<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
<!entity p-authors SYSTEM "p-authors.sgml">
<!entity config SYSTEM "p-config.sgml">
-<!entity p-version "3.0.4">
-<!entity p-status "beta">
+<!entity p-version "3.0.6">
+<!entity p-status "UNRELEASED">
<!entity % p-authors-formal "INCLUDE"> <!-- include additional text, etc -->
<!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
<!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-supp-userman "IGNORE"> <!-- Omit some from supported.sgml -->
<!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
<!entity % draft "IGNORE"> <!-- WIP stuff -->
+<!entity my-app "<application>Privoxy</application>">
]>
<!--
File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml,v $
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.16 2006/09/02 12:49:37 hal9 Exp $
+ $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.23 2006/10/02 22:43:53 hal9 Exp $
- Copyright (C) 2001- 2006 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
+ Copyright (C) 2001- 2006 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org
See LICENSE.
========================================================================
</subscript>
</pubdate>
-<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.16 2006/09/02 12:49:37 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.23 2006/10/02 22:43:53 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
]]>
<para>
- The <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> gives users information on how to
+ The <citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> gives users information on how to
install, configure and use <ulink
- url="http://www.privoxy.org/"><application>Privoxy</application></ulink>.
+ url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
</para>
<!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
<!-- end privoxy.sgml -->
<para>
- You can find the latest version of the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> at <ulink
+ You can find the latest version of the <citetitle>
Privoxy User Manual</citetitle> at <ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> on how to
contact the developers.
<sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
<para>
In addition to the core
- features of ad blocking and cookie management,
+ features of ad blocking and
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookie</ulink> management,
<application>Privoxy</application> provides many supplemental
features<![%p-not-stable;[, some of them currently under development]]>,
that give the end-user more control, more privacy and more freedom:
</para>
<para>
- Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
- <application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
- will need to remove it. On some platforms, this may be done for you as part
- of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform). In any case
- <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to
- you.</emphasis> See the <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to
- upgraders</link> section below.
+ Note:
+ On some platforms, the installer may remove previously installed versions, if
+ found. (See below for your platform). In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup
+ your old configuration if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> See the <link
+ linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link> section below.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
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.
+ <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods.
</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>.
+ automatically
if found, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
</sect3>
<para>
Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
the installation process. You will find the configuration files
- in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in.
+ in the same directory as you installed <application>Privoxy</application> in.
</para>
+<para>
+ Version 3.0.4 introduced full <application>Windows</application> service
+ functionality. On Windows only, the <application>Privoxy</application>
+ program has two new command line arguments to install and uninstall
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>.
+</para>
+ <variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Arguments:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">--install</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <replaceable class="parameter">--uninstall</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ </variablelist>
+ <para>
+ After invoking <application>Privoxy</application> with
+ <command>--install</command>, you will need to bring up the
+ <application>Windows</application> service console to assign the user you
+ want <application>Privoxy</application> to run under, and whether or not you
+ want it to run whenever the system starts. You can start the
+ <application>Windows</application> services console with the following
+ command: <command>services.msc</command>. If you do not take the manual step
+ of modifying <application>Privoxy's</application> service settings, it will
+ not start. Note too that you will need to give Privoxy a user account that
+ actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
+ write to its log and configuration files.
+</para>
+
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="whatsnew">
<title>What's New in this Release</title>
<para>
- There are many improvements and new features in <application>Privoxy</application> &p-version;
- :
+ There are many improvements and new features since the last <application>Privoxy</application> stable release:
</para>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
- Mulitiple <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link> can now be specifed in <filename>config</filename>. This allows for
+ Multiple <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link> can now be specified in <filename>config</filename>. This allows for
locally defined filters that can be maintained separately from the filters as
- supplied by the developers.
+ supplied by the developers, i.e. <filename>default.filter</filename>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <application>MS-Windows</application> versions can now be installed and
- started as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>.
+ <application>MS-Windows</application> versions can now be
+ <link
+ linkend="installation-pack-win">installed and
+ started as a <emphasis>Windows service</emphasis></link>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- In addition, there are various bug fixes and significant enhancements, including
- error pages are no longer cached, better DNS error handling, and various logging
- improvements.
+ <filename>config</filename> has two new options:
+ <link
+ linkend="enable-remote-http-toggle">enable-remote-http-toggle</link>,
+ and <link
+ linkend="forwarded-connect-retries">forwarded-connect-retries</link>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ And there is improved handling of the <link
+ linkend="user-manual">user-manual</link>
+ option, for placing documentation and help files on the local system.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ There are six new <link linkend="FILTER">filters</link>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Actions files problems and suggestions are now being directed to:
+ <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288</ulink>.
+ Please use this to report such configuration related problems as missed
+ ads, sites that don't function properly due to one action or another,
+ innocent images being blocked, etc.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ In addition, there are numerous bug fixes and significant enhancements,
+ including error pages should no longer be cached if the problem is fixed,
+ much better DNS error handling, and various logging improvements.
</para>
</listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The default actions setting is now <literal>Cautious</literal>. Previous
+ releases had a default setting of <literal>Medium</literal>. Experienced
+ users may want to adjust this, as it is fairly conservative by &my-app;
+ standards and past practices. See <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>. New users
+ should try the default settings for a while before turning up the volume.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
configuration files. Save any important configuration files!
</para>
</listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ On the other hand, other installers may not overwrite any existing configuration
+ files, thinking you will want to do that. You may want to manually check
+ your saved files against the newer versions to see if the improvements have
+ merit, or whether there are new options that you may want to consider.
+ There are a number of new features, but most won't be available unless
+ these features are incorporated into your configuration somehow.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
See the full documentation on
<literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects</link></literal>
- which has changed syntax, and may require adjustments to local configs.
+ which has changed syntax, and will require adjustments to local configs,
+ such as <filename>user.action</filename>. You must reference the new
+ syntax:
</para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+ { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
+ .example.com
+ mybank.com
+ .google.</screen>
+</para>
+
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- The <filename>jarfile</filename>, cookie logger, is off by default now.
+ The <filename>jarfile</filename>,
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookie</ulink> logger, is off by default now.
</para>
</listitem>
and you may want to review which actions are <quote>on</quote> by
default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
you may have been used to, may now be <quote>off</quote> by default.
+ There are also a number of new actions and filters you may want to
+ consider, most of which are not incorporated into the default settings as
+ yet (see above).
</para>
</listitem>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using Privoxy</title>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
Set your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application> as HTTP and
- HTTPS (SSL) proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
+ HTTPS (SSL) <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>
+ by setting the proxy configuration for address of
<literal>127.0.0.1</literal> and port <literal>8118</literal>.
- (<application>Junkbuster</application> and earlier versions of
- <application>Privoxy</application> used port 8000.) See the section <link
- linkend="startup">Starting <application>Privoxy</application></link> below
- for more details on this.
+ <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> activate proxying for <literal>FTP</literal> or
+ any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)! It won't work!
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
- If using <application>Privoxy</application> to manage cookies, you should
- remove any currently stored cookies too.
+ If using <application>Privoxy</application> to manage
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
+ you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
</para>
</listitem>
<para>
See the <link linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more
configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
- <![%draft;[ You might also want to look at the <link
+ You might also want to look at the <link
linkend="quickstart-ad-blocking">next section</link> for a quick
introduction to how <application>Privoxy</application> blocks ads and
- banners.]]>
+ banners.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+ If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
- <application>Privoxy's</application> behaviour, take a look at the <link
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> behavior, take a look at the <link
linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>. As a quick start, you might
find the <link linkend="act-examples">richly commented examples</link>
helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org">web-based user interface</ulink>. The
- Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Anatomy of an
- Action</link></quote> has hints how to debug actions that
+ Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
+ Action</link></quote> has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
<quote>misbehave</quote>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- For easy access to Privoxy's most important controls, drag the provided
+ For easy access to &my-app;'s most important controls, drag the provided
<link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklets</link> into your browser's
personal toolbar.
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
Please see the section <link linkend="contact">Contacting the
- Developers</link> on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
+ Developers</link> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
help.
</para>
</listitem>
<figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Actions Files in Use</title>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
- <imagedata fileref="../images/files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
+ <imagedata fileref="files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>[ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]</phrase>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="startup">
-<title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+<title>Starting Privoxy</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
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">proxy</ulink>. The default is
127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions
- used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done!
+ used port 8000). This is the one configuration step <emphasis>that must be done
+</emphasis>!
</para>
<para>
Please note that <application>Privoxy</application> can only proxy HTTP and
<!-- image of Mozilla Proxy configuration -->
<para>
- <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration (Mozilla)</title>
+ <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
+ Mozilla/Netscape HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) Settings</title>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
- <imagedata fileref="../images/proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
+ <imagedata fileref="proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>[ Screenshot of Mozilla Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
</para>
<literallayout>
-<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
-<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
- <guibutton>Tools</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Options</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>General</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>General</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
+
</literallayout>
<literallayout>
<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
- <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton> -> <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
+
</literallayout>
<para>
- For <application>Internet Explorer</application>:
+ For <application>Internet Explorer v.5-6</application>:
</para>
<literallayout>
-<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
-<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
- <guibutton>Tools</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Internet Properties</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>Connections</guibutton>
- |_
- <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Internet Options</guibutton> -> <guibutton>Connections</guibutton> -> <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
</literallayout>
<para>
Then, check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info
(Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS
- proxy support too.
+ proxy support too (sometimes labeled <quote>Secure</quote>). Make sure any
+ checkboxes like <quote>Use the same proxy server for all protocols</quote> is
+ <emphasis>UNCHECKED</emphasis>. You want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
</para>
+ <!-- image of IE Proxy configuration -->
+ <para>
+ <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration Showing
+ Internet Explorer HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings</title>
+ <mediaobject>
+ <imageobject>
+ <imagedata fileref="proxy2.jpg" format="jpg">
+ </imageobject>
+ <textobject>
+ <phrase>[ Screenshot of IE Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
+ </textobject>
+ </mediaobject>
+ </figure>
+ </para>
+
+
<para>
After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
- re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You
- are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
+ re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. Remove
+ any <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>,
+ if you want <application>Privoxy</application> to manage that. You are now
+ ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
<application>Privoxy</application>!
</para>
</para>
<sect2 id="start-redhat">
-<title>Red Hat and Conectiva</title>
+<title>Red Hat, Fedora and Conectiva</title>
<para>
- We use a script. Note that Red Hat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
- default. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as
- its main configuration file.
+ A default Red Hat installation may not start &my-app; upon boot. It will use
+ the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
+ file.
</para>
<para>
<screen>
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
</screen>
</para>
+<para>
+ Or ...
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ # service privoxy start
+</screen>
+</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="start-debian">
<title>Debian</title>
<para>
- We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per
+ We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts &my-app; upon booting per
default. It will use the file
<filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
file.
<sect2 id="start-windows">
<title>Windows</title>
<para>
-Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
+Click on the &my-app; Icon to start <application>Privoxy</application>. If no configuration file is
specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
- automatically start Privoxy when the system starts if you chose that option
+ automatically start &my-app; when the system starts if you chose that option
when installing.
</para>
<para>
-<!--
-New check this hal
--->
- Version 3.0.4 introduces full Windows service functionality.
- On Windows only, the Privoxy program has two new command line arguments
- to install and uninstall Privoxy as a service.
- <variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Arguments:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <replaceable class="parameter">--install</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
- </para>
- </listitem>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <replaceable class="parameter">--uninstall</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">service_name</replaceable>]
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- </variablelist>
- </para>
-<para>
- After invoking Privoxy with <command>--install</command>,
- you will need to bring up the Windows service console to assign the user you
- want Privoxy to run under, and whether or not you want it to run whenever the
- system starts. You can start the Windows services console with the following command:
- <command>services.msc</command> If you do not take the manual step of modifying
- Privoxy's service settings, it will not start. Note too that you will need to
- give Privoxy a user account that actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
- write its log files.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> can run with full Windows service functionality.
+ On Windows only, the &my-app; program has two new command line arguments
+ to install and uninstall &my-app; as a service. See the
+ <link linkend="installation-pack-win">Windows Installation
+ instructions</link> for details.
</para>
</sect2>
<title>Mac OSX</title>
<para>
During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
- start automatically when the system restarts. To start Privoxy by hand,
+ start automatically when the system restarts. To start &my-app; manually,
double-click on the <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> icon in the
<literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder. Or, type this command
in the Terminal:
</para>
<para>
Before changing to the user ID given in the <emphasis>--user</emphasis> option,
- chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the Privoxy
+ chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the &my-app;
process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
- the impact of possible vulnerabilities in Privoxy to the files contained in that hierarchy.
+ the impact of possible vulnerabilities in &my-app; to the files contained in that hierarchy.
Unix only.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+<para>
+ On <application>MS Windows</application> only there are two additional
+ command-line options to allow <application>Privoxy</application> to install and
+ run as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>. See the
+<link linkend="installation-pack-win">Window Installation section</link>
+for details.
+</para>
+
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="configuration"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Configuration</title>
+<sect1 id="configuration"><title>Privoxy Configuration</title>
<para>
All <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is stored
in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2>
-<title>Controlling <application>Privoxy</application> with Your Web Browser</title>
+<title>Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface can be reached through the special
URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+<para>
+ The syntax of all configuration files has remained the same throughout the
+ 3.x series. There have been enhancements, but no changes that would preclude
+ the use of any configuration file from one version to the next. (There is
+ one exception: <link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">+fast-redirects</link> which
+ has enhanced syntax and will require updating any local configs from earlier
+ versions.)
+</para>
+
<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
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
valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
- out" that line.
+ out" that line. Blank lines are ignored.
</para>
<para>
There are a number of such actions, with a wide range of functionality.
Each action does something a little different.
These actions give us a veritable arsenal of tools with which to exert
- our control, preferences and independence.
+ our control, preferences and independence. Actions can be combined so that
+ their effects are aggregated when applied against a given set of URLs.
</para>
<para>
There
that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
provide a base level of functionality for
<application>Privoxy's</application> array of features. So it is
- a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well for users everywhere.
+ a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well as-is for most users.
This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and <link
linkend="installation-keepupdated">making available to users</link>.
+ The user's preferences as set in <filename>standard.action</filename>,
+ e.g. either <literal>Cautious</literal> (the default),
+ <literal>Medium</literal>, or <literal>Advanced</literal> (see
+ below).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used by the web based editor,
+ <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used by the web based editor
+ at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default">
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default</ulink>,
to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
- in <filename>default.action</filename>. These have increasing levels of
- aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no influence on your browsing unless
- you select them explicitly in the editor</emphasis>. It is not recommend
- to edit this file.
+ in <filename>default.action</filename>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Cautious</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Medium</guibutton> <guibutton>Set to Advanced</guibutton>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ These have increasing levels of aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no
+ influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the
+ editor</emphasis>. A default installation should be pre-set to
+ <literal>Cautious</literal> (versions prior to 3.0.5 were set to
+ <literal>Medium</literal>). New users should try this for a while before
+ adjusting the settings to more aggressive levels. The more aggressive
+ the settings, then the more likelihood there is of problems such as sites
+ not working as they should.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button allows you to turn each
+ action on/off individually for fine-tuning. The <guibutton>Cautious</guibutton>
+ button changes the actions list to low/safe settings which will activate
+ a minimal set of &my-app;'s features, and subsequently there will be
+ less of a chance for accidental problems. The <guibutton>Medium</guibutton>
+ button sets the list to a medium level of ad blocking and a low level set of
+ privacy features. The <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> button
+ sets the list to a high level of ad blocking and medium level of
+ privacy. See the chart below. The latter three buttons over-ride
+ any changes via with the <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button. More
+ fine-tuning can be done in the lower sections of this internal page.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is not recommend to edit the <filename>standard.action</filename> file
+ itself.
</para>
<para>
The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
<entry>Feature</entry>
<entry>Cautious</entry>
<entry>Medium</entry>
- <entry>Adventuresome</entry>
+ <entry>Advanced</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<!-- <tfoot> -->
<tbody>
<row>
- <entry>Ad-blocking by URL</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>Ad-blocking Aggressiveness</entry>
+ <entry>medium</entry>
+ <entry>high</entry>
+ <entry>high</entry>
</row>
<row>
<entry>Ad-filtering by size</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
<row>
- <entry>GIF de-animation</entry>
+ <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
-
<row>
- <entry>Referer forging</entry>
- <entry>no</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
+ <entry>blocks only</entry>
+ <entry>blocks only</entry>
+ <entry>blocks only</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Privacy Features</entry>
+ <entry>low</entry>
+ <entry>medium</entry>
+ <entry>medium/high</entry>
</row>
<row>
</row>
<row>
- <entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
- <entry>unsolicited</entry>
- <entry>unsolicited</entry>
- <entry>all</entry>
- </row>
-
- <row>
- <entry>Fast redirects</entry>
- <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>Referer forging</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
- </row>
-
- <row>
- <entry>HTML taming</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
+
<row>
- <entry>JavaScript taming</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>GIF de-animation</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
+
<row>
- <entry>Web-bug killing</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
- <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>Fast redirects</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
<row>
- <entry>Fun text replacements</entry>
+ <entry>HTML taming</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
<row>
- <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
+ <entry>JavaScript taming</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
<row>
- <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
- <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>Web-bug killing</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
</row>
<row>
- <entry>Demoronizer</entry>
+ <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
-
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<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>
+ The over-riding principle when applying actions, is that the last action that
+ matches a given URL, wins. The broadest, most general rules go first
+ (defined in <filename>default.action</filename>),
+ followed by any exceptions (typically also in
+ <filename>default.action</filename>), which are then followed lastly by any
+ local preferences (typically in <emphasis>user</emphasis><filename>.action</filename>).
+ Generally, <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word.
+ </para>
<para>
An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
- certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
+ certainly a matter of personal taste. And, things can always change, requiring
+ refinements in the configuration. 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 crunch all cookies per
default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
- regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful puposes, like maybe
+ regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful purposes, like maybe
your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
</para>
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a
per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like
- <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or <quote>Adventuresome</quote>.
- Warning: the <quote>Adventuresome</quote> setting is not only more aggressive,
- but includes settings that are fun and subversive, and which some may find of
- dubious merit!
+ <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or <quote>Advanced</quote>.
+ Warning: the <quote>Advanced</quote> setting is more aggressive, and
+ will be more likely to cause problems for some sites. Experienced users only!
</para>
<para>
If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
- the actions files. Look at <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly
- commented.
+ the actions files with your favorite text editor. Look at
+ <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly commented with many
+ good examples.
</para>
</sect2>
+<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link> }</literal>,
then later another one with just <literal>{
+<link linkend="block">block</link> }</literal>, resulting
- in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply.
+ in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply. And there may well be
+ cases where you will want to combine actions together. Such a section then
+ might look like:
</para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+ { +<literal>handle-as-image</literal> +<literal>block</literal> }
+ # Block these as if they were images. Send no block page.
+ banners.example.com
+ media.example.com/.*banners
+ .example.com/images/ads/</screen>
+ </para>
+
<para>
You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
- More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
- Anatomy of an Action</link>.
+ Examples and more detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
+ Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</link> section.
</para>
</sect2>
<title>Patterns</title>
<para>
As mentioned, <application>Privoxy</application> uses <quote>patterns</quote>
- to determine what actions might apply to which sites and pages your browser
- attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild card type
- <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
+ to determine what <emphasis>actions</emphasis> might apply to which sites and
+ pages your browser attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild
+ card type <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
flexibility. This allows one expression to be expanded and potentially match
against many similar patterns.
</para>
<literal>http://</literal>) should <emphasis>not</emphasis> be included in
the pattern. This is assumed already!
</para>
+<para>
+ The pattern matching syntax is different for the domain and path parts of
+ the URL. The domain part uses a simple globbing type matching technique,
+ while the path part uses a more flexible
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expressions (PCRE)</quote></ulink> based syntax.
+</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
- regardless of which document on that server is requested.
+ regardless of which document on that server is requested. So ALL pages in
+ this domain would be covered by the scope of this action. Note that a
+ simple <literal>example.com</literal> is different and would NOT match.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
- i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server.
+ i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server anywhere.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
- there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>.
+ there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>. So its
+ a mistake.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>
- (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as a domain.)
+ matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>.
+ And, by the way, also included would be any files or documents that exist
+ within that domain since no path limitations are specified. (Correctly
+ speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as
+ a domain.) This might be <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
+ <literal>news.example.de</literal>, or
+ <literal>www.example.net/cgi/testing.pl</literal> for instance. All these
+ cases are matched.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
- themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <quote>*</quote>
- stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <quote>?</quote> stands for
- any single character, you can define character classes in square
- brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:
+ themselves. These work similarly to shell globbing type wild-cards:
+ <quote>*</quote> represents zero or more arbitrary characters (this is
+ equivalent to the
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax of <quote>.*</quote>),
+ <quote>?</quote> represents any single character (this is equivalent to the
+ regular expression syntax of a simple <quote>.</quote>), and you can define
+ <quote>character classes</quote> in square brackets which is similar to
+ the same regular expression technique. All of this can be freely mixed:
</para>
<variablelist>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
+<para>
+ While flexibile, this is not the sophistication of full regular expression based syntax.
+</para>
+
</sect3>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
+ <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible (PCRE)
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expression</quote></ulink> based syntax
(through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
- matching the path.
+ matching the path portion (after the slash), and is thus more flexible.
</para>
<para>
at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
- url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>.
+ url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
only documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
<emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
</para>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/.*</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Is equivalent to just <quote>.example.com</quote>, since any documents
+ within that domain are matched with or without the <quote>.*</quote>
+ regular expression. This is redundant
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/.*/index.html</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Will match any page in the domain of <quote>example.com</quote> that is
+ named <quote>index.html</quote>, and that is part of some path. For
+ example, it matches <quote>www.example.com/testing/index.html</quote> but
+ NOT <quote>www.example.com/index.html</quote> because the regular
+ expression called for at least two <quote>/'s</quote>, thus the path
+ requirement. It also would match
+ <quote>www.example.com/testing/index_html</quote>, because of the
+ special meta-character <quote>.</quote>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)?index\.html</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This regular expression is conditional so it will match any page
+ named <quote>index.html</quote> regardless of path which in this case can
+ have one or more <quote>/'s</quote>. And this one must contain exactly
+ <quote>.html</quote> (but does not have to end with that!).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This regular expression will match any path of <quote>example.com</quote>
+ that contains any of the words <quote>ads</quote>, <quote>banner</quote>,
+ <quote>banners</quote> (because of the <quote>?</quote>) or <quote>junk</quote>.
+ The path does not have to end in these words, just contain them.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><literal>.example.com/(.*/)(ads|banners?|junk)/.*\.(jpe?g|gif|png)$</literal></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is very much the same as above, except now it must end in either
+ <quote>.jpg</quote>, <quote>.jpeg</quote>, <quote>.gif</quote> or <quote>.png</quote>. So this
+ one is limited to common image formats.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+<para>
+ There are many, many good examples to be found in <filename>default.action</filename>,
+ and more tutorials below in <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>.
+</para>
+
</sect3>
</sect2>
</para>
<para>
- There are three classes of actions:
+ Actions fall into three categories:
</para>
<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 (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 pattern and thus more than one set of actions!
+ in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files such
+ as <filename>user.action</filename>). 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 to match more than one <quote>pattern</quote> (because of wildcards and
+ regular expressions), and thus to trigger more than one set of actions! Last
+ match wins.
</para>
<!-- start actions listing -->
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Block ads or other obnoxious content</para>
+ <para>Block ads or other unwanted content</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the requests are not
- forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with a substitute page or image,
- as determined by the <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>
- and <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> actions.
+ Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the
+ requests are trapped by &my-app; and the requested URL is never retrieved,
+ but is answered locally with a substitute page or image, as determined by
+ the <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>, and
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal> actions.
+
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
It is important to understand this process, in order
to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
- ads and other unwanted content.
+ ads and other unwanted content. Blocking is a core feature, and one
+ upon which various other features depend.
</para>
<para>
The <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
<term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>{+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
-.nasty-stuff.example.com
-
-{+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
-.ad.doubleclick.net
-.ads.r.us</screen>
+ <screen>{+block}
+# Block and replace with "blocked" page
+ .nasty-stuff.example.com
+
+{+block +handle-as-image}
+# Block and replace with image
+ .ad.doubleclick.net
+ .ads.r.us/banners/
+
+{+block +handle-as-empty-document}
+# Block and then ignore
+ adserver.exampleclick.net/.*\.js$</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</para>
<para>
If you see a web site that proudly uses XHTML buttons, but sets
- <quote>Content-Type: text/html</quote>, you can use Privoxy
+ <quote>Content-Type: text/html</quote>, you can use &my-app;
to overwrite it with <quote>application/xml</quote> and validate
the web master's claim inside your XHTML-supporting browser.
If the syntax is incorrect, the browser will complain loudly.
<screen># Check if www.example.net/ really uses valid XHTML
{+content-type-overwrite {application/xml}}
www.example.net/
+
# but leave the content type unmodified if the URL looks like a style sheet
{-content-type-overwrite}
www.example.net/*.\.css$
<listitem>
<para>
<screen># Let the browser revalidate cached documents without being tracked across sessions
-{+hide-if-modified-since {-1} \
+{+hide-if-modified-since {-60} \
+overwrite-last-modified {randomize} \
+crunch-if-none-match}
/ </screen>
<term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <screen>+fast-redirects{simple-check}</screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- <screen>+fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</screen>
+ <screen>
+ { +fast-redirects{simple-check} }
+ .example.com
+
+ { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
+ another.example.com/testing</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</para>
+ <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size),
+ do fun text replacements, add personalized effects, etc.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- All files of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which this
- action applies, are filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular expression
- based substitutions. (Note: as of version 3.0.3 plain text documents
- are exempted from filtering, because web servers often use the
- <literal>text/plain</literal> MIME type for all files whose type they
- don't know.) By default, filtering works only on the document content
- itself, not the headers.
+ All files of text-based type, most notably HTML and
+ JavaScript, to which this action applies, can be filtered on-the-fly
+ through the specified regular expression based substitutions. (Note: as of
+ version 3.0.3 plain text documents are exempted from filtering, because
+ web servers often use the <literal>text/plain</literal> MIME type for all
+ files whose type they don't know.) By default, filtering works only on the
+ raw document content itself (that which can be seen with <literal>View
+ Source</literal>),
+ not the headers.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</para>
<para>
When used in its negative form,
- and without parameters, filtering is completely disabled.
+ and without parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> filtering is completely disabled.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
noticeable on slower connections.
</para>
<para>
- This is very powerful feature, and <quote>rolling your own</quote>
- filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
+ <quote>Rolling your own</quote>
+ filters requires a knowledge of
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expressions</quote></ulink> and
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html"><quote>HTML</quote></ulink>.
+ This is very powerful feature, and potentially very intrusive.
+ Filters should be used with caution, and where an equivalent
+ <quote>action</quote> is not available.
</para>
<para>
The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
</para>
<para>
- Inadequate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
+ Inappropriate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
(Again, only text-based types except plain text). Encrypted SSL data
(from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either, since this would violate
the integrity of the secure transaction. In some situations it might
be necessary to protect certain text, like source code, from filtering
- by defining appropriate <literal>-filter</literal> sections.
+ by defining appropriate <literal>-filter</literal> exceptions.
</para>
<para>
- At this time, <application>Privoxy</application> cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed
+ At this time, <application>Privoxy</application> cannot uncompress compressed
documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that
- would normally be sent compressed, use the
+ would normally be sent compressed, you must use the
<literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
</para>
</para>
<para>
<anchor id="filter-unsolicited-popups">
- <screen>+filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows</screen>
+ <screen>+filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
</para>
<para>
<anchor id="filter-all-popups">
- <screen>+filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML</screen>
+ <screen>+filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML. Useful if your browser lacks this ability.</screen>
</para>
<para>
<anchor id="filter-img-reorder">
</para>
<para>
<anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
- <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizable</screen>
+ <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</screen>
</para>
<para>
<anchor id="filter-demoronizer">
</para>
<para>
<anchor id="filter-quicktime-kioskmode">
- <screen>+filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies saveable</screen>
+ <screen>+filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies savable</screen>
</para>
<para>
<anchor id="filter-fun">
<anchor id="filter-ie-exploits">
<screen>+filter{ie-exploits} # Disable some known Internet Explorer bug exploits</screen>
</para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-site-specifics">
+ <screen>+filter{site-specifics} # Custom filters for specific site related problems</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-google">
+ <screen>+filter{google} # Removes text ads and other Google specific improvements</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-yahoo">
+ <screen>+filter{yahoo} # Removes text ads and other Yahoo specific improvements</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-msn">
+ <screen>+filter{msn} # Removes text ads and other MSN specific improvements</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-blogspot">
+ <screen>+filter{blogspot} # Cleans up Blogspot blogs</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-html-to-xml">
+ <screen>+filter{html-to-xml} # Header filter to change the Content-Type from html to xml</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-xml-to-html">
+ <screen>+filter{xml-to-html} # Header filter to change the Content-Type from xml to html</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by imagee <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis>)</para>
+ <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they do get blocked</emphasis>, rather than HTML pages)</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</para>
<para>
Instead of removing the header, <literal>hide-if-modified-since</literal> can
- also add or substract a random amount of time to/from the headers value.
- You specify a range of hours were the random factor should be chosen from and
+ also add or subtract a random amount of time to/from the header's value.
+ You specify a range of minutes where the random factor should be chosen from and
<application>Privoxy</application> does the rest. A negative value means
subtracting, a positive value adding.
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
<screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
-{+hide-if-modified-since {-1}\
+{+hide-if-modified-since {-60}\
+overwrite-last-modified {randomize}\
+crunch-if-none-match}
/</screen>
Killing all pop-ups unconditionally is problematic. Many shops and banks rely on
pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and the <literal><link
linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>unsolicited-popups</replaceable>}</link>
- </literal> does a fairly good job of catching only the unwanted ones.
+ </literal> does a better job of catching only the unwanted ones.
</para>
<para>
If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>js-annoyances</replaceable>}</literal>
instead.
</para>
+ <para>
+ This action is most appropriate for browsers that don't have any controls
+ for unwanted pop-ups. Not recommended for general usage.
+ </para>
<!--
<para>
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> relays HTTPS traffic without seeing
- the decoded content. Websites can leverage this limitation to circumvent Privoxy's
+ the decoded content. Websites can leverage this limitation to circumvent &my-app;'s
filters. By specifying an invalid port range you can disable HTTPS entirely.
If you plan to disable SSL by default, consider enabling
<literal><link linkend="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks ">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link></literal>
+limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
+limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK
-+limit-connect{,} # No HTTPS traffic is allowed</screen>
++limit-connect{,} # No HTTPS/SSL traffic is allowed</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
<screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
-{+hide-if-modified-since {-1}\
+{+hide-if-modified-since {-60}\
+overwrite-last-modified {randomize}\
+crunch-if-none-match}
/</screen>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This action is useful to replace whole documents with your own
- ones. For that to work, they have to be available on another server,
- and both should resolve.
+ This action is useful to replace whole documents with ones of your
+ choosing. This can be used to enforce safe surfing, or just as a simple
+ convenience.
</para>
<para>
You can do the same by combining the actions
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Example usages:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
<screen># Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
-{+redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css}}
-example.com/stylesheet.css</screen>
+{ +redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css} }
+ example.com/stylesheet.css
+
+# Create a short, easy to remember nickname for a favorite site
+{ +redirect{http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/actions-file.html} }
+ a</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
If you previously configured <application>Privoxy</application> to do the
request through a SSL tunnel, everything will work. Most likely you haven't
and the server will respond with an error message because it is expecting
- HTTPS.
+ HTTPS (SSL).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
#
+crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
-crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
- block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
+ +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
# These aliases define combinations of actions
#
+crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
-crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
- block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
+ +block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
# These aliases define combinations of actions
-<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link> \
+<link linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</link> \
-<link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">downgrade-http-version</link> \
- +<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-JS-EVENTS">filter{js-events}</link> \
+<link linkend="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">filter{html-annoyances}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link> \
+<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{unsolicited-popups}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{unsolicited-popups}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-IMG-REORDER">filter{img-reorder}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-IMG-REORDER">filter{img-reorder}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK">filter{banners-by-link}</link> \
+<link linkend="FILTER-WEBBUGS">filter{webbugs}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-TINY-TEXTFORMS">filter{tiny-textforms}</link> \
- +<link linkend="FILTER-JUMPING-WINDOWS">filter{jumping-windows}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-JUMPING-WINDOWS">filter{jumping-windows}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-FRAMESET-BORDERS">filter{frameset-borders}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-DEMORONIZER">filter{demoronizer}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">filter{shockwave-flash}</link> \
+<link linkend="FILTER-IE-EXPLOITS">filter{ie-exploits}</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-CLIENT-HEADERS">filter-client-headers</link> \
-<link linkend="FILTER-SERVER-HEADERS">filter-server-headers</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-GOOGLE">filter-google</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-YAHOO">filter-yahoo</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-MSN">filter-msn</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-BLOGSPOT">filter-blogspot</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-XML-TO-HTML">filter-xml-to-html</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-HTML-TO-XML">filter-html-to-xml</link> \
-<link linkend="FORCE-TEXT-MODE">force-text-mode</link> \
-<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT">handle-as-empty-document</link> \
-<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> \
#
{ fragile }
.office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
-.windowsupdate.microsoft.com</screen>
+.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+mail.google.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
request is for an image. Hence we block them <emphasis>and</emphasis>
mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
- <literal>block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
+ <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
course just as well use <literal>+<link linkend="block">block</link>
+<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> here.)
Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
<screen>
# Known ad generators:
#
-{ block-as-image }
+{ +block-as-image }
ar.atwola.com
.ad.doubleclick.net
.ad.*.doubleclick.net
.a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
.a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
bs*.gsanet.com
-bs*.einets.com
.qkimg.net</screen>
</para>
<para>
One of the most important jobs of <application>Privoxy</application>
- is to block banners. A huge bunch of them can be <quote>blocked</quote>
+ is to block banners. Many of these can be <quote>blocked</quote>
by the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{banners-by-size}</literal>
action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
<literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action to them.
</para>
<para>
- First comes a bunch of generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
+ First comes many generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
to keep the example short:
</para>
<para>
- You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner
+ It's quite remarkable how many advertisers actually call their banner
servers ads.<replaceable>company</replaceable>.com, or call the directory
in which the banners are stored simply <quote>banners</quote>. So the above
generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
{ -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
+adobe. # (has nothing to do with ads either)
ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
.edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
.*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
# Don't filter code!
#
{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
-/.*cvs
+/(.*/)?cvs
+bugzilla.
+developer.
+wiki.
.sourceforge.net</screen>
</para>
<para>
<screen>
{ allow-all-cookies }
-sourceforge.net
-sunsolve.sun.com
-.slashdot.org
-.yahoo.com
-.msdn.microsoft.com
-.redhat.com</screen>
+ sourceforge.net
+ .yahoo.com
+ .msdn.microsoft.com
+ .redhat.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
-.your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
+ .your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
{ +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
-www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.gif
-another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
+ www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.gif
+ another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
{ +block-as-image }
-.doubleclick.net
-/Realmedia/ads/
-ar.atwola.com/</screen>
+ .doubleclick.net
+ .fastclick.net
+ /Realmedia/ads/
+ ar.atwola.com/</screen>
</para>
<para>
-- <emphasis>whoa!</emphasis> -- it worked. The <literal>fragile</literal>
aliases disables those actions that are most likely to break a site. Also,
good for testing purposes to see if it is <application>Privoxy</application>
- that is causing the problem or not.
+ that is causing the problem or not. We later find other regular sites
+ that misbehave, and add those to our personalized list of troublemakers:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
{ fragile }
-.forbes.com</screen>
+ .forbes.com
+ webmail.example.com
+ .mybank.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
{ +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
-/ # For ALL sites!</screen>
+ / # For ALL sites!</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
{ allow-ads }
-.sourceforge.net
-.slashdot.org
-.osdn.net</screen>
+ .sourceforge.net
+ .slashdot.org
+ .osdn.net</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
{ handle-as-text }
-/.*\.sh$</screen>
+ /.*\.sh$</screen>
</para>
<para>
On-the-fly text substitutions that can be invoked through the
<literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action need
to be defined in a <quote>filter file</quote>. Once defined, they
- can then be invoked as an <quote>action</quote>. Mulitple filter files can be
+ can then be invoked as an <quote>action</quote>. Multiple filter files can be
defined through the <literal> <link
linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config directive. The filters
as supplied by the developers will be found in
Substitutions are made at the source level, so if you want to <quote>roll
your own</quote> filters, you should first be familiar with HTML syntax,
and, of course, regular expressions. By default, filters are only applied
- to the document content, but can be extended to the headers with
+ to the raw document content, but can be extended to the HTTP headers with
the supplemental actions:
<link linkend="filter-client-headers">filter-client-headers</link> and
<link linkend="filter-server-headers">filter-server-headers</link>.
</para>
<para>
- If you are new to regular expressions, you might want to take a look at
+ If you are new to
+ <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
+ Expressions</quote></ulink>, you might want to take a look at
the <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>, and
- see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perl.html">Perl
+ see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl
manual</ulink> for
- <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlop.html#s-PATTERN-REPLACEMENT-egimosx">the
+ <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlop.html">the
<literal>s///</literal> operator's syntax</ulink> and <ulink
- url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
+ url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
expressions</ulink> in general.
The below examples might also help to get you started.
</para>
makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
<emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>. Finally, <literal>\1</literal> is
- a backreference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
+ a back-reference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
with the difference that in the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>, a backslash indicates
- a backreference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
+ a back-reference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
removes code that causes new windows to be opened with undesired properties, such as being
- full-screen, non-resizable, without location, status or menu bar etc.
+ full-screen, non-resizeable, without location, status or menu bar etc.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+ <para>
+ Use with caution. This is an aggressive filter, and can break sites that
+ rely heavily on JavaScript.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
This is a very radical measure. It removes virtually all JavaScript event bindings, which
means that scripts can not react to user actions such as mouse movements or clicks, window
- resizing etc, anymore.
+ resizing etc, anymore. Use with caution!
</para>
<para>
We <emphasis>strongly discourage</emphasis> using this filter as a default since it breaks
<para>
The <literal>BLINK</literal> and <literal>MARQUEE</literal> tags
are neutralized (yeah baby!), and browser windows will be created as
- resizable (as of course they should be!), and will have location,
+ resizeable (as of course they should be!), and will have location,
scroll and menu bars -- even if specified otherwise.
</para>
</listitem>
<term><emphasis>content-cookies</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialogue, where they can be intercepted
+ Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialog, where they can be intercepted
by the
<literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>
and <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>
to sneak cookies to the browser on the content level.
</para>
<para>
- This filter disables HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets cookies. Use
- it wherever you would also use the cookie crunch actions.
+ This filter disables most HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets
+ cookies. It cannot detect all clever uses of these types of code, so it
+ should not be relied on as an absolute fix. Use it wherever you would also
+ use the cookie crunch actions.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</para>
<para>
Technical note: The filter works by redefining the window.open JavaScript
- function to a dummy function during the loading and rendering phase of each
- HTML page access, and restoring the function afterwards.
+ function to a dummy function, <literal>PrivoxyWindowOpen()</literal>,
+ during the loading and rendering phase of each HTML page access, and
+ restoring the function afterward.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This is recommended only for browsers that cannot perform this function
+ reliably themselves. And be aware that some sites require such windows
+ in order to function normally. Use with caution.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
Attempt to prevent <emphasis>all</emphasis> pop-up windows from opening.
- Note this should be used with more discretion than the above, since it is
- more likely to break some sites that require pop-ups for normal usage. Use
- with caution.
+ Note this should be used with even more discretion than the above, since
+ it is more likely to break some sites that require pop-ups for normal
+ usage. Use with caution.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
Occasionally this filter will cause false positives on images that are not ads,
but just happen to be of one of the standard banner sizes.
</para>
+ <para>
+ Recommended only for those who require extreme ad blocking. The default
+ block rules should catch 95+% of all ads <emphasis>without</emphasis> this filter enabled.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
As an HTML page is loaded by the browser, an embedded image tag causes the
browser to contact a third-party site, disclosing the tracking information
through the requested URL and/or cookies for that third-party domain, without
- the use ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party site.
+ the user ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party site.
HTML-ized spam also uses a similar technique to verify email addresses.
</para>
<para>
<para>
Many consider windows that move, or resize themselves to be abusive. This filter
neutralizes the related JavaScript code. Note that some sites might not display
- or behave as intended when using this filter.
+ or behave as intended when using this filter. Use with caution.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
This filter translates the MS-only characters into Latin-1 equivalents.
It is not necessary when using MS products, and will cause corruption of
all documents that use 8-bit character sets other than Latin-1. It's mostly
- worthwhile for Europeans on non-MS platforms, if wierd garbage characters
+ worthwhile for Europeans on non-MS platforms, if weird garbage characters
sometimes appear on some pages, or user agents that don't correct for this on
the fly.
<!--
<term><emphasis>ie-exploits</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- A collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
+ An experimental collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
code that exploits known security holes in Internet Explorer.
</para>
<para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>google</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A CSS based block for Google text ads. Also removes a width limitation
+ and the toolbar advertisement.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>yahoo</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Another CSS based block, this time for Yahoo text ads. And removes
+ a width limitation as well.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>msn</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Another CSS based block, this time for MSN text ads. And removes
+ tracking URLs, as well as a width limitation.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>blogspot</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Cleans up some Blogspot blogs. Read the fine print before using this one!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This filter also intentionally removes some navigation stuff and sets the
+ page width to 100%. As a result, some rounded <quote>corners</quote> would
+ appear to early or not at all and as fixing this would require a browser
+ that understands background-size (CSS3), they are removed instead.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>xml-to-html</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Header filter to change the Content-Type from xml to html.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>html-to-xml</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Header filter to change the Content-Type from html to xml.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<!--
<varlistentry>
<term><emphasis> </emphasis></term>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="templates">
-<title>Templates</title>
+<title>Privoxy's Template Files</title>
<para>
All <application>Privoxy</application> built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the
<ulink url="http://show-the-404-error.page"><quote>404 - No Such Domain</quote>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="copyright"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Copyright, License and History</title>
+<sect1 id="copyright"><title>Privoxy Copyright, License and History</title>
<!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
©right;
<para><simplelist>
<member>
- <emphasis>[]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
+ <emphasis>[ ]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
any of the enclosed characters are encountered. For instance, <quote>[0-9]</quote>
matches any numeric digit (zero through nine). As an example, we can combine
this with <quote>+</quote> to match any digit one of more times: <quote>[0-9]+</quote>.
<para><simplelist>
<member>
- <emphasis>()</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
+ <emphasis>( )</emphasis> - parentheses are used to group a sub-expression,
or multiple sub-expressions.
</member>
</simplelist></para>
</para>
<para>
- A now something a little more complex:
+ And now something a little more complex:
</para>
<para>
<para>
<emphasis><literal>/.*/advert[0-9]+\.(gif|jpe?g)</literal></emphasis> - Again
another path statement with forward slashes. Anything in the square brackets
- <quote>[]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
+ <quote>[ ]</quote> can be matched. This is using <quote>0-9</quote> as a
shorthand expression to mean any digit one through nine. It is the same as
saying <quote>0123456789</quote>. So any digit matches. The <quote>+</quote>
means one or more of the preceding expression must be included. The preceding
<para>
More reading on Perl Compatible Regular expressions:
- <ulink url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>
+ <ulink url="http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html">http://perldoc.perl.org/perlre.html</ulink>
</para>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2>
-<title><application>Privoxy</application>'s Internal Pages</title>
+<title>Privoxy's Internal Pages</title>
<para>
Since <application>Privoxy</application> proxies each requested
<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.
+ pages (e.g <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it
+ As the browser receives the now (possibly 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
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="actionsanat">
-<title>Anatomy of an Action</title>
+<title>Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an Action</title>
<para>
The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!). Looking at the
logs is a good idea too.
</para>
+<para>
+ Another easy troubleshooting step to try is if you have done any
+ customization of your installation, revert back to the installed
+ defaults and see if that helps. There are times the developers get complaints
+ about one thing or another, and the problem is more related to a customized
+ configuration issue.
+</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> also provides the
-filter {fun}
-filter {crude-parental}
-filter {site-specifics}
- +filter {js-annoyances}
- +filter {html-annoyances}
+ -filter {js-annoyances}
+ -filter {html-annoyances}
+filter {refresh-tags}
- +filter {unsolicited-popups}
+ -filter {unsolicited-popups}
+filter {img-reorder}
+filter {banners-by-size}
+filter {webbugs}
+filter {jumping-windows}
+filter {ie-exploits}
+ -filter {google}
+ -filter {yahoo}
+ -filter {msn}
+ -filter {blogspot}
+ -filter {xml-to-html}
+ -filter {html-to-xml}
-filter-client-headers
-filter-server-headers
-force-text-mode
</para>
<para>
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>
- 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 <link
+ is for 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>
+ But we have defined additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
+ rules, and then we 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 <link
linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>
(i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google, at
least that is how it is in this example. The second turns
- <emphasis>off</emphasis> any
- <link
+ <emphasis>off</emphasis> any <link
linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link>
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.
+ <quote>www.google.com</quote> or <quote>mail.google.com</quote>. But it would not
+ match <quote>www.google.de</quote>! So, apparently, we have these two actions
+ defined as exceptions to the general rules at the top 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.
So there is nothing google-specific that we might have added to our own, local
- configuration.
+ configuration. If there was, those actions would over-rule any actions from
+ previously processed files, such as <filename>default.action</filename>.
+ <filename>user.action</filename> typically has the last word. This is the
+ best place to put hard and fast exceptions,
</para>
<para>
-crunch-server-header
+deanimate-gifs {last}
-downgrade-http-version
- -fast-redirects
- +filter {js-annoyances}
- +filter {html-annoyances}
+ +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
+ -filter {js-events}
+ -filter {content-cookies}
+ -filter {all-popups}
+ -filter {banners-by-link}
+ -filter {tiny-textforms}
+ -filter {frameset-borders}
+ -filter {demoronizer}
+ -filter {shockwave-flash}
+ -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
+ -filter {fun}
+ -filter {crude-parental}
+ -filter {site-specifics}
+ -filter {js-annoyances}
+ -filter {html-annoyances}
+filter {refresh-tags}
- +filter {unsolicited-popups}
+ -filter {unsolicited-popups}
+filter {img-reorder}
+filter {banners-by-size}
+filter {webbugs}
+filter {jumping-windows}
+filter {ie-exploits}
+ -filter {google}
+ -filter {yahoo}
+ -filter {msn}
+ -filter {blogspot}
+ -filter {xml-to-html}
+ -filter {html-to-xml}
-filter-client-headers
-filter-server-headers
-force-text-mode
<para>
Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
<quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>,
- which are actived specifically for this site in our configuration,
+ which are activated specifically for this site in our configuration,
and thus show in the <quote>Final Results</quote>.
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- { +block +handle-as-image }
- .ad.doubleclick.net
-
- { +block +handle-as-image }
+ { +block }
ad*.
+ { +block }
+ .ad.
+
{ +block +handle-as-image }
- .doubleclick.net
+ .[a-vx-z]*.doubleclick.net
</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 +handle-as-image</quote>,
+ We'll just show the interesting part here - the explicit matches. It is
+ matched three different times. Two <quote>+block</quote> sections,
+ and a <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
- <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<link
+ <quote>+block-as-image</quote>. (<link
linkend="ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></link> are defined in
the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
than one action.)
is done here -- as both a <link
linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link>
<emphasis>and</emphasis> an
- <link
- linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
- The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> just simplifies the process and make
- it more readable.
+ <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
+ The custom alias <quote><literal>+block-as-image</literal></quote> just
+ simplifies the process and make it more readable.
</para>
<para>
- One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
+ One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm ...
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
+ Matches for http://www.example.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
-crunch-server-header
+deanimate-gifs
-downgrade-http-version
- +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}
- +filter{html-annoyances}
- +filter{js-annoyances}
- +filter{kill-popups}
- +filter{webbugs}
- +filter{nimda}
- +filter{banners-by-size}
- +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun}
+ +fast-redirects {check-decoded-url}
+ -filter {js-events}
+ -filter {content-cookies}
+ -filter {all-popups}
+ -filter {banners-by-link}
+ -filter {tiny-textforms}
+ -filter {frameset-borders}
+ -filter {demoronizer}
+ -filter {shockwave-flash}
+ -filter {quicktime-kioskmode}
+ -filter {fun}
+ -filter {crude-parental}
+ -filter {site-specifics}
+ -filter {js-annoyances}
+ -filter {html-annoyances}
+ +filter {refresh-tags}
+ -filter {unsolicited-popups}
+ +filter {img-reorder}
+ +filter {banners-by-size}
+ +filter {webbugs}
+ +filter {jumping-windows}
+ +filter {ie-exploits}
+ -filter {google}
+ -filter {yahoo}
+ -filter {msn}
+ -filter {blogspot}
+ -filter {xml-to-html}
+ -filter {html-to-xml}
-filter-client-headers
-filter-server-headers
-force-text-mode
+hide-referer{forge}
-hide-user-agent
-inspect-jpegs
- +kill-popups
+ -kill-popups
-overwrite-last-modified
+prevent-compression
-redirect
<para>
Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote> in our
configuration! 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
- <emphasis>un</emphasis> blocks (<quote>{-block}</quote>) paths with
- <quote>adsl</quote> in them (remember, last match in the configuration wins).
- There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
+ blank page. It is actually triggering two different actions here, and
+ the effects are aggregated so that the URL is blocked, and &my-app; is told
+ to treat the block as if it were an image. But this is, of course, all wrong.
+ We could now add a new action below this (or better in our own
+ <filename>user.action</filename> file) that explicitly
+ <emphasis>un</emphasis> blocks (
+ <link linkend="BLOCK"><quote>{-block}</quote></link>) paths with
+ <quote>adsl</quote> in them (remember, last match in the configuration
+ wins). There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
</para>
<para>
</para>
<para>
- Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when
- making such changes. Or, try using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
+ Now the page displays ;-)
+ Remember to flush your browser's caches when making these kinds of changes to
+ your configuration to insure that you get a freshly delivered page! Or, try
+ using <literal>Shift+Reload</literal>.
</para>
<para>
</para>
<para>
- That actually was very telling and pointed us quickly to where the problem
+ That actually was very helpful and pointed us quickly to where the problem
was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
- rules in the first section is causing the problem. This would require some
- guesswork, and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule.
- One likely cause would be one of the <quote>{+filter}</quote> actions. These
- tend to be harder to troubleshoot. Try adding the URL for the site to one of
- aliases that turn off <quote>+filter</quote>:
+ rules in the first section of <filename>default.action</filename> is causing
+ the problem. This would require some guesswork, and maybe a little trial and
+ error to isolate the offending rule. One likely cause would be one of the
+ <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> actions.
+ These tend to be harder to troubleshoot.
+ Try adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off
+ <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- {shop}
+ { shop }
.quietpc.com
.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
.jungle.com
</para>
<para>
- <quote>{shop}</quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
- <quote>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</quote>.
+ <quote><literal>{ shop }</literal></quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
+ <quote><literal>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</literal></quote>.
Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- {-filter}
+ { -filter }
+ # Disable ALL filter actions for sites in this section
.forbes.com
+ developer.ibm.com
+ localhost
</screen>
</para>
<para>
- This would turn off all filtering for that site. This would probably be most
- appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
- exceptions.
+ This would turn off all filtering for these sites. This is best
+ put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
+ exceptions. Note that when a simple domain pattern is used by itself (without
+ the subsequent path portion), all sub-pages within that domain are included
+ automatcially in the scope of the action.
</para>
<para>
Images that are inexplicably being blocked, may well be hitting the
- <quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote> rule, which assumes
- that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well most of the time
- since these tend to be standardized).
+<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"><quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote></link>
+ rule, which assumes
+ that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well
+ <emphasis>most of the time</emphasis> since these tend to be standardized).
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <quote><literal>{ fragile }</literal></quote> is an alias that disables most
+ actions that are the most likely to cause trouble. This can be used as a
+ last resort for problem sites.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+
+ { fragile }
+ # Handle with care: easy to break
+ mail.google.
+ mybank.example.com</screen>
</para>
+
<para>
- <quote>{fragile}</quote> is an alias that disables most actions. This can be
- used as a last resort for problem sites. Remember to flush caches! If this
- still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining actions one by
- one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
+ <emphasis>Remember to flush caches!</emphasis> Note that the
+ <literal>mail.google</literal> reference lacks the TLD portion (e.g.
+ <quote>.com</quote>. This will effectively match any TLD with
+ <literal>google</literal> in it, such as <literal>mail.google.de</literal>,
+ just as an example.
+</para>
+<para>
+ If this still does not work, you will have to go through the remaining
+ actions one by one to find which one(s) is causing the problem.
</para>
</sect2>
The GNU General Public License should be included with
this file. If not, you can view it at
http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
- or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59
- Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+ or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
+ 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
+ USA
$Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
+ Revision 2.23 2006/10/02 22:43:53 hal9
+ Contains new filter definitions from Fabian, and few other miscellaneous
+ touch-ups.
+
+ Revision 2.22 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9
+ Final commit of probably various minor changes here and there. Unless
+ something changes this should be ready for pending release.
+
+ Revision 2.21 2006/09/20 03:21:36 david__schmidt
+ Just the tiniest tweak. Wafer thin!
+
+ Revision 2.20 2006/09/10 14:53:54 hal9
+ Results of spell check. User manual has some updates to standard.actions file
+ info.
+
+ Revision 2.19 2006/09/08 12:19:02 fabiankeil
+ Adjust hide-if-modified-since example values
+ to reflect the recent changes.
+
+ Revision 2.18 2006/09/08 02:38:57 hal9
+ Various changes:
+ -Fix a number of broken links.
+ -Migrate the new Windows service command line options, and reference as
+ needed.
+ -Rebuild so that can be used with the new "user-manual" config capabilities.
+ -Etc.
+
+ Revision 2.17 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
+ Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
+
Revision 2.16 2006/09/02 12:49:37 hal9
Various small updates for new actions, filterfiles, etc.
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff