<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN" [
-<!entity % dummy "INCLUDE">
+<!entity % dummy "IGNORE">
<!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
<!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
<!entity p-intro SYSTEM "privoxy.sgml">
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9 Exp $
+ $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa Exp $
Written by and Copyright (C) 2001 the SourceForge
Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
<artheader>
<title>Privoxy User Manual</title>
-<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa Exp $</pubdate>
<authorgroup>
<author>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
<sect1 label="1" id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
<para>
This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
]]>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="newfeatures">
-<title>New Features</title>
+<sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
<para>
In addition to <application>Internet Junkbuster's</application> traditional
features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
<application>Privoxy</application> provides new features<![%p-not-stable;[,
some of them currently under development]]>:
</para>
-
<!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
&newfeatures;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<application>Privoxy</application> is available both in convenient pre-compiled
packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code.
For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our
- <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project Page</ulink>.
+ <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project
+ Page</ulink>. For installing and compiling the source code, please look
+ into our Developer Manual.
</para>
<para>
version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
CVS repository</ulink> or simply download <ulink
url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.gz">the nightly CVS
- tarball.</ulink>
+ tarball.</ulink> Again, we refer you to the Developer Manual.
</para>
<!-- Include supported.sgml boilerplate -->
&supported;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="installation-packages"><title>Binary Packages</title>
-
<para>
Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
<application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
- will either need to remove it, or that might be done by the setup
- procedure. (See below for your platform).
+ will need to remove it. Some platforms do this for you as part
+ of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform).
</para>
<para>
In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration
- if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> In that case, also see the
- <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link>.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
+ if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> See the
+ <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link> section
+ below.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat and SuSE RPMs</title>
+<sect2 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat and SuSE RPMs</title>
<para>
- RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh <name-of-rpm.rpm></literal>,
+ RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location
of configuration files.
</para>
<para>
- Note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
+ Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
+ <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
+ need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
+ <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will
+automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM:
+ <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm;</literal>. This
+ will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Also note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
Otherwise, RPM will try to remove <application>Junkbuster</application>
automatically, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian</title>
+<sect2 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian</title>
<para>
FIXME.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-pack-win"><title>Windows</title>
+<sect2 id="installation-pack-win"><title>Windows</title>
<para>
Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
- the installation process.
+ the installation process. You will find the configuration files
+ in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not
+ use the registry of Windows.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX</title>
+<sect2 id="installation-pack-bintgz"><title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX</title>
<para>
Create a new directory, <literal>cd</literal> to it, then unzip and
untar the archive. For the most part, you'll have to figure out where
things go. FIXME.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-os2"><title>OS/2</title>
+<sect2 id="installation-os2"><title>OS/2</title>
<para>
First, make sure that no previous installations of
<application>Junkbuster</application> and / or
<application>Privoxy</application> are left on your
- system.
+ system. You can do this by
</para>
<para>
The directory you choose to install <application>Privoxy</application>
into will contain all of the configuration files.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Max OSX</title>
-<para>
- FIXME.
+<sect2 id="installation-mac"><title>Max OSX</title>
+<para>
+ Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file
+ in the finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then,
+ double-click on the package installer icon and follow the installation
+ process.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the subdirectory
+ <literal>/Applications/Privoxy.app</literal>.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will set itself up to start
+ automatically on system bring-up via
+ <literal>/System/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-amiga"><title>AmigaOS</title>
+<sect2 id="installation-amiga"><title>AmigaOS</title>
<para>
- Unpack the <literal>.lha</literal> archive, then FIXME.
+ Copy and then unpack the <filename>lha</filename> archive to a suitable location.
+ All necessary files will be installed into <application>Privoxy</application>
+ directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just
+ remove this directory.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Start <application>Privoxy</application> (with RUN <>NIL:) in your
+ <filename>startnet</filename> script (AmiTCP), in
+ <filename>s:user-startup</filename> (RoadShow), as startup program in your
+ startup script (Genesis), or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx).
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will automatically quit when you quit your
+ TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is still running).
</para>
-</sect3>
-</sect2>
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="installation-source"><title>Building from Source</title>
-
-<!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
-&buildsource;
-<!-- end boilerplate -->
</sect2>
-
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="upgradersnote">
+<sect1 id="upgradersnote">
<title>Note to Upgraders</title>
<para>
There are very significant changes from older versions of
configuration files will not migrate. The functionality of the old
<filename>blockfile</filename>, <filename>cookiefile</filename> and
<filename>imagelist</filename>, are now combined into the
- <quote>actions file</quote> (<filename>default.action</filename>
- for most installations).
+ <quote>actions files</quote>. <filename>default.action</filename>,
+ is the main actions file. Local exceptions should best be put into
+ <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
<para>
A <quote>filter file</quote> (typically <filename>default.filter</filename>)
If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config
files, and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files.
When porting personal rules over from the old <filename>blockfile</filename>
- to the new actions file, please note that even the pattern syntax has
+ to the new actions files, please note that even the pattern syntax has
changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x development versions, it is still
recommended to use the new configuration files.
</para>
<para>
The primary configuration file for cookie management, ad and banner
blocking, and many other aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
- configuration is <filename>default.action</filename>. It is strongly
+ configuration is in the <quote>actions</quote> files. It is strongly
recommended to become familiar with the new actions concept below,
- before modifying this file.
+ before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
+ should go into <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+</sect1>
-</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+<para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the section <link linkend="installation">Installing</link>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Start <application>Privoxy</application>. See the section <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Change your browser's configuration to use the proxy <literal>localhost</literal> on port
+ <literal>8118</literal>. See the section <link linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. Please see the section
+ <link linkend="contact">Contacting the Developers</link> on how to report
+ bugs or problems with websites or to get help. You may want to change the
+ file <filename>user.action</filename> to further tweak your new browsing
+ experience.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="startup">
+<sect1 id="startup">
<title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
<para>
Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
will want to configure your browser(s) to use <application>Privoxy</application>
as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is localhost for the proxy address,
- and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one required
- configuration that must be done!
+ and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one
+ configuration step that must be done!
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
-
# /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
</para>
<para>
- For Red Hat: <command>/etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start</command>
+ For Red Hat and Debian: <command>/etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start</command>
</para>
</para>
<para>
- You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites that require persistent
- cookies, and add these to <filename>default.action</filename> as needed. By
+ You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
+ persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
- session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), until you add them to the
+ session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
- to edit <filename>default.action</filename> and disable this feature. If you
- use more than one browser, it would make more sense to let
- <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which case, the
- browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
+ to edit <filename>user.action</filename> (or through the web based interface)
+ and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
+ more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
+ case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
</para>
<para>
Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
sites is the popup-killing (through the <literal>+popup</literal> and
<literal>+filter{popups}</literal> actions), because your favorite shopping,
- banking, or leisure site may need popups.
+ banking, or leisure site may need popups (explained below).
</para>
<para>
(like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
- Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade</quote> config option in
+ Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> config option in
<filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
</para>
After running <application>Privoxy</application> for a while, you can
start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site,
preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can
- be customized. <quote>Actions</quote> (as specified in <filename>default.action</filename>)
+ be customized. <quote>Actions</quote>
can be adjusted by pointing your browser to
<ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
(shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
- and then follow the link to <quote>edit the actions list</quote>.
+ and then follow the link to <quote>View & Change the Current Configuration</quote>.
(This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
</para>
configuration can be viewed from this page, including
current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
the browser's request headers, and <quote>actions</quote> that apply
- to a given URL. In addition to the <filename>default.action</filename> file
+ to a given URL. In addition to the actions file
editor mentioned above, <application>Privoxy</application> can also
be turned <quote>on</quote> and <quote>off</quote> (toggled) from this page.
</para>
<para>
If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
- chapter "Contacting the Developers, .." below.
+ section <ulink url="contact.html"><quote>Contacting the
+ Developers</quote></ulink> below.
</para>
-</sect2>
-
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="cmdoptions">
<title>Command Line Options</title>
in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
Many important aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> can
also be controlled easily with a web browser.
-
</para>
</para>
-<para>
- <screen>
-
-Please choose from the following options:
+<!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
+<screen>
+ <msgtext>
+ <bridgehead renderas="sect2">Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
- * Privoxy main page
- * Show information about the current configuration
- * Show the source code version numbers
- * Show the request headers.
- * Show which actions apply to a URL and why
- * Toggle Privoxy on or off
- * Edit the actions list
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View & change the current configuration</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">View the source code version numbers</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">View the request headers.</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">Look up which actions apply to a URL and why</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </msgtext>
+</screen>
- </screen>
-</para>
<para>
- This should be self-explanatory. Note the last item is an editor for the
- <quote>actions list</quote>, which is where much of the ad, banner, cookie,
+ This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
+ <quote>actions list</quote>, which is where the ad, banner, cookie,
and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
<application>Privoxy</application>. This is an easy way to adjust various
aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. The actions
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2>
+<sect2 id="confoverview">
<title>Configuration Files Overview</title>
<para>
For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
</para>
<para>
- The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though possibly
- aggressive by some standards. For the time being, there are only three
- default configuration files (this may change in time):
+ The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
+ some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the
+ principle configuration files are:
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- The main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename>
+ The main configuration file is named <link linkend="config">config</link>
on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and <filename>config.txt</filename>
- on Windows.
+ on Windows. This is a required file.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>default.action</filename> (the actions file) is used to define
- which of a set of various <quote>actions</quote> relating to images, banners,
- pop-ups, access restrictions, banners and cookies are to be applied, and where.
- There is a web based editor for this file that can be accessed at <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions/">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions/</ulink>
- (Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/edit-actions/">http://p.p/edit-actions/</ulink>).
- (Other actions files are included as well with differing levels of filtering
- and blocking, e.g. <filename>basic.action</filename>.)
+ <filename>default.action</filename> (the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>) is used to define
+ the default settings for various <quote>actions</quote> relating to images, banners,
+ pop-ups, access restrictions, banners and cookies.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Multiple actions files may be defined in <filename>config</filename>. These
+ are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally
+ preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
+ <filename>default.action</filename> are probably best applied in
+ <filename>user.action</filename>, which should be preserved across
+ upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is also included. This is mostly
+ for <application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
+ <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/</ulink>
+ (Shortcut: <ulink
+ url="http://p.p/show-status/">http://p.p/show-status/</ulink>) for the
+ various actions files.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>default.filter</filename> (the filter file) can be used to re-write the raw
- page content, including viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript,
- and whatever else lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only
- pre-defined here; whether to apply them or not is up to the actions file.
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
+ file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
+ viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
+ lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
+ whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
</para>
</listitem>
<para>
All files use the <quote><literal>#</literal></quote> character to denote a
- comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
+ comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) angd understand line continuation
through placing a backslash ("<literal>\</literal>") as the very last character
in a line. If the <literal>#</literal> is preceded by a backslash, it looses
its special function. Placing a <literal>#</literal> in front of an otherwise
</para>
<para>
- <filename>default.action</filename> and <filename>default.filter</filename>
+ The actions files and <filename>default.filter</filename>
can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
maximum flexibility.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2>
+<sect2 id="config">
<title>The Main Configuration File</title>
<para>
Again, the main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename> on
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect3 id="conf-log-loc">
<title>Configuration and Log File Locations</title>
<para>
</para>
-<sect4><title>confdir</title>
+<sect4 id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>logdir</title>
+<sect4 id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>actionsfile</title>
+<sect4 id="actionsfile"><title>
+actionsfile
+</title>
+<anchor id="default.action">
+<anchor id="standard.action">
+<anchor id="user.action">
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The actions file to use
+ The <link linkend="actions">actions</link> file(s) to use
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Default value:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>default.action (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> default.action.txt (Windows)</para>
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ <msgtext><literallayout> standard # Internal purposes, recommended not editing</literallayout></msgtext>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ <msgtext><literallayout> default # Main actions file</literallayout></msgtext>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ <msgtext><literallayout> user # User customizations</literallayout></msgtext>
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Effect if unset:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- No action is taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
+ No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without
- an actions file. There are three different actions files included in the
- distribution, with varying degrees of aggressiveness:
- <filename>default.action</filename>, <filename>intermediate.action</filename> and
- <filename>advanced.action</filename>.
+ Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are OK and are in fact recommended!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
+ purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the
+ <quote>main</quote> actions file maintained by the developers, and
+ <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can make your personal additions.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without an actions file.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>filterfile</title>
-
+<sect4 id="filterfile"><title>filterfile</title>
+<anchor id="default.filter">
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The filter file to use
+ The <link linkend="filter">filter</link> file to use
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all
<literal>+filter{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
- actions in the actions file are turned off
+ actions in the actions files are turned off
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>logfile</title>
+<sect4 id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>jarfile</title>
+<sect4 id="jarfile"><title>jarfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>trustfile</title>
+<sect4 id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect3 id="local-set-up">
<title>Local Set-up Documentation</title>
<para>
you, what you block and why you do that, your policies etc.
</para>
-<sect4><title>trust-info-url</title>
+<sect4 id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>admin-address</title>
+<sect4 id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>proxy-info-url</title>
+<sect4 id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect3 id="debugging">
<title>Debugging</title>
<para>
command line option when debugging.
</para>
-<sect4><title>debug</title>
+<sect4 id="debug"><title>debug</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
- </programlisting>
+</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>single-threaded</title>
+<sect4 id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect3 id="access-control">
<title>Access Control and Security</title>
<para>
of <application>Privoxy</application>'s configuration.
</para>
-<sect4><title>listen-address</title>
+<sect4 id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<para>
If you leave out the IP address, <application>Privoxy</application> will
bind to all interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable
- from the Internet. In that case, consider using access control lists (acl's)
+ from the Internet. In that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's)
(see <quote>ACLs</quote> below), or a firewall.
</para>
</listitem>
<para>
<programlisting>
listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
- </programlisting>
+</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>toggle</title>
+<sect4 id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
+<sect4 id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
+<sect4 id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">web-based actions
+ Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions
file editor</ulink> may be used
</para>
</listitem>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
+<sect4 id="acls"><title>
+ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
+<anchor id="permit-acces">
+<anchor id="deny-acces">
+
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<para>
<screen>
permit-access localhost
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
<para>
<screen>
permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
<screen>
permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>buffer-limit</title>
+<sect4 id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols.
</para>
-<sect4><title>forward</title>
+<sect4 id="forward"><title>forward</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</para>
<para>
Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
- chapter on domain matching in the actions file),
+ chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is the address of the parent HTTP proxy
as an IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or as a valid DNS name (or <quote>.</quote> to denote
<quote>no forwarding</quote>, and the optional
<screen>
forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
forward :443 .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests
<screen>
forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
forward .example-isp.net .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
+<sect4 id="socks"><title>
+forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
+<anchor id="forward-socks4">
+<anchor id="forward-socks4a">
+
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</para>
<para>
Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
- chapter on domain matching in the actions file),
+ chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> and <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>
are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid DNS names (<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>
may be <quote>.</quote> to denote <quote>no HTTP forwarding</quote>), and the optional
<screen>
forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
forward .example.com .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent looks like this:
<para>
<screen>
forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</sect4>
-<sect4><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
+<sect4 id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
<para>
If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content
<screen>
forward .*. .
forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<screen>
forward .*. .
forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
always_direct allow ftp
# Forward all the rest to Privoxy
- never_direct allow all
- </screen>
+ never_direct allow all</screen>
</para>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect3 id="windows-gui">
<title>Windows GUI Options</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> has a number of options specific to the
Windows GUI interface:
</para>
+<anchor id="activity-animation">
<para>
If <quote>activity-animation</quote> is set to 1, the
<application>Privoxy</application> icon will animate when
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-messages">
<para>
If <quote>log-messages</quote> is set to 1,
<application>Privoxy</application> will log messages to the console
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-buffer-size">
<para>
If <quote>log-buffer-size</quote> is set to 1, the size of the log buffer,
i.e. the amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in the
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-max-lines">
<para>
<application>log-max-lines</application> is the maximum number of lines held
in the log buffer. See above.
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-highlight-messages">
<para>
If <quote>log-highlight-messages</quote> is set to 1,
<application>Privoxy</application> will highlight portions of the log
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-font-name">
<para>
The font used in the console window:
</para>
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-font-size">
<para>
Font size used in the console window:
</para>
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="show-on-task-bar">
<para>
<quote>show-on-task-bar</quote> controls whether or not
<application>Privoxy</application> will appear as a button on the Task bar
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="close-button-minimizes">
<para>
If <quote>close-button-minimizes</quote> is set to 1, the Windows close
button will minimize <application>Privoxy</application> instead of closing
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="hide-console">
<para>
The <quote>hide-console</quote> option is specific to the MS-Win console
version of <application>Privoxy</application>. If this option is used,
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="actionsfile">
-<title>The Actions File</title>
-
-<para>
- The actions file (<filename>default.action</filename>, formerly:
- <filename>actionsfile</filename> or <filename>ijb.action</filename>) is used
- to define what actions <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which
- URLs, and thus determines how ad images, cookies and various other aspects
- of HTTP content and transactions are handled on which sites (or even parts
- thereof).
-</para>
+<sect2 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
+
+<para>
+ The actions files are used to define what actions
+ <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
+ how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
+ transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
+ are three such files included with <application>Privoxy</application>,
+ with slightly different purposes. <filename>default.action</filename> sets
+ the default policies. <filename>standard.action</filename> is used by
+ <application>Privoxy</application> and the web based editor to set
+ pre-defined values (and normally should not be edited). Local exceptions
+ are best done in <filename>user.action</filename>. The content of these
+ can all be viewed and edited from <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
+ </para>
<para>
- Anything you want can blocked, including ads, banners, or just some obnoxious
- URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted or rejected, or
+ Anything you want can be blocked, including ads, banners, or just some obnoxious
+ URL that you would rather not see is done here. Cookies can be accepted or rejected, or
accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written to disk),
content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking fooled, and much more.
See below for a complete list of available actions.
</para>
<para>
- An actions file typically has sections. At the top, <quote>aliases</quote> are
- defined (discussed below), then the default set of rules which will apply
- universally to all sites and pages. And then below that is generally a lengthy
- set of exceptions to the defined universal policies.
+ An actions file typically has sections. Near the top, <quote>aliases</quote> are
+ optionally defined (discussed <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#ALIASES">below</ulink>), then the default set of rules
+ which will apply universally to all sites and pages. And then below that,
+ exceptions to the defined universal policies.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect3>
<title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
<para>
- Note that some actions like cookie suppression or script disabling may
- render some sites unusable, which rely on these techniques to work properly.
- Finding the right mix of actions is not easy and certainly a matter of personal
- taste. In general, it can be said that the more <quote>aggressive</quote>
- your default settings (in the top section of the actions file) are,
- the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you will have to
- make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per default, you'll
- have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you regularly use
- and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe your bank,
- favorite shop, or newspaper.
+ Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link> like cookie suppression
+ or script disabling may render some sites unusable, which rely on these
+ techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not easy and
+ certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
+ <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
+ actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
+ will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
+ default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
+ regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
+ your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
</para>
<para>
We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
- distribution actions file. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
+ distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
- Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter).
+ Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>How to Edit</title>
<para>
- The easiest way to edit the <quote>actions</quote> file is with a browser by
- using our browser-based editor, which
is available at <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions</ulink>.
+ The easiest way to edit the <quote>actions</quote> files is with a browser by
+ using our browser-based editor, which
can be reached from <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
- <filename>default.action</filename> file.
+ the actions files.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3>
<title>How Actions are Applied to URLs</title>
<para>
- The actions file is divided into sections. There are special sections,
- like the alias sections which will be discussed later. For now let's
- concentrate on regular sections: They have a heading line (often split
+ Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
+ like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will be discussed later. For now
+ let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a heading line (often split
up to multiple lines for readability) which consist of a list of actions,
separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces. Below that, there
is a list of URL patterns, each on a separate line.
compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the list of
applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
- the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins.
+ the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
+ the effects are aggregated (e.g. a URL might match both the
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
+ and <ulink url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> actions).
+
</para>
<para>
<para>
Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
- i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote>.
+ i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
+ for the beginning of a line).
</para>
<para>
<sect3 id="actions">
<title>Actions</title>
<para>
- Actions are enabled if preceded with a <quote>+</quote>, and disabled if
- preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. Actions are invoked by enclosing the
- action name in curly braces (e.g. {+some_action}), followed by a list of
- URLs (or patterns that match URLs) to which the action applies. There are
- three classes of actions:
+ All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
+ somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
+ <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
+ <quote>+action</quote> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
+ <quote>+block</quote> means please <quote>block the following URL
+ patterns</quote>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly braces (e.g.
+ {+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs (or patterns that match URLs) to
+ which the action applies. There are three classes of actions:
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
<!-- oes, or someone, check this. Re-worded 04/20/02 HB. -->
- Multi-value, e.g. <quote>{+/-add-header{Name: value}}</quote> ot
- <quote>{+/-wafer{name=value}}</quote>), where some value needs to be defined
- in addition to simply enabling the actino. Examples:
+ Multi-value, e.g. <quote>{+/-add-header{Name: value}}</quote> or
+ <quote>{+/-send-wafer{name=value}}</quote>), where some value needs to be defined
+ in addition to simply enabling the action. Examples:
</para>
<para>
<literal>
</para>
<para>
- If nothing is specified in this file, no <quote>actions</quote> are taken.
- So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
- normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically
- enable the privacy and blocking features you need (although the
- provided default <filename>default.action</filename> file will
- give a good starting point).
+ If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
+ taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
+ normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
+ privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
+ files will give a good starting point).
</para>
<para>
Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
- to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file. For
- multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are
- specified.
+ to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
+ in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
+ multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
+ Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
+ <filename>config</filename> (the default installation has three actions
+ files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
+ one action!
</para>
<!-- start actions listing -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect4 id="add-header">
-<title><emphasis>+add-header{Name: value}</emphasis></title>
+<title><emphasis>+add-header</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
<emphasis>{+block}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>.banners.example.com</emphasis>
<emphasis>.ads.r.us</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> will display its
- special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page if a URL matches one of the
- blocked patterns. If there is sufficient space, a large red
- banner will appear with a friendly message about why the page
- was blocked, and a way to go there anyway. If there is insufficient
- space a smaller blocked page will appear without the red banner.
- One exception is if the URL matches both <quote>+block</quote>
- and <quote>+image</quote>, then it can be handled by
- <quote>+image-blocker</quote> (see below).
+ If a URL matches one of the blocked patterns, <application>Privoxy</application>
+ will intercept the URL and display its special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
+ instead. If there is sufficient space, a large red banner will appear with
+ a friendly message about why the page was blocked, and a way to go there
+ anyway. If there is insufficient space a smaller <quote>BLOCKED</quote>
+ page will appear without the red banner.
+ <ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html">Click here</ulink>
+ to view the default blocked HTML page (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running
+ for this to work as intended!).
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ A very important exception is if the URL <emphasis>matches both</emphasis>
+ <quote>+block</quote> and <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>,
+ then it will be handled by
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
+ (see below). It is important to understand this process, in order
+ to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> is able to deal with
+ ads and other objectionable content.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
+ action can also perform some of the
+ same functionality as <quote>+block</quote>, but by virtue of very
+ different programming techniques, and is most often used for different
+ reasons.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</sect4>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="downgrade">
-<title><emphasis>+downgrade</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="downgrade-http-version">
+<title><emphasis>+downgrade-http-version</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical uses:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <quote>+downgrade</quote> will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to
+ <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to
HTTP/1.0 and downgrade the responses as well.
</para>
</listitem>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+downgrade}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+downgrade-http-version}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
Use this action for servers that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that
<application>Privoxy</application> doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1 is
only partially implemented. Default is not to downgrade requests. This is
- an infrequently needed action, and is used to help with problem sites only.
+ an infrequently needed action, and is used to help with rare problem sites only.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
The <quote>+fast-redirects</quote> action enables interception of
<quote>redirect</quote> requests from one server to another, which
are used to track users.<application>Privoxy</application> can cut off
- all but the last valid URL in redirect request and send a local redirect
+ all but the last valid URL in a redirect request and send a local redirect
back to your browser without contacting the intermediate site(s).
</para>
</listitem>
the advertisers.
</para>
<para>
- This is a normally on feature, and often requires exceptions for sites that
- are sensitive to defeating this mechanism.
+ This is a normally <quote>on</quote> feature, and often requires exceptions
+ for sites that are sensitive to defeating this mechanism.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
Apply page filtering as defined by named sections of the
<filename>default.filter</filename> file to the specified site(s).
<quote>Filtering</quote> can be any modification of the raw
- page content, including re-writing or deletion.
+ page content, including re-writing or deletion of content.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
This is potentially a very powerful feature! And requires a knowledge
of regular expressions if you want to <quote>roll your own</quote>.
+ Filtering operates on a line by line basis throughout the entire page.
</para>
<para>
Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
noticeable on slower connections.
</para>
+ <para>
+ Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
+ action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. In the overall
+ scheme of things, filtering is one of the first things <quote>Privoxy</quote>
+ does with a web page. So other most other actions are applied to the
+ already <quote>filtered</quote> page.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-forwarded">
-<title><emphasis>+hide-forwarded</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
+<title><emphasis>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-forwarded}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+hide-forwarded-for-headers}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-from">
-<title><emphasis>+hide-from</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="hide-from-header">
+<title><emphasis>+hide-from-header</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-from{block}}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+hide-from-header{block}}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header.
+ The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
+ (not to be confused with the <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> action).
Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to send to the web
server.
</para>
<sect4 id="hide-referer">
<title><emphasis>+hide-referer</emphasis></title>
<anchor id="hide-referrer">
-
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
</sect4>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="image">
-<title><emphasis>+image</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="handle-as-image">
+<title><emphasis>+handle-as-image</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
To define what <application>Privoxy</application> should treat
- automatically as an image.
+ automatically as an image, and is an important ingredient of how
+ ads are handled.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+image}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+handle-as-image}</emphasis>
<emphasis>/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
This only has meaning if the URL (or pattern) also is
- <quote>+block</quote>ed, in which case a <quote>blocked</quote> image can
- be sent rather than a HTML page. (See <quote>+image-blocker{}</quote> below
- for the control over what is actually sent.)
+ <quote>+block</quote>ed, in which case a user definable image can
+ be sent rather than a HTML page. This is integral to the whole concept of
+ ad blocking: the URL must match <emphasis>both</emphasis> a <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> rule,
+ <emphasis>and</emphasis> <quote>+handle-as-image</quote>.
+ (See <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
+ below for control over what will actually be displayed by the browser.)
</para>
<para>
- There is little reason to change the default definition for this.
+ There is little reason to change the default definition for this action.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="image-blocker">
-<title><emphasis>+image-blocker</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="set-image-blocker">
+<title><emphasis>+set-image-blocker</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical uses:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Decide what to do with URLs that end up tagged with both <quote>{+block}</quote>
- and <quote>{+image}</quote>, e.g an advertisement.
+ Decide what to do with URLs that end up tagged with <emphasis>both</emphasis>
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
+ and <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>,
+ e.g an advertisement.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Possible values:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- There are four available options: <quote>-image-blocker</quote> will send a HTML
+ There are four available options: <quote>-set-image-blocker</quote> will send a HTML
<quote>blocked</quote> page, usually resulting in a <quote>broken
- image</quote> icon. <quote>+image-blocker{blank}</quote> will send a 1x1
- transparent GIF image. <quote>+image-blocker{pattern}</quote> will send a
+ image</quote> icon.
+ <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>blank</emphasis>}</quote> will send a
+ 1x1 transparent GIF image.
+ <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>pattern</emphasis>}</quote> will send a
checkerboard type pattern (the default). And finally,
- <quote>+image-blocker{http://xyz.com}</quote> will send a HTTP temporary
- redirect to the specified image. This has the advantage of the icon being
- being cached by the browser, which will speed up the display.
+ <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>http://xyz.com</emphasis>}</quote> will
+ send a HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the
+ advantage of the icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed
+ up the display.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+image-blocker{blank}}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+set-image-blocker{blank}}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If you want <emphasis>invisible</emphasis> ads, they need to be both
- defined as <emphasis>images</emphasis> and <emphasis>blocked</emphasis>.
- And then, <quote>image-blocker</quote> should be set to
+ If you want <emphasis>invisible</emphasis> ads, they need to meet
+ criteria as matching both <emphasis>images</emphasis> and <emphasis>blocked</emphasis>
+ actions. And then, <quote>image-blocker</quote> should be set to
<quote>blank</quote> for invisibility. Note you cannot treat HTML pages as
- images in most cases. For instance, frames require an HTML page to display.
- So a frame that is an ad, cannot be treated as an image. Forcing an
- <quote>image</quote> in this situation just will not work.
+ images in most cases. For instance, frames require an HTML page to
+ display. So a frame that is an ad, typically cannot be treated as an image.
+ Forcing an <quote>image</quote> in this situation just will not work
+ reliably.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
<!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
+ <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{443}</emphasis> # This is the default and need not be specified.
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{80,443}</emphasis> # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-}</emphasis> # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
+ <emphasis>+limit-connect{443}</emphasis> # This is the default and need not be specified.
+ <emphasis>+limit-connect{80,443}</emphasis> # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
+ <emphasis>+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-}</emphasis> # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
</literallayout>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</sect4>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="no-compression">
-<title><emphasis>+no-compression</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="prevent-compression">
+<title><emphasis>+prevent-compression</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+no-compression}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+prevent-compression}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Some websites do this, which can be a problem for
- <application>Privoxy</application>, since <quote>+filter</quote>,
- <quote>+no-popup</quote> and <quote>+gif-deanimate</quote> will not work
- on compressed data. This will slow down connections to those websites,
- though. Default typically is to turn <quote>no-compression</quote> on.
+ <application>Privoxy</application>, since
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>,
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>
+ and <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#GIF-DEANIMATE"><quote>+gif-deanimate</quote></ulink>
+ will not work on compressed data. This will slow down connections to those
+ websites, though. Default typically is to turn
+ <quote>prevent-compression</quote> on.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</sect4>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="no-cookies-keep">
-<title><emphasis>+no-cookies-keep</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="session-cookies-only">
+<title><emphasis>+session-cookies-only</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical uses:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Allow cookies for the current browser session only.
+ Allow cookies for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (disabling):</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+no-cookies-keep}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{-session-cookies-only}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If websites set cookies, <quote>no-cookies-keep</quote> will make sure
+ If websites set cookies, <quote>+session-cookies-only</quote> will make sure
they are erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes
profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
- sites. Sometimes referred to as <quote>session cookies</quote>.
+ sites, and is the recommended setting.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <quote>+prevent-*-cookies</quote> actions should be turned off as well (see
+ below), for <quote>+session-cookies-only</quote> to work. Or, else no cookies
+ will get through at all. For, <quote>persistent</quote> cookies that survive
+ across browser sessions, see below as well.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="no-cookies-read">
-<title><emphasis>+no-cookies-read</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="prevent-reading-cookies">
+<title><emphasis>+prevent-reading-cookies</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+no-cookies-read}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+prevent-reading-cookies}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Often used in conjunction with <quote>+no-cookies-set</quote> to
- disable persistant cookies completely.
+ Often used in conjunction with <quote>+prevent-setting-cookies</quote> to
+ disable cookies completely. Note that
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>
+ requires these to both be disabled (or else it never gets any cookies to cache).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ For <quote>persistent</quote> cookies to work (i.e. they survive across browser
+ sessions and reboots), all three cookie settings should be <quote>off</quote>
+ for the specified sites.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="no-cookies-set">
-<title><emphasis>+no-cookies-set</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="prevent-setting-cookies">
+<title><emphasis>+prevent-setting-cookies</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical uses:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Explicitly block the web server from sending cookies to your
+ Explicitly block the web server from storing cookies on your
system.
</para>
</listitem>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+no-cookies-set}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+prevent-setting-cookies}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Often used in conjunction with <quote>+no-cookies-read</quote> to
- disable persistant cookies completely.
+ Often used in conjunction with <quote>+prevent-reading-cookies</quote> to
+ disable cookies completely (see above).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</sect4>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="no-popup">
-<title><emphasis>+no-popup</emphasis></title>
-<anchor id="no-popups">
-
+<!-- ~~~~~ Nvarlistentryew section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect4 id="kill-popup">
+<title><emphasis>+kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popups"></emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+no-popup}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+kill-popups}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <quote>+no-popup</quote> uses a built in filter to disable pop-ups
- that use the <literal>window.open()</literal> function, etc.
- </para>
+ <quote>+kill-popups</quote> uses a built in filter to disable pop-ups
+ that use the <literal>window.open()</literal> function, etc. This is
+ one of the first actions processed by <application>Privoxy</application>
+ as it contacts the remote web server. This action is not always 100% reliable,
+ and is supplemented by <quote>+filter{<emphasis>popups</emphasis>}</quote>.
+ </para>
+ <!--
<para>
- An alternate spelling is <quote>+no-popups</quote>, which is
+ An alternate spelling is <quote>+kill-popup</quote>, which is
interchangeable.
</para>
+ -->
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="vanilla-wafer">
-<title><emphasis>+vanilla-wafer</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="send-vanilla-wafer">
+<title><emphasis>+send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+vanilla-wafer}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+send-vanilla-wafer}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
<para>
This action only applies if you are using a <filename>jarfile</filename>
for saving cookies. Of course, this is a (relatively) unique header and
- could be used to track you.
+ could conceivably be used to track you.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="wafer">
-<title><emphasis>+wafer</emphasis></title>
+<sect4 id="send-wafer">
+<title><emphasis>+send-wafer</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+wafer{name=value}}</emphasis>
+ <emphasis>{+send-wafer{name=value}}</emphasis>
<emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</listitem>
the action with a <quote>-</quote>, in place of the <quote>+</quote>. Also,
that some actions are turned on in the default section of the actions file,
and require little to no additional configuration. These are just <quote>on</quote>.
- Some actions that are turned on the default section do typically require
- exceptions to be listed in the lower sections of actions file.
+ But, other actions that are turned on the default section <emphasis>do
+ typically require</emphasis> exceptions to be listed in the latter sections of
+ one of our actions file. For instance, by default no URLs are
+ <quote>blocked</quote> (i.e. in the default definitions of
+ <filename>default.action</filename>). We need exceptions to this in order to
+ enable ad blocking in the lower sections. But we need to be very selective
+ about what we do block.
</para>
+<para>
+ Below is a liberally commented <filename>default.action</filename> file to
+ demonstrate how all the pieces come together. And to show how exceptions to
+ the default policies can be handled. This is followed by a
+ <filename>user.action</filename> with similar examples.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <literal>
+ <msgtext>
+ <literallayout>
+
+# Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
+{{settings}}
+for-privoxy-version=3.0
+
+
+##########################################################################
+# <ulink url="configuration.html#ALIASES">Aliases</ulink> must be defined *before* they are used. These are
+# easier to remember, and combine several actions into one. Once defined
+# they can be used just like any built-in action.
+##########################################################################
+
+# Some useful aliases.
+ -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies
+ +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
+
+# Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
+ fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
+ -prevent-cookies -kill-popups
+
+# Shops should be allowed to set persistent cookies
+ shop = -filter -prevent-cookies -session-cookies-only
+
+
+##########################################################################
+# Begin default action settings. Anything in this section will match
+# all URLs -- UNLESS we have exceptions that match defined below this
+# section. We will show all potential actions here whether they are on
+# or off. We could omit any disabled action if we wanted, since all
+# actions are 'off' by default anyway. Shown for completeness only.
+# Actions are enabled if preceded by a '+', otherwise they are disabled.
+##########################################################################
+ { \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#ADD-HEADER">-add-header</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">-deanimate-gifs</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">-downgrade-http-version</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FAST-REDIRECTS">+fast-redirects</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">+filter{html-annoyances}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">+filter{js-annoyances}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">-filter{content-cookies}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">-filter{popups}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">+filter{webbugs}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">-filter{refresh-tags}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">-filter{fun}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">+filter{nimda}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">+filter{banners-by-size}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">-filter{shockwave-flash}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER">-filter{crude-prental}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">+hide-forwarded-for-headers</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#HIDE-FROM-HEADER">+hide-from-header{block}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#HIDE-REFERER">-hide-referrer</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT">-hide-user-agent</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">-handle-as-image</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">+set-image-blocker{pattern}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#LIMIT-CONNECT">-limit-connect</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION">+prevent-compression</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">-session-cookies-only</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#PREVENT-READING-COOKIES">-prevent-reading-cookies</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#PREVENT-SETTING-COOKIES">-prevent-setting-cookies</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#KILL-POPUPS">-kill-popups</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">-send-vanilla-wafer</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#SEND-WAFER">-send-wafer</ulink> \
+ }
+ / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.
+
+##########################################################################
+# Default behavior is now set. Time for some exceptions to our
+# default actions.
+##########################################################################
+
+# These sites are very complex and require very minimal interference.
+# We'll disable most actions with our 'fragile' alias.
+ {fragile}
+ .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
+ .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+
+
+# Shopping sites - not as fragile but require some special
+# handling. We still want to block ads, and we will allow
+# persistant cookies via the 'shop' alias.
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .jungle.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+
+
+# These sites require pop-ups too :( We'll combine our 'shop'
+# alias with two other actions into one rule to allow all popups.
+ {shop -no-popups -filter{popups}}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk
+
+
+# The 'Fast-redirects' action breaks some sites. Disable this action
+# for these known sensitive sites.
+ {-fast-redirects}
+ www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
+ login.yahoo.com
+ edit.europe.yahoo.com
+ .google.com
+ .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
+ .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
+ .nytimes.com
+
+
+# Define which file types will be treated as images. Important
+# for ad blocking.
+ {+handle-as-image}
+ /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)
+
+
+# Now lets list some domains that are known ad generators. And
+# our alias here will block these as well as force them to be
+# treated as images. This combination of actions is important
+# for ad blocking. What the browser will show instead is
+# determined by the setting of <ulink url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
+ {+imageblock}
+ ar.atwola.com
+ .ad.doubleclick.net
+ .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+ .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+ bs*.gsanet.com
+ bs*.einets.com
+ .qkimg.net
+ ad.*.doubleclick.net
+
+
+# These will just simply be blocked. They will generate the BLOCKED
+# banner page, if matched. Heavy use of wildcards and regular
+# expressions in this example.
+ {+block}
+ ad*.
+ .*ads.
+ banner?.
+ count*.
+ /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
+ /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
+ .hitbox.com
+
+
+# The above block section will catch some sites we DO NOT want
+# blocked via the wildcards and regular expressions. Now let's set
+# exceptions to the exceptions so the good guys get better treatment.
+ {-block}
+ advogato.org
+ adsl.
+ ad[ud]*.
+ advice.
+# Let's just trust all .edu top level domains.
+ .edu
+ www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv
+# We'll need to access to path names containing 'download'
+ .*downloads.
+ /downloads/
+# 'adv' is for globalintersec and means advanced, not advertisement
+ www.globalintersec.com/adv
+
+
+# Don't filter *anything* from our friends at sourceforge.
+# Notice we don't have to name the individual filter
+# identifiers -- we just turn them all off in one fell swoop.
+ {-filter}
+ .sourceforge.net
+
+ </literallayout>
+ </msgtext>
+ </literal>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies.
+ The above would be a reasonable starting point for many situations. Now,
+ we want to be more specific and have customized rules that are more suitable
+ to our personal habits and preferences. These should be placed in
+ <filename>user.action</filename>, which is parsed after all other
+ actions files. So any settings here, will have the last word.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Now an example of a few things that one might do with a <filename>user.action</filename>
+ file. This is where user preferences are defined.
+</para>
+
+<!-- brief sample user.action here -->
+
+
+<!-- This is the old stuff. Left in temporarily for reference -->
+<!-- To be deleted when above is finished -->
<para>
Some examples:
</para>
<para>
- Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified sites:
+ Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified sites
+ (showing an excerpt from the <quote>default</quote> section of an actions
+ file ONLY):
</para>
<para>
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- # Turn off all persistent cookies
- { +no-cookies-read }
- { +no-cookies-set }
-
- # Allow cookies for this browser session ONLY
- { +no-cookies-keep }
+ # Excerpt only:
+ # Allow cookies to and from the server, but
+ # for this browser session ONLY
+ {
+ # other actions normally listed here...
+ -prevent-setting-cookies \
+ -prevent-reading-cookies \
+ +session-cookies-only \
+ }
+ / # match all URLs
# Exceptions to the above, sites that benefit from persistent cookies
- # that saved from one browser session to the next.
- { -no-cookies-read }
- { -no-cookies-set }
- { -no-cookies-keep }
- .javasoft.com
- .sun.com
- .yahoo.com
- .msdn.microsoft.com
- .redhat.com
-
- # Alternative way of saying the same thing
- {-no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-keep}
- .sourceforge.net
- .sf.net
+ # that are saved from one browser session to the next.
+ { -session-cookies-only }
+ .javasoft.com
+ .sun.com
+ .yahoo.com
+ .msdn.microsoft.com
+ .redhat.com
+
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- # Turn them off!
- {+fast-redirects}
+ # Turn them off (excerpt only)!
+ {
+ # other actions normally listed here...
+ +fast-redirects
+ }
+ / # match all URLs
# Reverse it for these two sites, which don't work right without it.
{-fast-redirects}
- www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
- login.yahoo.com
+ www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
+ login.yahoo.com
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- # Run everything through the filter file, using only the
+ # Run everything through the filter file, using only certain
# specified sections:
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}\
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ {
+ # other actions normally listed here...
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}\
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ }
+ / #match all URLs
- # Then disable filtering of code from sourceforge!
+ # Then disable filtering of code from all sourceforge domains!
{-filter}
- .cvs.sourceforge.net
+ .sourceforge.net
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
<para>
Now some URLs that we want <quote>blocked</quote> (normally generates
- the <quote>blocked</quote> banner). Many of these use
- <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> that will expand to match
- multiple URLs: </para>
+ the <quote>blocked</quote> banner). Typically, the <quote>block</quote>
+ action is off by default in the upper section of an actions file, then enabled
+ against certain URLs and patterns in the lower part of the file. Many of these use <link
+ linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> that will expand to match multiple
+ URLs: </para>
<para>
<literal>
<literallayout>
# Blocklist:
{+block}
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?ads?[0-9]?(/|[-_.].*|\.(gif|jpe?g))
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?count(er)?(\.cgi|\.dll|\.exe|[?/])
+ ad*.
+ .*ads.
+ banner?.
+ count*.
+ /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
+ /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
+ .hitbox.com
/.*/(ng)?adclient\.cgi
/.*/(plain|live|rotate)[-_.]?ads?/
- /.*/(sponsor)s?[0-9]?/
- /.*/_?(plain|live)?ads?(-banners)?/
/.*/abanners/
- /.*/ad(sdna_image|gifs?)/
- /.*/ad(server|stream|juggler)\.(cgi|pl|dll|exe)
- /.*/adbanners/
- /.*/adserver
- /.*/adstream\.cgi
- /.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/
- /.*/banner_?ads/
- /.*/banners?/
- /.*/banners?\.cgi/
- /.*/cgi-bin/centralad/getimage
- /.*/images/addver\.gif
- /.*/images/marketing/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /.*/popupads/
- /.*/siteads/
- /.*/sponsor.*\.gif
- /.*/sponsors?[0-9]?/
- /.*/advert[0-9]+\.jpg
- /Media/Images/Adds/
- /ad_images/
- /adimages/
- /.*/ads/
- /bannerfarm/
- /grafikk/annonse/
- /graphics/defaultAd/
- /image\.ng/AdType
- /image\.ng/transactionID
- /images/.*/.*_anim\.gif # alvin brattli
- /ip_img/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /rotateads/
- /rotations/
- /worldnet/ad\.cgi
- /cgi-bin/nph-adclick.exe/
- /.*/Image/BannerAdvertising/
- /.*/ad-bin/
- /.*/adlib/server\.cgi
/autoads/
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
- content he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules
- for all sites. See the <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link>
- for a brief example on troubleshooting actions.
+ content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
+ and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
+ linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
+ actions.
</para>
</sect4>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect3 id="aliases">
<title>Aliases</title>
<para>
Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
<quote>{</quote> or <quote>}</quote>. But please use only <quote>a</quote>-
<quote>z</quote>, <quote>0</quote>-<quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and
<quote>-</quote>. Alias names are not case sensitive, and
- <emphasis>must be defined before anything</emphasis> else in the
- <filename>default.action</filename>file! And there can only be one set of
- <quote>aliases</quote> defined.
+ <emphasis>must be defined before other actions</emphasis> in the
+ actions file! And there can only be one set of <quote>aliases</quote>
+ defined per file. Each actions file may have its own aliases, but they are
+ only visible within that file.
</para>
<para>
<literallayout>
# Useful custom aliases we can use later. These must come first!
{{alias}}
- +no-cookies = +no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- -no-cookies = -no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
- fragile = -block -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -no-popups
- shop = -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
- +imageblock = +block +image
-
- #For people who don't like to type too much: ;-)
- c0 = +no-cookies
- c1 = -no-cookies
- c2 = -no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- c3 = +no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
+ +prevent-cookies = +prevent-setting-cookies +prevent-reading-cookies
+ -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies
+ fragile = -block -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
+ shop = -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
+ +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
+
+ # Aliases defined from other aliases, for people who don't like to type
+ # too much: ;-)
+ c0 = +prevent-cookies
+ c1 = -prevent-cookies
#... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
<para>
Some examples using our <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote>
- aliases from above:
+ aliases from above. These would appear in the lower sections of an
+ actions file as exceptions to the default actions (as defined in the
+ upper section):
</para>
<para>
# These sites are very complex and require
# minimal interference.
{fragile}
- .office.microsoft.com
- .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- .nytimes.com
+ .office.microsoft.com
+ .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+ .nytimes.com
# Shopping sites - but we still want to block ads.
{shop}
- .quietpc.com
- .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
- .jungle.com
- .scan.co.uk
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .scan.co.uk
# These shops require pop-ups also
- {shop -no-popups}
- .dabs.com
- .overclockers.co.uk
+ {shop -kill-popups}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="filterfile">
+<sect2 id="filter-file">
<title>The Filter File</title>
<para>
Any web page can be dynamically modified with the filter file. This
</literal>
</para>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3>
+<title>The +filter Action</title>
+<para>
+ Filters are enabled with the <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink> action from within
+ one of the actions files. <quote>+filter</quote> requires one parameter, which
+ should match one of the section identifiers in the filter file itself. Example:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ +filter{html-annoyances}
+ </screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ This would activate that particular filter. Similarly, <quote>+filter</quote>
+ can be turned off for selected sites as:
+ <quote>-filter{html-annoyances}</quote>. Remember, all actions are off by
+ default, unless they are explicity enabled in one of the actions files.
+</para>
+
+</sect3>
+
</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
&contacting;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="submitactions">
-<title>Submitting Ads and <quote>Action</quote> Problems</title>
-<para>
- Ads and banners that are not stopped by <application>Privoxy</application>
- can be submitted to the developers by accessing a special page and filling
- out the brief, required form. Conversely, you can also report pages, images,
- etc. that <application>Privoxy</application> is blocking, but should not.
- The form itself does require Internet access.
-</para>
-<para>
- To do this, point your browser to <application>Privoxy</application>
- at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
- (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>), and then select
- <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Actions file feedback system</ulink>,
- near the bottom of the page. Paste in the URL that is the cause of the
- unwanted behavior, and follow the prompts. The developers will
- try to incorporate a fix for the problem you reported into future versions.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- New <filename>default.actions</filename> files will occasionally be made
- available based on your feedback. These
- will be announced on the
- <ulink
- url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce">ijbswa-announce</ulink>
- list.
-</para>
-</sect2>
-
</sect1>
special characters (e.g. <quote>.</quote>) needs to be taken literally and
not as a special meta-character. Example: <quote>example\.com</quote>, makes
sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded to its
- metacharacter meaning of any single character).
+ meta-character meaning of any single character).
</member>
</simplelist></para>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show information about the current configuration:
+ Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
+ editing of actions files:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show the client's request headers:
+ Show the browser's request headers:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
</para>
</blockquote>
</listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Edit the actions list file:
- </para>
- <blockquote>
- <para>
- <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions</ulink>
- </para>
- </blockquote>
- </listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink 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());">Enable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ 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>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink 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());">Disable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ 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>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink 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());">Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
+ <ulink
+ 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)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink 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());">View Privoxy Status</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ 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>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Actions file feedback system</ulink>
+ <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="chain">
+<title>Chain of Events</title>
+<para>
+ Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
+ requested by your browser and <application>Privoxy</application> is on duty:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
+ the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, which will in turn,
+ relay the request to the remote web server after passing the following
+ tests:
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
+ pages (e.g http://p.p/) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
+ matches any <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> patterns. If
+ so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
+ is then checked and if it does not match, an
+ HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match,
+ an image is returned. The type of image depends on the setting of <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
+ (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the
+ <filename>trust</filename> file, then that is done.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If the URL pattern matches the <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></ulink> action,
+ it is then processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
+ of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></ulink>,
+ etc.), headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and
+ their parameters.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web page and related
+ data).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
+ things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
+ filtered as deterimed by the
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#PREVENT-SETTING-COOKIES"><quote>+prevent-setting-cookies</quote></ulink>,
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>,
+ and <ulink url="configuration.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></ulink>
+ actions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If the <ulink url="configuration.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>
+ action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript document, the popup-code in the
+ response is filtered on-the-fly as it is received.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If a <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
+ or <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></ulink>
+ action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
+ read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
+ <filename>default.filter</filename>) are processed against the buffered
+ content. Filters are applied in the order they are specified in the
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> file. Animated GIFs, if present, are
+ reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
+ setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
+ <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If neither <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
+ or <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></ulink>
+ matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
+ to the client browser as it becomes available.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it
+ reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
+ source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
+ frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a new
+ request. And each such request is in turn processed as above. Note that a
+ complex web page may have many such embedded URLs.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="actionsanat">
<title>Anatomy of an Action</title>
<para>
- The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies <quote>actions</quote>
- and <quote>filters</quote> to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
+ The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></ulink>
+ and <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>filters</quote></ulink>
+ to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need to be able to
<emphasis>see</emphasis> just what <application>Privoxy</application> is
doing. Especially, if something <application>Privoxy</application> is doing
One quick test to see if <application>Privoxy</application> is causing a problem
or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
- and easy way to do this.
+ and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!).
</para>
<para>
First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then
<application>Privoxy</application> will tell us
how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
- help with filtering effects from the <filename>default.filter</filename> file! It
- also will not tell you about any other URLs that may be embedded within the
- URL you are testing (i.e. a web page). For instance, images such as ads are expressed as URLs
- within the raw page source of HTML pages. So you will only get info for the
- actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area -- not any sub-URLs. If you
- want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you will have to dig those out of
- the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View Page Source</quote> option
- for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the URL.
+ help with filtering effects (i.e. the <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink> action) from
+ the <filename>default.filter</filename> file since this is handled very
+ differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
+ URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
+ such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
+ you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
+ -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
+ will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
+ Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
+ URL.
</para>
<para>
- Let's
look at an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
- one section at a time:
+ Let's
try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
+ and look at it one section at a time:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- System default actions:
-
- { -add-header -block -deanimate-gifs -downgrade -fast-redirects -filter
- -hide-forwarded -hide-from -hide-referer -hide-user-agent -image
- -image-blocker -limit-connect -no-compression -no-cookies-keep
- -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set -no-popups -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
-
- </screen>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- This is the top section, and only tells us of the compiled in defaults. This
- is basically what <application>Privoxy</application> would do if there
- were not any <quote>actions</quote> defined, i.e. it does nothing. Every action
- is disabled. This is not particularly informative for our purposes here. OK,
- next section:
-</para>
+ Matches for http://google.com:
-<para>
- <screen>
+--- File standard ---
+(no matches in this file)
- Matches for http://google.com:
+--- File default ---
- { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade +fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} +no-compression
- +no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups
- -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
- /
+{ -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
+ -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
+ -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
+/
- { -no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set }
- .google.com
+ { -session-cookies-only }
+ .google.com
{ -fast-redirects }
- .google.com
+ .google.com
- </screen>
+--- File user ---
+(no matches in this file)
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
- This is much more informative, and tells us how we have defined our
- <quote>actions</quote>, and which ones match for our example,
- <quote>google.com</quote>. The first grouping shows our default
- settings, which would apply to all URLs. If you look at your <quote>actions</quote>
- file, this would be the section just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section
- near the top. This applies to all URLs as signified by the single forward
- slash -- <quote>/</quote>.
-
+ This tells us how we have defined our
+ <ulink url="configuration.html#ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></ulink>, and
+ which ones match for our example, <quote>google.com</quote>. The first listing
+ is any matches for the <filename>standard.action</filename> file. No hits at
+ all here on <quote>standard</quote>. Then next is <quote>default</quote>, or
+ our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line listing,
+ is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default settings.
+ If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the section
+ just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This will apply to
+ all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end of the listing
+ -- <quote>/</quote>.
</para>
<para>
- These are the default actions we have enabled. But we can define additional
- actions that would be exceptions to these general rules, and then list
- specific URLs that these exceptions would apply to. Last match wins.
- Just below this then are two explicit matches for <quote>.google.com</quote>.
- The first is negating our various cookie blocking actions (i.e. we will allow
- cookies here). The second is allowing <quote>fast-redirects</quote>. Note
- that there is a leading dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will
- match any hosts and sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
- <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these actions defined
- somewhere in the lower part of our actions file, and
- <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced in these sections.
+ But we can define additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
+ rules, and then list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions would
+ apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit matches for
+ <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous cookie setting,
+ which was for <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>
+ (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google. The
+ second turns <emphasis>off</emphasis> any
+ <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></ulink>
+ action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
+ dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
+ sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
+ <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these two actions
+ defined somewhere in the lower part of our <filename>default.action</filename>
+ file, and <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter
+ sections.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
</para>
<para>
- And now we pull it altogether in the bottom section and summarize how
+ And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
<application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
to <quote>google.com</quote>:
<screen>
Final results:
+ -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version -fast-redirects
+ -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
+ -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer
+</screen>
+</para>
- -add-header -block -deanimate-gifs -downgrade -fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} -limit-connect +no-compression
- -no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups -vanilla-wafer
- -wafer
-
- </screen>
+<para>
+ Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
+ <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>.
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
.ad.doubleclick.net
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
ad*.
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
.doubleclick.net
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is
- matched three different times. Each as an <quote>+block +image</quote>,
+ matched three different times. Each as an <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
- <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<quote>Aliases</quote> are defined in the
- first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
+ <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<ulink
+ url="configuration.html#ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></ulink> are defined in
+ the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
than one action.)
</para>
would also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys
though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
- is done here -- as both a <quote>+block</quote> <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
- <quote>+image</quote>. The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> does this
- for us.
+ is done here -- as both a <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
+ <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
+ <ulink
+ url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>.
+ The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> just simplifies the process and make
+ it more readable.
</para>
<para>
Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
- { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade +fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
+ { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}
+filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} +no-compression
- +no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups
- -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
+ +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block}
+ +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{blank}
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-setting-cookies
+ -prevent-reading-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
/
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
/ads
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote>! But
we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the blank page. We could
now add a new action below this that explicitly does <emphasis>not</emphasis>
- block (-block) pages with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are various ways to
- handle such exceptions. Example:
+ block (<quote>{-block}</quote>) paths with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are
+ various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
</para>
<para>
{ -block }
/adsl
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
- { -block }
- /adsl
-
- </screen>
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ /ads
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
.jungle.com
.scan.co.uk
.forbes.com
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<quote>{shop}</quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
- <quote>{ -filter -no-cookies -no-cookies-keep }</quote>. Or you could do
- your own exception to negate filtering:
+ <quote>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</quote>.
+ Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
</para>
{-filter}
.forbes.com
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ This would probably be most appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>,
+ for local site exceptions.
</para>
<para>
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
+ Revision 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa
+ bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
+
+ Revision 1.94 2002/04/26 05:24:36 hal9
+ -Add most of Andreas suggestions to Chain of Events section.
+ -A few other minor corrections and touch up.
+
+ Revision 1.92 2002/04/25 18:55:13 hal9
+ More catchups on new actions files, and new actions names.
+ Other assorted cleanups, and minor modifications.
+
+ Revision 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9
+ Add 'Chain of Events' section.
+
+ Revision 1.90 2002/04/23 21:41:25 hal9
+ Linuxconf is deprecated on RH, substitute chkconfig.
+
+ Revision 1.89 2002/04/23 21:05:28 oes
+ Added hint for startup on Red Hat
+
+ Revision 1.88 2002/04/23 05:37:54 hal9
+ Add AmigaOS install stuff.
+
+ Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
+ Updated OSX installation section
+ Added a few English tweaks here an there
+
+ Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
+ Re-write actions section.
+
Revision 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9
Fix ugly typo (mine).
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff