para>Boolean.</para>
4981 <term>Parameter:</term>
4993 See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028. JPEG images are one of the most
4994 common image types found across the Internet. The exploit as described can
4995 allow execution of code on the target system, giving an attacker access
4996 to the system in question by merely planting an altered JPEG image, which
4997 would have no obvious indications of what lurks inside. This action
4998 prevents this exploit.
5001 Note that the described exploit is only one of many,
5002 using this action does not mean that you no longer
5003 have to patch the client.
5010 <term>Example usage:</term>
5012 <para><screen>+inspect-jpegs</screen></para>
5019 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5020 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popups">
5021 <title>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></title>
5025 <term>Typical use:</term>
5027 <para>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows (deprecated)</para>
5032 <term>Effect:</term>
5035 While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens
5036 pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
5043 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5045 <para>Boolean.</para>
5050 <term>Parameter:</term>
5062 This action is basically a built-in, hardwired special-purpose filter
5063 action, but there are important differences: For <literal>kill-popups</literal>,
5064 the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
5065 downloading. But <literal>kill-popups</literal> doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
5067 linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>all-popups</replaceable>}</link></literal>
5068 does and is not as smart as <literal><link
5069 linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>unsolicited-popups</replaceable>}</link>
5073 Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
5074 can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
5075 sense to combine it with any <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action,
5076 since as soon as one <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> applies,
5077 the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
5078 the <literal>kill-popups</literal> action over its filter equivalent.
5081 Killing all pop-ups unconditionally is problematic. Many shops and banks rely on
5082 pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and the <literal><link
5083 linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>unsolicited-popups</replaceable>}</link>
5084 </literal> does a better job of catching only the unwanted ones.
5087 If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
5088 <emphasis>really nasty</emphasis> windows that appear when you close an other
5089 one), you might want to use
5091 linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>js-annoyances</replaceable>}</literal>
5095 This action is most appropriate for browsers that don't have any controls
5096 for unwanted pop-ups. Not recommended for general usage.
5101 An alternate spelling is <literal>+kill-popup</literal>, which is
5109 <term>Example usage:</term>
5111 <para><screen>+kill-popups</screen></para>
5118 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5119 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
5120 <title>limit-connect</title>
5124 <term>Typical use:</term>
5126 <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP proxy relay or disable SSL for untrusted sites</para>
5131 <term>Effect:</term>
5134 Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
5141 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5143 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5148 <term>Parameter:</term>
5151 A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
5152 defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
5161 By default, i.e. if no <literal>limit-connect</literal> action applies,
5162 <application>Privoxy</application> only allows HTTP CONNECT
5163 requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
5164 <literal>limit-connect</literal> if more fine-grained control is desired
5165 for some or all destinations.
5168 The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
5169 (<quote>https://</quote> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
5170 the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
5171 short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
5172 This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
5173 abused as TCP relays very easily.
5176 <application>Privoxy</application> relays HTTPS traffic without seeing
5177 the decoded content. Websites can leverage this limitation to circumvent &my-app;'s
5178 filters. By specifying an invalid port range you can disable HTTPS entirely.
5179 If you plan to disable SSL by default, consider enabling
5180 <literal><link linkend="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks ">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link></literal>
5181 as well, to be able to quickly create exceptions.
5187 <term>Example usages:</term>
5189 <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
5190 <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
5191 <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
5193 <screen>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
5194 +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
5195 +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
5196 +limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK
5197 +limit-connect{,} # No HTTPS/SSL traffic is allowed</screen>
5204 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5205 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
5206 <title>prevent-compression</title>
5210 <term>Typical use:</term>
5213 Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
5214 passed through <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>s.
5220 <term>Effect:</term>
5223 Removes the Accept-Encoding header which can be used to ask for compressed transfer.
5230 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5232 <para>Boolean.</para>
5237 <term>Parameter:</term>
5249 More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
5250 is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But the <literal><link
5251 linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>, <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
5252 and <literal><link linkend="kill-popups">kill-popups</link></literal> actions need
5253 access to the uncompressed data.
5256 When compiled with zlib support (available since &my-app; 3.0.7), content that should be
5257 filtered is decompressed on-the-fly and you don't have to worry about this action.
5258 If you are using an older &my-app; version, or one that hasn't been compiled with zlib
5259 support, this action can be used to convince the server to send the content uncompressed.
5262 Most text-based instances compress very well, the size is seldom decreased by less than 50%,
5263 for markup-heavy instances like news feeds saving more than 90% of the original size isn't
5267 Not using compression will therefore slow down the transfer, and you should only
5268 enable this action if you really need it. As of &my-app; 3.0.7 it's disabled in all
5269 predefined action settings.
5272 Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
5273 documents correctly. Broken PHP applications tend to send an empty document body,
5274 some IIS versions only send the beginning of the content. If you enable
5275 <literal>prevent-compression</literal> per default, you might want to add
5276 exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
5282 <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
5286 # Selectively turn off compression, and enable a filter
5288 { +filter{tiny-textforms} +prevent-compression }
5289 # Match only these sites
5294 # Or instead, we could set a universal default:
5296 { +prevent-compression }
5299 # Then maybe make exceptions for broken sites:
5301 { -prevent-compression }
5302 .compusa.com/</screen>
5311 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5312 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="overwrite-last-modified">
5313 <title>overwrite-last-modified</title>
5319 <term>Typical use:</term>
5321 <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
5326 <term>Effect:</term>
5329 Deletes the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> HTTP server header or modifies its value.
5336 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5338 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5343 <term>Parameter:</term>
5346 One of the keywords: <quote>block</quote>, <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote>
5347 and <quote>randomize</quote>
5356 Removing the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header is useful for filter
5357 testing, where you want to force a real reload instead of getting status
5358 code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the browser to reuse the old
5359 version of the page.
5362 The <quote>randomize</quote> option overwrites the value of the
5363 <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with a randomly chosen time
5364 between the original value and the current time. In theory the server
5365 could send each document with a different <quote>Last-Modified:</quote>
5366 header to track visits without using cookies. <quote>Randomize</quote>
5367 makes it impossible and the browser can still revalidate cached documents.
5370 <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote> overwrites the value of the
5371 <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with the current time. You could use
5372 this option together with
5373 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>
5374 to further customize your random range.
5377 The preferred parameter here is <quote>randomize</quote>. It is safe
5378 to use, as long as the time settings are more or less correct.
5379 If the server sets the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header to the time
5380 of the request, the random range becomes zero and the value stays the same.
5381 Therefore you should later randomize it a second time with
5382 <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>,
5386 It is also recommended to use this action together with
5387 <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
5393 <term>Example usage:</term>
5396 <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
5397 { +hide-if-modified-since{-60} \
5398 +overwrite-last-modified{randomize} \
5399 +crunch-if-none-match}
5408 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5409 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="redirect">
5410 <title>redirect</title>
5416 <term>Typical use:</term>
5419 Redirect requests to other sites.
5425 <term>Effect:</term>
5428 Convinces the browser that the requested document has been moved
5429 to another location and the browser should get it from there.
5436 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5438 <para>Parameterized</para>
5443 <term>Parameter:</term>
5446 An absolute URL or a single pcrs command.
5455 Requests to which this action applies are answered with a
5456 HTTP redirect to URLs of your choosing. The new URL is
5457 either provided as parameter, or derived by applying a
5458 single pcrs command to the original URL.
5461 This action will be ignored if you use it together with
5462 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>.
5463 It can be combined with
5464 <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link></literal>
5465 to redirect to a decoded version of a rewritten URL.
5468 Use this action carefully, make sure not to create redirection loops
5469 and be aware that using your own redirects might make it
5470 possible to fingerprint your requests.
5476 <term>Example usages:</term>
5479 <screen># Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
5480 { +redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css} }
5481 example.com/stylesheet\.css
5483 # Create a short, easy to remember nickname for a favorite site
5484 # (relies on the browser accept and forward invalid URLs to &my-app;)
5485 { +redirect{http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/actions-file.html} }
5488 # Always use the expanded view for Undeadly.org articles
5489 # (Note the $ at the end of the URL pattern to make sure
5490 # the request for the rewritten URL isn't redirected as well)
5491 {+redirect{s@$@&mode=expanded@}}
5492 undeadly.org/cgi\?action=article&sid=\d*$</screen>
5501 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5502 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
5503 <title>send-vanilla-wafer</title>
5507 <term>Typical use:</term>
5510 Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
5516 <term>Effect:</term>
5519 Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
5520 on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
5527 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5529 <para>Boolean.</para>
5534 <term>Parameter:</term>
5546 The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
5549 This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
5555 <term>Example usage:</term>
5558 <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
5567 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5568 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
5569 <title>send-wafer</title>
5573 <term>Typical use:</term>
5576 Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
5582 <term>Effect:</term>
5585 Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
5592 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5594 <para>Multi-value.</para>
5599 <term>Parameter:</term>
5602 A string of the form <quote><replaceable class="option">name</replaceable>=<replaceable
5603 class="parameter">value</replaceable></quote>.
5612 Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
5613 resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
5616 This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
5621 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5624 <screen>{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
5625 my-internal-testing-server.void</screen>
5633 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5634 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-filter">
5635 <title>server-header-filter</title>
5639 <term>Typical use:</term>
5642 Rewrite or remove single server headers.
5648 <term>Effect:</term>
5651 All server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly
5652 through the specified regular expression based substitutions.
5659 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
5661 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5666 <term>Parameter:</term>
5669 The name of a server-header filter, as defined in one of the
5670 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
5679 Server-header filters are applied to each header on its own, not to
5680 all at once. This makes it easier to diagnose problems, but on the downside
5681 you can't write filters that only change header x if header y's value is z.
5682 You can do that by using tags though.
5685 Server-header filters are executed after the other header actions have finished
5686 and use their output as input.
5689 Please refer to the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>
5690 to learn which server-header filters are available by default, and how to
5697 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5701 {+server-header-filter{html-to-xml}}
5702 example.org/xml-instance-that-is-delivered-as-html
5704 {+server-header-filter{xml-to-html}}
5705 example.org/instance-that-is-delivered-as-xml-but-is-not
5715 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5716 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="server-header-tagger">
5717 <title>server-header-tagger</title>
5721 <term>Typical use:</term>
5724 Disable or disable filters based on the Content-Type header.
5730 <term>Effect:</term>
5733 Server headers to which this action applies are filtered on-the-fly through
5734 the specified regular expression based substitutions, the result is used as
5742 <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
5744 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5749 <term>Parameter:</term>
5752 The name of a server-header tagger, as defined in one of the
5753 <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link>.
5762 Server-header taggers are applied to each header on its own,
5763 and as the header isn't modified, each tagger <quote>sees</quote>
5767 Server-header taggers are executed before all other header actions
5768 that modify server headers. Their tags can be used to control
5769 all of the other server-header actions, the content filters
5770 and the crunch actions (<link linkend="redirect">redirect</link>
5771 and <link linkend="block">block</link>).
5774 Obviously crunching based on tags created by server-header taggers
5775 doesn't prevent the request from showing up in the server's log file.
5782 <term>Example usage (section):</term>
5786 # Tag every request with the declared content type
5787 {+client-header-tagger{content-type}}
5798 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5799 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
5800 <title>session-cookies-only</title>
5804 <term>Typical use:</term>
5807 Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current
5808 browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
5814 <term>Effect:</term>
5817 Deletes the <quote>expires</quote> field from <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote>
5818 server headers. Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and
5819 forget them in between sessions.
5826 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5828 <para>Boolean.</para>
5833 <term>Parameter:</term>
5845 This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
5846 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
5847 websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
5850 Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
5851 <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
5852 This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
5853 that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
5854 sites, and is the recommended setting.
5857 It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
5858 together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
5859 <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
5860 will be plainly killed.
5863 Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
5864 field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
5867 This setting also has no effect on cookies that may have been stored
5868 previously by the browser before starting <application>Privoxy</application>.
5869 These would have to be removed manually.
5872 <application>Privoxy</application> also uses
5873 the <link linkend="filter-content-cookies">content-cookies filter</link>
5874 to block some types of cookies. Content cookies are not effected by
5875 <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>.
5881 <term>Example usage:</term>
5884 <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
5892 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
5893 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
5894 <title>set-image-blocker</title>
5898 <term>Typical use:</term>
5900 <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
5905 <term>Effect:</term>
5908 This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <emphasis>both</emphasis>
5909 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><link
5910 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> <emphasis>also</emphasis>
5911 apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
5912 <emphasis>then</emphasis> the parameter of this action decides what will be
5913 sent as a replacement.
5920 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
5922 <para>Parameterized.</para>
5927 <term>Parameter:</term>
5932 <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
5933 decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
5938 <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
5939 completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
5940 images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
5941 has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
5946 <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
5947 send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
5948 to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem via <quote>file:///</quote> URL.
5949 (But note that not all browsers support redirecting to a local file system).
5952 A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
5953 URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
5954 This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
5955 the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
5956 it over and over again.
5967 The URLs for the built-in images are <quote>http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<replaceable
5968 class="parameter">type</replaceable></quote>, where <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable> is
5969 either <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote>.
5972 There is a third (advanced) type, called <quote>auto</quote>. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> to be
5973 used in <literal>set-image-blocker</literal>, but meant for use from <link linkend="filter-file">filters</link>.
5974 Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
5980 <term>Example usage:</term>
5986 <screen>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</screen>
5989 Redirect to the BSD daemon:
5992 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</screen>
5995 Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
5998 <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</screen>
6006 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6007 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks">
6008 <title>treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</title>
6014 <term>Typical use:</term>
6016 <para>Block forbidden connects with an easy to find error message.</para>
6021 <term>Effect:</term>
6024 If this action is enabled, <application>Privoxy</application> no longer
6025 makes a difference between forbidden connects and ordinary blocks.
6032 <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
6034 <para>Boolean</para>
6039 <term>Parameter:</term>
6049 By default <application>Privoxy</application> answers
6050 <link linkend="limit-connect">forbidden <quote>Connect</quote> requests</link>
6051 with a short error message inside the headers. If the browser doesn't display
6052 headers (most don't), you just see an empty page.
6055 With this action enabled, <application>Privoxy</application> displays
6056 the message that is used for ordinary blocks instead. If you decide
6057 to make an exception for the page in question, you can do so by
6058 following the <quote>See why</quote> link.
6061 For <quote>Connect</quote> requests the clients tell
6062 <application>Privoxy</application> which host they are interested
6063 in, but not which document they plan to get later. As a result, the
6064 <quote>Go there anyway</quote> wouldn't work and is therefore suppressed.
6070 <term>Example usage:</term>
6073 <screen>+treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</screen>
6081 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6083 <title>Summary</title>
6085 Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
6086 misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
6087 a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
6088 content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
6089 and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
6090 linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
6096 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6097 <sect2 id="aliases">
6098 <title>Aliases</title>
6100 Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
6101 as <quote>aliases</quote>, can be defined by combining other actions.
6102 These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
6103 Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab,
6105 <quote>{</quote> and <quote>}</quote>, but we <emphasis>strongly
6106 recommend</emphasis> that you only use <quote>a</quote> to <quote>z</quote>,
6107 <quote>0</quote> to <quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and <quote>-</quote>.
6108 Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a
6109 <quote>+</quote> or <quote>-</quote> sign, since they are merely textually
6113 Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they <emphasis>must be
6114 defined in a special section at the top of the file!</emphasis>
6115 And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may
6116 have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible
6120 There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
6121 used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
6122 decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called
6123 <quote>shop</quote>, you can later change your policy on shops in
6124 <emphasis>one</emphasis> place, and your changes will take effect everywhere
6125 in the actions file where the <quote>shop</quote> alias is used. Calling aliases
6126 by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.
6129 Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though:
6130 <application>Privoxy</application>'s built-in web-based action file
6131 editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands
6132 them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
6133 but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases
6138 Now let's define some aliases...
6143 # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
6145 # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
6146 # must be at the top of the actions file!
6150 # These aliases just save typing later:
6151 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
6153 +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6154 -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6155 +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
6156 allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
6158 # These aliases define combinations of actions
6159 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
6161 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>
6163 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link>
6165 # Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
6167 c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
6168 c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</screen>
6172 ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
6173 actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
6174 up for the <quote>/</quote> pattern):
6179 # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
6180 # user data and require minimal interference to work:
6183 .office.microsoft.com
6184 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
6185 # Gmail is really mail.google.com, not gmail.com
6189 # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
6193 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
6196 # These shops require pop-ups:
6198 {-kill-popups -filter{all-popups} -filter{unsolicited-popups}}
6200 .overclockers.co.uk</screen>
6204 Aliases like <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> are typically used for
6205 <quote>problem</quote> sites that require more than one action to be disabled
6206 in order to function properly.
6212 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
6213 <sect2 id="act-examples">
6214 <title>Actions Files Tutorial</title>
6216 The above chapters have shown <link linkend="actions-file">which actions files
6217 there are and how they are organized</link>, how actions are <link
6218 linkend="actions">specified</link> and <link linkend="actions-apply">applied
6219 to URLs</link>, how <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> work, and how to
6220 define and use <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link>. Now, let's look at an
6221 example <filename>default.action</filename> and <filename>user.action</filename>
6222 file and see how all these pieces come together:
6225 <sect3><title>default.action</title>
6228 Every config file should start with a short comment stating its purpose:
6232 <screen># Sample default.action file <ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net></screen>
6236 Then, since this is the <filename>default.action</filename> file, the
6237 first section is a special section for internal use that you needn't
6238 change or worry about:
6243 ##########################################################################
6244 # Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
6245 ##########################################################################
6248 for-privoxy-version=3.0</screen>
6252 After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example
6253 section from the above <link linkend="aliases">chapter on aliases</link>,
6254 that also explains why and how aliases are used:
6259 ##########################################################################
6261 ##########################################################################
6264 # These aliases just save typing later:
6265 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
6267 +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6268 -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
6269 +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
6270 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
6272 # These aliases define combinations of actions
6273 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
6275 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>
6276 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></screen>
6280 Now come the regular sections, i.e. sets of actions, accompanied
6281 by URL patterns to which they apply. Remember <emphasis>all actions
6282 are disabled when matching starts</emphasis>, so we have to explicitly
6283 enable the ones we want.
6287 The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only
6288 one pattern, <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, but this pattern
6289 <link linkend="af-patterns">matches all URLs</link>. Therefore, the
6290 set of actions used in this <quote>default</quote> section <emphasis>will
6291 be applied to all requests as a start</emphasis>. It can be partly or
6292 wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or in user.action,
6293 but it will still be largely responsible for your overall browsing
6298 Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
6299 no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless,
6300 to have a complete listing for your reference. (Remember: a <quote>+</quote>
6301 preceding the action name enables the action, a <quote>-</quote> disables!).
6302 Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
6303 multiple lines with line continuation.
6308 ##########################################################################
6309 # "Defaults" section:
6310 ##########################################################################
6312 -<link linkend="ADD-HEADER">add-header</link> \
6313 -<link linkend="CLIENT-HEADER-FILTER">client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}</link> \
6314 -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> \
6315 -<link linkend="CONTENT-TYPE-OVERWRITE">content-type-overwrite</link> \
6316 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-CLIENT-HEADER">crunch-client-header</link> \
6317 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-IF-NONE-MATCH">crunch-if-none-match</link> \
6318 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> \
6319 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-SERVER-HEADER">crunch-server-header</link> \
6320 -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link> \
6321 +<link linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</link> \
6322 -<link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">downgrade-http-version</link> \
6323 -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link> \
6324 -<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
6325 -<link linkend="FILTER-JS-EVENTS">filter{js-events}</link> \
6326 +<link linkend="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">filter{html-annoyances}</link> \
6327 -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link> \
6328 +<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
6329 -<link linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{unsolicited-popups}</link> \
6330 -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> \
6331 -<link linkend="FILTER-IMG-REORDER">filter{img-reorder}</link> \
6332 -<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
6333 -<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK">filter{banners-by-link}</link> \
6334 +<link linkend="FILTER-WEBBUGS">filter{webbugs}</link> \
6335 -<link linkend="FILTER-TINY-TEXTFORMS">filter{tiny-textforms}</link> \
6336 -<link linkend="FILTER-JUMPING-WINDOWS">filter{jumping-windows}</link> \
6337 -<link linkend="FILTER-FRAMESET-BORDERS">filter{frameset-borders}</link> \
6338 -<link linkend="FILTER-DEMORONIZER">filter{demoronizer}</link> \
6339 -<link linkend="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">filter{shockwave-flash}</link> \
6340 -<link linkend="FILTER-QUICKTIME-KIOSKMODE">filter{quicktime-kioskmode}</link> \
6341 -<link linkend="FILTER-FUN">filter{fun}</link> \
6342 -<link linkend="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">filter{crude-parental}</link> \
6343 +<link linkend="FILTER-IE-EXPLOITS">filter{ie-exploits}</link> \
6344 -<link linkend="FILTER-GOOGLE">filter{google}</link> \
6345 -<link linkend="FILTER-YAHOO">filter{yahoo}</link> \
6346 -<link linkend="FILTER-MSN">filter{msn}</link> \
6347 -<link linkend="FILTER-BLOGSPOT">filter{blogspot}</link> \
6348 -<link linkend="FILTER-NO-PING">filter{no-ping}</link> \
6349 -<link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> \
6350 -<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT">handle-as-empty-document</link> \
6351 -<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> \
6352 -<link linkend="HIDE-ACCEPT-LANGUAGE">hide-accept-language</link> \
6353 -<link linkend="HIDE-CONTENT-DISPOSITION">hide-content-disposition</link> \
6354 -<link linkend="HIDE-IF-MODIFIED-SINCE">hide-if-modified-since</link> \
6355 +<link linkend="HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">hide-forwarded-for-headers</link> \
6356 +<link linkend="HIDE-FROM-HEADER">hide-from-header{block}</link> \
6357 +<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer{forge}</link> \
6358 -<link linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT">hide-user-agent</link> \
6359 -<link linkend="INSPECT-JPEGS">inspect-jpegs</link> \
6360 -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> \
6361 -<link linkend="LIMIT-CONNECT">limit-connect</link> \
6362 +<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link> \
6363 -<link linkend="OVERWRITE-LAST-MODIFIED">overwrite-last-modified</link> \
6364 -<link linkend="REDIRECT">redirect</link> \
6365 -<link linkend="SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">send-vanilla-wafer</link> \
6366 -<link linkend="SEND-WAFER">send-wafer</link> \
6367 -<link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-FILTER">server-header-filter{xml-to-html}</link> \
6368 -<link linkend="SERVER-HEADER-FILTER">server-header-filter{html-to-xml}</link> \
6369 +<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> \
6370 +<link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker{pattern}</link> \
6371 -<link linkend="TREAT-FORBIDDEN-CONNECTS-LIKE-BLOCKS">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link> \
6373 / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.</screen>
6377 The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding
6378 the user agent, are part of a <quote>general policy</quote> that applies
6379 universally and won't get any exceptions defined later. Other choices,
6380 like not blocking (which is <emphasis>understandably</emphasis> the
6381 default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify explicitly what we
6382 want to block in later sections.
6386 The first of our specialized sections is concerned with <quote>fragile</quote>
6387 sites, i.e. sites that require minimum interference, because they are either
6388 very complex or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that
6389 make them unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use
6390 our pre-defined <literal>fragile</literal> alias instead of stating the list
6391 of actions explicitly:
6396 ##########################################################################
6397 # Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
6398 ##########################################################################
6400 # "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
6403 .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
6404 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
6405 mail.google.com</screen>
6409 Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically
6410 require cookies to log in, and pop-up windows for shopping
6411 carts or item details. Again, we'll use a pre-defined alias:
6420 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
6422 .scan.co.uk</screen>
6425 <!-- No longer needed BEGIN OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK
6428 Then, there are sites which rely on pop-up windows (yuck!) to work.
6429 Since we made pop-up-killing our default above, we need to make exceptions
6430 now. <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/">Mozilla</ulink> users, who
6431 can turn on smart handling of unwanted pop-ups in their browsers, can
6433 -<literal><link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link></literal> (and
6434 -<literal><link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></literal>) above
6435 and hence don't need this section. Anyway, disabling an already disabled
6436 action doesn't hurt, so we'll define our exceptions regardless of what was
6437 chosen in the defaults section:
6442 # These sites require pop-ups too :(
6444 { -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> }
6447 .deutsche-bank-24.de</screen>
6450 END OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK -->
6453 The <literal><link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link></literal>
6454 action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some sites. So disable
6455 it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:
6460 { -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> }
6464 .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
6465 .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
6466 .nytimes.com</screen>
6470 It is important that <application>Privoxy</application> knows which
6471 URLs belong to images, so that <emphasis>if</emphasis> they are to
6472 be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
6473 Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it
6474 would destroy the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it
6475 would feed the advertisers (in terms of money <emphasis>and</emphasis>
6476 information). We can mark any URL as an image with the <literal><link
6477 linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action,
6478 and marking all URLs that end in a known image file extension is a
6484 ##########################################################################
6486 ##########################################################################
6488 # Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
6489 # blocked further down this file:
6491 { +<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> }
6492 /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$</screen>
6496 And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to
6497 generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
6498 request is for an image. Hence we block them <emphasis>and</emphasis>
6499 mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
6500 <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
6501 course just as well use <literal>+<link linkend="block">block</link>
6502 +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> here.)
6503 Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
6504 <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
6505 action. Since all URLs have matched the default section with its
6506 <literal>+<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link>{pattern}</literal>
6507 action before, it still applies and needn't be repeated:
6512 # Known ad generators:
6517 .ad.*.doubleclick.net
6518 .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
6519 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
6525 One of the most important jobs of <application>Privoxy</application>
6526 is to block banners. Many of these can be <quote>blocked</quote>
6527 by the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{banners-by-size}</literal>
6528 action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
6529 images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
6530 them anymore, and hence they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally
6531 doesn't catch all banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we
6532 need a comprehensive list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the
6533 <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action to them.
6536 First comes many generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
6537 matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
6538 a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
6539 to keep the example short:
6544 ##########################################################################
6545 # Block these fine banners:
6546 ##########################################################################
6547 { <link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link> }
6555 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
6556 /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
6558 # Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
6560 .hitbox.com</screen>
6564 It's quite remarkable how many advertisers actually call their banner
6565 servers ads.<replaceable>company</replaceable>.com, or call the directory
6566 in which the banners are stored simply <quote>banners</quote>. So the above
6567 generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
6570 But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want
6571 to block. The pattern <literal>.*ads.</literal> e.g. catches
6572 <quote>nasty-<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.nasty-corp.com</quote> as intended,
6573 but also <quote>downlo<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.sourcefroge.net</quote> or
6574 <quote><emphasis>ads</emphasis>l.some-provider.net.</quote> So here come some
6575 well-known exceptions to the <literal>+<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
6579 Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
6580 <quote>downloads.sourcefroge.net</quote>: Initially, all actions are deactivated,
6581 so it wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the
6582 URL, but just deactivates the <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
6583 action once again. Then it matches <literal>.*ads.</literal>, an exception to the
6584 general non-blocking policy, and suddenly
6585 <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link></literal> applies. And now, it'll match
6586 <literal>.*loads.</literal>, where <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">-block</link></literal>
6587 applies, so (unless it matches <emphasis>again</emphasis> further down) it ends up
6588 with no <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal> action applying.
6593 ##########################################################################
6594 # Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
6595 ##########################################################################
6599 { -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
6600 adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
6601 adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
6602 adobe. # (has nothing to do with ads either)
6603 ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
6604 .edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
6605 .*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
6613 www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
6614 www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv</screen>
6618 Filtering source code can have nasty side effects,
6619 so make an exception for our friends at sourceforge.net,
6620 and all paths with <quote>cvs</quote> in them. Note that
6621 <literal>-<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link></literal>
6622 disables <emphasis>all</emphasis> filters in one fell swoop!
6627 # Don't filter code!
6629 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
6634 .sourceforge.net</screen>
6638 The actual <filename>default.action</filename> is of course much more
6639 comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.
6644 <sect3><title>user.action</title>
6647 So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies,
6648 which would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now,
6649 you might want to be more specific and have customized rules that
6650 are more suitable to your personal habits and preferences. These would
6651 be for narrowly defined situations like your ISP or your bank, and should
6652 be placed in <filename>user.action</filename>, which is parsed after all other
6653 actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any previously
6654 defined actions. <filename>user.action</filename> is also a
6655 <emphasis>safe</emphasis> place for your personal settings, since
6656 <filename>default.action</filename> is actively maintained by the
6657 <application>Privoxy</application> developers and you'll probably want
6658 to install updated versions from time to time.
6662 So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
6663 <filename>user.action</filename>:
6667 <!-- brief sample user.action here -->
6671 # My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com></screen>
6675 As <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link> are local to the actions
6676 file that they are defined in, you can't use the ones from
6677 <filename>default.action</filename>, unless you repeat them here:
6682 # Aliases are local to the file they are defined in.
6683 # (Re-)define aliases for this file:
6687 # These aliases just save typing later, and the alias names should
6688 # be self explanatory.
6690 +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
6691 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
6692 allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
6693 allow-popups = -filter{all-popups} -kill-popups
6694 +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
6695 -block-as-image = -block
6697 # These aliases define combinations of actions that are useful for
6698 # certain types of sites:
6700 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referrer -kill-popups
6701 shop = -crunch-all-cookies allow-popups
6703 # Allow ads for selected useful free sites:
6705 allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} -filter{banners-by-link}
6707 # Alias for specific file types that are text, but might have conflicting
6708 # MIME types. We want the browser to force these to be text documents.
6709 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>
6714 Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
6715 you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
6716 to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
6717 <literal>allow-all-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
6718 that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and the
6719 processing of cookies to make them only temporary.
6724 { allow-all-cookies }
6728 .redhat.com</screen>
6732 Your bank is allergic to some filter, but you don't know which, so you disable them all:
6737 { -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
6738 .your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
6742 Some file types you may not want to filter for various reasons:
6747 # Technical documentation is likely to contain strings that might
6748 # erroneously get altered by the JavaScript-oriented filters:
6753 # And this stupid host sends streaming video with a wrong MIME type,
6754 # so that Privoxy thinks it is getting HTML and starts filtering:
6756 stupid-server.example.com/</screen>
6760 Example of a simple <link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> action. Say you've
6761 seen an ad on your favourite page on example.com that you want to get rid of.
6762 You have right-clicked the image, selected <quote>copy image location</quote>
6763 and pasted the URL below while removing the leading http://, into a
6764 <literal>{ +block }</literal> section. Note that <literal>{ +handle-as-image
6765 }</literal> need not be specified, since all URLs ending in
6766 <literal>.gif</literal> will be tagged as images by the general rules as set
6767 in default.action anyway:
6772 { +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
6773 www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor\.gif
6774 another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
6778 The URLs of dynamically generated banners, especially from large banner
6779 farms, often don't use the well-known image file name extensions, which
6780 makes it impossible for <application>Privoxy</application> to guess
6781 the file type just by looking at the URL.
6782 You can use the <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above for
6784 Note that objects which match this rule but then turn out NOT to be an
6785 image are typically rendered as a <quote>broken image</quote> icon by the
6786 browser. Use cautiously.
6795 ar.atwola.com/</screen>
6799 Now you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
6800 but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
6801 were again too lazy to give <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>, so
6802 you just used the <literal>fragile</literal> alias on the site, and
6803 -- <emphasis>whoa!</emphasis> -- it worked. The <literal>fragile</literal>
6804 aliases disables those actions that are most likely to break a site. Also,
6805 good for testing purposes to see if it is <application>Privoxy</application>
6806 that is causing the problem or not. We later find other regular sites
6807 that misbehave, and add those to our personalized list of troublemakers:
6815 .mybank.com</screen>
6819 You like the <quote>fun</quote> text replacements in <filename>default.filter</filename>,
6820 but it is disabled in the distributed actions file. (My colleagues on the team just
6821 don't have a sense of humour, that's why! ;-). So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
6822 update-safe config, once and for all:
6827 { +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
6828 / # For ALL sites!</screen>
6832 Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions
6833 to the filters in <filename>default.action</filename> for things that
6834 really shouldn't be filtered, like code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since
6835 <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word, these exceptions
6836 won't be valid for the <quote>fun</quote> filtering specified here.
6840 You might also worry about how your favourite free websites are
6841 funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
6842 to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
6843 sites that you feel provide value to you:
6855 Note that <literal>allow-ads</literal> has been aliased to
6856 <literal>-<link linkend="block">block</link></literal>,
6857 <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-size">filter{banners-by-size}</link></literal>, and
6858 <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-link">filter{banners-by-link}</link></literal> above.
6862 Invoke another alias here to force an over-ride of the MIME type <literal>
6863 application/x-sh</literal> which typically would open a download type
6864 dialog. In my case, I want to look at the shell script, and then I can save
6865 it should I choose to.
6875 <filename>user.action</filename> is generally the best place to define
6876 exceptions and additions to the default policies of
6877 <filename>default.action</filename>. Some actions are safe to have their
6878 default policies set here though. So let's set a default policy to have a
6879 <quote>blank</quote> image as opposed to the checkerboard pattern for
6880 <emphasis>ALL</emphasis> sites. <quote>/</quote> of course matches all URL
6886 { +<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker{blank}</link> }
6887 / # ALL sites</screen>
6893 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6897 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
6899 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
6901 <sect1 id="filter-file">
6902 <title>Filter Files</title>
6905 On-the-fly text substitutions need
6906 to be defined in a <quote>filter file</quote>. Once defined, they
6907 can then be invoked as an <quote>action</quote>.
6911 &my-app; supports three different filter actions:
6912 <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> to
6913 rewrite the content that is send to the client,
6914 <literal><link linkend="client-header-filter">client-header-filter</link></literal>
6915 to rewrite headers that are send by the client, and
6916 <literal><link linkend="server-header-filter">server-header-filter</link></literal>
6917 to rewrite headers that are send by the server, and
6921 &my-app; also supports two tagger actions:
6922 <literal><link linkend="client-header-tagger">client-header-tagger</link></literal>
6924 <literal><link linkend="server-header-tagger">server-header-tagger</link></literal>.
6925 Taggers and filters use the same syntax in the filter files, the differnce
6926 is that taggers don't modify the text they are filtering, but use a rewritten
6927 version of the filtered text as tag. The tags can then be used to change the
6928 applying actions through sections with <link linkend="tag-pattern">tag-patterns</link>.
6933 Multiple filter files can be defined through the <literal> <link
6934 linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config directive. The filters
6935 as supplied by the developers will be found in
6936 <filename>default.filter</filename>. It is recommended that any locally
6937 defined or modified filters go in a separately defined file such as
6938 <filename>user.filter</filename>.
6943 Command tasks for content filters are to eliminate common annoyances in
6944 HTML and JavaScript, such as pop-up windows,
6945 exit consoles, crippled windows without navigation tools, the
6946 infamous <BLINK> tag etc, to suppress images with certain
6947 width and height attributes (standard banner sizes or web-bugs),
6948 or just to have fun.
6952 Content filtering works on any text-based document type, including
6953 HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc. (all <literal>text/*</literal>
6954 MIME types, <emphasis>except</emphasis> <literal>text/plain</literal>).
6955 Substitutions are made at the source level, so if you want to <quote>roll
6956 your own</quote> filters, you should first be familiar with HTML syntax,
6957 and, of course, regular expressions.
6961 Just like the <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, the
6962 filter file is organized in sections, which are called <emphasis>filters</emphasis>
6963 here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts with one of the
6964 <emphasis>keywords</emphasis> <literal>FILTER:</literal>,
6965 <literal>CLIENT-HEADER-FILTER:</literal> or <literal>SERVER-HEADER-FILTER:</literal>
6966 followed by the filter's <emphasis>name</emphasis>, and a short (one line)
6967 <emphasis>description</emphasis> of what it does. Below that line
6968 come the <emphasis>jobs</emphasis>, i.e. lines that define the actual
6969 text substitutions. By convention, the name of a filter
6970 should describe what the filter <emphasis>eliminates</emphasis>. The
6971 comment is used in the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
6972 user interface</ulink>.
6976 Once a filter called <replaceable>name</replaceable> has been defined
6977 in the filter file, it can be invoked by using an action of the form
6978 +<literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>name</replaceable>}</literal>
6979 in any <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>.
6983 Filter definitions start with a header line that contains the filter
6984 type, the filter name and the filter description.
6985 A content filter header line for a filter called <quote>foo</quote> could look
6990 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"</screen>
6994 Below that line, and up to the next header line, come the jobs that
6995 define what text replacements the filter executes. They are specified
6996 in a syntax that imitates <ulink url="http://www.perl.org/">Perl</ulink>'s
6997 <literal>s///</literal> operator. If you are familiar with Perl, you
6998 will find this to be quite intuitive, and may want to look at the
6999 PCRS documentation for the subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most
7000 notably, the non-standard option letter <literal>U</literal> is supported,
7001 which turns the default to ungreedy matching.
7006 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
7007 Expressions</quote></ulink>, you might want to take a look at
7008 the <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>, and
7009 see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl
7011 <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html">the
7012 <literal>s///</literal> operator's syntax</ulink> and <ulink
7013 url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
7014 expressions</ulink> in general.
7015 The below examples might also help to get you started.
7019 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
7021 <sect2><title>Filter File Tutorial</title>
7023 Now, let's complete our <quote>foo</quote> content filter. We have already defined
7024 the heading, but the jobs are still missing. Since all it does is to replace
7025 <quote>foo</quote> with <quote>bar</quote>, there is only one (trivial) job
7030 <screen>s/foo/bar/</screen>
7034 But wait! Didn't the comment say that <emphasis>all</emphasis> occurrences
7035 of <quote>foo</quote> should be replaced? Our current job will only take
7036 care of the first <quote>foo</quote> on each page. For global substitution,
7037 we'll need to add the <literal>g</literal> option:
7041 <screen>s/foo/bar/g</screen>
7045 Our complete filter now looks like this:
7048 <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
7049 s/foo/bar/g</screen>
7053 Let's look at some real filters for more interesting examples. Here you see
7054 a filter that protects against some common annoyances that arise from JavaScript
7055 abuse. Let's look at its jobs one after the other:
7061 FILTER: js-annoyances Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
7063 # Get rid of JavaScript referrer tracking. Test page: http://www.randomoddness.com/untitled.htm
7065 s|(<script.*)document\.referrer(.*</script>)|$1"Not Your Business!"$2|Usg</screen>
7069 Following the header line and a comment, you see the job. Note that it uses
7070 <literal>|</literal> as the delimiter instead of <literal>/</literal>, because
7071 the pattern contains a forward slash, which would otherwise have to be escaped
7072 by a backslash (<literal>\</literal>).
7076 Now, let's examine the pattern: it starts with the text <literal><script.*</literal>
7077 enclosed in parentheses. Since the dot matches any character, and <literal>*</literal>
7078 means: <quote>Match an arbitrary number of the element left of myself</quote>, this
7079 matches <quote><script</quote>, followed by <emphasis>any</emphasis> text, i.e.
7080 it matches the whole page, from the start of the first <script> tag.
7084 That's more than we want, but the pattern continues: <literal>document\.referrer</literal>
7085 matches only the exact string <quote>document.referrer</quote>. The dot needed to
7086 be <emphasis>escaped</emphasis>, i.e. preceded by a backslash, to take away its
7087 special meaning as a joker, and make it just a regular dot. So far, the meaning is:
7088 Match from the start of the first <script> tag in a the page, up to, and including,
7089 the text <quote>document.referrer</quote>, if <emphasis>both</emphasis> are present
7090 in the page (and appear in that order).
7094 But there's still more pattern to go. The next element, again enclosed in parentheses,
7095 is <literal>.*</script></literal>. You already know what <literal>.*</literal>
7096 means, so the whole pattern translates to: Match from the start of the first <script>
7097 tag in a page to the end of the last <script> tag, provided that the text
7098 <quote>document.referrer</quote> appears somewhere in between.
7102 This is still not the whole story, since we have ignored the options and the parentheses:
7103 The portions of the page matched by sub-patterns that are enclosed in parentheses, will be
7104 remembered and be available through the variables <literal>$1, $2, ...</literal> in
7105 the substitute. The <literal>U</literal> option switches to ungreedy matching, which means
7106 that the first <literal>.*</literal> in the pattern will only <quote>eat up</quote> all
7107 text in between <quote><script</quote> and the <emphasis>first</emphasis> occurrence
7108 of <quote>document.referrer</quote>, and that the second <literal>.*</literal> will
7109 only span the text up to the <emphasis>first</emphasis> <quote></script></quote>
7110 tag. Furthermore, the <literal>s</literal> option says that the match may span
7111 multiple lines in the page, and the <literal>g</literal> option again means that the
7112 substitution is global.
7116 So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
7117 <quote>document.referrer</quote>. Remember the parts of the script from
7118 (and including) the start tag up to (and excluding) the string
7119 <quote>document.referrer</quote> as <literal>$1</literal>, and the part following
7120 that string, up to and including the closing tag, as <literal>$2</literal>.
7124 Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
7125 lets look at the substitute: <literal>$1"Not Your Business!"$2</literal> is
7126 easy to read: The text remembered as <literal>$1</literal>, followed by
7127 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> (<emphasis>including</emphasis>
7128 the quotation marks!), followed by the text remembered as <literal>$2</literal>.
7129 This produces an exact copy of the original string, with the middle part
7130 (the <quote>document.referrer</quote>) replaced by <literal>"Not Your
7131 Business!"</literal>.
7135 The whole job now reads: Replace <quote>document.referrer</quote> by
7136 <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> wherever it appears inside a
7137 <script> tag. Note that this job won't break JavaScript syntax,
7138 since both the original and the replacement are syntactically valid
7139 string objects. The script just won't have access to the referrer
7140 information anymore.
7144 We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but
7145 this time only point out the constructs of special interest:
7150 # The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
7152 s/window\.status\s*=\s*(['"]).*?\1/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
7156 <literal>\s</literal> stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline,
7157 carriage return, form feed), so that <literal>\s*</literal> means: <quote>zero
7158 or more whitespace</quote>. The <literal>?</literal> in <literal>.*?</literal>
7159 makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
7160 option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
7161 <emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>. Finally, <literal>\1</literal> is
7162 a back-reference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
7163 with the difference that in the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>, a backslash indicates
7164 a back-reference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
7168 So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
7169 strings to the <quote>window.status</quote> object with a dummy assignment
7170 (using a variable name that is hopefully odd enough not to conflict with
7171 real variables in scripts). Thus, it catches many cases where e.g. pointless
7172 descriptions are displayed in the status bar instead of the link target when
7173 you move your mouse over links.
7178 # Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
7180 s/(<body [^>]*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU</screen>
7185 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">OnUnload
7186 event binding</ulink> in the HTML DOM was a <emphasis>CRIME</emphasis>.
7187 When I close a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta.
7188 This job replaces the <quote>onunload</quote> attribute in
7189 <quote><body></quote> tags with the dummy word <literal>never</literal>.
7190 Note that the <literal>i</literal> option makes the pattern matching
7191 case-insensitive. Also note that ungreedy matching alone doesn't always guarantee
7192 a minimal match: In the first parenthesis, we had to use <literal>[^>]*</literal>
7193 instead of <literal>.*</literal> to prevent the match from exceeding the
7194 <body> tag if it doesn't contain <quote>OnUnload</quote>, but the page's
7199 The last example is from the fun department:
7204 FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
7206 # Spice the daily news:
7208 s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig</screen>
7212 Note the <literal>(?!\.com)</literal> part (a so-called negative lookahead)
7213 in the job's pattern, which means: Don't match, if the string
7214 <quote>.com</quote> appears directly following <quote>microsoft</quote>
7215 in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being trashed, while
7216 still replacing the word everywhere else.
7221 # Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
7223 s* industry[ -]leading \
7225 | customer[ -]focused \
7226 | market[ -]driven \
7227 | award[ -]winning # Comments are OK, too! \
7228 | high[ -]performance \
7229 | solutions[ -]based \
7233 *<font color="red"><b>BINGO!</b></font> \
7238 The <literal>x</literal> option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for
7239 e.g. the liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
7247 <!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
7249 <sect2 id="predefined-filters"><title>The Pre-defined Filters</title>
7253 Note each filter is also listed in the +filter action section above. Please
7254 keep these listings in sync.
7259 The distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file contains a selection of
7260 pre-defined filters for your convenience:
7265 <term><emphasis>js-annoyances</emphasis></term>
7268 The purpose of this filter is to get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse.
7273 replaces JavaScript references to the browser's referrer information
7274 with the string "Not Your Business!". This compliments the <literal><link
7275 linkend="hide-referrer">hide-referrer</link></literal> action on the content level.
7280 removes the bindings to the DOM's
7281 <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">unload
7282 event</ulink> which we feel has no right to exist and is responsible for most <quote>exit consoles</quote>, i.e.
7283 nasty windows that pop up when you close another one.
7288 removes code that causes new windows to be opened with undesired properties, such as being
7289 full-screen, non-resizeable, without location, status or menu bar etc.
7295 Use with caution. This is an aggressive filter, and can break sites that
7296 rely heavily on JavaScript.
7302 <term><emphasis>js-events</emphasis></term>
7305 This is a very radical measure. It removes virtually all JavaScript event bindings, which
7306 means that scripts can not react to user actions such as mouse movements or clicks, window
7307 resizing etc, anymore. Use with caution!
7310 We <emphasis>strongly discourage</emphasis> using this filter as a default since it breaks
7311 many legitimate scripts. It is meant for use only on extra-nasty sites (should you really
7318 <term><emphasis>html-annoyances</emphasis></term>
7321 This filter will undo many common instances of HTML based abuse.
7324 The <literal>BLINK</literal> and <literal>MARQUEE</literal> tags
7325 are neutralized (yeah baby!), and browser windows will be created as
7326 resizeable (as of course they should be!), and will have location,
7327 scroll and menu bars -- even if specified otherwise.
7333 <term><emphasis>content-cookies</emphasis></term>
7336 Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialog, where they can be intercepted
7338 <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>
7339 and <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>
7340 actions. But web sites increasingly make use of HTML meta tags and JavaScript
7341 to sneak cookies to the browser on the content level.
7344 This filter disables most HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets
7345 cookies. It cannot detect all clever uses of these types of code, so it
7346 should not be relied on as an absolute fix. Use it wherever you would also
7347 use the cookie crunch actions.
7353 <term><emphasis>refresh tags</emphasis></term>
7356 Disable any refresh tags if the interval is greater than nine seconds (so
7357 that redirections done via refresh tags are not destroyed). This is useful
7358 for dial-on-demand setups, or for those who find this HTML feature
7365 <term><emphasis>unsolicited-popups</emphasis></term>
7368 This filter attempts to prevent only <quote>unsolicited</quote> pop-up
7369 windows from opening, yet still allow pop-up windows that the user
7370 has explicitly chosen to open. It was added in version 3.0.1,
7371 as an improvement over earlier such filters.
7374 Technical note: The filter works by redefining the window.open JavaScript
7375 function to a dummy function, <literal>PrivoxyWindowOpen()</literal>,
7376 during the loading and rendering phase of each HTML page access, and
7377 restoring the function afterward.
7380 This is recommended only for browsers that cannot perform this function
7381 reliably themselves. And be aware that some sites require such windows
7382 in order to function normally. Use with caution.
7388 <term><emphasis>all-popups</emphasis></term>
7391 Attempt to prevent <emphasis>all</emphasis> pop-up windows from opening.
7392 Note this should be used with even more discretion than the above, since
7393 it is more likely to break some sites that require pop-ups for normal
7394 usage. Use with caution.
7400 <term><emphasis>img-reorder</emphasis></term>
7403 This is a helper filter that has no value if used alone. It makes the
7404 <literal>banners-by-size</literal> and <literal>banners-by-link</literal>
7405 (see below) filters more effective and should be enabled together with them.
7411 <term><emphasis>banners-by-size</emphasis></term>
7414 This filter removes image tags purely based on what size they are. Fortunately
7415 for us, many ads and banner images tend to conform to certain standardized
7416 sizes, which makes this filter quite effective for ad stripping purposes.
7419 Occasionally this filter will cause false positives on images that are not ads,
7420 but just happen to be of one of the standard banner sizes.
7423 Recommended only for those who require extreme ad blocking. The default
7424 block rules should catch 95+% of all ads <emphasis>without</emphasis> this filter enabled.
7430 <term><emphasis>banners-by-link</emphasis></term>
7433 This is an experimental filter that attempts to kill any banners if
7434 their URLs seem to point to known or suspected click trackers. It is currently
7435 not of much value and is not recommended for use by default.
7441 <term><emphasis>webbugs</emphasis></term>
7444 Webbugs are small, invisible images (technically 1X1 GIF images), that
7445 are used to track users across websites, and collect information on them.
7446 As an HTML page is loaded by the browser, an embedded image tag causes the
7447 browser to contact a third-party site, disclosing the tracking information
7448 through the requested URL and/or cookies for that third-party domain, without
7449 the user ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party site.
7450 HTML-ized spam also uses a similar technique to verify email addresses.
7453 This filter removes the HTML code that loads such <quote>webbugs</quote>.
7459 <term><emphasis>tiny-textforms</emphasis></term>
7462 A rather special-purpose filter that can be used to enlarge textareas (those
7463 multi-line text boxes in web forms) and turn off hard word wrap in them.
7464 It was written for the sourceforge.net tracker system where such boxes are
7465 a nuisance, but it can be handy on other sites, too.
7468 It is not recommended to use this filter as a default.
7474 <term><emphasis>jumping-windows</emphasis></term>
7477 Many consider windows that move, or resize themselves to be abusive. This filter
7478 neutralizes the related JavaScript code. Note that some sites might not display
7479 or behave as intended when using this filter. Use with caution.
7485 <term><emphasis>frameset-borders</emphasis></term>
7488 Some web designers seem to assume that everyone in the world will view their
7489 web sites using the same browser brand and version, screen resolution etc,
7490 because only that assumption could explain why they'd use static frame sizes,
7491 yet prevent their frames from being resized by the user, should they be too
7492 small to show their whole content.
7495 This filter removes the related HTML code. It should only be applied to sites
7502 <term><emphasis>demoronizer</emphasis></term>
7505 Many Microsoft products that generate HTML use non-standard extensions (read:
7506 violations) of the ISO 8859-1 aka Latin-1 character set. This can cause those
7507 HTML documents to display with errors on standard-compliant platforms.
7510 This filter translates the MS-only characters into Latin-1 equivalents.
7511 It is not necessary when using MS products, and will cause corruption of
7512 all documents that use 8-bit character sets other than Latin-1. It's mostly
7513 worthwhile for Europeans on non-MS platforms, if weird garbage characters
7514 sometimes appear on some pages, or user agents that don't correct for this on
7517 My version of Mozilla (ancient) shows litte square boxes for quote
7518 characters, and apostrophes on moronized pages. So many pages have this, I
7519 can read them fine now. HB 08/27/06
7526 <term><emphasis>shockwave-flash</emphasis></term>
7529 A filter for shockwave haters. As the name suggests, this filter strips code
7530 out of web pages that is used to embed shockwave flash objects.
7538 <term><emphasis>quicktime-kioskmode</emphasis></term>
7541 Change HTML code that embeds Quicktime objects so that kioskmode, which
7542 prevents saving, is disabled.
7548 <term><emphasis>fun</emphasis></term>
7551 Text replacements for subversive browsing fun. Make fun of your favorite
7552 Monopolist or play buzzword bingo.
7558 <term><emphasis>crude-parental</emphasis></term>
7561 A demonstration-only filter that shows how <application>Privoxy</application>
7562 can be used to delete web content on a keyword basis.
7568 <term><emphasis>ie-exploits</emphasis></term>
7571 An experimental collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
7572 code that exploits known security holes in Internet Explorer.
7575 Presently, it only protects against Nimda and a cross-site scripting bug, and
7576 would need active maintenance to provide more substantial protection.
7582 <term><emphasis>site-specifics</emphasis></term>
7585 Some web sites have very specific problems, the cure for which doesn't apply
7586 anywhere else, or could even cause damage on other sites.
7589 This is a collection of such site-specific cures which should only be applied
7590 to the sites they were intended for, which is what the supplied
7591 <filename>default.action</filename> file does. Users shouldn't need to change
7592 anything regarding this filter.
7598 <term><emphasis>google</emphasis></term>
7601 A CSS based block for Google text ads. Also removes a width limitation
7602 and the toolbar advertisement.
7608 <term><emphasis>yahoo</emphasis></term>
7611 Another CSS based block, this time for Yahoo text ads. And removes
7612 a width limitation as well.
7618 <term><emphasis>msn</emphasis></term>
7621 Another CSS based block, this time for MSN text ads. And removes
7622 tracking URLs, as well as a width limitation.
7628 <term><emphasis>blogspot</emphasis></term>
7631 Cleans up some Blogspot blogs. Read the fine print before using this one!
7634 This filter also intentionally removes some navigation stuff and sets the
7635 page width to 100%. As a result, some rounded <quote>corners</quote> would
7636 appear to early or not at all and as fixing this would require a browser
7637 that understands background-size (CSS3), they are removed instead.
7643 <term><emphasis>xml-to-html</emphasis></term>
7646 Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from xml to html.
7652 <term><emphasis>html-to-xml</emphasis></term>
7655 Server-header filter to change the Content-Type from html to xml.
7661 <term><emphasis>no-ping</emphasis></term>
7664 Removes the non-standard <literal>ping</literal> attribute from
7665 anchor and area HTML tags.
7671 <term><emphasis>hide-tor-exit-notation</emphasis></term>
7674 Client-header filter to remove the <command>Tor</command> exit node notation
7675 found in Host and Referer headers.
7678 If &my-app; and <command>Tor</command> are chained and &my-app;
7679 is configured to use socks4a, one can use <quote>http://www.example.org.foobar.exit/</quote>
7680 to access the host <quote>www.example.org</quote> through the
7681 <command>Tor</command> exit node <quote>foobar</quote>.
7684 As the HTTP client isn't aware of this notation, it treats the
7685 whole string <quote>www.example.org.foobar.exit</quote> as host and uses it
7686 for the <quote>Host</quote> and <quote>Referer</quote> headers. From the
7687 server's point of view the resulting headers are invalid and can cause problems.
7690 An invalid <quote>Referer</quote> header can trigger <quote>hot-linking</quote>
7691 protections, an invalid <quote>Host</quote> header will make it impossible for
7692 the server to find the right vhost (several domains hosted on the same IP address).
7695 This client-header filter removes the <quote>foo.exit</quote> part in those headers
7696 to prevent the mentioned problems. Note that it only modifies
7697 the HTTP headers, it doesn't make it impossible for the server
7698 to detect your <command>Tor</command> exit node based on the IP address
7699 the request is coming from.
7706 <term><emphasis> </emphasis></term>
7720 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7724 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7726 <sect1 id="templates">
7727 <title>Privoxy's Template Files</title>
7729 All <application>Privoxy</application> built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the
7730 <ulink url="http://show-the-404-error.page"><quote>404 - No Such Domain</quote>
7731 error page</ulink>, the <ulink
7732 url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
7734 and all pages of its <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
7735 user interface</ulink>, are generated from <emphasis>templates</emphasis>.
7736 (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for the above links to work as
7741 These templates are stored in a subdirectory of the <link linkend="confdir">configuration
7742 directory</link> called <filename>templates</filename>. On Unixish platforms,
7744 <ulink url="file:///etc/privoxy/templates/"><filename>/etc/privoxy/templates/</filename></ulink>.
7748 The templates are basically normal HTML files, but with place-holders (called symbols
7749 or exports), which <application>Privoxy</application> fills at run time. You can
7750 edit the templates with a normal text editor, should you want to customize them.
7751 (<emphasis>Not recommended for the casual user</emphasis>). Note that
7752 just like in configuration files, lines starting with <literal>#</literal> are
7753 ignored when the templates are filled in.
7757 The place-holders are of the form <literal>@name@</literal>, and you will
7758 find a list of available symbols, which vary from template to template,
7759 in the comments at the start of each file. Note that these comments are not
7760 always accurate, and that it's probably best to look at the existing HTML
7761 code to find out which symbols are supported and what they are filled in with.
7765 A special application of this substitution mechanism is to make whole
7766 blocks of HTML code disappear when a specific symbol is set. We use this
7767 for many purposes, one of them being to include the beta warning in all
7768 our user interface (CGI) pages when <application>Privoxy</application>
7769 is in an alpha or beta development stage:
7774 <!-- @if-unstable-start -->
7776 ... beta warning HTML code goes here ...
7778 <!-- if-unstable-end@ --></screen>
7782 If the "unstable" symbol is set, everything in between and including
7783 <literal>@if-unstable-start</literal> and <literal>if-unstable-end@</literal>
7784 will disappear, leaving nothing but an empty comment:
7788 <screen><!-- --></screen>
7792 There's also an if-then-else construct and an <literal>#include</literal>
7793 mechanism, but you'll sure find out if you are inclined to edit the
7798 All templates refer to a style located at
7799 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet"><literal>http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet</literal></ulink>.
7800 This is, of course, locally served by <application>Privoxy</application>
7801 and the source for it can be found and edited in the
7802 <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> template.
7807 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7811 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7813 <sect1 id="contact"><title>Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature
7816 <!-- Include contacting.sgml boilerplate: -->
7818 <!-- end boilerplate -->
7822 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7825 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7826 <sect1 id="copyright"><title>Privoxy Copyright, License and History</title>
7828 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
7830 <!-- end copyright -->
7832 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7833 <sect2><title>License</title>
7834 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
7836 <!-- end copyright -->
7838 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7841 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7843 <sect2 id="history"><title>History</title>
7844 <!-- Include history.sgml: -->
7846 <!-- end history -->
7849 <sect2 id="authors"><title>Authors</title>
7850 <!-- Include p-authors.sgml: -->
7852 <!-- end authors -->
7857 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
7860 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7861 <sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
7862 <!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
7864 <!-- end seealso -->
7869 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7870 <sect1 id="appendix"><title>Appendix</title>
7873 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
7875 <title>Regular Expressions</title>
7877 <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl-style <quote>regular
7878 expressions</quote> in its <link linkend="actions-file">actions
7879 files</link> and <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>,
7880 through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> and
7883 <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/">PCRS</ulink> libraries.
7885 <application>PCRS</application> libraries.
7889 If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what <quote>regular
7890 expressions</quote> are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
7891 introduction only. A full explanation would require a <ulink
7892 url="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex/">book</ulink> ;-)
7896 Regular expressions provide a language to describe patterns that can be
7897 run against strings of characters (letter, numbers, etc), to see if they
7898 match the string or not. The patterns are themselves (sometimes complex)
7899 strings of literal characters, combined with wild-cards, and other special
7900 characters, called meta-characters. The <quote>meta-characters</quote> have
7901 special meanings and are used to build complex patterns to be matched against.
7902 Perl Compatible Regular Expressions are an especially convenient
7903 <quote>dialect</quote> of the regular expression language.
7907 To make a simple analogy, we do something similar when we use wild-card
7908 characters when listing files with the <command>dir</command> command in DOS.
7909 <literal>*.*</literal> matches all filenames. The <quote>special</quote>
7910 character here is the asterisk which matches any and all characters. We can be
7911 more specific and use <literal>?</literal> to match just individual
7912 characters. So <quote>dir file?.text</quote> would match
7913 <quote>file1.txt</quote>, <quote>file2.txt</quote>, etc. We are pattern
7914 matching, using a similar technique to <quote>regular expressions</quote>!
7918 Regular expressions do essentially the same thing, but are much, much more
7919 powerful. There are many more <quote>special characters</quote> and ways of
7920 building complex patterns however. Let's look at a few of the common ones,
7921 and then some examples:
7926 <emphasis>.</emphasis> - Matches any single character, e.g. <quote>a</quote>,
7927 <quote>A</quote>, <quote>4</quote>, <quote>:</quote>, or <quote>@</quote>.
7929 </simplelist></para>
7933 <emphasis>?</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or ONE
7936 </simplelist></para>
7940 <emphasis>+</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ONE or MORE
7943 </simplelist></para>
7947 <emphasis>*</emphasis> - The preceding character or expression is matched ZERO or MORE
7950 </simplelist></para>
7954 <emphasis>\</emphasis> - The <quote>escape</quote> character denotes that
7955 the following character should be taken literally. This is used where one of the
7956 special characters (e.g. <quote>.</quote>) needs to be taken literally and
7957 not as a special meta-character. Example: <quote>example\.com</quote>, makes
7958 sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded to its
7959 meta-character meaning of any single character).
7961 </simplelist></para>
7965 <emphasis>[ ]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
7966 any of the enclosed characters are encountered. For instance, <quote>[0-9]</quote>
7967 matches any numeric digit (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine
7968 this with <quote>+</quote> to match any digit one of more times: <quote>[0-9]+</quote>.
7970 </simplelist></para>
7974 <emphasis>( )</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
7975 or multiple sub-expressions.
7977 </simplelist></para>
7981 <emphasis>|</emphasis> - The <quote>bar</quote> character works like an
7982 <quote>or</quote> conditional statement. A match is successful if the
7983 sub-expression on either side of <quote>|</quote> matches. As an example:
7984 <quote>/(this|that) example/</quote> uses grouping and the bar character
7985 and would match either <quote>this example</quote> or <quote>that
7986 example</quote>, and nothing else.
7988 </simplelist></para>
7991 These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
7992 <application>Privoxy</application>, and is a long way from a definitive
7993 list. This is enough to get us started with a few simple examples which may
7994 be more illuminating:
7998 <emphasis><literal>/.*/banners/.*</literal></emphasis> - A simple example
7999 that uses the common combination of <quote>.</quote> and <quote>*</quote> to
8000 denote any character, zero or more times. In other words, any string at all.
8001 So we start with a literal forward slash, then our regular expression pattern
8002 (<quote>.*</quote>) another literal forward slash, the string
8003 <quote>banners</quote>, another forward slash, and lastly another
8004 <quote>.*</quote>. We are building
8005 a directory path here. This will match any file with the path that has a
8006 directory named <quote>banners</quote> in it. The <quote>.*</quote> matches
8007 any characters, and this could conceivably be more forward slashes, so it
8008 might expand into a much longer looking path. For example, this could match:
8009 <quote>/eye/hate/spammers/banners/annoy_me_please.gif</quote>, or just
8010 <quote>/banners/annoying.html</quote>, or almost an infinite number of other
8011 possible combinations, just so it has <quote>banners</quote> in the path
8016 And now something a little more complex:
8020 <emphasis><literal>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/</literal></emphasis> -
8021 We have several literal forward slashes again (<quote>/</quote>), so we are
8022 building another expression that is a file path statement. We have another
8023 <quote>.*</quote>, so we are matching against any conceivable sub-path, just so
8024 it matches our expression. The only true literal that <emphasis>must
8025 match</emphasis> our pattern is <application>adv</application>, together with
8026 the forward slashes. What comes after the <quote>adv</quote> string is the
8031 Remember the <quote>?</quote> means the preceding expression (either a
8032 literal character or anything grouped with <quote>(...)</quote> in this case)
8033 can exist or not, since this means either zero or one match. So
8034 <quote>((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))</quote> is optional, as are the
8035 individual sub-expressions: <quote>(er)</quote>,
8036 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, and the <quote>s</quote>. The <quote>|</quote>
8037 means <quote>or</quote>. We have two of those. For instance,
8038 <quote>(ing|ements?)</quote>, can expand to match either <quote>ing</quote>
8039 <emphasis>OR</emphasis> <quote>ements?</quote>. What is being done here, is an
8040 attempt at matching as many variations of <quote>advertisement</quote>, and
8041 similar, as possible. So this would expand to match just <quote>adv</quote>,
8042 or <quote>advert</quote>, or <quote>adverts</quote>, or
8043 <quote>advertising</quote>, or <quote>advertisement</quote>, or
8044 <quote>advertisements</quote>. You get the idea. But it would not match
8045 <quote>advertizements</quote> (with a <quote>z</quote>). We could fix that by
8046 changing our regular expression to:
8047 <quote>/.*/adv((er)?ts?|erti(s|z)(ing|ements?))?/</quote>, which would then match
8052 <emphasis><literal>/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g)</literal></emphasis> - Again
8053 another path statement with forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets
8054 <quote>[ ]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
8055 shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the same as
8056 saying <quote>0123456789</quote>. So any digit matches. The <quote>+</quote>
8057 means one or more of the preceding expression must be included. The preceding
8058 expression here is what is in the square brackets -- in this case, any digit
8059 one through nine. Then, at the end, we have a grouping: <quote>(gif|jpe?g)</quote>.
8060 This includes a <quote>|</quote>, so this needs to match the expression on
8061 either side of that bar character also. A simple <quote>gif</quote> on one side, and the other
8062 side will in turn match either <quote>jpeg</quote> or <quote>jpg</quote>,
8063 since the <quote>?</quote> means the letter <quote>e</quote> is optional and
8064 can be matched once or not at all. So we are building an expression here to
8065 match image GIF or JPEG type image file. It must include the literal
8066 string <quote>advert</quote>, then one or more digits, and a <quote>.</quote>
8067 (which is now a literal, and not a special character, since it is escaped
8068 with <quote>\</quote>), and lastly either <quote>gif</quote>, or
8069 <quote>jpeg</quote>, or <quote>jpg</quote>. Some possible matches would
8070 include: <quote>//advert1.jpg</quote>,
8071 <quote>/nasty/ads/advert1234.gif</quote>,
8072 <quote>/banners/from/hell/advert99.jpg</quote>. It would not match
8073 <quote>advert1.gif</quote> (no leading slash), or
8074 <quote>/adverts232.jpg</quote> (the expression does not include an
8075 <quote>s</quote>), or <quote>/advert1.jsp</quote> (<quote>jsp</quote> is not
8076 in the expression anywhere).
8080 We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
8081 can understand the default <application>Privoxy</application>
8082 configuration files, and maybe use this knowledge to customize your own
8083 installation. There is much, much more that can be done with regular
8084 expressions. Now that you know enough to get started, you can learn more on
8089 More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
8090 <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>
8094 For information on regular expression based substitutions and their applications
8095 in filters, please see the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file tutorial</link>
8100 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
8103 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8105 <title>Privoxy's Internal Pages</title>
8108 Since <application>Privoxy</application> proxies each requested
8109 web page, it is easy for <application>Privoxy</application> to
8110 trap certain special URLs. In this way, we can talk directly to
8111 <application>Privoxy</application>, and see how it is
8112 configured, see how our rules are being applied, change these
8113 rules and other configuration options, and even turn
8114 <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering off, all with
8120 The URLs listed below are the special ones that allow direct access
8121 to <application>Privoxy</application>. Of course,
8122 <application>Privoxy</application> must be running to access these. If
8123 not, you will get a friendly error message. Internet access is not
8136 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
8140 There is a shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> (But it
8141 doesn't provide a fall-back to a real page, in case the request is not
8142 sent through <application>Privoxy</application>)
8148 Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
8149 editing of actions files:
8153 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
8160 Show the source code version numbers:
8164 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">http://config.privoxy.org/show-version</ulink>
8171 Show the browser's request headers:
8175 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">http://config.privoxy.org/show-request</ulink>
8182 Show which actions apply to a URL and why:
8186 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
8193 Toggle Privoxy on or off. In this case, <quote>Privoxy</quote> continues
8194 to run, but only as a pass-through proxy, with no actions taking place:
8198 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>
8202 Short cuts. Turn off, then on:
8206 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable</ulink>
8211 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=enable</ulink>
8220 These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
8224 <sect3 id="bookmarklets">
8225 <title>Bookmarklets</title>
8227 Below are some <quote>bookmarklets</quote> to allow you to easily access a
8228 <quote>mini</quote> version of some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
8229 special pages. They are designed for MS Internet Explorer, but should work
8230 equally well in Netscape, Mozilla, and other browsers which support
8231 JavaScript. They are designed to run directly from your bookmarks - not by
8232 clicking the links below (although that should work for testing).
8235 To save them, right-click the link and choose <quote>Add to Favorites</quote>
8236 (IE) or <quote>Add Bookmark</quote> (Netscape). You will get a warning that
8237 the bookmark <quote>may not be safe</quote> - just click OK. Then you can run the
8238 Bookmarklet directly from your favorites/bookmarks. For even faster access,
8239 you can put them on the <quote>Links</quote> bar (IE) or the <quote>Personal
8240 Toolbar</quote> (Netscape), and run them with a single click.
8249 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>
8256 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>
8263 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)
8270 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>
8276 <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>
8282 <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info?url='+escape(location.href),'Why').focus());">Privoxy - Why?</ulink>
8289 Credit: The site which gave us the general idea for these bookmarklets is
8290 <ulink url="http://www.bookmarklets.com/">www.bookmarklets.com</ulink>. They
8291 have more information about bookmarklets.
8300 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8302 <title>Chain of Events</title>
8304 Let's take a quick look at how some of <application>Privoxy's</application>
8305 core features are triggered, and the ensuing sequence of events when a web
8306 page is requested by your browser:
8313 First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
8314 the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, which will in turn,
8315 relay the request to the remote web server after passing the following
8321 <application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
8322 pages (e.g <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
8327 Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
8329 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link> patterns. If
8330 so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
8331 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>
8333 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"><quote>+handle-as-empty-document</quote></link>
8334 are then checked, and if there is no match, an
8335 HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back to the browser. Otherwise, if
8336 it does match, an image is returned for the former, and an empty text
8337 document for the latter. The type of image would depend on the setting of
8338 <link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></link>
8339 (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
8344 Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the
8345 <filename>trust</filename> file, then that is done.
8350 If the URL pattern matches the <link
8351 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link> action,
8352 it is then processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
8357 Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
8358 of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. <link
8359 linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></link>,
8360 etc.), headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and
8366 Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web
8372 First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
8373 things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
8374 filtered as determined by the
8375 <link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"><quote>+crunch-incoming-cookies</quote></link>,
8376 <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>,
8377 and <link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></link>
8383 If the <link linkend="KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></link>
8384 action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript document, the popup-code in the
8385 response is filtered on-the-fly as it is received.
8390 If any <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
8392 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
8393 action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
8394 read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
8395 <filename>default.filter</filename> and any other filter files) are
8396 processed against the buffered content. Filters are applied in the order
8397 they are specified in one of the filter files. Animated GIFs, if present,
8398 are reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
8399 setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
8400 <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
8403 If neither a <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action
8405 linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
8406 matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
8407 to the client browser as it becomes available.
8412 As the browser receives the now (possibly filtered) page content, it
8413 reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
8414 source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
8415 frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a
8416 separate request (this is easily viewable in <application>Privoxy's</application>
8417 logs). And each such request is in turn processed just as above. Note that a
8418 complex web page will have many, many such embedded URLs. If these
8419 secondary requests are to a different server, then quite possibly a very
8420 differing set of actions is triggered.
8427 NOTE: This is somewhat of a simplistic overview of what happens with each URL
8428 request. For the sake of brevity and simplicity, we have focused on
8429 <application>Privoxy's</application> core features only.
8435 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
8436 <sect2 id="actionsanat">
8437 <title>Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</title>
8440 The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
8441 <link linkend="ACTIONS">actions</link> and <link linkend="FILTER">filters</link>
8442 to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
8443 easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need to be able to
8444 <emphasis>see</emphasis> just what <application>Privoxy</application> is
8445 doing. Especially, if something <application>Privoxy</application> is doing
8446 is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little daunting to look at
8447 the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend to be filled with
8448 <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> whose consequences are not
8453 One quick test to see if <application>Privoxy</application> is causing a problem
8454 or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
8455 step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
8456 and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!). Looking at the
8457 logs is a good idea too.
8460 Another easy troubleshooting step to try is if you have done any
8461 customization of your installation, revert back to the installed
8462 defaults and see if that helps. There are times the developers get complaints
8463 about one thing or another, and the problem is more related to a customized
8464 configuration issue.
8468 <application>Privoxy</application> also provides the
8469 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
8470 page that can show us very specifically how <application>actions</application>
8471 are being applied to any given URL. This is a big help for troubleshooting.
8475 First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then
8476 <application>Privoxy</application> will tell us
8477 how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
8478 help with filtering effects (i.e. the <link
8479 linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action) from
8480 one of the filter files since this is handled very
8481 differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
8482 URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
8483 such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
8484 you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
8485 -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
8486 will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
8487 Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
8492 Let's try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
8493 and look at it one section at a time in a sample configuration (your real
8494 configuration may vary):
8499 Matches for http://www.google.com:
8501 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8503 {+deanimate-gifs {last}
8504 +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
8505 +filter {refresh-tags}
8506 +filter {img-reorder}
8507 +filter {banners-by-size}
8509 +filter {jumping-windows}
8510 +filter {ie-exploits}
8511 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
8512 +hide-from-header {block}
8513 +hide-referrer {forge}
8514 +session-cookies-only
8515 +set-image-blocker {pattern}
8518 { -session-cookies-only }
8524 In file: user.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8525 (no matches in this file)
8530 This is telling us how we have defined our
8531 <link linkend="ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></link>, and
8532 which ones match for our test case, <quote>google.com</quote>.
8533 Displayed is all the actions that are available to us. Remember,
8534 the <literal>+</literal> sign denotes <quote>on</quote>. <literal>-</literal>
8535 denotes <quote>off</quote>. So some are <quote>on</quote> here, but many
8536 are <quote>off</quote>. Each example we try may provide a slightly different
8537 end result, depending on our configuration directives.
8541 is for our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line
8542 listing, is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default
8543 settings. If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the
8544 section just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This
8545 will apply to all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end
8546 of the listing -- <quote> / </quote>.
8550 But we have defined additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
8551 rules, and then we list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions
8552 would apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit
8553 matches for <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous
8554 cookie setting, which was for <link
8555 linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>
8556 (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google, at
8557 least that is how it is in this example. The second turns
8558 <emphasis>off</emphasis> any <link
8559 linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link>
8560 action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
8561 dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
8562 sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
8563 <quote>www.google.com</quote> or <quote>mail.google.com</quote>. But it would not
8564 match <quote>www.google.de</quote>! So, apparently, we have these two actions
8565 defined as exceptions to the general rules at the top somewhere in the lower
8566 part of our <filename>default.action</filename> file, and
8567 <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter sections.
8571 Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
8572 So there is nothing google-specific that we might have added to our own, local
8573 configuration. If there was, those actions would over-rule any actions from
8574 previously processed files, such as <filename>default.action</filename>.
8575 <filename>user.action</filename> typically has the last word. This is the
8576 best place to put hard and fast exceptions,
8580 And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
8581 <application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
8582 to <quote>google.com</quote>:
8593 -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
8594 -content-type-overwrite
8595 -crunch-client-header
8596 -crunch-if-none-match
8597 -crunch-incoming-cookies
8598 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
8599 -crunch-server-header
8600 +deanimate-gifs {last}
8601 -downgrade-http-version
8604 -filter {content-cookies}
8605 -filter {all-popups}
8606 -filter {banners-by-link}
8607 -filter {tiny-textforms}
8608 -filter {frameset-borders}
8609 -filter {demoronizer}
8610 -filter {shockwave-flash}
8611 -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
8613 -filter {crude-parental}
8614 -filter {site-specifics}
8615 -filter {js-annoyances}
8616 -filter {html-annoyances}
8617 +filter {refresh-tags}
8618 -filter {unsolicited-popups}
8619 +filter {img-reorder}
8620 +filter {banners-by-size}
8622 +filter {jumping-windows}
8623 +filter {ie-exploits}
8630 -handle-as-empty-document
8632 -hide-accept-language
8633 -hide-content-disposition
8634 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
8635 +hide-from-header {block}
8636 -hide-if-modified-since
8637 +hide-referrer {forge}
8642 -overwrite-last-modified
8643 -prevent-compression
8647 -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
8648 -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
8649 -session-cookies-only
8650 +set-image-blocker {pattern}
8651 -treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks </screen>
8655 Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
8656 <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>,
8657 which are activated specifically for this site in our configuration,
8658 and thus show in the <quote>Final Results</quote>.
8662 Now another example, <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>:
8674 { +block +handle-as-image }
8675 .[a-vx-z]*.doubleclick.net
8680 We'll just show the interesting part here - the explicit matches. It is
8681 matched three different times. Two <quote>+block</quote> sections,
8682 and a <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
8683 which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
8684 <quote>+block-as-image</quote>. (<link
8685 linkend="ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></link> are defined in
8686 the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
8691 Any one of these would have done the trick and blocked this as an unwanted
8692 image. This is unnecessarily redundant since the last case effectively
8693 would also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys
8694 though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
8695 URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
8696 is done here -- as both a <link
8697 linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link>
8698 <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
8699 <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
8700 The custom alias <quote><literal>+block-as-image</literal></quote> just
8701 simplifies the process and make it more readable.
8705 One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
8706 This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm ...
8712 Matches for http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
8714 In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
8718 -client-header-filter{hide-tor-exit-notation}
8719 -content-type-overwrite
8720 -crunch-client-header
8721 -crunch-if-none-match
8722 -crunch-incoming-cookies
8723 -crunch-outgoing-cookies
8724 -crunch-server-header
8726 -downgrade-http-version
8727 +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
8729 -filter {content-cookies}
8730 -filter {all-popups}
8731 -filter {banners-by-link}
8732 -filter {tiny-textforms}
8733 -filter {frameset-borders}
8734 -filter {demoronizer}
8735 -filter {shockwave-flash}
8736 -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
8738 -filter {crude-parental}
8739 -filter {site-specifics}
8740 -filter {js-annoyances}
8741 -filter {html-annoyances}
8742 +filter {refresh-tags}
8743 -filter {unsolicited-popups}
8744 +filter {img-reorder}
8745 +filter {banners-by-size}
8747 +filter {jumping-windows}
8748 +filter {ie-exploits}
8755 -handle-as-empty-document
8757 -hide-accept-language
8758 -hide-content-disposition
8759 +hide-forwarded-for-headers
8760 +hide-from-header{block}
8761 +hide-referer{forge}
8765 -overwrite-last-modified
8766 +prevent-compression
8770 -server-header-filter{xml-to-html}
8771 -server-header-filter{html-to-xml}
8772 +session-cookies-only
8773 +set-image-blocker{blank}
8774 -treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks }
8777 { +block +handle-as-image }
8783 Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote> in our
8784 configuration! But we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the
8785 blank page. It is actually triggering two different actions here, and
8786 the effects are aggregated so that the URL is blocked, and &my-app; is told
8787 to treat the block as if it were an image. But this is, of course, all wrong.
8788 We could now add a new action below this (or better in our own
8789 <filename>user.action</filename> file) that explicitly
8790 <emphasis>un</emphasis> blocks (
8791 <link linkend="BLOCK"><quote>{-block}</quote></link>) paths with
8792 <quote>adsl</quote> in them (remember, last match in the configuration
8793 wins). There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
8805 Now the page displays ;-)
8806 Remember to flush your browser's caches when making these kinds of changes to
8807 your configuration to insure that you get a freshly delivered page! Or, try
8808 using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
8812 But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like
8819 { +block +handle-as-image }
8825 That actually was very helpful and pointed us quickly to where the problem
8826 was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
8827 rules in the first section of <filename>default.action</filename> is causing
8828 the problem. This would require some guesswork, and maybe a little trial and
8829 error to isolate the offending rule. One likely cause would be one of the
8830 <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> actions.
8831 These tend to be harder to troubleshoot.
8832 Try adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off
8833 <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>:
8841 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
8849 <quote><literal>{ shop }</literal></quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
8850 <quote><literal>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</literal></quote>.
8851 Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
8859 # Disable ALL filter actions for sites in this section
8867 This would turn off all filtering for these sites. This is best
8868 put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
8869 exceptions. Note that when a simple domain pattern is used by itself (without
8870 the subsequent path portion), all sub-pages within that domain are included
8871 automatically in the scope of the action.
8875 Images that are inexplicably being blocked, may well be hitting the
8876 <link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"><quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote></link>
8878 that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well
8879 <emphasis>most of the time</emphasis> since these tend to be standardized).
8883 <quote><literal>{ fragile }</literal></quote> is an alias that disables most
8884 actions that are the most likely to cause trouble. This can be used as a
8885 last resort for problem sites.
8891 # Handle with care: easy to break
8893 mybank.example.com</screen>
8898 <emphasis>Remember to flush caches!</emphasis> Note that the
8899 <literal>mail.google</literal> reference lacks the TLD portion (e.g.
8900 <quote>.com</quote>. This will effectively match any TLD with
8901 <literal>google</literal> in it, such as <literal>mail.google.de</literal>,
8905 If this still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining
8906 actions one by one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
8915 This program is free software; you can redistribute it
8916 and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
8917 Public License as published by the Free Software
8918 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
8919 your option) any later version.
8921 This program is distributed in the hope that it will
8922 be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
8923 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
8924 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
8925 License for more details.
8927 The GNU General Public License should be included with
8928 this file. If not, you can view it at
8929 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
8930 or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
8931 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
8934 $Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
8935 Revision 2.38 2007/09/22 16:01:42 fabiankeil
8936 Update embedded show-url-info output.
8938 Revision 2.37 2007/08/27 16:09:55 fabiankeil
8939 Fix pre-chroot-nslookup description which I failed to
8940 copy and paste properly. Reported by Stephen Gildea.
8942 Revision 2.36 2007/08/26 16:47:14 fabiankeil
8943 Add Stephen Gildea's pre-chroot-nslookup patch [#1276666],
8944 extensive comments moved to user manual.
8946 Revision 2.35 2007/08/26 14:59:49 fabiankeil
8947 Minor rewordings and fixes.
8949 Revision 2.34 2007/08/05 15:19:50 fabiankeil
8950 - Don't claim HTTP/1.1 compliance.
8951 - Use $ in some of the path pattern examples.
8952 - Use a hide-user-agent example argument without
8953 leading and trailing space.
8954 - Make it clear that the cookie actions work with
8956 - Rephrase the inspect-jpegs text to underline
8957 that it's only meant to protect against a single
8960 Revision 2.33 2007/07/27 10:57:35 hal9
8961 Add references for user-agent strings for hide-user-agenet
8963 Revision 2.32 2007/06/07 12:36:22 fabiankeil
8964 Apply Roland's 29_usermanual.dpatch to fix a bunch
8965 of syntax errors I collected over the last months.
8967 Revision 2.31 2007/06/02 14:01:37 fabiankeil
8968 Start to document forward-override{}.
8970 Revision 2.30 2007/04/25 15:10:36 fabiankeil
8971 - Describe installation for FreeBSD.
8972 - Start to document taggers and tag patterns.
8973 - Don't confuse devils and daemons.
8975 Revision 2.29 2007/04/05 11:47:51 fabiankeil
8976 Some updates regarding header filtering,
8977 handling of compressed content and redirect's
8978 support for pcrs commands.
8980 Revision 2.28 2006/12/10 23:42:48 hal9
8981 Fix various typos reported by Adam P. Thanks.
8983 Revision 2.27 2006/11/14 01:57:47 hal9
8984 Dump all docs prior to 3.0.6 release. Various minor changes to faq and user
8987 Revision 2.26 2006/10/24 11:16:44 hal9
8990 Revision 2.25 2006/10/18 10:50:33 hal9
8991 Add note that since filters are off in Cautious, compression is ON. Turn off
8992 compression to make filters work on all sites.
8994 Revision 2.24 2006/10/03 11:13:54 hal9
8995 More references to the new filters. Include html this time around.
8997 Revision 2.23 2006/10/02 22:43:53 hal9
8998 Contains new filter definitions from Fabian, and few other miscellaneous
9001 Revision 2.22 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9
9002 Final commit of probably various minor changes here and there. Unless
9003 something changes this should be ready for pending release.
9005 Revision 2.21 2006/09/20 03:21:36 david__schmidt
9006 Just the tiniest tweak. Wafer thin!
9008 Revision 2.20 2006/09/10 14:53:54 hal9
9009 Results of spell check. User manual has some updates to standard.actions file
9012 Revision 2.19 2006/09/08 12:19:02 fabiankeil
9013 Adjust hide-if-modified-since example values
9014 to reflect the recent changes.
9016 Revision 2.18 2006/09/08 02:38:57 hal9
9018 -Fix a number of broken links.
9019 -Migrate the new Windows service command line options, and reference as
9021 -Rebuild so that can be used with the new "user-manual" config capabilities.
9024 Revision 2.17 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
9025 Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
9027 Revision 2.16 2006/09/02 12:49:37 hal9
9028 Various small updates for new actions, filterfiles, etc.
9030 Revision 2.15 2006/08/30 11:15:22 hal9
9031 More work on the new actions, especially filter-*-headers, and What's New
9032 section. User Manual is close to final form for 3.0.4 release. Some tinkering
9033 and proof reading left to do.
9035 Revision 2.14 2006/08/29 10:59:36 hal9
9036 Add a "Whats New in this release" Section. Further work on multiple filter
9037 files, and assorted other minor changes.
9039 Revision 2.13 2006/08/22 11:04:59 hal9
9040 Silence warnings and errors. This should build now. New filters were only
9041 stubbed in. More to be done.
9043 Revision 2.12 2006/08/14 08:40:39 fabiankeil
9044 Documented new actions that were part of
9045 the "minor Privoxy improvements".
9047 Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:51 david__schmidt
9048 Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
9049 with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
9051 Revision 1.123.2.43 2005/05/23 09:59:10 hal9
9054 Revision 1.123.2.42 2004/12/04 14:39:57 hal9
9055 Fix two minor typos per bug SF report.
9057 Revision 1.123.2.41 2004/03/23 12:58:42 oes
9060 Revision 1.123.2.40 2004/02/27 12:48:49 hal9
9061 Add comment re: redirecting to local file system for set-image-blocker may
9062 is dependent on browser.
9064 Revision 1.123.2.39 2004/01/30 22:31:40 oes
9065 Added a hint re bookmarklets to Quickstart section
9067 Revision 1.123.2.38 2004/01/30 16:47:51 oes
9068 Some minor clarifications
9070 Revision 1.123.2.37 2004/01/29 22:36:11 hal9
9071 Updates for no longer filtering text/plain, and demoronizer default settings,
9072 and copyright notice dates.
9074 Revision 1.123.2.36 2003/12/10 02:26:26 hal9
9075 Changed the demoronizer filter description.
9077 Revision 1.123.2.35 2003/11/06 13:36:37 oes
9078 Updated link to nightly CVS tarball
9080 Revision 1.123.2.34 2003/06/26 23:50:16 hal9
9081 Add a small bit on filtering and problems re: source code being corrupted.
9083 Revision 1.123.2.33 2003/05/08 18:17:33 roro
9084 Use apt-get instead of dpkg to install Debian package, which is more
9085 solid, uses the correct and most recent Debian version automatically.
9087 Revision 1.123.2.32 2003/04/11 03:13:57 hal9
9088 Add small note about only one filterfile (as opposed to multiple actions
9091 Revision 1.123.2.31 2003/03/26 02:03:43 oes
9092 Updated hard-coded copyright dates
9094 Revision 1.123.2.30 2003/03/24 12:58:56 hal9
9095 Add new section on Predefined Filters.
9097 Revision 1.123.2.29 2003/03/20 02:45:29 hal9
9098 More problems with \-\-chroot causing markup problems :(
9100 Revision 1.123.2.28 2003/03/19 00:35:24 hal9
9101 Manual edit of revision log because 'chroot' (even inside a comment) was
9102 causing Docbook to hang here (due to double hyphen and the processor thinking
9105 Revision 1.123.2.27 2003/03/18 19:37:14 oes
9106 s/Advanced|Radical/Adventuresome/g to avoid complaints re fun filter
9108 Revision 1.123.2.26 2003/03/17 16:50:53 oes
9109 Added documentation for new chroot option
9111 Revision 1.123.2.25 2003/03/15 18:36:55 oes
9112 Adapted to the new filters
9114 Revision 1.123.2.24 2002/11/17 06:41:06 hal9
9115 Move default profiles table from FAQ to U-M, and other minor related changes.
9118 Revision 1.123.2.23 2002/10/21 02:32:01 hal9
9119 Updates to the user.action examples section. A few new ones.
9121 Revision 1.123.2.22 2002/10/12 00:51:53 hal9
9122 Add demoronizer to filter section.
9124 Revision 1.123.2.21 2002/10/10 04:09:35 hal9
9125 s/Advanced/Radical/ and added very brief note.
9127 Revision 1.123.2.20 2002/10/10 03:49:21 hal9
9128 Add notes to session-cookies-only and Quickstart about pre-existing
9129 cookies. Also, note content-cookies work differently.
9131 Revision 1.123.2.19 2002/09/26 01:25:36 hal9
9132 More explanation on Privoxy patterns, more on content-cookies and SSL.
9134 Revision 1.123.2.18 2002/08/22 23:47:58 hal9
9135 Add 'Documentation' to Privoxy Menu shot in Configuration section to match
9138 Revision 1.123.2.17 2002/08/18 01:13:05 hal9
9139 Spell checked (only one typo this time!).
9141 Revision 1.123.2.16 2002/08/09 19:20:54 david__schmidt
9142 Update to Mac OSX startup script name
9144 Revision 1.123.2.15 2002/08/07 17:32:11 oes
9145 Converted some internal links from ulink to link for PDF creation; no content changed
9147 Revision 1.123.2.14 2002/08/06 09:16:13 oes
9148 Nits re: actions file download
9150 Revision 1.123.2.13 2002/08/02 18:23:19 g_sauthoff
9151 Just 2 small corrections to the Gentoo sections
9153 Revision 1.123.2.12 2002/08/02 18:17:21 g_sauthoff
9154 Added 2 Gentoo sections
9156 Revision 1.123.2.11 2002/07/26 15:20:31 oes
9157 - Added version info to title
9158 - Added info on new filters
9159 - Revised parts of the filter file tutorial
9160 - Added info on where to get updated actions files
9162 Revision 1.123.2.10 2002/07/25 21:42:29 hal9
9163 Add brief notes on not proxying non-HTTP protocols.
9165 Revision 1.123.2.9 2002/07/11 03:40:28 david__schmidt
9167 Updated Mac OSX sections due to installation location change
9169 Revision 1.123.2.8 2002/06/09 16:36:32 hal9
9170 Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
9172 Revision 1.123.2.7 2002/06/09 00:29:34 hal9
9173 Touch ups on filtering, in actions section and Anatomy.
9175 Revision 1.123.2.6 2002/06/06 23:11:03 hal9
9176 Fix broken link. Linkchecked all docs.
9178 Revision 1.123.2.5 2002/05/29 02:01:02 hal9
9179 This is break out of the entire config section from u-m, so it can
9180 eventually be used to generate the comments, etc in the main config file
9181 so that these are in sync with each other.
9183 Revision 1.123.2.4 2002/05/27 03:28:45 hal9
9184 Ooops missed something from David.
9186 Revision 1.123.2.3 2002/05/27 03:23:17 hal9
9187 Fix FIXMEs for OS2 and OSX startup. Fix Redhat typos (should be Red Hat).
9188 That's a wrap, I think.
9190 Revision 1.123.2.2 2002/05/26 19:02:09 hal9
9191 Move Amiga stuff around to take of FIXME in start up section.
9193 Revision 1.123.2.1 2002/05/26 17:04:25 hal9
9194 -Spellcheck, very minor edits, and sync across branches
9196 Revision 1.123 2002/05/24 23:19:23 hal9
9197 Include new image (Proxy setup). More fun with guibutton.
9198 Minor corrections/clarifications here and there.
9200 Revision 1.122 2002/05/24 13:24:08 oes
9201 Added Bookmarklet for one-click pre-filled access to show-url-info
9203 Revision 1.121 2002/05/23 23:20:17 oes
9204 - Changed more (all?) references to actions to the
9205 <literal><link> style.
9206 - Small fixes in the actions chapter
9207 - Small clarifications in the quickstart to ad blocking
9208 - Removed <emphasis> from <title>s since the new doc CSS
9209 renders them red (bad in TOC).
9211 Revision 1.120 2002/05/23 19:16:43 roro
9212 Correct Debian specials (installation and startup).
9214 Revision 1.119 2002/05/22 17:17:05 oes
9217 Revision 1.118 2002/05/21 04:54:55 hal9
9218 -New Section: Quickstart to Ad Blocking
9219 -Reformat Actions Anatomy to match new CGI layout
9221 Revision 1.117 2002/05/17 13:56:16 oes
9222 - Reworked & extended Templates chapter
9223 - Small changes to Regex appendix
9224 - #included authors.sgml into (C) and hist chapter
9226 Revision 1.116 2002/05/17 03:23:46 hal9
9227 Fixing merge conflict in Quickstart section.
9229 Revision 1.115 2002/05/16 16:25:00 oes
9230 Extended the Filter File chapter & minor fixes
9232 Revision 1.114 2002/05/16 09:42:50 oes
9233 More ulink->link, added some hints to Quickstart section
9235 Revision 1.113 2002/05/15 21:07:25 oes
9236 Extended and further commented the example actions files
9238 Revision 1.112 2002/05/15 03:57:14 hal9
9239 Spell check. A few minor edits here and there for better syntax and
9242 Revision 1.111 2002/05/14 23:01:36 oes
9245 Revision 1.110 2002/05/14 19:10:45 oes
9246 Restored alphabetical order of actions
9248 Revision 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes
9249 Renamed the prevent-*-cookies actions, extended aliases section and moved it before the example AFs
9251 Revision 1.108 2002/05/14 15:29:12 oes
9252 Completed proofreading the actions chapter
9254 Revision 1.107 2002/05/12 03:20:41 hal9
9255 Small clarifications for 127.0.0.1 vs localhost for listen-address since this
9256 apparently an important distinction for some OS's.
9258 Revision 1.106 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9
9259 This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs
9260 are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright
9261 changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ).
9263 Revision 1.105 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9
9264 Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs.
9266 Revision 1.104 2002/05/04 08:44:45 swa
9269 Revision 1.103 2002/05/04 00:40:53 hal9
9270 -Remove the TOC first page kludge. It's fixed proper now in ldp.dsl.in.
9271 -Some minor additions to Quickstart.
9273 Revision 1.102 2002/05/03 17:46:00 oes
9274 Further proofread & reactivated short build instructions
9276 Revision 1.101 2002/05/03 03:58:30 hal9
9277 Move the user-manual config directive to top of section. Add note about
9278 Privoxy needing read permissions for configs, and write for logs.
9280 Revision 1.100 2002/04/29 03:05:55 hal9
9281 Add clarification on differences of new actions files.
9283 Revision 1.99 2002/04/28 16:59:05 swa
9284 more structure in starting section
9286 Revision 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9
9287 This is the break up of configuration.html into multiple files. This
9288 will probably break links elsewhere :(
9290 Revision 1.97 2002/04/27 21:04:42 hal9
9291 -Rewrite of Actions File example.
9292 -Add section for user-manual directive in config.
9294 Revision 1.96 2002/04/27 05:32:00 hal9
9295 -Add short section to Filter Files to tie in with +filter action.
9296 -Start rewrite of examples in Actions Examples (not finished).
9298 Revision 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa
9299 bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
9301 Revision 1.94 2002/04/26 05:24:36 hal9
9302 -Add most of Andreas suggestions to Chain of Events section.
9303 -A few other minor corrections and touch up.
9305 Revision 1.92 2002/04/25 18:55:13 hal9
9306 More catchups on new actions files, and new actions names.
9307 Other assorted cleanups, and minor modifications.
9309 Revision 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9
9310 Add 'Chain of Events' section.
9312 Revision 1.90 2002/04/23 21:41:25 hal9
9313 Linuxconf is deprecated on RH, substitute chkconfig.
9315 Revision 1.89 2002/04/23 21:05:28 oes
9316 Added hint for startup on Red Hat
9318 Revision 1.88 2002/04/23 05:37:54 hal9
9319 Add AmigaOS install stuff.
9321 Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
9322 Updated OSX installation section
9323 Added a few English tweaks here an there
9325 Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
9326 Re-write actions section.
9328 Revision 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9
9329 Fix ugly typo (mine).
9331 Revision 1.84 2002/04/18 21:17:13 hal9
9332 Spell Redhat correctly (ie Red Hat). A few minor grammar corrections.
9334 Revision 1.83 2002/04/18 18:21:12 oes
9335 Added RPM install detail
9337 Revision 1.82 2002/04/18 12:04:50 oes
9340 Revision 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes
9341 Extended Install section - needs fixing by packagers
9343 Revision 1.80 2002/04/18 10:45:19 oes
9344 Moved text to buildsource.sgml, renamed some filters, details
9346 Revision 1.79 2002/04/18 03:18:06 hal9
9347 Spellcheck, and minor touchups.
9349 Revision 1.78 2002/04/17 18:04:16 oes
9352 Revision 1.77 2002/04/17 13:51:23 oes
9353 Proofreading, part one
9355 Revision 1.76 2002/04/16 04:25:51 hal9
9356 -Added 'Note to Upgraders' and re-ordered the 'Quickstart' section.
9357 -Note about proxy may need requests to re-read config files.
9359 Revision 1.75 2002/04/12 02:08:48 david__schmidt
9360 Remove OS/2 building info... it is already in the developer-manual
9362 Revision 1.74 2002/04/11 00:54:38 hal9
9363 Add small section on submitting actions.
9365 Revision 1.73 2002/04/10 18:45:15 swa
9368 Revision 1.72 2002/04/10 04:06:19 hal9
9369 Added actions feedback to Bookmarklets section
9371 Revision 1.71 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9
9372 Version update. Spell chkconfig correctly :)
9374 Revision 1.70 2002/04/08 20:53:56 swa
9377 Revision 1.69 2002/04/06 05:07:29 hal9
9378 -Add privoxy-man-page.sgml, for man page.
9379 -Add authors.sgml for AUTHORS (and p-authors.sgml)
9380 -Reworked various aspects of various docs.
9381 -Added additional comments to sub-docs.
9383 Revision 1.68 2002/04/04 18:46:47 swa
9384 consistent look. reuse of copyright, history et. al.
9386 Revision 1.67 2002/04/04 17:27:57 swa
9387 more single file to be included at multiple points. make maintaining easier
9389 Revision 1.66 2002/04/04 06:48:37 hal9
9390 Structural changes to allow for conditional inclusion/exclusion of content
9391 based on entity toggles, e.g. 'entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE"'. And
9392 definition of internal entities, e.g. 'entity p-version "2.9.13"' that will
9393 eventually be set by Makefile.
9394 More boilerplate text for use across multiple docs.
9396 Revision 1.65 2002/04/03 19:52:07 swa
9397 enhance squid section due to user suggestion
9399 Revision 1.64 2002/04/03 03:53:43 hal9
9400 A few minor bug fixes, and touch ups. Ready for review.
9402 Revision 1.63 2002/04/01 16:24:49 hal9
9403 Define entities to include boilerplate text. See doc/source/*.
9405 Revision 1.62 2002/03/30 04:15:53 hal9
9406 - Fix privoxy.org/config links.
9407 - Paste in Bookmarklets from Toggle page.
9408 - Move Quickstart nearer top, and minor rework.
9410 Revision 1.61 2002/03/29 01:31:08 hal9
9413 Revision 1.60 2002/03/27 01:57:34 hal9
9414 Added more to Anatomy section.
9416 Revision 1.59 2002/03/27 00:54:33 hal9
9417 Touch up intro for new name.
9419 Revision 1.58 2002/03/26 22:29:55 swa
9420 we have a new homepage!
9422 Revision 1.57 2002/03/24 20:33:30 hal9
9423 A few minor catch ups with name change.
9425 Revision 1.56 2002/03/24 16:17:06 swa
9426 configure needs to be generated.
9428 Revision 1.55 2002/03/24 16:08:08 swa
9429 we are too lazy to make a block-built
9430 privoxy logo. hence removed the option.
9432 Revision 1.54 2002/03/24 15:46:20 swa
9433 name change related issue.
9435 Revision 1.53 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa
9436 name change. changed filenames.
9438 Revision 1.52 2002/03/24 11:01:06 swa
9441 Revision 1.51 2002/03/23 15:13:11 swa
9442 renamed every reference to the old name with foobar.
9443 fixed "application foobar application" tag, fixed
9444 "the foobar" with "foobar". left junkbustser in cvs
9445 comments and remarks to history untouched.
9447 Revision 1.50 2002/03/23 05:06:21 hal9
9450 Revision 1.49 2002/03/21 17:01:05 hal9
9451 New section in Appendix.
9453 Revision 1.48 2002/03/12 06:33:01 hal9
9454 Catching up to Andreas and re_filterfile changes.
9456 Revision 1.47 2002/03/11 13:13:27 swa
9457 correct feedback channels
9459 Revision 1.46 2002/03/10 00:51:08 hal9
9460 Added section on JB internal pages in Appendix.
9462 Revision 1.45 2002/03/09 17:43:53 swa
9465 Revision 1.44 2002/03/09 17:08:48 hal9
9466 New section on Jon's actions file editor, and move some stuff around.
9468 Revision 1.43 2002/03/08 00:47:32 hal9
9469 Added imageblock{pattern}.
9471 Revision 1.42 2002/03/07 18:16:55 swa
9474 Revision 1.41 2002/03/07 16:46:43 hal9
9475 Fix a few markup problems for jade.
9477 Revision 1.40 2002/03/07 16:28:39 swa
9478 provide correct feedback channels
9480 Revision 1.39 2002/03/06 16:19:28 hal9
9481 Note on perceived filtering slowdown per FR.
9483 Revision 1.38 2002/03/05 23:55:14 hal9
9484 Stupid I did it again. Double hyphen in comment breaks jade.
9486 Revision 1.37 2002/03/05 23:53:49 hal9
9487 jade barfs on '- -' embedded in comments. - -user option broke it.
9489 Revision 1.36 2002/03/05 22:53:28 hal9
9490 Add new - - user option.
9492 Revision 1.35 2002/03/05 00:17:27 hal9
9493 Added section on command line options.
9495 Revision 1.34 2002/03/04 19:32:07 oes
9496 Changed default port to 8118
9498 Revision 1.33 2002/03/03 19:46:13 hal9
9499 Emphasis on where/how to report bugs, etc
9501 Revision 1.32 2002/03/03 09:26:06 joergs
9502 AmigaOS changes, config is now loaded from PROGDIR: instead of
9503 AmiTCP:db/junkbuster/ if no configuration file is specified on the
9506 Revision 1.31 2002/03/02 22:45:52 david__schmidt
9509 Revision 1.30 2002/03/02 22:00:14 hal9
9510 Updated 'New Features' list. Ran through spell-checker.
9512 Revision 1.29 2002/03/02 20:34:07 david__schmidt
9513 Update OS/2 build section
9515 Revision 1.28 2002/02/24 14:34:24 jongfoster
9516 Formatting changes. Now changing the doctype to DocBook XML 4.1
9517 will work - no other changes are needed.
9519 Revision 1.27 2002/01/11 14:14:32 hal9
9520 Added a very short section on Templates
9522 Revision 1.26 2002/01/09 20:02:50 hal9
9523 Fix bug re: auto-detect config file changes.
9525 Revision 1.25 2002/01/09 18:20:30 hal9
9526 Touch ups for *.action files.
9528 Revision 1.24 2001/12/02 01:13:42 hal9
9531 Revision 1.23 2001/12/02 00:20:41 hal9
9532 Updates for recent changes.
9534 Revision 1.22 2001/11/05 23:57:51 hal9
9535 Minor update for startup now daemon mode.
9537 Revision 1.21 2001/10/31 21:11:03 hal9
9538 Correct 2 minor errors
9540 Revision 1.18 2001/10/24 18:45:26 hal9
9541 *** empty log message ***
9543 Revision 1.17 2001/10/24 17:10:55 hal9
9544 Catching up with Jon's recent work, and a few other things.
9546 Revision 1.16 2001/10/21 17:19:21 swa
9547 wrong url in documentation
9549 Revision 1.15 2001/10/14 23:46:24 hal9
9550 Various minor changes. Fleshed out SEE ALSO section.
9552 Revision 1.13 2001/10/10 17:28:33 hal9
9555 Revision 1.12 2001/09/28 02:57:04 hal9
9558 Revision 1.11 2001/09/28 02:25:20 hal9
9561 Revision 1.9 2001/09/27 23:50:29 hal9
9562 A few changes. A short section on regular expression in appendix.
9564 Revision 1.8 2001/09/25 00:34:59 hal9
9565 Some additions, and re-arranging.
9567 Revision 1.7 2001/09/24 14:31:36 hal9
9570 Revision 1.6 2001/09/24 14:10:32 hal9
9571 Including David's OS/2 installation instructions.
9573 Revision 1.2 2001/09/13 15:27:40 swa
9576 Revision 1.1 2001/09/12 15:36:41 swa
9577 source files for junkbuster documentation
9579 Revision 1.3 2001/09/10 17:43:59 swa
9580 first proposal of a structure.
9582 Revision 1.2 2001/06/13 14:28:31 swa
9583 docs should have an author.
9585 Revision 1.1 2001/06/13 14:20:37 swa
9586 first import of project's documentation for the webserver.
projects / privoxy.git / blob