<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN" [
-<!entity % dummy "INCLUDE">
+<!entity % dummy "IGNORE">
<!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
<!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
<!entity p-intro SYSTEM "privoxy.sgml">
<!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
<!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
<!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
-<!entity p-version "2.9.14">
+<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
+<!entity p-version "2.9.15">
<!entity p-status "beta">
<!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
<!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
<!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
<!entity % p-readme "IGNORE">
+<!entity % p-config "IGNORE">
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+<!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
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<!--
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 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes Exp $
-
- Written by and Copyright (C) 2001 the SourceForge
- Privoxy team. http://www.privoxy.org/
-
- Based on the Internet Junkbuster originally written
- by and Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and
- Junkbusters Corporation. http://www.junkbusters.com
+ $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes Exp $
+ Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
+ See LICENSE.
========================================================================
NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
<article id="index">
<artheader>
+
<title>Privoxy User Manual</title>
-<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>
+ <subscript>
+<!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
+<!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
+ <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001, 2002 by
+ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
+ </subscript>
+</pubdate>
+
+<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes Exp $</pubdate>
+
+<!--
+
+Note: the following should generate a separate page, and a live link to it,
+all nicely done. But it doesn't for some mysterious reason. Please leave
+commented unless it can be fixed proper. For the time being, the
+copyright/license declarations will be in their own sgml.
+
+Hal.
+
+<copyright>
+ <year>2001</year>
+ <year>2002</year>
+ <holder>Privoxy Developers</holder>
+</copyright>
+
+<legalnotice id="legalnotice">
+ <para>
+ text goes here ........
+ </para>
+</legalnotice>
+
+-->
-<authorgroup>
- <author>
- <affiliation>
- <orgname>By: Privoxy Developers</orgname>
- </affiliation>
- </author>
-</authorgroup>
<abstract>
+
<![%dummy;[
<para>
<comment>
The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
<ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/"><application>Privoxy</application></ulink>.
- </para>
+ </para>
<!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
&p-intro;
url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
Please see the <ulink url="contact.html">Contact section</ulink> on how to
contact the developers.
- </para>
+ </para>
<!-- <para> -->
<!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
</artheader>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="intro" label=""><title></title>
-<!-- dummy section to force TOC on page by itself -->
-<!-- DO NOT REMOVE! please ;) -->
-<para> </para>
-</sect1>
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
<sect1 label="1" id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
-
<para>
This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
<application>Privoxy</application>, v.&p-version;<![%p-not-stable;[,
stable v3.0 is <quote>soon</quote> ;-)]]>.
</para>
-<![%p-not-stable;[
<!-- include only in non-stable versions -->
+<![%p-not-stable;[
<para>
Since this is a &p-status; version, not all new features are well tested. This
documentation may be slightly out of sync as a result (especially with
]]>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="newfeatures">
-<title>New Features</title>
+<sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
<para>
In addition to <application>Internet Junkbuster's</application> traditional
features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
<application>Privoxy</application> provides new features<![%p-not-stable;[,
some of them currently under development]]>:
-<anchor id="testing"/>
</para>
-
<!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
&newfeatures;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<application>Privoxy</application> is available both in convenient pre-compiled
packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code.
For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our
- <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project Page</ulink>.
+ <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project
+ Page</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
- If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
- possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
- version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
- CVS repository</ulink> or simply download <ulink
- url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.gz">the nightly CVS
- tarball.</ulink>
+ Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
+ <application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
+ will need to remove it. Some platforms do this 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.
</para>
-<!-- Include supported.sgml boilerplate -->
- &supported;
-<!-- end boilerplate -->
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="installation-packages"><title>Binary Packages</title>
-
<para>
- Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
- <application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
- will either need to remove it, or that might be done by the setup
- procedure. (See below for your platform).
+How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
</para>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat and SuSE RPMs</title>
+
<para>
- In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration
- if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> In that case, also see the
- <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link>.
+ RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
+ and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location
+ of configuration files.
</para>
<para>
- How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
+ Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
+ <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
+ need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
+ <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will
+automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
</para>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Redhat and SuSE RPMs</title>
-
<para>
- RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh <name-of-rpm.rpm></literal>,
- and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for configuration files.
+ If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM:
+ <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm;</literal>. This
+ will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version.
</para>
<para>
-
Note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
+
Also note that if you have a <application>Junkbuster</application> RPM installed
on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
+ Otherwise, RPM will try to remove <application>Junkbuster</application>
+ automatically, before installing <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
</sect3>
<para>
Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
- the installation process.
+ the installation process. You will find the configuration files
+ in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not
+ use the registry of Windows.
</para>
</sect3>
First, make sure that no previous installations of
<application>Junkbuster</application> and / or
<application>Privoxy</application> are left on your
- system.
+ system. You can do this by
</para>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Max OSX</title>
<para>
- FIXME.
+ Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file
+ in the finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then,
+ double-click on the package installer icon and follow the installation
+ process.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the subdirectory
+ <literal>/Applications/Privoxy.app</literal>.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will set itself up to start
+ automatically on system bring-up via
+ <literal>/System/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
</para>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect3 id="installation-amiga"><title>AmigaOS</title>
<para>
- Unpack the <literal>.lha</literal> archive, then FIXME.
+ Copy and then unpack the <filename>lha</filename> archive to a suitable location.
+ All necessary files will be installed into <application>Privoxy</application>
+ directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just
+ remove this directory.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Start <application>Privoxy</application> (with RUN <>NIL:) in your
+ <filename>startnet</filename> script (AmiTCP), in
+ <filename>s:user-startup</filename> (RoadShow), as startup program in your
+ startup script (Genesis), or as startup action (Miami and MiamiDx).
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will automatically quit when you quit your
+ TCP/IP stack (just ignore the harmless warning your TCP/IP stack may display that
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is still running).
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="installation-source"><title>Building from Source</title>
+<para>
+ The most convenient way to obtain the <application>Privoxy</application> sources
+ is to download the source tarball from our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project
+ page</ulink>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
+ possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
+ version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
+ CVS repository</ulink> or simply download <ulink
+ url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.gz">the nightly CVS
+ tarball.</ulink>
+</para>
+
<!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
&buildsource;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
+
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="upgradersnote">
+<sect1 id="upgradersnote">
<title>Note to Upgraders</title>
<para>
- There are very significant changes from older versions of
- <application>Junkbuster</application> to the current
- <application>Privoxy</application>. Configuration is substantially
- changed. <application>Junkbuster 2.0.x</application> and earlier
- configuration files will not migrate. The functionality of the old
- <filename>blockfile</filename>, <filename>cookiefile</filename> and
- <filename>imagelist</filename>, are now combined into the
- <quote>actions file</quote> (<filename>default.action</filename>
- for most installations).
+ There are very significant changes from earlier
+ <application>Junkbuster</application> versions to the current
+ <application>Privoxy</application>. The number, names, syntax, and
+ purposes of configuration files have substantially changed.
+ <application>Junkbuster 2.0.x</application> configuration
+ files will not migrate, <application>Junkbuster 2.9.x</application>
+ and <application>Privoxy</application> configurations will need to be
+ ported. The functionalities of the old <filename>blockfile</filename>,
+ <filename>cookiefile</filename> and <filename>imagelist</filename>
+ are now combined into the <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions
+ files</quote></ulink>.
+ <filename>default.action</filename>, is the main actions file. Local
+ exceptions should best be put into <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
<para>
- A <quote>filter file</quote> (typically <filename>default.filter</filename>)
- is new with <application>Privoxy 2.9.x</application>, and provides some
- of the new sophistication (explained below). <filename>config</filename> is
- much the same as before.
+ A <ulink url="filter-file.html"><quote>filter file</quote></ulink> (typically
+ <filename>default.filter</filename>) is new as of <application>Privoxy
+ 2.9.x</application>, and provides some of the new sophistication (explained
+ below). <filename>config</filename> is much the same as before.
</para>
<para>
If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config
files, and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files.
When porting personal rules over from the old <filename>blockfile</filename>
- to the new actions file, please note that even the pattern syntax has
- changed.
- If upgrading from 2.9.x development versions, it is still recommended
- to use the new configuration files.
+ to the new actions files, please note that even the pattern syntax has
+ changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x development versions, it is still
+ recommended to use the new configuration files.
</para>
<para>
A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
<para>
The primary configuration file for cookie management, ad and banner
blocking, and many other aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
- configuration is <filename>default.action</filename>. It is strongly
- recommended to become familiar with the new actions concept below,
- before modifying this file.
+ configuration is in the <ulink url="actions-file.html">actions
+ files</ulink>. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new
+ actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
+ should go into <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+</sect1>
-</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+<para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If upgrading, please back up any configuration files. See
+ the <link linkend="upgradersnote">Note to Upgraders</link> Section.
+ </para>
+</listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
+ linkend="installation">Installation Section</link> for platform specific
+ information.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Start <application>Privoxy</application>, if the installation program has
+ not done this already. See the section <link linkend="startup">Starting
+ <application>Privoxy</application></link>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Set your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application> as HTTP and HTTPS
+ proxy 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>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Flush your browser's caches, to remove any cached ad images.
+ </para>
+</listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. You may want to customize the
+ <link linkend="actions-file"><filename>user.action</filename></link> file to
+ personalize your new browsing experience. See the <link
+ linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more configuration
+ options, and how to further customize your installation.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If you experience problems with sites that <quote>misbehave</quote>, see
+ the <link linkend="actionsanat">Anatomy of an Action</link> section in the
+ Appendix.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <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
+ help.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+</sect1>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="startup">
+<sect1 id="startup">
<title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
<para>
- Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
- will want to configure your browser(s) to use <application>Privoxy</application>
- as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is localhost for the proxy address,
- and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one required
- configuration that must be done!
+ 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
+ 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!
</para>
<para>
For <application>Internet Explorer</application>: <literal>Tools ->
Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting</literal>. Then,
check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info (Address:
- localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
+ 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
</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
- <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ <application>Privoxy</application>!
</para>
-
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> is typically started by specifying the
- main configuration file to be used on the command line. Example Unix startup
- command:
+ main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
+ file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
+ will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
+ directory. Except on Win32 where it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>.
+</para>
+
+<sect2 id="start-redhatdebian">
+<title>RedHat and Debian</title>
+<para>
+We use a script. Note that RedHat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
+default. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its
+main configuration file. FIXME: Debian??
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
+</screen>
</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="start-suse">
+<title>SuSE</title>
+<para>
+We use a script. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename>
+as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting
+your PC.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ # rcprivoxy start
+</screen>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-windows">
+<title>Windows</title>
+<para>
+Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. 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 upon booting you PC.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-unices">
+<title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</title>
+<para>
+Example Unix startup command:
+</para>
<para>
<screen>
-
# /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="start-os2">
+<title>OS/2</title>
<para>
- An init script is provided for SuSE and Redhat.
+FIXME.
</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="start-macosx">
+<title>MAX OSX</title>
<para>
- For for SuSE: <command>rcprivoxy start</command>
+FIXME.
</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-amigaos">
+<title>AmigaOS</title>
<para>
- For RedHat: <command>/etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start</command>
+FIXME.
</para>
+</sect2>
+<!--
<para>
- If no configuration file is specified on the command line,
- <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
- <filename>config</filename> in the current directory. Except on Win32 where
- it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>. If no file is specified on the
- command line and no default configuration file can be found,
- <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
+ See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
+ furher info.
</para>
+must find a better place for this paragraph
<para>
The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the
- <quote>actions</quote> files. These are where various cookie actions are
- defined, ad and banner blocking, and other aspects of
- <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several such
- files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions</quote></ulink> files. These are
+ where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
+ aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several
+ such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
</para>
<para>
- You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites that require persistent
- cookies, and add these to <filename>default.action</filename> as needed. By
+ You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
+ persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
- session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), until you add them to the
+ session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
- to edit <filename>default.action</filename> and disable this feature. If you
- use more than one browser, it would make more sense to let
- <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which case, the
- browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
+ to edit <filename>user.action</filename> (or through the web based interface)
+ and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
+ more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
+ case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
</para>
<para>
Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
- sites is the popup-killing (through the <literal>+popup</literal> and
- <literal>+filter{popups}</literal> actions), because your favorite shopping,
- banking, or leisure site may need popups.
+ sites is the popup-killing (through the <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink> and
+ <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>
+ actions), because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
+ popups (explained below).
</para>
<para>
(like <application>Mozilla</application> or recent versions of I.E.), you might
try to force HTTP/1.0 compatibility. For Mozilla, look under <literal>Edit ->
Preferences -> Debug -> Networking</literal>.
- Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade</quote> config option in
+ Alternatively, set the <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> config option in
<filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
requests from HTTP/1.1 to HTTP/1.0 before processing them.
</para>
After running <application>Privoxy</application> for a while, you can
start to fine tune the configuration to suit your personal, or site,
preferences and requirements. There are many, many aspects that can
- be customized. <quote>Actions</quote> (as specified in <filename>default.action</filename>)
+ be customized. <quote>Actions</quote>
can be adjusted by pointing your browser to
<ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
(shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>),
- and then follow the link to <quote>edit the actions list</quote>.
+ and then follow the link to <quote>View & Change the Current Configuration</quote>.
(This is an internal page and does not require Internet access.)
</para>
configuration can be viewed from this page, including
current configuration parameters, source code version numbers,
the browser's request headers, and <quote>actions</quote> that apply
- to a given URL. In addition to the <filename>default.action</filename> file
+ to a given URL. In addition to the actions file
editor mentioned above, <application>Privoxy</application> can also
be turned <quote>on</quote> and <quote>off</quote> (toggled) from this page.
</para>
<para>
If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <ulink
- url="configuration.html#ACTIONSFILE">read more about the actions concept</ulink>
+ url="actions-file.html#ACTIONSFILE">read more about the actions concept</ulink>
or even dive deep into the <ulink url="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">Appendix
on actions</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
- chapter "Contacting the Developers, .." below.
+ section <ulink url="contact.html"><quote>Contacting the
+ Developers</quote></ulink> below.
</para>
-</sect2>
-
+-->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2>
+<sect2 id="cmdoptions">
<title>Command Line Options</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> may be invoked with the following
<emphasis>--version</emphasis>
</para>
<para>
- Print version info and exit, Unix only.
+ Print version info and exit. Unix only.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<emphasis>--help</emphasis>
</para>
<para>
- Print a short usage info and exit, Unix only.
+ Print short usage info and exit. Unix only.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</para>
<para>
Don't become a daemon, i.e. don't fork and become process group
- leader, don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
+ leader, and don't detach from controlling tty. Unix only.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
<quote>config</quote> in the current directory (except on Win32
where it will look for <quote>config.txt</quote> instead). Specify
- full path to avoid confusion.
+ full path to avoid confusion. If no config file is found,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
</para>
</listitem>
in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
Many important aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> can
also be controlled easily with a web browser.
-
</para>
</para>
-<para>
- <screen>
+<!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
+<screen>
+ <msgtext>
+ <bridgehead renderas="sect2">Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
-Please choose from the following options:
-
- * Privoxy main page
- * Show information about the current configuration
- * Show the source code version numbers
- * Show the request headers.
- * Show which actions apply to a URL and why
- * Toggle Privoxy on or off
- * Edit the actions list
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View & change the current configuration</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">View the source code version numbers</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-request">View the request headers.</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">Look up which actions apply to a URL and why</ulink>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">Toggle Privoxy on or off</ulink>
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </msgtext>
+</screen>
- </screen>
-</para>
<para>
- This should be self-explanatory. Note the last item is an editor for the
- <quote>actions list</quote>, which is where much of the ad, banner, cookie,
- and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
+ This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
+ <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, which is where the ad, banner,
+ cookie, and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
<application>Privoxy</application>. This is an easy way to adjust various
aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. The actions
file, and other configuration files, are explained in detail below.
have problems with your current actions and filters. You can in fact use
it as a test to see whether it is <application>Privoxy</application>
causing the problem or not. <application>Privoxy</application> continues
- to run as a proxy in this case, but all filtering is disabled. There
- is even a toggle Bookmarklet offered, so that you can toggle
- <application>Privoxy</application> with one click from your browser.
-
+ to run as a proxy in this case, but all manipulation is disabled, i.e.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal forwarding proxy. There
+ is even a toggle <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklet</link> offered, so
+ that you can toggle <application>Privoxy</application> with one click from
+ your browser.
</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2>
+<sect2 id="confoverview">
<title>Configuration Files Overview</title>
<para>
For Unix, *BSD and Linux, all configuration files are located in
</para>
<para>
- The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though possibly
- aggressive by some standards. For the time being, there are only three
- default configuration files (this may change in time):
+ The installed defaults provide a reasonable starting point, though
+ some settings may be aggressive by some standards. For the time being, the
+ principle configuration files are:
</para>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- The main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename>
+ The <link linkend="config">main configuration file</link> is named <filename>config</filename>
on Linux, Unix, BSD, OS/2, and AmigaOS and <filename>config.txt</filename>
- on Windows.
+ on Windows. This is a required file.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>default.action</filename> (the actions file) is used to define
- which of a set of various <quote>actions</quote> relating to images, banners,
- pop-ups, access restrictions, banners and cookies are to be applied where.
- There is a web based editor for this file that can be accessed at <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions/">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions/</ulink>
- (Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/edit-actions/">http://p.p/edit-actions/</ulink>).
- (Other actions files are included as well with differing levels of filtering
- and blocking, e.g. <filename>basic.action</filename>.)
+ <filename>default.action</filename> (the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>)
+ is used to define which <quote>actions</quote> relating to banner-blocking, images, pop-ups,
+ content modification, cookie handling etc should be applied by default. It also defines many
+ exceptions (both positive and negative) from this default set of actions that enable
+ <application>Privoxy</application> to selectively eliminate the junk, and only the junk, on
+ as many websites as possible.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Multiple actions files may be defined in <filename>config</filename>. These
+ are processed in the order they are defined. Local customizations and locally
+ preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
+ <filename>default.action</filename> (which you will most propably want
+ to define sooner or later) are probably best applied in
+ <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can preserve them across
+ upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is for
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
+ <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
+ (Shortcut: <ulink
+ url="http://p.p/show-status">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>) for the
+ various actions files.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>default.filter</filename> (the filter file) can be used to re-write the raw
- page content, including viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript,
- and whatever else lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only
- pre-defined here; whether to apply them or not is up to the actions file.
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
+ file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
+ viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
+ lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
+ whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
</para>
</listitem>
</para>
<para>
- <filename>default.action</filename> and <filename>default.filter</filename>
- can use Perl style regular expressions for maximum flexibility.
+ The actions files and <filename>default.filter</filename>
+ can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
+ maximum flexibility.
</para>
<para>
please check all your configuration files on important issues.
</para>
]]>
+
</sect2>
+</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
-<sect2>
+<sect1 id="config">
<title>The Main Configuration File</title>
+
<para>
Again, the main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename> on
Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2, and <filename>config.txt</filename> on Windows.
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis></literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2 id="conf-log-loc">
<title>Configuration and Log File Locations</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> can (and normally does) use a number of
- other files for additional configuration and logging.
+ other files for additional configuration, help and logging.
This section of the configuration file tells <application>Privoxy</application>
where to find those other files.
</para>
+<para>
+ The user running Privoxy, must have read permission for all
+ configuration files, and write permission to any files that would
+ be modified, such as log files.
+</para>
-<sect4><title>confdir</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>logdir</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4><title>actionsfile</title>
+</sect3>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="actionsfile"><title>
+actionsfile
+</title>
+<anchor id="default.action">
+<anchor id="standard.action">
+<anchor id="user.action">
+<!-- Note: slightly modified this section 04/28/02, hal. See NOTE. -->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The actions file to use
+ The <link linkend="actions-file">actions file(s)</link> to use
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type of value:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
+ <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal>, without the <literal>.action</literal> suffix</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Default value:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>default.action (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> default.action.txt (Windows)</para>
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ <msgtext><literallayout> standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended</literallayout></msgtext>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ <msgtext><literallayout> default # Main actions file</literallayout></msgtext>
+ </member>
+ <member>
+ <msgtext><literallayout> user # User customizations</literallayout></msgtext>
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Effect if unset:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- No action is taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
+ No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without
- an actions file. There are three different actions files included in the
- distribution, with varying degrees of aggressiveness:
- <filename>default.action</filename>, <filename>intermediate.action</filename> and
- <filename>advanced.action</filename>.
+ Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
+ purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the
+ <quote>main</quote> actions file maintained by the developers, and
+ <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can make your personal additions.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Actions files are where all the per site and per URL configuration is done for
+ ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc.
+ There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without at
+ least one actions file.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4><title>filterfile</title>
+</sect3>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filterfile"><title>filterfile</title>
+<anchor id="default.filter">
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The filter file to use
+ The <link linkend="filter">filter</link> file to use
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<para>
No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all
<literal>+filter{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
- actions in the actions file are turned off
+ actions in the actions files are turned neutral.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>logfile</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<para>
Your logfile will grow indefinitely, and you will probably want to
periodically remove it. On Unix systems, you can do this with a cron job
- (see <quote>man cron</quote>). For Redhat, a <command>logrotate</command>
+ (see <quote>man cron</quote>). For Red Hat, a <command>logrotate</command>
script has been included.
</para>
<para>
the effect that cron.daily will automatically archive, gzip, and empty the
log, when it exceeds 1M size.
</para>
+ <para>
+ Any log files must be writable by whatever user <application>Privoxy</application>
+ is being run as (default on UNIX, user id is <quote>privoxy</quote>).
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>jarfile</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jarfile"><title>jarfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4><title>trustfile</title>
+</sect3>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2 id="local-set-up">
<title>Local Set-up Documentation</title>
<para>
you, what you block and why you do that, your policies etc.
</para>
-<sect4><title>trust-info-url</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="user-manual"><title>user-manual</title>
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Location of the <application>Privoxy</application> User Manual.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>A fully qualified URI</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Default value:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/<replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable>/user-manual/</ulink>
+ will be used, where <replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable> is the <application>Privoxy</application> version.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The User Manual URI is used for help links from some of the internal CGI pages.
+ The manual itself is normally packaged with the binary distributions, so you propably want
+ to set this to a locally installed copy. For multi-user setups, you could provide a copy on
+ a local webserver for all your users and use the corresponding URL here.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Examples:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Unix, in local filesystem:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Any platform, on local webserver (called <quote>local-webserver</quote>):
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>user-manual http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/</screen>
+ </para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ If set, this option should be <emphasis>the first option in the config file</emphasis>, because
+ it is used while the config file is being read.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>admin-address</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>proxy-info-url</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+
+</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2 id="debugging">
<title>Debugging</title>
<para>
command line option when debugging.
</para>
-<sect4><title>debug</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="debug"><title>debug</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
- </programlisting>
+</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>single-threaded</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+</sect2>
-<sect3>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect2 id="access-control">
<title>Access Control and Security</title>
<para>
of <application>Privoxy</application>'s configuration.
</para>
-<sect4><title>listen-address</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<para>[<replaceable class="parameter">IP-Address</replaceable>]:<replaceable class="parameter">Port</replaceable></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Default value:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>localhost:8118</para>
+ <para>127.0.0.1:8118</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Effect if unset:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Bind to localhost (127.0.0.1), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for
+ Bind to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for
home users who run <application>Privoxy</application> on the same machine as
their browser.
</para>
<para>
If you leave out the IP address, <application>Privoxy</application> will
bind to all interfaces (addresses) on your machine and may become reachable
- from the Internet. In that case, consider using access control lists (acl's)
+ from the Internet. In that case, consider using access control lists (ACL's)
(see <quote>ACLs</quote> below), or a firewall.
</para>
</listitem>
<para>
<programlisting>
listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
- </programlisting>
+</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>toggle</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
proxy. See <literal>enable-remote-toggle</literal>
below. This is not really useful anymore, since toggling is much easier
via <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">the web
- interface</ulink> then via editing the <filename>conf</filename> file.
+ interface</ulink> than via editing the <filename>conf</filename> file.
</para>
<para>
The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">web-based actions
+ Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions
file editor</ulink> may be used
</para>
</listitem>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="acls"><title>
+ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
+<anchor id="permit-acces">
+<anchor id="deny-acces">
-<sect4><title>ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
administrators, and <emphasis>are not usually needed by individual users</emphasis>.
For a typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that
- <application>Privoxy</application> only listens on the localhost or internal (home)
- network address by means of the <literal>listen-address</literal> option.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> only listens on the localhost
+ (127.0.0.1) or internal (home) network address by means of the
+ <literal>listen-address</literal> option.
</para>
<para>
Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a substitute
<para>
<screen>
permit-access localhost
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
<para>
<screen>
permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
<screen>
permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>buffer-limit</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="forwarding">
+<sect2 id="forwarding">
<title>Forwarding</title>
<para>
supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols.
</para>
-<sect4><title>forward</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward"><title>forward</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</para>
<para>
Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
- chapter on domain matching in the actions file),
+ chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is the address of the parent HTTP proxy
as an IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or as a valid DNS name (or <quote>.</quote> to denote
<quote>no forwarding</quote>, and the optional
<screen>
forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
forward :443 .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests
<screen>
forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
forward .example-isp.net .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="socks"><title>
+forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
+<anchor id="forward-socks4">
+<anchor id="forward-socks4a">
-<sect4><title>forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</para>
<para>
Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
- chapter on domain matching in the actions file),
+ chapter on domain matching in the <filename>default.action</filename> file),
<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> and <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>
are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid DNS names (<replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>
may be <quote>.</quote> to denote <quote>no HTTP forwarding</quote>), and the optional
<screen>
forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
forward .example.com .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent looks like this:
<para>
<screen>
forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
<para>
If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content
<screen>
forward .*. .
forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<screen>
forward .*. .
forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
always_direct allow ftp
# Forward all the rest to Privoxy
- never_direct allow all
- </screen>
+ never_direct allow all</screen>
</para>
<para>
Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult <literal>http_port</literal> in <filename>squid.conf</filename>.
</para>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2 id="windows-gui">
<title>Windows GUI Options</title>
-<!--
-Removed references to Win32. HB 09/23/01
--->
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> has a number of options specific to the
Windows GUI interface:
</para>
+<anchor id="activity-animation">
<para>
If <quote>activity-animation</quote> is set to 1, the
<application>Privoxy</application> icon will animate when
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-messages">
<para>
If <quote>log-messages</quote> is set to 1,
<application>Privoxy</application> will log messages to the console
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-buffer-size">
<para>
If <quote>log-buffer-size</quote> is set to 1, the size of the log buffer,
i.e. the amount of memory used for the log messages displayed in the
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-max-lines">
<para>
<application>log-max-lines</application> is the maximum number of lines held
in the log buffer. See above.
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-highlight-messages">
<para>
If <quote>log-highlight-messages</quote> is set to 1,
<application>Privoxy</application> will highlight portions of the log
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-font-name">
<para>
The font used in the console window:
</para>
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="log-font-size">
<para>
Font size used in the console window:
</para>
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="show-on-task-bar">
<para>
<quote>show-on-task-bar</quote> controls whether or not
<application>Privoxy</application> will appear as a button on the Task bar
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="close-button-minimizes">
<para>
If <quote>close-button-minimizes</quote> is set to 1, the Windows close
button will minimize <application>Privoxy</application> instead of closing
</literal>
</para>
+<anchor id="hide-console">
<para>
The <quote>hide-console</quote> option is specific to the MS-Win console
version of <application>Privoxy</application>. If this option is used,
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- #hide-console
+ #<emphasis>hide-console</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
</para>
-</sect3>
</sect2>
+</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="actionsfile">
-<title>The Actions File</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
+
+<para>
+ The actions files are used to define what actions
+ <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determine
+ how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
+ transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
+ are three such files included with <application>Privoxy</application> (as of
+ version 2.9.15), with differing purposes:
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used by the web based editor,
+ 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.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <filename>default.action</filename> - is the primary action file
+ 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.
+ This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and making
+ available to users.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <filename>user.action</filename> - is intended to be for local site
+ preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
+ has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
+ thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+
+<para>
+ The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
+ file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these
+ can all be viewed and edited from <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
+</para>
<para>
- The actions file (<filename>default.action</filename>, formerly:
- <filename>actionsfile</filename> or <filename>ijb.action</filename>) is used
- to define what actions <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which
- URLs, and thus determines how ad images, cookies and various other aspects
- of HTTP content and transactions are handled on which sites (or even parts
- thereof).
+ An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
+ <quote>aliases</quote> in an actions file, you have to place the (optional)
+ <link linkend="aliases">alias section</link> at the top of that file.
+ Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all
+ sites and pages (be <emphasis>very careful</emphasis> with using such a
+ universal set in <filename>user.action</filename> or any other actions file after
+ <filename>default.action</filename>, because it will override the result
+ from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
+ exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
+ <filename>user.action</filename> as an appendix to <filename>default.action</filename>,
+ with the advantage that is a separate file, which makes preserving your
+ personal settings across <application>Privoxy</application> upgrades easier.
</para>
<para>
- Anything you want can blocked, including ads, banners, or just some obnoxious
- URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted or rejected, or
- accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written to disk),
- content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking fooled, and much more.
- See below for a complete list of available actions.
+ Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
+ just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
+ or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
+ written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
+ fooled, and much more. See below for a <link linkend="actions">complete list
+ of actions</link>.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2>
<title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
<para>
- Note that some actions like cookie suppression or script disabling may
- render some sites unusable, which rely on these techniques to work properly.
- Finding the right mix of actions is not easy and certainly a matter of personal
- taste. In general, it can be said that the more <quote>aggressive</quote>
- your default settings (in the top section of the actions file) are,
- the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you will have to
- make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per default, you'll
- have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you regularly use
- and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe your bank,
- favorite shop, or newspaper.
+ Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
+ or script disabling, may render some sites unusable 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
+ <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
+ actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
+ will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
+ default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
+ regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
+ your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
</para>
<para>
We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
- distribution actions file. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
+ distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
- Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter).
+ Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2>
<title>How to Edit</title>
<para>
- The easiest way to edit the <quote>actions</quote> file is with a browser by
- using our browser-based editor, which is available at <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions</ulink>.
+ The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
+ using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
+ 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>Advanced</quote>.
</para>
<para>
If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
- <filename>default.action</filename> file.
+ the actions files. Look at <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly
+ commented.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
-<sect3>
+<sect2>
<title>How Actions are Applied to URLs</title>
<para>
- The actions file is divided into sections. There are special sections,
- like the alias sections which will be discussed later. For now let's
- concentrate on regular sections: They have a heading line (often split
+ Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
+ like the <quote><link linkend="aliases">alias</link></quote> sections which will be discussed later. For now
+ let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a heading line (often split
up to multiple lines for readability) which consist of a list of actions,
separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces. Below that, there
is a list of URL patterns, each on a separate line.
<para>
To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
- compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the list of
+ compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of
applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
- the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins.
+ the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
+ the effects are aggregated (e.g. a URL might match both the
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
+ and <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> actions).
+
</para>
<para>
- You can trace this process by visiting <ulink
+ 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>
More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
Anatomy of an Action</link>.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2>
<title>Patterns</title>
<para>
Generally, a pattern has the form <literal><domain>/<path></literal>,
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-<sect4><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
<para>
The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
-<sect4><title>The Path Pattern</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
<para>
Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
- i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote>.
+ i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
+ for the beginning of a line).
</para>
<para>
documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
<emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
</para>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+</sect2>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2 id="actions">
<title>Actions</title>
<para>
- Actions are enabled if preceded with a <quote>+</quote>, and disabled if
- preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. Actions are invoked by enclosing the
- action name in curly braces (e.g. {+some_action}), followed by a list of
- URLs to which the action applies. There are three classes of actions:
+ All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
+ somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
+ <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
+ <literal>+action</literal> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
+ <literal>+block</literal> means <quote>please block URLs that match the
+ following patterns</quote>, and <literal>-block</literal> means <quote>don't
+ block URLs that match the following patterns, even if <literal>+block</literal>
+ previously applied.</quote>
+
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and
+ separated by whitespace, like in
+ <literal>{+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}</literal>,
+ followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply.
+ Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section
+ of the actions file.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ There are three classes of actions:
</para>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
-
<listitem>
<para>
- Boolean (e.g. <quote>+/-block</quote>):
+ Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>enabled</quote> or
+ <quote>disabled</quote>. Syntax:
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name}</emphasis> # enable this action
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable this action
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ <screen>
+ +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # enable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>
+ -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Example: <literal>+block</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- parameterized (e.g. <quote>+/-hide-user-agent</quote>):
+ Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
+ Syntax:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+ +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and set parameter to <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>,
+ # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
+ -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</screen>
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name{param}}</emphasis> # enable action and set parameter to <quote>param</quote>
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable action
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
+ the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- Multi-value (e.g. <quote>{+/-add-header{Name: value}}</quote>, <quote>{+/-wafer{name=value}}</quote>):
+ Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
+ but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
+ same URL, but with different parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> the parameters
+ from <emphasis>all</emphasis> matches are remembered. This is used for actions
+ that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
+ headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name{param}}</emphasis> # enable action and add parameter <quote>param</quote>
- <emphasis>{-name{param}}</emphasis> # remove the parameter <quote>param</quote>
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable this action totally
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ <screen>
+ +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and add <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> to the list of parameters
+ -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # remove the parameter <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> from the list of parameters
+ # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
+ <replaceable class="parameter">-name</replaceable> # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Examples: <literal>+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</literal> and
+ <literal>+filter{html-annoyances}</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
</para>
<para>
- If nothing is specified in this file, no <quote>actions</quote> are taken.
- So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
- normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically
- enable the privacy and blocking features you need (although the
- provided default <filename>default.action</filename> file will
- give a good starting point).
+ If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <quote>actions</quote> are
+ taken. So in this case <application>Privoxy</application> would just be a
+ normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
+ privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
+ files will give a good starting point).
</para>
<para>
Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
- to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file. For
- multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are
- specified.
+ to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
+ in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
+ multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
+ Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
+ <filename>config</filename> (the default installation has three actions
+ files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
+ one pattern and thus more than one set of actions!
</para>
+<!-- start actions listing -->
<para>
- The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>actions</quote> are:
+ The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> actions are:
</para>
-<para>
- <itemizedlist>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Add the specified HTTP header, which is not checked for validity.
- You may specify this many times to specify many different headers:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+add-header{Name: value}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Block this URL totally. In a default installation, a <quote>blocked</quote>
- URL will result in bright red banner that says <quote>BLOCKED</quote>,
- with a reason why it is being blocked, and an option to see it anyway.
- The page displayed for this is the <quote>blocked</quote> template
- file.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+block</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- De-animate all animated GIF images, i.e. reduce them to their last frame.
- This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
- the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
- is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last frame
- of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for most
- banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire last
- frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+deanimate-gifs{last}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+deanimate-gifs{first}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <quote>+downgrade</quote> will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to
- HTTP/1.0 and downgrade the responses as well. Use this action for servers
- that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that
- <application>Privoxy</application> doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1
- is only partially implemented. Default is not to downgrade requests.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+downgrade</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
- will link to some script on their own server, giving the destination as a
- parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs resulting
- from this scheme typically look like:
- <emphasis>http://some.place/some_script?http://some.where-else</emphasis>.
- </para>
- <para>
- Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
- URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
- since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go to.
- Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your browser
- ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds the
- advertisers.
- </para>
- <para>
- The <quote>+fast-redirects</quote> option enables interception of these
- types of requests by <application>Privoxy</application>, who will cut off
- all but the last valid URL in the request and send a local redirect back to
- your browser without contacting the intermediate site(s).
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+fast-redirects</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Apply the filters in the <literal>section_header</literal>
- section of the <filename>default.filter</filename> file to the site(s).
- <filename>default.filter</filename> sections are grouped according to like
- functionality. <application>Filters</application> can be used to
- re-write any of the raw page content. This is a potentially a
- very powerful feature!
- </para>
-
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+filter{section_header}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- <para>
- Filter sections that are pre-defined in the supplied
- <filename>default.filter</filename> include:
- </para>
+<!-- ********************************************************** -->
+<!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
+<!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
+<!-- -->
+<!-- ********************************************************** -->
- <blockquote>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>html-annoyances</emphasis>: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>js-annoyances</emphasis>: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>content-cookies</emphasis>: Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>popups</emphasis>: Kill all popups in JS and HTML
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>frameset-borders</emphasis>: Give frames a border and make them resizable
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>webbugs</emphasis>: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>refresh-tags</emphasis>: Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>fun</emphasis>: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>nimda</emphasis>: Remove Nimda (virus) code.
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>banners-by-size</emphasis>: Kill banners by size (<emphasis>very</emphasis> efficient!)
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>shockwave-flash</emphasis>: Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>crude-parental</emphasis>: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- </blockquote>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
- <para>
- Note: Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to slow down
- page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has passed
- the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way since
- the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more noticeable
- on slower connections.
-</para>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
+<title><emphasis>add-header</emphasis></title>
- </listitem>
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Block any existing X-Forwarded-for header, and do not add a new one:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+hide-forwarded</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- If the browser sends a <quote>From:</quote> header containing your e-mail
- address, this either completely removes the header (<quote>block</quote>), or
- changes it to the specified e-mail address.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+hide-from{block}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+hide-from{spam@sittingduck.xqq}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Multi-value.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Don't send the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) header to the web site. You
- can block it, forge a URL to the same server as the request (which is
- preferred because some sites will not send images otherwise) or set it to a
- constant, user defined string of your choice.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+hide-referer{block}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+hide-referer{forge}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+hide-referer{http://nowhere.com}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
+ It is recommended that you use the <quote><literal>X-</literal></quote> prefix
+ for custom headers.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Alternative spelling of <quote>+hide-referer</quote>. It has the same
- parameters, and can be freely mixed with, <quote>+hide-referer</quote>.
- (<quote>referrer</quote> is the correct English spelling, however the HTTP
- specification has a bug - it requires it to be spelled <quote>referer</quote>.)
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+hide-referrer{...}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
+<varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
+ headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
+ <quote>HTTP headers</quote> are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
+ one.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Change the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> header so web servers can't tell your
- browser type. Warning! This breaks many web sites. Specify the
- user-agent value you want. Example, pretend to be using Netscape on
- Linux:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+hide-user-agent{Mozilla (X11; I; Linux 2.0.32 i586)}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- <!--
- <para>
- Or to identify yourself explicitly as a <application>Privoxy</application> user:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+hide-user-agent{Privoxy/1.0}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- (Don't change the version number from 1.0 - after all, why tell them?)
- <para>
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+hide-user-agent{browser-type}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
--->
- </listitem>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Treat this URL as an image. This only matters if it's also <quote>+block</quote>ed,
- in which case a <quote>blocked</quote> image can be sent rather than a HTML page.
- See <quote>+image-blocker{}</quote> below for the control over what is actually sent.
- If you want <emphasis>invisible</emphasis> ads, they should be defined as
- <emphasis>images</emphasis> and <emphasis>blocked</emphasis>. And also,
- <quote>image-blocker</quote> should be set to <quote>blank</quote>. Note you
- cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, frames
- require an HTML page to display. So a frame that is an ad, cannot be
- treated as an image. Forcing an <quote>image</quote> in this
- situation just will not work.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+image</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para> Decides what to do with URLs that end up tagged with <quote>{+block
- +image}</quote>, e.g an advertisement. There are four options.
- <quote>-image-blocker</quote> will send a HTML <quote>blocked</quote> page,
- usually resulting in a <quote>broken image</quote> icon.
-<!-- <quote>+image-blocker{logo}</quote> will send a -->
-<!-- <application>Privoxy</application> logo -->
-<!-- image. -->
-<quote>+image-blocker{blank}</quote> will send a 1x1 transparent GIF
-image. And finally, <quote>+image-blocker{http://xyz.com}</quote> will send a
-HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the advantage of the
-icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed up the display.
-<quote>+image-blocker{pattern}</quote> will send a checkerboard type pattern:
-<!-- , -->
-<!-- which scales better than the logo (which can get blocky if the browser -->
-<!-- enlarges it too much). -->
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
-<!-- <emphasis>+image-blocker{logo}</emphasis> -->
- <emphasis>+image-blocker{blank}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+image-blocker{pattern}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+image-blocker{http://p.p/send-banner}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- By default (i.e. in the absence of a <quote>+limit-connect</quote>
- action), <application>Privoxy</application> will only allow CONNECT
- requests to port 443, which is the standard port for https as a
- precaution.
- </para>
-
- <para>
- The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
- (https:// URLs) through proxies. It works very simply: the proxy
- connects to the server on the specified port, and then short-circuits
- its connections to the client <emphasis>and</emphasis> to the remote proxy.
- This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can
- be abused as TCP relays very easily.
- </para>
-
- <para>
- If you want to allow CONNECT for more ports than this, or want to forbid
- CONNECT altogether, you can specify a comma separated list of ports and
- port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum defaulting to 0 and
- max to 65K):
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need no be specified.</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100</emphasis>
- <emphasis> #and above 500 are OK.</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
+<title><emphasis>block</emphasis></title>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <quote>+no-compression</quote> prevents the website from compressing the
- data. Some websites do this, which can be a problem for
- <application>Privoxy</application>, since <quote>+filter</quote>,
- <quote>+no-popup</quote> and <quote>+gif-deanimate</quote> will not work on
- compressed data. This will slow down connections to those websites,
- though. Default is <quote>no-compression</quote> is turned on.
- </para>
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Block ads or other obnoxious content</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+nocompression</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- If the website sets cookies, <quote>no-cookies-keep</quote> will make sure
- they are erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes
- profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
- that you can log in for transactions. Default: on.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+no-cookies-keep</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <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.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>N/A</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> sends a special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
+ for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request
+ was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the
+ force feature enabled). The <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page adapts to the available
+ screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or minaturized and text-only
+ if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using <application>Privoxy</application>
+ right now, you can take a look at the
+ <ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
+ page</ulink>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A very important exception occurs if <emphasis>both</emphasis>
+ <literal>block</literal> and <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
+ apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
+ <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
+ (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
+ if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is important to understand this process, in order
+ to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
+ ads and other unwanted content.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
+ action can perform a very similar task, by <quote>blocking</quote>
+ banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
+ document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
+ Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <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>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
+<title><emphasis>crunch-incoming-cookies</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies. For
+ <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies, use
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
+ Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
+ with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
+ since it would prevent the session cookies from being set.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
+<title><emphasis>crunch-outgoing-cookies</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies. For
+ <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies, use
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
+ Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
+ with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
+ since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
+<title><emphasis>deanimate-gifs</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
+ the option <quote>first</quote> is given, the first frame of the animation
+ is used as the replacement. If <quote>last</quote> is given, the last
+ frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
+ most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
+ last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
+ objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
+ a GIF.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
+<title><emphasis>downgrade-http-version</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
+ didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
+ unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
+ out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there
+ is a chance you might need this action.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
+problem-host.example.com</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="fast-redirects">
+<title><emphasis>fast-redirects</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
+ will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
+ parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
+ resulting from this scheme typically look like:
+ <emphasis>http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?target=http://some.where.else</emphasis>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
+ URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
+ since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
+ to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
+ browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
+ the advertisers.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
+ It is likely to break some sites. There is a bunch of exceptions to this action in
+ <filename>default.action</filename>, should you decide to turn it on by default.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+fast-redirects}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
+<title><emphasis>filter</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action applies, are filterd on-the-fly
+ through the specified regular expression based substitutions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The name of a filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>
+ (typically <filename>default.filter</filename>, set by the
+ <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
+ option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>)
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ For your convenience, there are a bunch of pre-defined filters available
+ in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the example below for
+ a list.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This is potentially a very powerful feature! But <quote>rolling your own</quote>
+ filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
+ slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
+ passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
+ since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
+ noticeable on slower connections.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ At this time, <application>Privoxy</application> cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed
+ documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that
+ would normally be sent compressed, use the
+ <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
+ action in conjuction with <literal>filter</literal>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
+ action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or improved filters is particularly
+ welcome!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
+ <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size (<emphasis>very</emphasis> efficient!)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
+ <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-popups">
+ <screen>+filter{popups} # Kill all popups in JS and HTML</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
+ <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-fun">
+ <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
+ <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizable</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
+ <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-nimda">
+ <screen>+filter{nimda} # Remove Nimda (virus) code.</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
+ <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
+ <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
+<title><emphasis>handle-as-image</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis>)</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
+ If the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action <emphasis>also applies</emphasis>,
+ the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <quote>blocked</quote>
+ page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <literal><link
+ linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> action) will be sent to the
+ client as a substitute for the blocked content.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The below generic example section is actually part of <filename>default.action</filename>.
+ It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
+ be left intact.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
+ reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (inline) ad
+ frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
+ Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
+ ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Generic image extensions:
+#
+{+handle-as-image}
+/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
+
+# These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
+# blocked as images:
+#
+{+block +handle-as-image}
+some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi?output=trash
+
+# Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content?
+ad.doubleclick.net
+</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
+<title><emphasis>hide-forwarded-for-headers</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any existing <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> HTTP header from client requests,
+ and prevents adding a new one.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ It is fairly safe to leave this on.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged
+ <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> headers using random IP addresses from a specified network,
+ to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different
+ users sharing the same proxy.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
+<title><emphasis>hide-from-header</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
+ specified string.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
+ (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
+ action).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
+ server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
+ is actually used by a real person.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
+ <quote>From:</quote> headers anymore.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-from-header{block}</screen> or
+ <screen>+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
+<title><emphasis>hide-referrer</emphasis></title>
+<anchor id="hide-referer">
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
+ or replaces it with a forged one.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header completely.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>forge</quote> is the preferred option here, since some servers will
+ not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable
+ content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded
+ by <emphasis>their</emphasis> banners.
+ </para>
<para>
- Prevent the website from reading cookies:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+no-cookies-read</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ <literal>hide-referer</literal> is an alternate spelling of
+ <literal>hide-referrer</literal> and the two can be can be freely
+ substituted with each other. (<quote>referrer</quote> is the
+ correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
+ requires it to be spelled as <quote>referer</quote>.)
</para>
- </listitem>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-referrer{forge}</screen> or
+ <screen>+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
+<title><emphasis>hide-user-agent</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
+ in client requests with the specified value.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Any user-defined string.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Prevent the website from setting cookies:
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Warning! This breaks many web sites that depend on this in order
+ to customize their content for the different browser types by looking
+ at this header (which, btw, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> a smart way to
+ do that!).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever diffrerent types of
+ browsers will access the same <application>Privoxy</application> is
+ <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>. In single-user, single-browser
+ setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
+ the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
+ OS.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is scheduled for improvement.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popups">
+<title><emphasis>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens
+ pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This action is easily confused with a built-in harwired <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
+ action, but there are important differences: For <literal>kill-popups</literal>,
+ the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
+ downloading. But <literal>kill-popups</literal> doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
+ <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{popups}</literal> does.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
+ can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
+ sense to combine it with any <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action,
+ since as soon as one <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> applies,
+ the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
+ the <literal>kill-popups</literal> action over it's filter equivalent.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Killing all pop-ups is a dangerous business. Many shops and banks rely on
+ pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and killing only the unwanted pop-ups
+ would require artificial intelligance in <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
+ <emphasis>really nasty</emphasis> windows that appear when you close an other
+ one), you might want to use
+ <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{js-annoyances}</literal> instead.
+ </para>
+
+ <!--
+ <para>
+ An alternate spelling is <literal>+kill-popup</literal>, which is
+ interchangeable.
+ </para>
+ -->
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><screen>+kill-popups</screen></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
+<title><emphasis>limit-connect</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP relay</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
+ defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ By default, i.e. if no <literal>limit-connect</literal> action applies,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> only allows HTTP CONNECT
+ requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
+ <literal>limit-connect</literal> if more fine-grained control is desired
+ for some or all destinations.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
+ (<quote>https://</quote> URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
+ the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
+ short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
+ This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
+ abused as TCP relays very easily.
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+no-cookies-set</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
+ change this one, since the default is already very restrictive.
</para>
- </listitem>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usages:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
+ <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
+ <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
+ <para>
+ <screen>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
++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 (gaping security hole!)</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
+<title><emphasis>prevent-compression</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
+ passed through <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>s
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
+ is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the <literal><link
+ linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>, <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
+ and <literal><link linkend="kill-popups">kill-popups</link></literal> actions to work,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> needs access to the uncompressed data.
+ Unfortunately, <application>Privoxy</application> can't yet(!) uncompress, filter, and
+ re-compress the content on the fly. So if you want to ensure that all websites, including
+ those that normally compress, can be filtered, you need to use this action.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any of the above-mentioned
+ actions, you will typically want to use <literal>prevent-compression</literal> in conjunction
+ with them.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
+ documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you use <literal>prevent-compression</literal>
+ per default, you'll have to add exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Set default:
+#
+{+prevent-compression}
+/ # Match all sites
+
+# Make exceptions for ill sites:
+#
+{-prevent-compression}
+www.debianhelp.org
+www.pclinuxonline.com</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
+<title><emphasis>send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
+ on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Filter the website through a built-in filter to disable those obnoxious
- JavaScript pop-up windows via window.open(), etc. The two alternative
- spellings are equivalent.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+no-popup</emphasis>
- <emphasis>+no-popups</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
+<title><emphasis>send-wafer</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Multi-value.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A string of the form <quote><replaceable class="option">name</replaceable>=<replaceable
+ class="parameter">value</replaceable></quote>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- This action only applies if you are using a <filename>jarfile</filename>
- for saving cookies. It sends a cookie to every site stating that you do not
- accept any copyright on cookies sent to you, and asking them not to track
- you. Of course, this is a (relatively) unique header they could use to
- track you.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+vanilla-wafer</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
+ resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
+my-internal-testing-server.void</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
+<title><emphasis>session-cookies-only</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes the <quote>expires</quote> field from <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> server headers.
+ Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between sessions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- This allows you to add an arbitrary cookie. It can be specified multiple
- times in order to add as many cookies as you like.
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+wafer{name=value}</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
+ websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
+ <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
+ This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
+ that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
+ sites, and is the recommended setting.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
+ together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
+ will be plainly killed.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
+ field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- </itemizedlist>
-</para>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
+<title><emphasis>set-image-blocker</emphasis></title>
+
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <emphasis>both</emphasis>
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> <emphasis>also</emphasis>
+ apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
+ <emphasis>then</emphasis> the parameter of this action decides what will be
+ sent as a replacement.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
+ decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
+ completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
+ images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
+ has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
+ send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
+ to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via <quote>file:///</quote> URL).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
+ URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
+ This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
+ the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
+ it over and over again.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The URLs for the built-in images are <quote>http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<replaceable
+ class="parameter">type</replaceable></quote>, where <replaceable class="parameter">type</replaceable> is
+ either <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ There is a third (advanced) type, called <quote>auto</quote>. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> to be
+ used in <literal>set-image-blocker</literal>, but meant for use from <link linkend="filter-file">filters</link>.
+ Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Built-in pattern:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+set-image-blocker{pattern}</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Redirect to the BSD devil:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
-<para>
- The meaning of any of the above is reversed by preceding the action with a
- <quote>-</quote>, in place of the <quote>+</quote>.
-</para>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3>
+<title>Summary</title>
<para>
- Some examples:
+ Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
+ misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
+ a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
+ content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
+ and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
+ linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
+ actions.
</para>
+</sect3>
+</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="aliases">
+<title>Aliases</title>
<para>
- Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified sites:
+ Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
+ as <quote>aliases</quote>, can be defined by combining other actions.
+ These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
+ Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab,
+ <quote>=</quote>,
+ <quote>{</quote> and <quote>}</quote>, but we <emphasis>strongly
+ recommend</emphasis> that you only use <quote>a</quote> to <quote>z</quote>,
+ <quote>0</quote> to <quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and <quote>-</quote>.
+ Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a
+ <quote>+</quote> or <quote>-</quote> sign, since they are merely textually
+ expanded.
</para>
-
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Turn off all persistent cookies
- { +no-cookies-read }
- { +no-cookies-set }
- # Allow cookies for this browser session ONLY
- { +no-cookies-keep }
-
- # Exceptions to the above, sites that benefit from persistent cookies
- { -no-cookies-read }
- { -no-cookies-set }
- { -no-cookies-keep }
- .javasoft.com
- .sun.com
- .yahoo.com
- .msdn.microsoft.com
- .redhat.com
-
- # Alternative way of saying the same thing
- {-no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-keep}
- .sourceforge.net
- .sf.net
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they <emphasis>must be
+ defined in a special section at the top of the file!</emphasis>
+ And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may
+ have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible
+ within that file.
</para>
-
<para>
- Now turn off <quote>fast redirects</quote>, and then we allow two exceptions:
+ There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
+ used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
+ decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called
+ <quote>shop</quote>, you can later chenge your policy on shops in
+ <emphasis>one</emphasis> place, and your changes will take effect everywhere
+ in the actions file where the <quote>shop</quote> alias is used. Calling aliases
+ by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.
</para>
-
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Turn them off!
- {+fast-redirects}
-
- # Reverse it for these two sites, which don't work right without it.
- {-fast-redirects}
- www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
- login.yahoo.com
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though:
+ <application>Privoxy</application>'s built-in web-based action file
+ editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands
+ them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
+ but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit the files this way.
+ This is likely to change in future versions of <application>Privoxy</application>.
</para>
<para>
- Turn on page filtering according to rules in the defined sections
- of <filename>default.filter</filename>, and make one exception for
- Sourceforge:
- </para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Run everything through the filter file, using only the
- # specified sections:
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}\
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
-
- # Then disable filtering of code from sourceforge!
- {-filter}
- .cvs.sourceforge.net
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ Now let's define some aliases...
</para>
<para>
- Now some URLs that we want <quote>blocked</quote> (normally generates
- the <quote>blocked</quote> banner). Many of these use regular expressions
- that will expand to match multiple URLs:
-</para>
+ <screen>
+ # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
+ #
+ # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
+ # must be at the top of the actions file!
+ #
+ {{alias}}
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Blocklist:
- {+block}
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?ads?[0-9]?(/|[-_.].*|\.(gif|jpe?g))
- /.*/(.*[-_.])?count(er)?(\.cgi|\.dll|\.exe|[?/])
- /.*/(ng)?adclient\.cgi
- /.*/(plain|live|rotate)[-_.]?ads?/
- /.*/(sponsor)s?[0-9]?/
- /.*/_?(plain|live)?ads?(-banners)?/
- /.*/abanners/
- /.*/ad(sdna_image|gifs?)/
- /.*/ad(server|stream|juggler)\.(cgi|pl|dll|exe)
- /.*/adbanners/
- /.*/adserver
- /.*/adstream\.cgi
- /.*/adv((er)?ts?|ertis(ing|ements?))?/
- /.*/banner_?ads/
- /.*/banners?/
- /.*/banners?\.cgi/
- /.*/cgi-bin/centralad/getimage
- /.*/images/addver\.gif
- /.*/images/marketing/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /.*/popupads/
- /.*/siteads/
- /.*/sponsor.*\.gif
- /.*/sponsors?[0-9]?/
- /.*/advert[0-9]+\.jpg
- /Media/Images/Adds/
- /ad_images/
- /adimages/
- /.*/ads/
- /bannerfarm/
- /grafikk/annonse/
- /graphics/defaultAd/
- /image\.ng/AdType
- /image\.ng/transactionID
- /images/.*/.*_anim\.gif # alvin brattli
- /ip_img/.*\.(gif|jpe?g)
- /rotateads/
- /rotations/
- /worldnet/ad\.cgi
- /cgi-bin/nph-adclick.exe/
- /.*/Image/BannerAdvertising/
- /.*/ad-bin/
- /.*/adlib/server\.cgi
- /autoads/
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ # These aliases just save typing later:
+ #
+ +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
+
+ # These aliases define combinations of actions
+ # that are useful for certain types of sites:
+ #
+ fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -fast-redirects
+
+ # Aliases defined from other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
+ #
+ c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
+ c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</screen>
</para>
<para>
- Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
- misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
- a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
- content he may depend on. There is no way to have hard and fast rules
- for all sites. See the <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link>
- for a brief example on troubleshooting actions.
+ ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
+ actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
+ up for the <quote>/</quote> pattern):
</para>
-</sect3>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
+ # user data and require minimal interference to work:
+ #
+ {fragile}
+ .office.microsoft.com
+ .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
+ .nytimes.com
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+ # Shopping sites:
+ # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
+ #
+ {shop}
+ .quietpc.com
+ .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+ .scan.co.uk
+ # These shops require pop-ups:
+ #
+ {shop -kill-popups -filter{popups}}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk</screen>
+</para>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
-<title>Aliases</title>
<para>
- Custom <quote>actions</quote>, known to <application>Privoxy</application>
- as <quote>aliases</quote>, can be defined by combining other <quote>actions</quote>.
- These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in <quote>actions</quote>.
- Currently, an alias can contain any character except space, tab, <quote>=</quote>,
- <quote>{</quote> or <quote>}</quote>. But please use only <quote>a</quote>-
- <quote>z</quote>, <quote>0</quote>-<quote>9</quote>, <quote>+</quote>, and
- <quote>-</quote>. Alias names are not case sensitive, and
- <emphasis>must be defined before anything</emphasis> else in the
- <filename>default.action</filename>file! And there can only be one set of
- <quote>aliases</quote> defined.
+ Aliases like <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> are often used for
+ <quote>problem</quote> sites that require some actions to be disabled
+ in order to function properly.
</para>
+</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="act-examples">
+<title>Sample Actions Files</title>
<para>
- Now let's define a few aliases:
+ Remember that the meaning of any of the above references is reversed by preceding
+ the action with a <quote>-</quote>, in place of the <quote>+</quote>. Also,
+ that some actions are turned on in the default section of the actions file,
+ and require little to no additional configuration. These are just <quote>on</quote>.
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Useful custom aliases we can use later. These must come first!
- {{alias}}
- +no-cookies = +no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- -no-cookies = -no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
- fragile = -block -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -no-popups
- shop = -no-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
- +imageblock = +block +image
-
- #For people who don't like to type too much: ;-)
- c0 = +no-cookies
- c1 = -no-cookies
- c2 = -no-cookies-set +no-cookies-read
- c3 = +no-cookies-set -no-cookies-read
- #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ But, other actions that are turned on in the default section <emphasis>do
+ typically require</emphasis> exceptions to be listed in the latter sections of
+ one of our actions file. For instance, by default no URLs are
+ <quote>blocked</quote> (i.e. in the default definitions of
+ <filename>default.action</filename>). We need exceptions to this in order to
+ <emphasis>enable</emphasis> ad blocking in the lower sections. But we need to
+ be very selective about what we do block. Thus, the default is <quote>off</quote>
+ for blocking.
</para>
<para>
- Some examples using our <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote>
- aliases from above:
+ Below is a liberally commented sample <filename>default.action</filename> file
+ to demonstrate how all the pieces come together. And to show how exceptions
+ to the default policies can be handled. This is followed by a brief
+ <filename>user.action</filename> with similar examples.
</para>
<para>
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- # These sites are very complex and require
- # minimal interference.
- {fragile}
- .office.microsoft.com
+# Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org>
+
+# Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
+{{settings}}
+for-privoxy-version=3.0
+
+
+##########################################################################
+# <ulink url="actions-file.html#ALIASES">Aliases</ulink> must be defined *before* they are used. These are
+# easier to remember, and can combine several actions into one. Once
+# defined they can be used just like any built-in action -- but within
+# this file only! Aliases do not require a + or - sign.
+##########################################################################
+
+# Some useful aliases.
+# Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested.
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies \
+ -session-cookies-only
+
+# Alias to both block and treat as if an image for ad blocking
+# purposes.
+ +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
+
+# Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
+ fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
+ -crunch-all-cookies -kill-popups
+
+# Shops should be allowed to set persistent cookies
+ shop = -filter -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+
+
+##########################################################################
+# Begin default action settings. Anything in this section will match
+# all URLs -- UNLESS we have exceptions that also match, defined below this
+# section. We will show all potential actions here whether they are on
+# or off. We could omit any disabled action if we wanted, since all
+# actions are 'off' by default anyway. Shown for completeness only.
+# Actions are enabled if preceded by a '+', otherwise they are disabled
+# (unless an alias has been defined without this).
+##########################################################################
+ { \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#ADD-HEADER">-add-header</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">-deanimate-gifs</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">-downgrade-http-version</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS">+fast-redirects</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">+filter{html-annoyances}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">+filter{js-annoyances}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">-filter{content-cookies}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS">-filter{popups}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-WEBBUGS">+filter{webbugs}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">-filter{refresh-tags}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-FUN">-filter{fun}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-NIMDA">+filter{nimda}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">+filter{banners-by-size}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">-filter{shockwave-flash}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">-filter{crude-prental}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">+hide-forwarded-for-headers</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-FROM-HEADER">+hide-from-header{block}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-REFERER">-hide-referrer</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT">-hide-user-agent</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">-handle-as-image</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">+set-image-blocker{pattern}</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#LIMIT-CONNECT">-limit-connect</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION">+prevent-compression</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">-session-cookies-only</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">-crunch-outgoing-cookies</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">-crunch-incoming-cookies</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS">-kill-popups</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">-send-vanilla-wafer</ulink> \
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#SEND-WAFER">-send-wafer</ulink> \
+ }
+ / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.
+
+##########################################################################
+# Default behavior is now set. Now we will define some exceptions to our
+# default action policies.
+##########################################################################
+
+# These sites are very complex and require very minimal interference.
+# We'll disable most actions with our 'fragile' alias:
+ { fragile }
+ .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
.windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- .nytimes.com
- # Shopping sites - still want to block ads.
- {shop}
- .quietpc.com
+
+# Shopping sites - not as fragile but require some special
+# handling. We still want to block ads, and we will allow
+# persistant cookies via the 'shop' alias:
+ { shop }
+ .quietpc.com
.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
.jungle.com
.scan.co.uk
- # These shops require pop-ups
- {shop -no-popups}
+
+# These sites require pop-ups too :( We'll combine our 'shop'
+# alias with two other actions into one rule to allow all popups.
+ { shop <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS">-kill-popups</ulink> <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS">-filter{popups}</ulink> }
.dabs.com
.overclockers.co.uk
+
+
+# The 'Fast-redirects' action breaks some sites. Disable this action
+# for these known sensitive sites:
+ { <ulink url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS">-fast-redirects</ulink> }
+ login.yahoo.com
+ edit.europe.yahoo.com
+ .google.com
+ .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
+ .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
+ .nytimes.com
+
+
+# Define which file types will be treated as images. Important
+# for ad blocking.
+ { <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">+handle-as-image</ulink> }
+ /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)
+
+
+# Now lets list some domains that are known ad generators. And
+# our alias that we use here will block these as well as force
+# them to be treated as images. This combination of actions is
+# important for ad blocking. What the browser will show instead is
+# determined by the setting of <ulink url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
+ { +imageblock }
+ ar.atwola.com
+ .ad.doubleclick.net
+ .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+ .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+ bs*.gsanet.com
+ bs*.einets.com
+ .qkimg.net
+ ad.*.doubleclick.net
+
+
+# These will just simply be blocked. They will generate the BLOCKED
+# banner page, if matched. Heavy use of wildcards and regular
+# expressions in this example. Enable block action:
+ { <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">+block</ulink> }
+ ad*.
+ .*ads.
+ banner?.
+ count*.
+ /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
+ /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
+ .hitbox.com
+
+
+# The above block section will probably inadvertantly catch some
+# sites we DO NOT want blocked via the wildcards and regular expressions.
+# Now let's set exceptions to the exceptions so the good guys get better
+# treatment. Disable block action:
+ { <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> }
+ advogato.org
+ adsl.
+ ad[ud]*.
+ advice.
+# Let's just trust all .edu top level domains.
+ .edu
+ www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv
+# We'll need to access to path names containing 'download'
+ .*downloads.
+ /downloads/
+# 'adv' is for globalintersec and means advanced, not advertisement
+ www.globalintersec.com/adv
+
+
+# Don't filter *anything* from our friends at sourceforge.
+# Notice we don't have to name the individual filter
+# identifiers -- we just turn them all off in one fell swoop.
+# Disable all filters for this one site:
+ { <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER">-filter</ulink> }
+ .sourceforge.net
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
</para>
<para>
- The <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote> aliases are often used for
- <quote>problem</quote> sites that require most actions to be disabled
- in order to function properly.
+ So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies.
+ The above would be a reasonable starting point for many situations. Now,
+ we want to be more specific and have customized rules that are more suitable
+ to our personal habits and preferences. These would be for narrowly defined
+ situations like your ISP or your bank, and should be placed in
+ <filename>user.action</filename>, which is parsed after all other
+ actions files and should not be clobbered by upgrades. So any settings here,
+ will have the last word and over-ride any previously defined actions.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Now a few examples of some things that one might do with a
+ <filename>user.action</filename> file.
</para>
-</sect3>
+<!-- brief sample user.action here -->
+
+<para>
+ <literal>
+ <msgtext>
+ <literallayout>
+# Sample user.action file.
+
+# Any aliases you want to use need to be re-defined here.
+# Alias to turn off cookie handling, ie allow all cookies unmolested.
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies \
+ -session-cookies-only
+
+# Fragile sites should have the minimum changes:
+ fragile = -block -deanimate-gifs -fast-redirects -filter -hide-referer \
+ -crunch-all-cookies -kill-popups
+
+# Allow persistent cookies for a few regular sites that we
+# trust via our above alias. These will be saved from one browser session
+# to the next. We are explicity turning off any and all cookie handling,
+# even though the cunch-*-cookies settings were disabled in our above
+# default.action anyway. So cookies from these domains will come through
+# unmolested.
+ { -crunch-all-cookies }
+ .sun.com
+ .yahoo.com
+ .msdn.microsoft.com
+ .redhat.com
+
+
+# My ISP uses obnoxious self promoting images on many pages.
+# Nuke them :) Note that <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink> need not be specified,
+# since all URLs ending in .gif will be tagged as images by the
+# general rules in default.action anyway.
+ { <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK">+block</ulink> }
+ www.my-isp-example.com/logo[0-9].gif
+
+
+# Say the site where you do your homebanking needs to open
+# popup windows, but you have chosen to kill popups by
+# default. This will allow it for your-example-bank.com:
+#
+ { <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS">-filter{popups}</ulink> <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS">-kill-popups</ulink> }
+ .my-example-bank.com
+
+
+# This site is delicate, and requires kid-glove
+# treatment.
+ { fragile }
+ .forbes.com
+ </literallayout>
+ </msgtext>
+ </literal>
+</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="filterfile">
+
+</sect1>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect1 id="filter-file">
<title>The Filter File</title>
<para>
Any web page can be dynamically modified with the filter file. This
modification can be removal, or re-writing, of any web page content,
including tags and non-visible content. The default filter file is
- <filename>default.filter</filename>, located in the config directory.
+ oddly enough <filename>default.filter</filename>, located in the config
+ directory.
</para>
<para>
</literal>
</para>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2>
+<title>The <emphasis>+filter</emphasis> Action</title>
+<para>
+ Filters are enabled with the <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink> action from within
+ one of the actions files. <quote>+filter</quote> requires one parameter, which
+ should match one of the section identifiers in the filter file itself. Example:
+</para>
+
+<screen>
+ +filter{html-annoyances}
+</screen>
+
+<para>
+ This would activate that particular filter. Similarly, <quote>+filter</quote>
+ can be turned off for selected sites as:
+ <quote>-filter{html-annoyances}</quote>. Remember too, all actions are off by
+ default, unless they are explicity enabled in one of the actions files.
+</para>
+
</sect2>
+</sect1>
+
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2>
+<sect1 id="templates">
<title>Templates</title>
<para>
When <application>Privoxy</application> displays one of its internal
- pages, such as a 404 Not Found error page, it uses the appropriate template.
- On Linux, BSD, and Unix, these are located in
- <filename>/etc/privoxy/templates</filename> by default. These may be
- customized, if desired. <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> is
- used to control the HTML attributes (fonts, etc).
-</para>
-<para>
- The default <quote>Blocked</quote> banner page with the bright red top
+ pages, such as a <ulink url="http://bogus_404_page.com">404 Not Found error page</ulink>
+ (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for link to work as
+ intended), it uses the appropriate template. On Linux, BSD, and Unix, these
+ are located in <filename>/etc/privoxy/templates</filename> by default. These
+ may be customized, if desired. <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> is used to
+ control the HTML attributes (fonts, etc).
+</para>
+<para>
+ The default
+<ulink url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html">Blocked
+(<application>Privoxy</application> needs to be running for page to display)</ulink>
+ banner page with the bright red top
banner, is called just <quote><filename>blocked</filename></quote>. This
may be customized or replaced with something else if desired.
</para>
-</sect2>
-
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
&contacting;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="submitactions">
-<title>Submitting Ads and <quote>Action</quote> Problems</title>
-<para>
- Ads and banners that are not stopped by <application>Privoxy</application>
- can be submitted to the developers by accessing a special page and filling
- out the brief, required form. Conversely, you can also report pages, images,
- etc. that <application>Privoxy</application> is blocking, but should not.
- The form itself does require Internet access.
-</para>
-<para>
- To do this, point your browser to <application>Privoxy</application>
- at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
- (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>), and then select
- <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Actions file feedback system</ulink>,
- near the bottom of the page. Paste in the URL that is the cause of the
- unwanted behavior, and follow the prompts. The developers will
- try to incorporate a fix for the problem you reported into future versions.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- New <filename>default.actions</filename> files will occasionally be made
- available based on your feedback. These
- will be announced on the
- <ulink
- url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce">ijbswa-announce</ulink>
- list.
-</para>
-</sect2>
-
</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="copyright"><title>Copyright and History</title>
+<sect1 id="copyright"><title><application>Privoxy</application> Copyright, License and History</title>
-<sect2><title>Copyright</title>
<!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
©right;
<!-- end copyright -->
-</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2><title>License</title>
+<!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
+ &license;
+<!-- end copyright -->
+</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
</sect2>
</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
<!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
<emphasis>\</emphasis> - The <quote>escape</quote> character denotes that
the following character should be taken literally. This is used where one of the
special characters (e.g. <quote>.</quote>) needs to be taken literally and
- not as a special meta-character.
+ not as a special meta-character. Example: <quote>example\.com</quote>, makes
+ sure the period is recognized only as a period (and not expanded to its
+ meta-character meaning of any single character).
</member>
</simplelist></para>
<para><simplelist>
<member>
<emphasis>[]</emphasis> - Characters enclosed in brackets will be matched if
- any of the enclosed characters are encountered.
+ 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>.
</member>
</simplelist></para>
<member>
<emphasis>|</emphasis> - The <quote>bar</quote> character works like an
<quote>or</quote> conditional statement. A match is successful if the
- sub-expression on either side of <quote>|</quote> matches.
+ sub-expression on either side of <quote>|</quote> matches. As an example:
+ <quote>/(this|that) example/</quote> uses grouping and the bar character
+ and would match either <quote>this example</quote> or <quote>that
+ example</quote>, and nothing else.
</member>
</simplelist></para>
<member>
<emphasis>s/string1/string2/g</emphasis> - This is used to rewrite strings of text.
<quote>string1</quote> is replaced by <quote>string2</quote> in this
- example.
+ example. There must of course be a match on <quote>string1</quote> first.
</member>
</simplelist></para>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show information about the current configuration:
+ Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
+ editing of actions files:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show the client's request headers:
+ Show the browser's request headers:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
</para>
</blockquote>
</listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Edit the actions list file:
- </para>
- <blockquote>
- <para>
- <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions</ulink>
- </para>
- </blockquote>
- </listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<para>
- These may be bookmarked for quick reference.
+ These may be bookmarked for quick reference. See next.
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Enable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Enable</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Disable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Disable</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">View Privoxy Status</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy- View Status</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Actions file feedback system</ulink>
+ <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="chain">
+<title>Chain of Events</title>
+<para>
+ Let's take a quick look at the basic sequence of events when a web page is
+ requested by your browser and <application>Privoxy</application> is on duty:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
+ the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, which will in turn,
+ relay the request to the remote web server after passing the following
+ tests:
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> traps any request for its own internal CGI
+ pages (e.g http://p.p/) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
+ matches any <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> patterns. If
+ so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
+ is then checked and if it does not match, an
+ HTML <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page is sent back. Otherwise, if it does match,
+ an image is returned. The type of image depends on the setting of <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
+ (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Untrusted URLs are blocked. If URLs are being added to the
+ <filename>trust</filename> file, then that is done.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If the URL pattern matches the <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></ulink> action,
+ it is then processed. Unwanted parts of the requested URL are stripped.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now the rest of the client browser's request headers are processed. If any
+ of these match any of the relevant actions (e.g. <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></ulink>,
+ etc.), headers are suppressed or forged as determined by these actions and
+ their parameters.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now the web server starts sending its response back (i.e. typically a web page and related
+ data).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ First, the server headers are read and processed to determine, among other
+ things, the MIME type (document type) and encoding. The headers are then
+ filtered as deterimed by the
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"><quote>+crunch-incoming-cookies</quote></ulink>,
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>,
+ and <ulink url="actions-file.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></ulink>
+ actions.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If the <ulink url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>
+ action applies, and it is an HTML or JavaScript document, the popup-code in the
+ response is filtered on-the-fly as it is received.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If a <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
+ or <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></ulink>
+ action applies (and the document type fits the action), the rest of the page is
+ read into memory (up to a configurable limit). Then the filter rules (from
+ <filename>default.filter</filename>) are processed against the buffered
+ content. Filters are applied in the order they are specified in the
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> file. Animated GIFs, if present, are
+ reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
+ setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
+ <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If neither <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
+ or <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></ulink>
+ matches, then <application>Privoxy</application> passes the raw data through
+ to the client browser as it becomes available.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ As the browser receives the now (probably filtered) page content, it
+ reads and then requests any URLs that may be embedded within the page
+ source, e.g. ad images, stylesheets, JavaScript, other HTML documents (e.g.
+ frames), sounds, etc. For each of these objects, the browser issues a new
+ request. And each such request is in turn processed as above. Note that a
+ complex web page may have many such embedded URLs.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="actionsanat">
<title>Anatomy of an Action</title>
<para>
- The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies <quote>actions</quote>
- and <quote>filters</quote> to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
+ The way <application>Privoxy</application> applies
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></ulink>
+ and <ulink url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>filters</quote></ulink>
+ to any given URL can be complex, and not always so
easy to understand what is happening. And sometimes we need to be able to
<emphasis>see</emphasis> just what <application>Privoxy</application> is
doing. Especially, if something <application>Privoxy</application> is doing
is causing us a problem inadvertently. It can be a little daunting to look at
the actions and filters files themselves, since they tend to be filled with
<quote>regular expressions</quote> whose consequences are not always
- so obvious. <application>Privoxy</application> provides the
+ so obvious.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ One quick test to see if <application>Privoxy</application> is causing a problem
+ or not, is to disable it temporarily. This should be the first troubleshooting
+ step. See <link linkend="bookmarklets">the Bookmarklets</link> section on a quick
+ and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!).
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> also provides the
<ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
page that can show us very specifically how <application>actions</application>
are being applied to any given URL. This is a big help for troubleshooting.
- </para>
+</para>
<para>
First, enter one URL (or partial URL) at the prompt, and then
<application>Privoxy</application> will tell us
how the current configuration will handle it. This will not
- help with filtering effects from the <filename>default.filter</filename> file! It
- also will not tell you about any other URLs that may be embedded within the
- URL you are testing (i.e. a web page). For instance, images such as ads are expressed as URLs
- within the raw page source of HTML pages. So you will only get info for the
- actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area -- not any sub-URLs. If you
- want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you will have to dig those out of
- the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View Page Source</quote> option
- for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the URL.
+ help with filtering effects (i.e. the <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink> action) from
+ the <filename>default.filter</filename> file since this is handled very
+ differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
+ URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
+ such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
+ you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
+ -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
+ will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
+ Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
+ URL.
</para>
<para>
- Let's
look at an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
- one section at a time:
+ Let's
try an example, <ulink url="http://google.com">google.com</ulink>,
+ and look at it one section at a time:
</para>
<para>
<screen>
- System default actions:
-
- { -add-header -block -deanimate-gifs -downgrade -fast-redirects -filter
- -hide-forwarded -hide-from -hide-referer -hide-user-agent -image
- -image-blocker -limit-connect -no-compression -no-cookies-keep
- -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set -no-popups -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
-
- </screen>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- This is the top section, and only tells us of the compiled in defaults. This
- is basically what <application>Privoxy</application> would do if there
- were not any <quote>actions</quote> defined, i.e. it does nothing. Every action
- is disabled. This is not particularly informative for our purposes here. OK,
- next section:
-</para>
+ Matches for http://google.com:
-<para>
- <screen>
+--- File standard ---
+(no matches in this file)
- Matches for http://google.com:
+--- File default ---
- { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade +fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} +no-compression
- +no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups
- -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
- /
+{ -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
+ -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
+/
- { -no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set }
- .google.com
+ { -session-cookies-only }
+ .google.com
{ -fast-redirects }
- .google.com
+ .google.com
- </screen>
+--- File user ---
+(no matches in this file)
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
- This is much more informative, and tells us how we have defined our
- <quote>actions</quote>, and which ones match for our example,
- <quote>google.com</quote>. The first grouping shows our default
- settings, which would apply to all URLs. If you look at your <quote>actions</quote>
- file, this would be the section just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section
- near the top. This applies to all URLs as signified by the single forward
- slash -- <quote>/</quote>.
-
+ This tells us how we have defined our
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></ulink>, and
+ which ones match for our example, <quote>google.com</quote>. The first listing
+ is any matches for the <filename>standard.action</filename> file. No hits at
+ all here on <quote>standard</quote>. Then next is <quote>default</quote>, or
+ our <filename>default.action</filename> file. The large, multi-line listing,
+ is how the actions are set to match for all URLs, i.e. our default settings.
+ If you look at your <quote>actions</quote> file, this would be the section
+ just below the <quote>aliases</quote> section near the top. This will apply to
+ all URLs as signified by the single forward slash at the end of the listing
+ -- <quote>/</quote>.
</para>
<para>
- These are the default actions we have enabled. But we can define additional
- actions that would be exceptions to these general rules, and then list
- specific URLs that these exceptions would apply to. Last match wins.
- Just below this then are two explicit matches for <quote>.google.com</quote>.
- The first is negating our various cookie blocking actions (i.e. we will allow
- cookies here). The second is allowing <quote>fast-redirects</quote>. Note
- that there is a leading dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will
- match any hosts and sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
- <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these actions defined
- somewhere in the lower part of our actions file, and
- <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced in these sections.
+ But we can define additional actions that would be exceptions to these general
+ rules, and then list specific URLs (or patterns) that these exceptions would
+ apply to. Last match wins. Just below this then are two explicit matches for
+ <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous cookie setting,
+ which was for <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>
+ (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google. The
+ second turns <emphasis>off</emphasis> any
+ <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></ulink>
+ action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
+ dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
+ sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
+ <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these two actions
+ defined somewhere in the lower part of our <filename>default.action</filename>
+ file, and <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter
+ sections.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
</para>
<para>
- And now we pull it altogether in the bottom section and summarize how
+ And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
<application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
to <quote>google.com</quote>:
<screen>
Final results:
+ -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version -fast-redirects
+ -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
+ +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
+ +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer
+</screen>
+</para>
- -add-header -block -deanimate-gifs -downgrade -fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} -limit-connect +no-compression
- -no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups -vanilla-wafer
- -wafer
-
- </screen>
+<para>
+ Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
+ <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>.
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
.ad.doubleclick.net
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
ad*.
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
.doubleclick.net
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
We'll just show the interesting part here, the explicit matches. It is
- matched three different times. Each as an <quote>+block +image</quote>,
+ matched three different times. Each as an <quote>+block +handle-as-image</quote>,
which is the expanded form of one of our aliases that had been defined as:
- <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<quote>Aliases</quote> are defined in the
- first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
+ <quote>+imageblock</quote>. (<ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></ulink> are defined in
+ the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
than one action.)
</para>
would also cover the first. No point in taking chances with these guys
though ;-) Note that if you want an ad or obnoxious
URL to be invisible, it should be defined as <quote>ad.doubleclick.net</quote>
- is done here -- as both a <quote>+block</quote> <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
- <quote>+image</quote>. The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> does this
- for us.
+ is done here -- as both a <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
+ <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
+ <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>.
+ The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> just simplifies the process and make
+ it more readable.
</para>
<para>
Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
- { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade +fast-redirects
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{no-popups}
+ { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
+ +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}
+filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size} +filter{hal}
- +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded +hide-from{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -image +image-blocker{blank} +no-compression
- +no-cookies-keep -no-cookies-read -no-cookies-set +no-popups
- -vanilla-wafer -wafer }
+ +filter{fun} +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block}
+ +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{blank}
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
/
- { +block +image }
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
/ads
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote>! But
we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the blank page. We could
now add a new action below this that explicitly does <emphasis>not</emphasis>
- block (-block) pages with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are various ways to
- handle such exceptions. Example:
+ block (<quote>{-block}</quote>) paths with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are
+ various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
</para>
<para>
{ -block }
/adsl
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
- { -block }
- /adsl
-
- </screen>
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ /ads
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
.jungle.com
.scan.co.uk
.forbes.com
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<quote>{shop}</quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
- <quote>{ -filter -no-cookies -no-cookies-keep }</quote>. Or you could do
- your own exception to negate filtering:
+ <quote>{ -filter -session-cookies-only }</quote>.
+ Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering:
</para>
{-filter}
.forbes.com
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ This would probably be most appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>,
+ for local site exceptions.
</para>
<para>
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
+ Revision 1.109 2002/05/14 17:23:11 oes
+ Renamed the prevent-*-cookies actions, extended aliases section and moved it before the example AFs
+
+ Revision 1.108 2002/05/14 15:29:12 oes
+ Completed proofreading the actions chapter
+
+ Revision 1.107 2002/05/12 03:20:41 hal9
+ Small clarifications for 127.0.0.1 vs localhost for listen-address since this
+ apparently an important distinction for some OS's.
+
+ Revision 1.106 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9
+ This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs
+ are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright
+ changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ).
+
+ Revision 1.105 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9
+ Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs.
+
+ Revision 1.104 2002/05/04 08:44:45 swa
+ bumped version
+
+ Revision 1.103 2002/05/04 00:40:53 hal9
+ -Remove the TOC first page kludge. It's fixed proper now in ldp.dsl.in.
+ -Some minor additions to Quickstart.
+
+ Revision 1.102 2002/05/03 17:46:00 oes
+ Further proofread & reactivated short build instructions
+
+ Revision 1.101 2002/05/03 03:58:30 hal9
+ Move the user-manual config directive to top of section. Add note about
+ Privoxy needing read permissions for configs, and write for logs.
+
+ Revision 1.100 2002/04/29 03:05:55 hal9
+ Add clarification on differences of new actions files.
+
+ Revision 1.99 2002/04/28 16:59:05 swa
+ more structure in starting section
+
+ Revision 1.98 2002/04/28 05:43:59 hal9
+ This is the break up of configuration.html into multiple files. This
+ will probably break links elsewhere :(
+
+ Revision 1.97 2002/04/27 21:04:42 hal9
+ -Rewrite of Actions File example.
+ -Add section for user-manual directive in config.
+
+ Revision 1.96 2002/04/27 05:32:00 hal9
+ -Add short section to Filter Files to tie in with +filter action.
+ -Start rewrite of examples in Actions Examples (not finished).
+
+ Revision 1.95 2002/04/26 17:23:29 swa
+ bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
+
+ Revision 1.94 2002/04/26 05:24:36 hal9
+ -Add most of Andreas suggestions to Chain of Events section.
+ -A few other minor corrections and touch up.
+
+ Revision 1.92 2002/04/25 18:55:13 hal9
+ More catchups on new actions files, and new actions names.
+ Other assorted cleanups, and minor modifications.
+
+ Revision 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9
+ Add 'Chain of Events' section.
+
+ Revision 1.90 2002/04/23 21:41:25 hal9
+ Linuxconf is deprecated on RH, substitute chkconfig.
+
+ Revision 1.89 2002/04/23 21:05:28 oes
+ Added hint for startup on Red Hat
+
+ Revision 1.88 2002/04/23 05:37:54 hal9
+ Add AmigaOS install stuff.
+
+ Revision 1.87 2002/04/23 02:53:15 david__schmidt
+ Updated OSX installation section
+ Added a few English tweaks here an there
+
+ Revision 1.86 2002/04/21 01:46:32 hal9
+ Re-write actions section.
+
+ Revision 1.85 2002/04/18 21:23:23 hal9
+ Fix ugly typo (mine).
+
+ Revision 1.84 2002/04/18 21:17:13 hal9
+ Spell Redhat correctly (ie Red Hat). A few minor grammar corrections.
+
+ Revision 1.83 2002/04/18 18:21:12 oes
+ Added RPM install detail
+
+ Revision 1.82 2002/04/18 12:04:50 oes
+ Cosmetics
+
Revision 1.81 2002/04/18 11:50:24 oes
Extended Install section - needs fixing by packagers
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff