<!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
<!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
<!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
-<!entity p-version "2.9.14">
-<!entity p-status "beta">
+<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
+<!entity p-authors SYSTEM "p-authors.sgml">
+<!entity config SYSTEM "p-config.sgml">
+<!entity p-version "3.0.4">
+<!entity p-status "BETA">
+<!entity % p-authors-formal "INCLUDE"> <!-- include additional text, etc -->
<!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">
+<!entity % user-man "IGNORE">
+<!entity % config-file "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-supp-userman "IGNORE"> <!-- Omit some from supported.sgml -->
+<!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
+<!entity % draft "IGNORE"> <!-- WIP stuff -->
]>
<!--
File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/user-manual.sgml,v $
Purpose : user manual
This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
-
- $Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9 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 2.13 2006/08/22 11:04:59 hal9 Exp $
+ Copyright (C) 2001- 2006 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 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<title>Privoxy &p-version; User Manual</title>
+
+<pubdate>
+ <subscript>
+<!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
+<!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
+ <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001 - 2004 by
+ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
+ </subscript>
+</pubdate>
+
+<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.13 2006/08/22 11:04:59 hal9 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.
+
+
+-->
-<authorgroup>
- <author>
- <affiliation>
- <orgname>By: Privoxy Developers</orgname>
- </affiliation>
- </author>
-</authorgroup>
<abstract>
+
<![%dummy;[
<para>
<comment>
]]>
<para>
- The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
- <ulink
+ The <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> 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;
<!-- end privoxy.sgml -->
<para>
- You can find the latest version of the
user manual at <ulink
+ You can find the latest version of the
<citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> at <ulink
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
+ Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> 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
]]>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="newfeatures">
-<title>New Features</title>
+<sect2 id="features"><title>Features</title>
<para>
In addition to <application>Internet Junkbuster's</application> traditional
features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
<application>Privoxy</application> provides new features<![%p-not-stable;[,
some of them currently under development]]>:
</para>
-
<!-- Include newfeatures.sgml boilerplate here: -->
&newfeatures;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<application>Privoxy</application> is available both in convenient pre-compiled
packages for a wide range of operating systems, and as raw source code.
For most users, we recommend using the packages, which can be downloaded from our
- <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project Page</ulink>.
-</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>
+ <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa/">Privoxy Project
+ Page</ulink>.
</para>
-<!-- Include supported.sgml boilerplate -->
- &supported;
-<!-- end boilerplate -->
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="installation-packages"><title>Binary Packages</title>
-
<para>
Note: If you have a previous <application>Junkbuster</application> or
<application>Privoxy</application> installation on your system, you
- will need to remove it. Some platforms do this for you as part
- of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform).
-</para>
-
-<para>
- In any case <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration
- if it is valuable to you.</emphasis> See the
- <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to upgraders</link>.
+ will need to remove it. On some platforms, this may be done for you as part
+ of their installation procedure. (See below for your platform). In any case
+ <emphasis>be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to
+ you.</emphasis> See the <link linkend="upgradersnote">note to
+ upgraders</link> section below.
</para>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="installation-packages"><title>Binary Packages</title>
<para>
- How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
+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>
+<sect3 id="installation-pack-rpm"><title>Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs</title>
<para>
RPMs can be installed with <literal>rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm</literal>,
</para>
<para>
- Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will not be
- automatically started on system boot. You will need to enable that using
- <command>chkconfig</command>, <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar method.
+ Note that on Red Hat, <application>Privoxy</application> will
+ <emphasis>not</emphasis> be automatically started on system boot. You will
+ need to enable that using <command>chkconfig</command>,
+ <command>ntsysv</command>, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will
+automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
</para>
<para>
If you have problems with failed dependencies, try rebuilding the SRC RPM:
- <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm;</literal>. This
+ <literal>rpm --rebuild privoxy-&p-version;-1.src.rpm</literal>. This
will use your locally installed libraries and RPM version.
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect3 id="installation-deb"><title>Debian</title>
<para>
- FIXME.
+ DEBs can be installed with <literal>apt-get install privoxy</literal>,
+ and will use <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> for the location of
+ configuration files.
</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.
</para>
</sect3>
<para>
Create a new directory, <literal>cd</literal> to it, then unzip and
untar the archive. For the most part, you'll have to figure out where
- things go. FIXME.
+ things go. <!-- FIXME, more info needed? -->
</para>
</sect3>
First, make sure that no previous installations of
<application>Junkbuster</application> and / or
<application>Privoxy</application> are left on your
- system. You can do this by
+ system. Check that no <application>Junkbuster</application>
+ or <application>Privoxy</application> objects are in
+ your startup folder.
+
</para>
<para>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Max OSX</title>
-<para>
- Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file
- in the finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then,
- double-click on the package installer icon and follow the installation
- process.
- <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the subdirectory
- <literal>/Applications/Privoxy.app</literal>.
- <application>Privoxy</application> will set itself up to start
- automatically on system bring-up via
- <literal>/System/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
+<sect3 id="installation-mac"><title>Mac OSX</title>
+<para>
+ Unzip the downloaded file (you can either double-click on the file
+ from the finder, or from the desktop if you downloaded it there).
+ Then, double-click on the package installer icon named
+ <literal>Privoxy.pkg</literal>
+ and follow the installation process.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will be installed in the folder
+ <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal>.
+ It will start automatically whenever you start up. To prevent it from
+ starting automatically, remove or rename the folder
+ <literal>/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy</literal>.
+</para>
+<para>
+ To start Privoxy by hand, double-click on
+ <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> in the
+ <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder.
+ Or, type this command in the Terminal:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
+ </screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ You will be prompted for the administrator password.
</para>
</sect3>
directory, including all configuration and log files. To uninstall, just
remove this directory.
</para>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 id="installattion-gentoo"><title>Gentoo</title>
<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).
+ Gentoo source packages (Ebuilds) for <application>Privoxy</application> are
+ contained in the Gentoo Portage Tree (they are not on the download page,
+ but there is a Gentoo section, where you can see when a new
+ <application>Privoxy</application> Version is added to the Portage Tree).
+</para>
+<para>
+ Before installing <application>Privoxy</application> under Gentoo just do
+ first <literal>emerge rsync</literal> to get the latest changes from the
+ Portage tree. With <literal>emerge privoxy</literal> you install the latest
+ version.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Configuration files are in <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename>, the
+ documentation is in <filename>/usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;</filename>
+ and the Log directory is in <filename>/var/log/privoxy</filename>.
</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>.
+<!--
+ deprecated...out of business.
+ or simply download <ulink
+ url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.bz2">the nightly CVS
+ tarball.</ulink>
+-->
+</para>
+
<!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
- &buildsource;
+&buildsource;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
+
</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="installation-keepupdated"><title>Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date</title>
+<para>
+ As user feedback comes in and development continues, we will make updated versions
+ of both the main <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link> (as a <ulink
+ url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118&release_id=103670">separate
+ package</ulink>) and the software itself (including the actions file) available for
+ download.
+</para>
-</sect1>
+<para>
+ If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
+ <application>Privoxy</application> or the actions file, <ulink
+ url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/">subscribe
+ to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
+</para>
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+<para>
+ In order not to lose your personal changes and adjustments when updating
+ to the latest <literal>default.action</literal> file we <emphasis>strongly
+ recommend</emphasis> that you use <literal>user.action</literal> for your
+ customization of <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
+ linkend="actions-file">Chapter on actions files</link> for details.
+</para>
+</sect2>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="upgradersnote">
-<title>Note to Upgraders</title>
+<sect1 id="whatsnew">
+<title>What's New in this Release</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 files</quote>. <filename>default.action</filename>,
- is the main actions file. Local exceptions should best be put into
- <filename>user.action</filename>.
+ There are many new features in <application>Privoxy</application> &p-version;
+ :
</para>
+
<para>
- A <quote>filter file</quote> (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.
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Mulitiple <link linkend="filter-file">filter files</link> can now be specifed in <filename>config</filename>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ There are a number of new <link linkend="actions-file">actions</link>:
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-client-header">crunch-client-header</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-server-header">crunch-server-header</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="fast-redirects">fast-redirects</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="force-text-mode">force-text-mode</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="handle-as-empty-document">handle-as-empty-document</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-accept-language">hide-accept-language</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-content-disposition">hide-content-disposition</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-referrer">hide-referrer</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="inspect-jpegs">inspect-jpegs</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="redirect">redirect</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link></literal>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
+
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <application>MS-Windows</application> versions can now be installed and
+ started as a <emphasis>service</emphasis>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ In addition, there are various bug fixes and enhancements, including
+ error pages are no longer cached, better DNS error handling, and logging
+ improvements.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+
+ </itemizedlist>
</para>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect2 id="upgradersnote">
+<title>Note to Upgraders</title>
+
<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 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.
+ A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading from earlier
+ versions of <application>Privoxy</application>:
</para>
+
<para>
- A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Some installers may remove earlier versions completely, including
+ configuration files. Save any important configuration files!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ What constitutes a <quote>default</quote> configuration has changed,
+ and you may want to review which actions are <quote>on</quote> by
+ default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
+ you may have been used to, may now be <quote>off</quote> by default.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+<!-- I think it is best to keep this somewhat vague, in case -->
+<!-- the situation changes under our feet. -->
+ Some installers may not automatically start
+ <application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
</para>
+</sect2>
+</sect1>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
<para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>
- The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
- service (NAS).
+ Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
+ linkend="installation">Installation Section</link> below for platform specific
+ information.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Advanced users and those who want to offer <application>Privoxy</application>
+ service to more than just their local machine should check the <link
+ linkend="config">main config file</link>, especially the <link
+ linkend="access-control">security-relevant</link> options. These are
+ off by default.
</para>
</listitem>
+
<listitem>
- <para>
- Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any
- important configuration files!
+ <para>
+ Start <application>Privoxy</application>, if the installation program has
+ not done this already (may vary according to platform). 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 (SSL) 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> below
+ for more details on this.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
<listitem>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is controllable with a web browser
- at the special URL: <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
- (Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>). Many
- aspects of configuration can be done here, including temporarily disabling
- <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
+ If using <application>Privoxy</application> to manage cookies, you should
+ remove any currently stored cookies too.
</para>
</listitem>
+
<listitem>
<para>
- The primary configuration file for cookie management, ad and banner
- blocking, and many other aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>
- configuration is in the <quote>actions</quote> files. 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>.
+ A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
+ most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
+ configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
+ to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
</para>
+ <para>
+ See the <link linkend="configuration">Configuration section</link> for more
+ configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
+ <![%draft;[ You might also want to look at the <link
+ linkend="quickstart-ad-blocking">next section</link> for a quick
+ introduction to how <application>Privoxy</application> blocks ads and
+ banners.]]>
+</para>
</listitem>
- <listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
<para>
-<!-- I think it is best to keep this somewhat vague, in case -->
-<!-- the situation changes under our feet. -->
- Some installers may not automatically start
- <application>Privoxy</application> after installation.
+ If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+ blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> behaviour, take a look at the <link
+ linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>. As a quick start, you might
+ find the <link linkend="act-examples">richly commented examples</link>
+ helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org">web-based user interface</ulink>. The
+ Appendix <quote><link linkend="actionsanat">Anatomy of an
+ Action</link></quote> has hints how to debug actions that
+ <quote>misbehave</quote>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ For easy access to Privoxy's most important controls, drag the provided
+ <link linkend="bookmarklets">Bookmarklets</link> into your browser's
+ personal toolbar.
+ </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>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
</itemizedlist>
</para>
-</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="startup">
-<title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+
+<sect2 id="quickstart-ad-blocking">
+<title>Quickstart to Ad Blocking</title>
+<!--
+ NOTE: This section is deliberately redundant for those that don't
+ want to read the whole thing (which is getting lengthy).
+-->
<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
- configuration step that must be done!
+ Ad blocking is but one of <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
+ user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.
</para>
-
<para>
- With <application>Netscape</application> (and
- <application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under <literal>Edit
- -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy</literal>.
- 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.
+ This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
+ you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
+ information provided below, though this is highly recommended.
</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>!
+ First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
+ more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
+ things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
+ extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
+ <quote>problem</quote> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
+ configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
+ not an easy way to eliminate <emphasis>all</emphasis> ads. Either take
+ the easy way and settle for <emphasis>most</emphasis> ads blocked with the
+ default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
+ habits and preferences.
</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:
+ Secondly, a brief explanation of <application>Privoxy's </application>
+ <quote>actions</quote>. <quote>Actions</quote> in this context, are
+ the directives we use to tell <application>Privoxy</application> to perform
+ some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
+ <application>Privoxy</application> to take some <quote>action</quote>. Each
+ action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
+ <application>actions</application> in <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <link
+ linkend="actions">Actions</link>, and <link linkend="actions-file">action
+ configuration files</link>, are explained in depth below.
</para>
-
<para>
- <screen>
-
- # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
-
- </screen>
+ Actions are specified in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
+ followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
+ can actually be URL type <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> that use
+ wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
+ actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.
</para>
-
<para>
- See <link linkend="cmdoptions">below</link> for other command line options.
+ When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
+ of the sections as defined in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
+ or not. If so, then <application>Privoxy</application> will perform the
+ respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
+ pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
+ use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
+ original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
+ embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
+ or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
+ such embedded URLs.
</para>
<para>
- An init script is provided for SuSE and Red Hat.
+ The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <literal><link
+ linkend="block">block</link></literal>, <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>, and
+ <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>:
</para>
<para>
- For for SuSE: <command>rcprivoxy start</command>
-</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> - this action stops
+ any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this
+ action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything
+ that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any
+ communication with the remote server and sends <application>Privoxy</application>'s
+ own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
-<para>
- For Red Hat and Debian: <command>/etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start</command>
-</para>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> -
+ tells <application>Privoxy</application> to treat this URL as an image.
+ <application>Privoxy</application>'s default configuration already does this
+ for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
+ is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
+ important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
+ some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
+ <application>Privoxy</application> BLOCKED page (which would only result in
+ a <quote>broken image</quote> icon). There are some limitations to this
+ though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
+ an entire HTML page in most situations.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal> - tells
+ <application>Privoxy</application> what to display in place of an ad image that
+ has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action somewhere in the
+ configuration, <emphasis>and</emphasis>, it must also match an
+ <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
+ </para>
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
+ replacement is obvious. This is the default.
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ <emphasis>blank</emphasis> - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
+ This is the so-called <quote>invisible</quote> configuration option.
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ <emphasis>http://<URL></emphasis> - A redirect to any image anywhere
+ of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </listitem>
-<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.
+</itemizedlist>
</para>
-
<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.
+ The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
+ the special <application>Privoxy</application> editor at <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
+ (shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/show-status</ulink>). This
+ is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
+ appropriate <quote>actions</quote> file, and click
+ <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>. It is best to put personal or
+ local preferences in <filename>user.action</filename> since this is not
+ meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
+ other files. Here you can insert new <quote>actions</quote>, and URLs for ad
+ blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will detect these changes automatically.
</para>
<para>
- You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites that require 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
- configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
- 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.
+ A quick and simple step by step example:
</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.
-</para>
+ <itemizedlist>
-<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all of
- the optional 1.1 features are as yet supported. In the unlikely event that
- you experience inexplicable problems with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
- (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-http-version</quote> config option in
- <filename>default.action</filename> which will downgrade your browser's HTTP
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
+ <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote> from the
+ pop-up menu.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Set your browser to
+ <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Find <filename>user.action</filename> in the top section, and click
+ on <quote><guibutton>Edit</guibutton></quote>:
+ </para>
+
+ <!-- image of editor and actions files selections -->
+ <para>
+ <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Actions Files in Use</title>
+ <mediaobject>
+ <imageobject>
+ <imagedata fileref="../images/files-in-use.jpg" format="jpg">
+ </imageobject>
+ <textobject>
+ <phrase>[ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]</phrase>
+ </textobject>
+ </mediaobject>
+ </figure>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ You should have a section with only
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> listed under
+ <quote>Actions:</quote>.
+ If not, click a <quote><guibutton>Insert new section below</guibutton></quote>
+ button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> button right under the word <quote>Actions:</quote>.
+ This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> near the top, and click
+ in the <quote>Enabled</quote> column, then <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote>
+ just below the list.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now, in the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> actions section,
+ click the <quote><guibutton>Add</guibutton></quote> button, and paste the URL the
+ browser got from <quote><guimenuitem>Copy Link Location</guimenuitem></quote>.
+ Remove the <literal>http://</literal> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
+ <quote><guibutton>Submit</guibutton></quote> (or
+ <quote><guibutton>OK</guibutton></quote> if in a pop-up window).
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Now go back to the original page, and press <keycap>SHIFT-Reload</keycap>
+ (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
+ wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
+ site. For a more extensive explanation of <quote>patterns</quote>, and
+ the entire actions concept, see <link linkend="actions-file">the Actions
+ section</link>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
+ to now go to the <link linkend="act-examples">Actions Files Tutorial</link>.
+ The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
+</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
+</sect1>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<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
+ 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>
+ Please note that <application>Privoxy</application> can only proxy HTTP and
+ HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other protocols.
+</para>
+
+ <!-- image of Mozilla Proxy configuration -->
+ <para>
+ <figure pgwide="0" float="0"><title>Proxy Configuration (Mozilla)</title>
+ <mediaobject>
+ <imageobject>
+ <imagedata fileref="../images/proxy_setup.jpg" format="jpg">
+ </imageobject>
+ <textobject>
+ <phrase>[ Screenshot of Mozilla Proxy Configuration ]</phrase>
+ </textobject>
+ </mediaobject>
+ </figure>
+ </para>
+
+
+<para>
+ With <application>Firefox</application>, this can be set under:
+</para>
+
+<literallayout>
+<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
+<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Options</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>General</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Connection Settings</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Manual Proxy Configuration</guibutton>
+</literallayout>
+
+
+<para>
+ With <application>Netscape</application> (and
+ <application>Mozilla</application>), this can be set under:
+</para>
+
+
+<literallayout>
+<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
+<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
+ <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Proxies</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>HTTP Proxy</guibutton>
+</literallayout>
+
+<para>
+ For <application>Internet Explorer</application>:
+</para>
+
+<literallayout>
+<!-- Mix ascii and gui art, something for everybody -->
+<!-- spacing on this is tricky -->
+ <guibutton>Tools</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Internet Properties</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>Connections</guibutton>
+ |_
+ <guibutton>LAN Settings</guibutton>
+</literallayout>
+
+<para>
+ Then, check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info
+ (Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS
+ proxy support too.
+</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>!
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> itself is typically started by specifying the
+ 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-redhat">
+<title>Red Hat and Conectiva</title>
+<para>
+ We use a script. Note that Red Hat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
+ default. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as
+ its main configuration file.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
+</screen>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-debian">
+<title>Debian</title>
+<para>
+ We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per
+ default. It will use the file
+ <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its main configuration
+ file.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ # /etc/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>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-os2">
+<title>OS/2</title>
+<para>
+ During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
+ start automatically when the system restarts. You can start it manually by
+ double-clicking on the <application>Privoxy</application> icon in the
+ <application>Privoxy</application> folder.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-macosx">
+<title>Mac OSX</title>
+<para>
+ During installation, <application>Privoxy</application> is configured to
+ start automatically when the system restarts. To start Privoxy by hand,
+ double-click on the <literal>StartPrivoxy.command</literal> icon in the
+ <literal>/Library/Privoxy</literal> folder. Or, type this command
+ in the Terminal:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
+ </screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ You will be prompted for the administrator password.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+
+<sect2 id="start-amigaos">
+<title>AmigaOS</title>
+<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>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-gentoo">
+<title>Gentoo</title>
+<para>
+ A script is again used. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config
+ </filename> as its main configuration file.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ /etc/init.d/privoxy start
+ </screen>
+</para>
+<para>
+ Note that <application>Privoxy</application> is not automatically started at
+ boot time by default. You can change this with the <literal>rc-update</literal>
+ command.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ rc-update add privoxy default
+ </screen>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<!--
+
+<para>
+ See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
+ further 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
+ <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 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>), unless you add them to the
+ configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
+ 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 <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>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> is HTTP/1.1 compliant, but not all of
+ the optional 1.1 features are as yet supported. In the unlikely event that
+ you experience inexplicable problems with browsers that use HTTP/1.1 per default
+ (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-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>
</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>
- or even dive deep into the <ulink url="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">Appendix
- on actions</ulink>.
+ If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <link
+ linkend="actions-file">read more about the actions concept</link>
+ or even dive deep into the <link linkend="actionsanat">Appendix
+ on actions</link>.
</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 <ulink url="contact.html"><quote>Contacting the
- Developers</quote></ulink> below.
+ section <link linkend="contact"><quote>Contacting the
+ Developers</quote></link> below.
</para>
-</sect2>
-
+-->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="cmdoptions">
<emphasis>USER</emphasis>, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
</para>
- </listitem>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <emphasis>--chroot</emphasis>
+
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Before changing to the user ID given in the <emphasis>--user</emphasis> option,
+ chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the Privoxy
+ process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
+ the impact of possible vulnerabilities in Privoxy to the files contained in that hierarchy.
+ Unix only.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
<emphasis>configfile</emphasis>
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>
-
-Privoxy Menu:
+<!-- Needs to be put in a table and colorized -->
+<screen>
+ <msgtext>
+ <bridgehead renderas="sect2"> Privoxy Menu</bridgehead>
- * View & change the current configuration
- * View the source code version numbers
- * View the request headers.
- * Look up which actions apply to a URL and why
- * Toggle Privoxy on or off
+ <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>
+ <member>
+ ▪ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/
+ &p-version;/user-manual/">Documentation</ulink>
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </msgtext>
+</screen>
- </screen>
-</para>
<para>
This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the
- <quote>actions list</quote>, which is where the ad, banner, cookie,
- and URL blocking magic is configured as well as other advanced features of
+ <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
+ 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.
<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. This is a required file.
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
- <filename>default.action</filename> (the main actions file) is used to define
- the default settings for various <quote>actions</quote> relating to images, banners,
- pop-ups, access restrictions, banners and cookies.
+ <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> are probably best applied in
- <filename>user.action</filename>, which should be preserved across
- upgrades. <filename>standard.action</filename> is also included. This is mostly
- for <application>Privoxy's</application> internal use.
+ preferred exceptions to the default policies as defined in
+ <filename>default.action</filename> (which you will most probably 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 for this file that can be accessed at
+ There is also a web based editor that can be accessed from
<ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions/">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions/</ulink>
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
(Shortcut: <ulink
- url="http://p.p/edit-actions/">http://p.p/edit-actions/</ulink>) for the
+ 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 files.
+ <quote>Filter files</quote> (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.
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> includes various filters made
+ available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive than
+ others, and all should be used with caution. You may define additional
+ filter files in <filename>config</filename> as you can with
+ actions files. We suggest <filename>user.filter</filename> for any
+ locally defined filters or customizations.
</para>
</listitem>
</para>
<para>
- The actions files and <filename>default.filter</filename>
+ The actions files and filter files
can use Perl style <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> for
maximum flexibility.
</para>
please check all your configuration files on important issues.
</para>
]]>
+
</sect2>
+</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 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.
- Configuration lines consist of an initial keyword followed by a list of
- values, all separated by whitespace (any number of spaces or tabs). For
- example:
-</para>
+<!-- **************************************************** -->
+<!-- Include config.sgml here -->
+<!-- This is where the entire config file is detailed. -->
+ &config;
+<!-- end include -->
+
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
<para>
- Assigns the value <literal>/etc/privoxy</literal> to the option
- <literal>confdir</literal> and thus indicates that the configuration
- directory is named <quote>/etc/privoxy/</quote>.
-</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>
+ with differing purposes:
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <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 <link
+ linkend="installation-keepupdated">making available to users</link>.
+ </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>
+ <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>
+ <para>
+ The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
+ <filename>standard.action</filename> are:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <table frame=all><title>Default Configurations</title>
+ <tgroup cols=4 align=left colsep=1 rowsep=1>
+ <colspec colname=c1>
+ <colspec colname=c2>
+ <colspec colname=c3>
+ <colspec colname=c4>
+ <thead>
+ <row>
+ <entry>Feature</entry>
+ <entry>Cautious</entry>
+ <entry>Medium</entry>
+ <entry>Adventuresome</entry>
+ </row>
+ </thead>
+ <!-- <tfoot> -->
+ <!-- <row> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f1</entry> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f2</entry> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f3</entry> -->
+ <!-- <entry>f4</entry> -->
+ <!-- </row> -->
+ <!-- </tfoot> -->
+ <tbody>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Ad-blocking by URL</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Ad-filtering by size</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>GIF de-animation</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Referer forging</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Cookie handling</entry>
+ <entry>none</entry>
+ <entry>session-only</entry>
+ <entry>kill</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
+ <entry>unsolicited</entry>
+ <entry>unsolicited</entry>
+ <entry>all</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Fast redirects</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>HTML taming</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>JavaScript taming</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Web-bug killing</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Fun text replacements</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+ <row>
+ <entry>Demoronizer</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+ </row>
+
+
+ </tbody>
+ </tgroup>
+ </table>
+ </para>
+
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
<para>
- All options in the config file except for <literal>confdir</literal> and
- <literal>logdir</literal> are optional. Watch out in the below description
- for what happens if you leave them unset.
+ The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
+ file, and are processed in the order they are defined (e.g.
+ <filename>default.action</filename> is typically process before
+ <filename>user.action</filename>). The content of these can all be viewed and
+ edited from <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
- The main config file controls all aspects of <application>Privoxy</application>'s
- operation that are not location dependent (i.e. they apply universally, no matter
- where you may be surfing).
+ 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>
+ 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 ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2>
+<title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
+<para>
+ 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 crunch all cookies per
+ default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
+ regularly use and that require cookies for actually useful puposes, like maybe
+ your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
+</para>
-<sect3 id="conf-log-loc">
-<title>Configuration and Log File Locations</title>
+<para>
+ We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
+ 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 again :).
+</para>
+</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2>
+<title>How to Edit</title>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> can (and normally does) use a number of
- other files for additional configuration and logging.
- This section of the configuration file tells <application>Privoxy</application>
- where to find those other files.
+ 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>Adventuresome</quote>.
+ Warning: the <quote>Adventuresome</quote> setting is not only more aggressive,
+ but includes settings that are fun and subversive, and which some may find of
+ dubious merit!
</para>
+<para>
+ If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
+ the actions files. Look at <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly
+ commented.
+</para>
+</sect2>
-<sect4 id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>The directory where the other configuration files are located</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>Path name</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>/etc/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please
- </para>
- <para>
- When development goes modular and multi-user, the blocker, filter, and
- per-user config will be stored in subdirectories of <quote>confdir</quote>.
- For now, the configuration directory structure is flat, except for
- <filename>confdir/templates</filename>, where the HTML templates for CGI
- output reside (e.g. <application>Privoxy's</application> 404 error page).
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+<sect2 id="actions-apply">
+<title>How Actions are Applied to URLs</title>
+<para>
+ 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>
+<para>
+ To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
+ compared to all patterns in each <quote>action file</quote> 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. If not,
+ the effects are aggregated. E.g. a URL might match a regular section with
+ a heading line of <literal>{
+ +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link> }</literal>,
+ then later another one with just <literal>{
+ +<link linkend="block">block</link> }</literal>, resulting
+ in <emphasis>both</emphasis> actions to apply.
+</para>
-<sect4 id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
+<para>
+ You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
+</para>
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- The directory where all logging takes place (i.e. where <filename>logfile</filename> and
- <filename>jarfile</filename> are located)
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>Path name</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>/var/log/privoxy (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> <application>Privoxy</application> installation dir (Windows) </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Mandatory</emphasis></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- No trailing <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, please
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+<para>
+ More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
+ Anatomy of an Action</link>.
+</para>
+</sect2>
-<sect4 id="actionsfile"><title>
-<anchor id="default.action">
-<anchor id="standard.action">
-<anchor id="user.action">
-actionsfile
-</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="af-patterns">
+<title>Patterns</title>
+<para>
+ As mentioned, <application>Privoxy</application> uses <quote>patterns</quote>
+ to determine what actions might apply to which sites and pages your browser
+ attempts to access. These <quote>patterns</quote> use wild card type
+ <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> matching to achieve a high degree of
+ flexibility. This allows one expression to be expanded and potentially match
+ against many similar patterns.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Generally, a <application>Privoxy</application> pattern has the form
+ <literal><domain>/<path></literal>, where both the
+ <literal><domain></literal> and <literal><path></literal> are
+ optional. (This is why the special <literal>/</literal> pattern matches all
+ URLs). Note that the protocol portion of the URL pattern (e.g.
+ <literal>http://</literal>) should <emphasis>not</emphasis> be included in
+ the pattern. This is assumed already!
+</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- The actions file(s) to use
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <msgtext><literallayout> standard # Internal purposes, recommended not editing</literallayout></msgtext>
- </member>
- <member>
- <msgtext><literallayout> default # Main actions file</literallayout></msgtext>
- </member>
- <member>
- <msgtext><literallayout> user # User customizations</literallayout></msgtext>
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term><literal>www.example.com/</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- No actions are taken at all. Simple neutral proxying.
+ is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
+ regardless of which document on that server is requested.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><literal>www.example.com</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are OK and are in fact recommended!
- </para>
- <para>
- The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
- purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the
- <quote>main</quote> actions file maintained by the developers, and
- user.action, where you can make your personal additions.
- </para>
- <para>
- There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without an actions file.
+ means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <literal>/</literal> may
+ be omitted.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4 id="filterfile"><title><anchor id="default.filter">filterfile</title>
-<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The filter file to use
+ matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
+ on <literal>www.example.com</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>default.filter (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> default.filter.txt (Windows)</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term><literal>/index.html</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- No textual content filtering takes place, i.e. all
- <literal>+filter{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
- actions in the actions files are turned off
+ matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
+ i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The <quote>default.filter</quote> file contains content modification rules
- that use <quote>regular expressions</quote>. These rules permit powerful
- changes on the content of Web pages, e.g., you could disable your favorite
- JavaScript annoyances, re-write the actual displayed text, or just have some
- fun replacing <quote>Microsoft</quote> with <quote>MicroSuck</quote> wherever
- it appears on a Web page.
+ matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
+ there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-<sect4 id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- The log file to use
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>File name, relative to <literal>logdir</literal></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>logfile (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> privoxy.log (Windows)</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- No log file is used, all log messages go to the console (<literal>stderr</literal>).
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- The windows version will additionally log to the console.
- </para>
- <para>
- The logfile is where all logging and error messages are written. The level
- of detail and number of messages are set with the <literal>debug</literal>
- option (see below). The logfile can be useful for tracking down a problem with
- <application>Privoxy</application> (e.g., it's not blocking an ad you
- think it should block) but in most cases you probably will never look at it.
- </para>
- <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 Red Hat, a <command>logrotate</command>
- script has been included.
- </para>
- <para>
- On SuSE Linux systems, you can place a line like <quote>/var/log/privoxy.*
- +1024k 644 nobody.nogroup</quote> in <filename>/etc/logfiles</filename>, with
- the effect that cron.daily will automatically archive, gzip, and empty the
- log, when it exceeds 1M size.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
-<sect4 id="jarfile"><title>jarfile</title>
+<para>
+ The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
+ domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
+ For example:
+</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The file to store intercepted cookies in
+ matches any domain that <emphasis>ENDS</emphasis> in
+ <literal>.example.com</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>File name, relative to <literal>logdir</literal></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>jarfile (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> privoxy.jar (Windows)</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term><literal>www.</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Intercepted cookies are not stored at all.
+ matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
+ <literal>www.</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The jarfile may grow to ridiculous sizes over time.
+ matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>
+ (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as a domain.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-<sect4 id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
+<para>
+ Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
+ themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <quote>*</quote>
+ stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <quote>?</quote> stands for
+ any single character, you can define character classes in square
+ brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:
+</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term><literal>ad*.example.com</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The trust file to use
+ matches <quote>adserver.example.com</quote>,
+ <quote>ads.example.com</quote>, etc but not <quote>sfads.example.com</quote>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term><literal>*ad*.example.com</literal></term>
<listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Unset (commented out)</emphasis>. When activated: trust (Unix) <emphasis>or</emphasis> trust.txt (Windows)</para>
+ <para>
+ matches all of the above, and then some.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term><literal>.?pix.com</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The whole trust mechanism is turned off.
+ matches <literal>www.ipix.com</literal>,
+ <literal>pictures.epix.com</literal>, <literal>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</literal> etc.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><literal>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</literal></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The trust mechanism is an experimental feature for building white-lists and should
- be used with care. It is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> recommended for the casual user.
- </para>
- <para>
- If you specify a trust file, <application>Privoxy</application> will only allow
- access to sites that are named in the trustfile.
- You can also mark sites as trusted referrers (with <literal>+</literal>), with
- the effect that access to untrusted sites will be granted, if a link from a
- trusted referrer was used.
- The link target will then be added to the <quote>trustfile</quote>.
- Possible applications include limiting Internet access for children.
- </para>
- <para>
- If you use <literal>+</literal> operator in the trust file, it may grow considerably over time.
+ matches <literal>www1.example.com</literal>,
+ <literal>www4.example.cc</literal>, <literal>wwwd.example.cy</literal>,
+ <literal>wwwz.example.com</literal> etc., but <emphasis>not</emphasis>
+ <literal>wwww.example.com</literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
</sect3>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
-<sect3 id="local-set-up">
-<title>Local Set-up Documentation</title>
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
+ (through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
+ matching the path.
+</para>
- <para>
- If you intend to operate <application>Privoxy</application> for more users
- that just yourself, it might be a good idea to let them know how to reach
- you, what you block and why you do that, your policies etc.
- </para>
+<para>
+ There is an <link linkend="regex">Appendix</link> with a brief quick-start into regular
+ expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
+ at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
+ You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
+ useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
+ url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>.
+</para>
-<sect4 id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
+<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> (regular expression speak
+ for the beginning of a line).
+</para>
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- A URL to be displayed in the error page that users will see if access to an untrusted page is denied.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>URL</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
+<para>
+ Please also note that matching in the path is <emphasis>CASE INSENSITIVE</emphasis>
+ by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
+ <quote>(?-i)</quote> switch: <literal>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</literal> will match
+ only documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
+ <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
+</para>
+</sect3>
+
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect2 id="actions">
+<title>Actions</title>
+<para>
+ 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, i.e the action can only be <quote>enabled</quote> or
+ <quote>disabled</quote>. Syntax:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <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, 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>
+ 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. 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>
+ <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>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ 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 (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> actions are:
+</para>
+
+
+<!-- ********************************************************** -->
+<!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
+<!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
+<!-- -->
+<!-- ********************************************************** -->
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
+<title>add-header</title>
+
+<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Two example URL are provided</para>
+ <para>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- No links are displayed on the "untrusted" error page.
+ Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism has been
- activated. (See <literal>trustfile</literal> above.)
- </para>
- <para>
- If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
- documentation about your trust policy and to specify the URL(s) here.
- Use multiple times for multiple URLs.
- </para>
- <para>
- The URL(s) should be added to the trustfile as well, so users don't end up
- locked out from the information on why they were locked out in the first place!
- </para>
+ <para>Multi-value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4 id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
-
-<variablelist>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- An email address to reach the proxy administrator.
+ 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>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para>Email address</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
- <listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+
+<varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- No email address is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
+ 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>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
- are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
- not be shown.
- </para>
+ <screen>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
+<title>block</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- A URL to documentation about the local <application>Privoxy</application> setup,
- configuration or policies.
- </para>
+ <para>Block ads or other obnoxious content</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>URL</para>
+ <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>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- No link to local documentation is displayed on error pages and the CGI user interface.
- </para>
+ <para>N/A</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If both <literal>admin-address</literal> and <literal>proxy-info-url</literal>
- are unset, the whole "Local Privoxy Support" box on all generated pages will
- not be shown.
- </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 miniaturized 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>
- This URL shouldn't be blocked ;-)
- </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>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-</sect3>
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
+.nasty-stuff.example.com
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+{+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
+.ad.doubleclick.net
+.ads.r.us</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<sect3 id="debugging">
-<title>Debugging</title>
- <para>
- These options are mainly useful when tracing a problem.
- Note that you might also want to invoke
- <application>Privoxy</application> with the <literal>--no-daemon</literal>
- command line option when debugging.
- </para>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="debug"><title>debug</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="content-type-overwrite">
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<title>content-type-overwrite</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Key values that determine what information gets logged.
- </para>
+ <para>Stop useless download menus from popping up, or change the browser's rendering mode</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Integer values</para>
+ <para>
+ Replaces the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>12289 (i.e.: URLs plus informational and warning messages)</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Nothing gets logged.
- </para>
+ Any string.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The available debug levels are:
+ The <quote>Content-Type:</quote> HTTP server header is used by the
+ browser to decide what to do with the document. The value of this
+ header can cause the browser to open a download menu instead of
+ displaying the document by itself, even if the document's format is
+ supported by the browser.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The declared content type can also affect which rendering mode
+ the browser chooses. If XHTML is delivered as <quote>text/html</quote>,
+ many browsers treat it as yet another broken HTML document.
+ If it is send as <quote>application/xml</quote>, browsers with
+ XHTML support will only display it, if the syntax is correct.
</para>
<para>
- <programlisting>
- debug 1 # show each GET/POST/CONNECT request
- debug 2 # show each connection status
- debug 4 # show I/O status
- debug 8 # show header parsing
- debug 16 # log all data into the logfile
- debug 32 # debug force feature
- debug 64 # debug regular expression filter
- debug 128 # debug fast redirects
- debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
- debug 512 # Common Log Format
- debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
- debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
- debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
- </programlisting>
+ If you see a web site that proudly uses XHTML buttons, but sets
+ <quote>Content-Type: text/html</quote>, you can use Privoxy
+ to overwrite it with <quote>application/xml</quote> and validate
+ the web master's claim inside your XHTML-supporting browser.
+ If the syntax is incorrect, the browser will complain loudly.
</para>
<para>
- To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use
- multiple <literal>debug</literal> lines.
+ You can also go the opposite direction: if your browser prints
+ error messages instead of rendering a document falsely declared
+ as XHTML, you can overwrite the content type with
+ <quote>text/html</quote> and have it rendered as broken HTML document.
</para>
<para>
- A debug level of 1 is informative because it will show you each request
- as it happens. <emphasis>1, 4096 and 8192 are highly recommended</emphasis>
- so that you will notice when things go wrong. The other levels are probably
- only of interest if you are hunting down a specific problem. They can produce
- a hell of an output (especially 16).
- <!-- LOL -->
+ By default <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal> only replaces
+ <quote>Content-Type:</quote> headers that look like some kind of text.
+ If you want to overwrite it unconditionally, you have to combine it with
+ <literal><link linkend="force-text-mode">force-text-mode</link></literal>.
+ This limitation exists for a reason, think twice before circumventing it.
</para>
<para>
- The reporting of <emphasis>fatal</emphasis> errors (i.e. ones which crash
- <application>Privoxy</application>) is always on and cannot be disabled.
+ Most of the time it's easier to enable
+ <literal><link linkend="filter-server-headers">filter-server-headers</link></literal>
+ and replace this action with a custom regular expression. It allows you
+ to activate it for every document of a certain site and it will still
+ only replace the content types you aimed at.
</para>
<para>
- If you want to use CLF (Common Log Format), you should set <quote>debug
- 512</quote> <emphasis>ONLY</emphasis> and not enable anything else.
+ Of course you can apply <literal>content-type-overwrite</literal>
+ to a whole site and then make URL based exceptions, but it's a lot
+ more work to get the same precision.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Check if www.example.net/ really uses valid XHTML
+{+content-type-overwrite {application/xml}}
+www.example.net/
+# but leave the content type unmodified if the URL looks like a style sheet
+{-content-type-overwrite}
+www.example.net/*.\.css$
+www.example.net/*.style
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-client-header">
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<title>crunch-server-header</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Remove a client header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Whether to run only one server thread
+ Deletes every header send by the client that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para><emphasis>None</emphasis></para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
+ <para>
+ Any string.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Multi-threaded (or, where unavailable: forked) operation, i.e. the ability to
- serve multiple requests simultaneously.
+ This action allows you to block client headers for which no dedicated
+ <application>Privoxy</application> action exists.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> will remove every client header that
+ contains the string you supplied as parameter.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
+ use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
+ they contain the same string.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <literal>crunch-client-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
+ If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
+ parts of them, you should enable
+ <literal><link linkend="filter-client-headers">filter-client-headers</link></literal>
+ and create your own filter.
</para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- This option is only there for debug purposes and you should never
- need to use it. <emphasis>It will drastically reduce performance.</emphasis>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Block the non-existent "Privacy-Violation:" client header
+{+crunch-client-header {Privacy-Violation:}}
+/
+ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect3 id="access-control">
-<title>Access Control and Security</title>
-
- <para>
- This section of the config file controls the security-relevant aspects
- of <application>Privoxy</application>'s configuration.
- </para>
-
-<sect4 id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-if-none-match">
+<title>crunch-if-none-match</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- The IP address and TCP port on which <application>Privoxy</application> will
- listen for client requests.
- </para>
+ <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>[<replaceable class="parameter">IP-Address</replaceable>]:<replaceable class="parameter">Port</replaceable></para>
+ <para>
+ Deletes the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>localhost:8118</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Bind to localhost (127.0.0.1), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for
- home users who run <application>Privoxy</application> on the same machine as
- their browser.
- </para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- You will need to configure your browser(s) to this proxy address and port.
+ Removing the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> HTTP client header
+ is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
+ reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote> which
+ would cause the browser to use a cached copy of the page.
</para>
<para>
- If you already have another service running on port 8118, or if you want to
- serve requests from other machines (e.g. on your local network) as well, you
- will need to override the default.
+ It is also useful to make sure the header isn't used as a cookie
+ replacement.
</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)
- (see <quote>ACLs</quote> below), or a firewall.
+ Blocking the <quote>If-None-Match:</quote> header shouldn't cause any
+ caching problems, as long as the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> header
+ isn't blocked as well.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is recommended to use this action together with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hide-if-modified-since</link></literal>
+ and
+ <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Suppose you are running <application>Privoxy</application> on
- a machine which has the address 192.168.0.1 on your local private network
- (192.168.0.0) and has another outside connection with a different address.
- You want it to serve requests from inside only:
- </para>
- <para>
- <programlisting>
- listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
- </programlisting>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Let the browser revalidate cached documents without being tracked across sessions
+{+hide-if-modified-since {-1} \
++overwrite-last-modified {randomize} \
++crunch-if-none-match}
+/ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
+<title>crunch-incoming-cookies</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Initial state of "toggle" status
+ Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>1 or 0</para>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>1</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Act as if toggled on
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If set to 0, <application>Privoxy</application> will start in
- <quote>toggled off</quote> mode, i.e. behave like a normal, content-neutral
- 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.
+ 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>
- The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray
- if this option is present.
+ 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. See also
+ <literal><link linkend="filter-content-cookies">filter-content-cookies</link></literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-server-header">
+<title>crunch-server-header</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">web-based toggle
- feature</ulink> may be used
- </para>
+ <para>Remove a server header <application>Privoxy</application> has no dedicated action for.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>0 or 1</para>
+ <para>
+ Deletes every header sent by the server that contains the string the user supplied as parameter.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>1</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The web-based toggle feature is disabled.
- </para>
+ Any string.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- When toggled off, <application>Privoxy</application> acts like a normal,
- content-neutral proxy, i.e. it acts as if none of the actions applied to
- any URL.
+ This action allows you to block server headers for which no dedicated
+ <application>Privoxy</application> action exists. <application>Privoxy</application>
+ will remove every server header that contains the string you supplied as parameter.
</para>
<para>
- For the time being, access to the toggle feature can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
- controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
- so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
- <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
- toggle it for all users. So this option is <emphasis>not recommended</emphasis>
- for multi-user environments with untrusted users.
+ Regular expressions are <emphasis>not supported</emphasis> and you can't
+ use this action to block different headers in the same request, unless
+ they contain the same string.
</para>
<para>
- Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
- support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
+ <literal>crunch-server-header</literal> is only meant for quick tests.
+ If you have to block several different headers, or only want to modify
+ parts of them, you should enable
+ <literal><link linkend="filter-server-headers">filter-server-headers</link></literal>
+ and create your own filter.
+ </para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Don't block any header without understanding the consequences.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Crunch server headers that try to prevent caching
+{+crunch-server-header {no-cache}}
+/ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
+<title>crunch-outgoing-cookies</title>
+
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">web-based actions
- file editor</ulink> may be used
+ Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>0 or 1</para>
+ <para>
+ Deletes any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>1</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The web-based actions file editor is disabled.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- For the time being, access to the editor can <emphasis>not</emphasis> be
- controlled separately by <quote>ACLs</quote> or HTTP authentication,
- so that everybody who can access <application>Privoxy</application> (see
- <quote>ACLs</quote> and <literal>listen-address</literal> above) can
- modify its configuration for all users. So this option is <emphasis>not
- recommended</emphasis> for multi-user environments with untrusted users.
+ 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>
- Note that you must have compiled <application>Privoxy</application> with
- support for this feature, otherwise this option has no effect.
+ 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>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="acls"><title>
-<anchor id="permit-acces">
-<anchor id="deny-acces">
-ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
+<title>deanimate-gifs</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Who can access what.
- </para>
+ <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable>]
- [<replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable>]]
- </para>
- <para>
- Where <replaceable class="parameter">src_addr</replaceable> and
- <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> are IP addresses in dotted decimal notation or valid
- DNS names, and <replaceable class="parameter">src_masklen</replaceable> and
- <replaceable class="parameter">dst_masklen</replaceable> are subnet masks in CIDR notation, i.e. integer
- values from 2 to 30 representing the length (in bits) of the network address. The masks and the whole
- destination part are optional.
+ De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Don't restrict access further than implied by <literal>listen-address</literal>
+ <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- 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.
- </para>
- <para>
- Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a substitute
- for a firewall or to encourage anyone to defer addressing basic security
- weaknesses.
- </para>
- <para>
- Multiple ACL lines are OK.
- If any ACLs are specified, then the <application>Privoxy</application>
- talks only to IP addresses that match at least one <literal>permit-access</literal> line
- and don't match any subsequent <literal>deny-access</literal> line. In other words, the
- last match wins, with the default being <literal>deny-access</literal>.
- </para>
- <para>
- If <application>Privoxy</application> is using a forwarder (see <literal>forward</literal> below)
- for a particular destination URL, the <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable>
- that is examined is the address of the forwarder and <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the address
- of the ultimate target. This is necessary because it may be impossible for the local
- <application>Privoxy</application> to determine the IP address of the
- ultimate target (that's often what gateways are used for).
- </para>
- <para>
- You should prefer using IP addresses over DNS names, because the address lookups take
- time. All DNS names must resolve! You can <emphasis>not</emphasis> use domain patterns
- like <quote>*.org</quote> or partial domain names. If a DNS name resolves to multiple
- IP addresses, only the first one is used.
+ 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>
- Denying access to particular sites by ACL may have undesired side effects
- if the site in question is hosted on a machine which also hosts other sites.
+ 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>Examples:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Explicitly define the default behavior if no ACL and
- <literal>listen-address</literal> are set: <quote>localhost</quote>
- is OK. The absence of a <replaceable class="parameter">dst_addr</replaceable> implies that
- <emphasis>all</emphasis> destination addresses are OK:
- </para>
- <para>
- <screen>
- permit-access localhost
- </screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
- nothing but www.example.com:
- </para>
- <para>
- <screen>
- permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
- </screen>
- </para>
- <para>
- Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
- with the exception that 192.168.45.73 may not access www.dirty-stuff.example.com:
- </para>
- <para>
- <screen>
- permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
- deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
- </screen>
- </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
+<title>downgrade-http-version</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Maximum size of the buffer for content filtering.
- </para>
+ <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Size in Kbytes</para>
+ <para>
+ Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>4096</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Use a 4MB (4096 KB) limit.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
+
+<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- For content filtering, i.e. the <literal>+filter</literal> and
- <literal>+deanimate-gif</literal> actions, it is necessary that
- <application>Privoxy</application> buffers the entire document body.
- This can be potentially dangerous, since a server could just keep sending
- data indefinitely and wait for your RAM to exhaust -- with nasty consequences.
- Hence this option.
- </para>
- <para>
- When a document buffer size reaches the <literal>buffer-limit</literal>, it is
- flushed to the client unfiltered and no further attempt to
- filter the rest of the document is made. Remember that there may be multiple threads
- running, which might require up to <literal>buffer-limit</literal> Kbytes
- <emphasis>each</emphasis>, unless you have enabled <quote>single-threaded</quote>
- above.
+ 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>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-</sect3>
-
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+ <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>fast-redirects</title>
-<sect3 id="forwarding">
-<title>Forwarding</title>
-
-<para>
- This feature allows routing of HTTP requests through a chain of
- multiple proxies.
- It can be used to better protect privacy and confidentiality when
- accessing specific domains by routing requests to those domains
- through an anonymous public proxy (see e.g. <ulink
- url="http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm">http://www.multiproxy.org/anon_list.htm</ulink>)
- Or to use a caching proxy to speed up browsing. Or chaining to a parent
- proxy may be necessary because the machine that <application>Privoxy</application>
- runs on has no direct Internet access.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Also specified here are SOCKS proxies. <application>Privoxy</application>
- supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols.
-</para>
-
-<sect4 id="forward"><title>forward</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- To which parent HTTP proxy specific requests should be routed.
- </para>
+ <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
- <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
- </para>
- <para>
- Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
- 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
- <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer
- values from 1 to 64535
+ Detects redirection URLs and redirects the browser without contacting
+ the redirection server first.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Don't use parent HTTP proxies.
- </para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>simple-check</quote> to just search for the string <quote>http://</quote>
+ to detect redirection URLs.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>check-decoded-url</quote> to decode URLs (if necessary) before searching
+ for redirection URLs.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</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:
+ <quote>http://www.example.org/click-tracker.cgi?target=http%3a//www.example.net/</quote>.
+ </para>
<para>
- If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
- forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made directly to the web servers.
- </para>
- <para>
- Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
+ 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 asks the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
+ the advertisers.
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Examples:</term>
- <listitem>
<para>
- Everything goes to an example anonymizing proxy, except SSL on port 443 (which it doesn't handle):
+ This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
+ If it is enabled by default, you will have to create some exceptions to
+ this action. It can lead to failures in several ways:
</para>
<para>
- <screen>
- forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
- forward :443 .
- </screen>
+ Not every URLs with other URLs as parameters is evil.
+ Some sites offer a real service that requires this information to work.
+ For example a validation service needs to know, which document to validate.
+ <literal>fast-redirects</literal> assumes that every URL parameter that
+ looks like another URL is a redirection target, and will always redirect to
+ the last one. Most of the time the assumption is correct, but if it isn't,
+ the user gets redirected anyway.
</para>
<para>
- Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests
- to that ISP's sites:
+ Another failure occurs if the URL contains other parameters after the URL parameter.
+ The URL:
+ <quote>http://www.example.org/?redirect=http%3a//www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
+ contains the redirection URL <quote>http://www.example.net/</quote>,
+ followed by another parameter. <literal>fast-redirects</literal> doesn't know that
+ and will cause a redirect to <quote>http://www.example.net/&foo=bar</quote>.
+ Depending on the target server configuration, the parameter will be silently ignored
+ or lead to a <quote>page not found</quote> error. It is possible to fix these redirected
+ requests with <literal><link linkend="filter-client-headers">filter-client-headers</link></literal>
+ but it requires a little effort.
</para>
<para>
- <screen>
- forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
- forward .example-isp.net .
- </screen>
+ To detect a redirection URL, <literal>fast-redirects</literal> only
+ looks for the string <quote>http://</quote>, either in plain text
+ (invalid but often used) or encoded as <quote>http%3a//</quote>.
+ Some sites use their own URL encoding scheme, encrypt the address
+ of the target server or replace it with a database id. In theses cases
+ <literal>fast-redirects</literal> is fooled and the request reaches the
+ redirection server where it probably gets logged.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+fast-redirects{simple-check}</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+fast-redirects{check-decoded-url}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
-<sect4 id="socks"><title>
-<anchor id="forward-socks4">
-<anchor id="forward-socks4a">
-forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filter">
+<title>filter</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Through which SOCKS proxy (and to which parent HTTP proxy) specific requests should be routed.
- </para>
+ <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable>[:<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
- <replaceable class="parameter">socks_proxy</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
- <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable>[/<replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable>]
- </para>
- <para>
- Where <replaceable class="parameter">target_domain</replaceable> is a domain name pattern (see the
- 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
- <replaceable class="parameter">port</replaceable> parameters are TCP ports, i.e. integer values from 1 to 64535
+ All files of text-based type, most notably HTML and JavaScript, to which this
+ action applies, are filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular expression
+ based substitutions. (Note: as of version 3.0.3 plain text documents
+ are exempted from filtering, because web servers often use the
+ <literal>text/plain</literal> MIME type for all files whose type they
+ don't know.)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Don't use SOCKS proxies.
+ The name of a filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>.
+ Filters can be defined in one or more files as defined by the
+ <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
+ option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>.
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> is the collection of filters
+ supplied by the developers. Locally defined filters should go
+ in their own file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>.
</para>
+ <para>
+ When used in its negative form,
+ and without parameters, filtering is completely disabled.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Multiple lines are OK, they are checked in sequence, and the last match wins.
+ For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
+ in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
+ a list.
+ </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>
+ This is very powerful feature, and <quote>rolling your own</quote>
+ filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
+ <literal><link linkend="buffer-limit">buffer-limit</link></literal>
+ option in the main <link linkend="config">config file</link>. The
+ default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
+ data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Inadequate MIME types, such as zipped files, are not filtered at all.
+ (Again, only text-based types except plain text). Encrypted SSL data
+ (from HTTPS servers) cannot be filtered either, since this would violate
+ the integrity of the secure transaction. In some situations it might
+ be necessary to protect certain text, like source code, from filtering
+ by defining appropriate <literal>-filter</literal> sections.
+ </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 conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
+ action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
+ works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
+ based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
+ standardized.
</para>
<para>
- The difference between <literal>forward-socks4</literal> and <literal>forward-socks4a</literal>
- is that in the SOCKS 4A protocol, the DNS resolution of the target hostname happens on the SOCKS
- server, while in SOCKS 4 it happens locally.
+ <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or
+ improved filters is particularly welcome!
</para>
<para>
- If <replaceable class="parameter">http_parent</replaceable> is <quote>.</quote>, then requests are not
- forwarded to another HTTP proxy but are made (HTTP-wise) directly to the web servers, albeit through
- a SOCKS proxy.
+ The below list has only the names and a one-line description of each
+ predefined filter. There are <link linkend="predefined-filters">more
+ verbose explanations</link> of what these filters do in the <link
+ linkend="filter-file">filter file chapter</link>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Examples:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file).
+ See <link linkend="PREDEFINED-FILTERS">the Predefined Filters section</link> for
+ more explanation on each:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- From the company example.com, direct connections are made to all
- <quote>internal</quote> domains, but everything outbound goes through
- their ISP's proxy by way of example.com's corporate SOCKS 4A gateway to
- the Internet.
+ <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
</para>
<para>
- <screen>
- forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
- forward .example.com .
- </screen>
+ <anchor id="filter-js-events">
+ <screen>+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (Radically destructive! Only for extra nasty sites)</screen>
</para>
<para>
- A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent looks like this:
+ <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse</screen>
</para>
<para>
- <screen>
- forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
- </screen>
+ <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
+ <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content</screen>
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4 id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
-
-<para>
- If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content
- only to their subscribers, you can configure multiple <application>Privoxies</application>
- which have connections to the respective ISPs to act as forwarders to each other, so that
- <emphasis>your</emphasis> users can see the internal content of all ISPs.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Assume that host-a has a PPP connection to isp-a.net. And host-b has a PPP connection to
- isp-b.net. Both run <application>Privoxy</application>. Their forwarding
- configuration can look like this:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- host-a:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <screen>
- forward .*. .
- forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
- </screen>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- host-b:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <screen>
- forward .*. .
- forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
- </screen>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Now, your users can set their browser's proxy to use either
- host-a or host-b and be able to browse the internal content
- of both isp-a and isp-b.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- If you intend to chain <application>Privoxy</application> and
- <application>squid</application> locally, then chain as
- <literal>browser -> squid -> privoxy</literal> is the recommended way.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Assuming that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>squid</application>
- run on the same box, your squid configuration could then look like this:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <screen>
- # Define Privoxy as parent proxy (without ICP)
- cache_peer 127.0.0.1 parent 8118 7 no-query
-
- # Define ACL for protocol FTP
- acl ftp proto FTP
-
- # Do not forward FTP requests to Privoxy
- always_direct allow ftp
-
- # Forward all the rest to Privoxy
- never_direct allow all
- </screen>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- You would then need to change your browser's proxy settings to <application>squid</application>'s address and port.
- Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult <literal>http_port</literal> in <filename>squid.conf</filename>.
-</para>
-
-</sect4>
-
-</sect3>
-
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect3 id="windows-gui">
-<title>Windows GUI Options</title>
-<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> has a number of options specific to the
- Windows GUI interface:
-</para>
-
-<anchor id="activity-animation">
-<para>
- If <quote>activity-animation</quote> is set to 1, the
- <application>Privoxy</application> icon will animate when
- <quote>Privoxy</quote> is active. To turn off, set to 0.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>activity-animation 1</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </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
- window:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>log-messages 1</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </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
- console window, will be limited to <quote>log-max-lines</quote> (see below).
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Warning: Setting this to 0 will result in the buffer to grow infinitely and
- eat up all your memory!
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>log-buffer-size 1</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </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.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>log-max-lines 200</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </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
- messages with a bold-faced font:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>log-highlight-messages 1</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
-
-<anchor id="log-font-name">
-<para>
- The font used in the console window:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>log-font-name Comic Sans MS</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
-
-<anchor id="log-font-size">
-<para>
- Font size used in the console window:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>log-font-size 8</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </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
- when minimized:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>show-on-task-bar 0</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </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
- the program (close with the exit option on the File menu).
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>close-button-minimizes 1</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </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,
- <application>Privoxy</application> will disconnect from and hide the
- command console.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- #hide-console
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
-
-</sect3>
-</sect2>
-
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="actions-file">
-<title>Actions Files</title>
-
-<para>
- The actions files are used to define what actions
- <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
- how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
- transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
- are three such files included with <application>Privoxy</application>,
- with slightly different purposes. <filename>default.action</filename> sets
- the default policies. <filename>standard.action</filename> is used by
- <application>Privoxy</application> and the web based editor to set
- pre-defined values (and normally should not be edited). Local exceptions
- are best done in <filename>user.action</filename>.
-</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.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- An actions file typically has sections. Near the top, <quote>aliases</quote> are
- optionally defined (discussed <ulink
- url="configuration.html#ALIASES">below</ulink>), then the default set of rules
- which will apply universally to all sites and pages. And then below that,
- exceptions to the defined universal policies.
-</para>
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
-<title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
-<para>
- Note that some actions like cookie suppression or script disabling may
- render some sites unusable, which rely on these techniques to work properly.
- Finding the right mix of actions is not easy and certainly a matter of personal
- taste. In general, it can be said that the more <quote>aggressive</quote>
- your default settings (in the top section of the actions file) are,
- the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you will have to
- make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per default, you'll
- have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you regularly use
- and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe your bank,
- favorite shop, or newspaper.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
- 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 again :).
-</para>
-</sect3>
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
-<title>How to Edit</title>
-<para>
- The easiest way to edit the <quote>actions</quote> files 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>.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
- the actions files.
-</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-unsolicited-popups">
+ <screen>+filter{unsolicited-popups} # Disable only unsolicited pop-up windows</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-all-popups">
+ <screen>+filter{all-popups} # Kill all popups in JavaScript and HTML</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-img-reorder">
+ <screen>+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
+ <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-banners-by-link">
+ <screen>+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners by their links to known clicktrackers</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-tiny-textforms">
+ <screen>+filter{tiny-textforms} # Extend those tiny textareas up to 40x80 and kill the hard wrap</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-jumping-windows">
+ <screen>+filter{jumping-windows} # Prevent windows from resizing and moving themselves</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-demoronizer">
+ <screen>+filter{demoronizer} # Fix MS's non-standard use of standard charsets</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
+ <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-quicktime-kioskmode">
+ <screen>+filter{quicktime-kioskmode} # Make Quicktime movies saveable</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-fun">
+ <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
+ <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Crude parental filtering (demo only)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-ie-exploits">
+ <screen>+filter{ie-exploits} # Disable some known Internet Explorer bug exploits</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
</sect3>
-<sect3>
-<title>How Actions are Applied to URLs</title>
-<para>
- Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
- like the <quote>alias</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>
-
-<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
- 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.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- You can trace this process by visiting <ulink
- url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
- Anatomy of an Action</link>.
-</para>
-</sect3>
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
-<title>Patterns</title>
-<para>
- Generally, a pattern has the form <literal><domain>/<path></literal>,
- where both the <literal><domain></literal> and <literal><path></literal>
- are optional. (This is why the pattern <literal>/</literal> matches all URLs).
-</para>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="force-text-mode">
+<title>force-text-mode</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>www.example.com/</literal></term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <literal>www.example.com</literal>,
- regardless of which document on that server is requested.
- </para>
+ <para>Force <application>Privoxy</application> to treat a document as if it was in some kind of <emphasis>text</emphasis> format. </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>www.example.com</literal></term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <literal>/</literal> may
- be omitted.
- </para>
+ Declares a document as text, even if the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> isn't detected as such.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>www.example.com/index.html</literal></term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches only the single document <literal>/index.html</literal>
- on <literal>www.example.com</literal>.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>/index.html</literal></term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches the document <literal>/index.html</literal>, regardless of the domain,
- i.e. on <emphasis>any</emphasis> web server.
+ As explained <literal><link linkend="filter">above</link></literal>,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> tries to only filter files that are
+ in some kind of text format. The same restrictions apply to
+ <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite</link></literal>.
+ <literal>force-text-mode</literal> declares a document as text,
+ without looking at the <quote>Content-Type:</quote> first.
</para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ Think twice before activating this action. Filtering binary data
+ with regular expressions can cause file damage.
+ </para>
+ </warning>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>index.html</literal></term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
- there is no top-level domain called <literal>.html</literal>.
+ <screen>
++force-text-mode
+ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
+</sect3>
-<sect4><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
-
-<para>
- The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
- domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
- For example:
-</para>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-empty-document">
+<title>handle-as-empty-document</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>.example.com</literal></term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- matches any domain that <emphasis>ENDS</emphasis> in
- <literal>.example.com</literal>
- </para>
+ <para>Mark URLs that should be replaced by empty documents <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>www.</literal></term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches any domain that <emphasis>STARTS</emphasis> with
- <literal>www.</literal>
+ This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs.
+ 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 an empty document will be sent to the client as a substitute for the blocked content.
+ The <emphasis>empty</emphasis> document isn't literally empty, but actually contains a single space.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>.example.</literal></term>
- <listitem>
- <para>
- matches any domain that <emphasis>CONTAINS</emphasis> <literal>.example.</literal>
- (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <literal>example</literal> as a domain.)
- </para>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-
-<para>
- Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
- themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <quote>*</quote>
- stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <quote>?</quote> stands for
- any single character, you can define character classes in square
- brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:
-</para>
-<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>ad*.example.com</literal></term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches <quote>adserver.example.com</quote>,
- <quote>ads.example.com</quote>, etc but not <quote>sfads.example.com</quote>
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>*ad*.example.com</literal></term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches all of the above, and then some.
+ Some browsers complain about syntax errors if JavaScript documents
+ are blocked with <application>Privoxy's</application>
+ default HTML page; this option can be used to silence them.
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term><literal>.?pix.com</literal></term>
- <listitem>
<para>
- matches <literal>www.ipix.com</literal>,
- <literal>pictures.epix.com</literal>, <literal>a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</literal> etc.
+ The content type for the empty document can be specified with
+ <literal><link linkend="content-type-overwrite">content-type-overwrite{}</link></literal>,
+ but usually this isn't necessary.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
- <term><literal>www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</literal></term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- matches <literal>www1.example.com</literal>,
- <literal>www4.example.cc</literal>, <literal>wwwd.example.cy</literal>,
- <literal>wwwz.example.com</literal> etc., but <emphasis>not</emphasis>
- <literal>wwww.example.com</literal>.
+ <screen># Block all documents on example.org that end with ".js",
+# but send an empty document instead of the usual HTML message.
+{+block +handle-as-empty-document}
+example.org/.*\.js$
+ </screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4><title>The Path Pattern</title>
-
-<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
- (through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> library) for
- matching the path.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- There is an <link linkend="regex">Appendix</link> with a brief quick-start into regular
- expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
- at <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt">http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</ulink>.
- You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<literal>man perlre</literal>)
- useful, which is available on-line at <ulink
- url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <quote>/</quote>,
- i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <quote>^</quote> (regular expression speak
- for the beginning of a line).
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Please also note that matching in the path is case
- <emphasis>INSENSITIVE</emphasis> by default, but you can switch to case
- sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
- <quote>(?-i)</quote> switch:
- <literal>www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</literal> will match only
- documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
- <emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
-</para>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect3 id="actions">
-<title>Actions</title>
-<para>
- All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
- somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
- <quote>+</quote>, and turned off if preceded with a <quote>-</quote>. So a
- <quote>+action</quote> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
- <quote>+block</quote> means please <quote>block the following URL
- patterns</quote>.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Actions are invoked by enclosing the action name in curly braces (e.g.
- {+some_action}), followed by a list of URLs (or patterns that match URLs) to
- which the action applies. There are three classes of actions:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <itemizedlist>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>on</quote> or
- <quote>off</quote>. Examples:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name}</emphasis> # enable this action
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable this action
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Parameterized, e.g. <quote>+/-hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</quote>,
- where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
- Examples:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name{param}}</emphasis> # enable action and set parameter to <quote>param</quote>
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable action (<quote>parameter</quote>) can be omitted
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- <!-- oes, or someone, check this. Re-worded 04/20/02 HB. -->
- Multi-value, e.g. <quote>{+/-add-header{Name: value}}</quote> or
- <quote>{+/-send-wafer{name=value}}</quote>), where some value needs to be defined
- in addition to simply enabling the action. Examples:
- </para>
- <para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name{param=value}}</emphasis> # enable action and set <quote>param</quote> to <quote>value</quote>
- <emphasis>{-name{param=value}}</emphasis> # remove the parameter <quote>param</quote> completely
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable this action totally and remove <application>param</application> too
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
- </para>
- </listitem>
-
- </itemizedlist>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- 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. Actions files are processed in the order they are defined
- in <filename>config</filename> (the default installation has three
- actions files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to
- match more than one action!
-</para>
-
-<!-- start actions listing -->
-<para>
- The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>actions</quote> are:
-</para>
-
-
-<!-- ********************************************************** -->
-<!-- Please note the below defined actions use id's that are -->
-<!-- probably linked from other places, so please don't change. -->
-<!-- -->
-<!-- ********************************************************** -->
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect4 id="add-header">
-<title><emphasis>+add-header{Name: value}</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
+<title>handle-as-image</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Multi-value.</para>
+ <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by imagee <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis>)</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Send a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
+ 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>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Any value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <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, (in-line) 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>Notes:</term>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</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.
+ <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>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="block">
-<title><emphasis>+block</emphasis></title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-accept-language">
+<title>hide-accept-language</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Pretend to use different language settings.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Used to block a URL from reaching your browser. The URL may be
- anything, but is typically used to block ads or other obnoxious
- content.
+ Deletes or replaces the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> HTTP header in client requests.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>N/A</para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+block}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.banners.example.com</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.ads.r.us</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
-<varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If a URL matches one of the blocked patterns, <application>Privoxy</application>
- will intercept the URL and display its special <quote>BLOCKED</quote> page
- instead. If there is sufficient space, a large red banner will appear with
- a friendly message about why the page was blocked, and a way to go there
- anyway. If there is insufficient space a smaller blocked page will appear
- without the red banner.
+ Faking the browser's language settings can be useful to make a
+ foreign User-Agent set with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-user-agent">hide-user-agent</link></literal>
+ more believable.
</para>
-
- <para>
- A very important exception is if the URL <emphasis>matches both</emphasis> <quote>+block</quote>
- and <ulink
- url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>,
- then it will be handled by
- <ulink url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
- (see below). It is important to understand this process, in order
- to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> is able to deal with
- ads and other objectionable content.
+ <para>
+ However some sites with content in different languages check the
+ <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> to decide which one to take by default.
+ Sometimes it isn't possible to later switch to another language without
+ changing the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header first.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Therefore it's a good idea to either only change the
+ <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header to languages you understand,
+ or to languages that aren't wide spread.
</para>
<para>
- The <quote>+filter</quote> action can also perform some of the
- same functionality as <quote>+block</quote>, but by virtue of very
- different programming techniques, and is most often used for different
- reasons.
+ Before setting the <quote>Accept-Language:</quote> header
+ to a rare language, you should consider that it helps to
+ make your requests unique and thus easier to trace.
+ If you don't plan to change this header frequently,
+ you should stick to a common language.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Pretend to use Canadian language settings.
+{+hide-accept-language{en-ca} \
++hide-user-agent{Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; OpenBSD i386; en-CA; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060628 Firefox/1.5.0.4} \
+}
+/ </screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="deanimate-gifs">
-<title><emphasis>+deanimate-gifs</emphasis></title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-content-disposition">
+<title>hide-content-disposition</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Prevent download menus for content you prefer to view inside the browser.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- To stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.
+ Deletes or replaces the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header set by some servers.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+deanimate-gifs{last}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<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).
+ Some servers set the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> HTTP header for
+ documents they assume you want to save locally before viewing them.
+ The <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header contains the file name
+ the browser is supposed to use by default.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ In most browsers that understand this header, it makes it impossible to
+ <emphasis>just view</emphasis> the document, without downloading it first,
+ even if it's just a simple text file or an image.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Removing the <quote>Content-Disposition:</quote> header helps
+ to prevent this annoyance, but some browsers additionally check the
+ <quote>Content-Type:</quote> header, before they decide if they can
+ display a document without saving it first. In these cases, you have
+ to change this header as well, before the browser stops displaying
+ download menus.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is also possible to change the server's file name suggestion
+ to another one, but in most cases it isn't worth the time to set
+ it up.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Disarm the download link in Sourceforge's patch tracker
+{-filter\
++content-type-overwrite {text/plain}\
++hide-content-disposition {block} }
+.sourceforge.net/tracker/download.php</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="downgrade-http-version">
-<title><emphasis>+downgrade-http-version</emphasis></title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-if-modified-since">
+<title>hide-if-modified-since</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote> will downgrade HTTP/1.1 client requests to
- HTTP/1.0 and downgrade the responses as well.
+ Deletes the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> HTTP client header or modifies its value.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+downgrade-http-version}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or a user defined value that specifies a range of hours.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Use this action for servers that use HTTP/1.1 protocol features that
- <application>Privoxy</application> doesn't handle well yet. HTTP/1.1 is
- only partially implemented. Default is not to downgrade requests. This is
- an infrequently needed action, and is used to help with rare problem sites only.
+ Removing this header is useful for filter testing, where you want to force a real
+ reload instead of getting status code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the
+ browser to use a cached copy of the page.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Instead of removing the header, <literal>hide-if-modified-since</literal> can
+ also add or substract a random amount of time to/from the headers value.
+ You specify a range of hours were the random factor should be chosen from and
+ <application>Privoxy</application> does the rest. A negative value means
+ subtracting, a positive value adding.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Randomizing the value of the <quote>If-Modified-Since:</quote> makes
+ sure it isn't used as a cookie replacement, but you will run into
+ caching problems if the random range is too high.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is a good idea to only use a small negative value and let
+ <literal><link linkend="overwrite-last-modified">overwrite-last-modified</link></literal>
+ handle the greater changes.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is also recommended to use this action together with
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
+{+hide-if-modified-since {-1}\
++overwrite-last-modified {randomize}\
++crunch-if-none-match}
+/</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="fast-redirects">
-<title><emphasis>+fast-redirects</emphasis></title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
+<title>hide-forwarded-for-headers</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The <quote>+fast-redirects</quote> action enables interception of
- <quote>redirect</quote> requests from one server to another, which
- are used to track users.<application>Privoxy</application> can cut off
- all but the last valid URL in a redirect request and send a local redirect
- back to your browser without contacting the intermediate site(s).
+ Deletes any existing <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> HTTP header from client requests,
+ and prevents adding a new one.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+fast-redirects}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <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 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.
+ It is fairly safe to leave this on.
</para>
<para>
- This is a normally <quote>on</quote> feature, and often requires exceptions
- for sites that are sensitive to defeating this mechanism.
+ 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>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="filter">
-<title><emphasis>+filter</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
+<title>hide-from-header</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Apply page filtering as defined by named sections of the
- <filename>default.filter</filename> file to the specified site(s).
- <quote>Filtering</quote> can be any modification of the raw
- page content, including re-writing or deletion of content.
+ Deletes any existing <quote>From:</quote> HTTP header, or replaces it with the
+ specified string.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- <quote>+filter</quote> must include the name of one of the section identifiers
- from <filename>default.filter</filename> (or whatever
- <emphasis>filterfile</emphasis> is specified in <filename>config</filename>).
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (from the current <filename>default.filter</filename>):</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{html-annoyances}</emphasis>: Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{js-annoyances}</emphasis>: Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{content-cookies}</emphasis>: Kill cookies that come in the HTML or JS content
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{popups}</emphasis>: Kill all popups in JS and HTML
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{frameset-borders}</emphasis>: Give frames a border and make them resizable
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{webbugs}</emphasis>: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{refresh-tags}</emphasis>: Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{fun}</emphasis>: Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{nimda}</emphasis>: Remove Nimda (virus) code.
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{banners-by-size}</emphasis>: Kill banners by size (<emphasis>very</emphasis> efficient!)
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{shockwave-flash}</emphasis>: Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects
- </member>
- </simplelist>
- <simplelist>
- <member>
- <emphasis>+filter{crude-parental}</emphasis>: Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"
- </member>
- </simplelist>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This is potentially a very powerful feature! And requires a knowledge
- of regular expressions if you want to <quote>roll your own</quote>.
- Filtering operates on a line by line basis throughout the entire page.
+ 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>
- 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.
+ 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>
- Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the
- <ulink url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
- action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. In the overall
- scheme of things, filtering is one of the last things <quote>Privoxy</quote>
- does with a web page. So other actions are applied first.
+ 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>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
-<title><emphasis>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</emphasis></title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
+<title>hide-referrer</title>
+<anchor id="hide-referer">
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Block any existing X-Forwarded-for HTTP header, and do not add a new one.
+ Deletes the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
+ or replaces it with a forged one.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-forwarded-for-headers}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>conditional-block</quote> to delete the header completely if the host has changed.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header unconditionally.</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>
- It is fairly safe to leave this on. It does not seem to break many sites.
+ <literal>conditional-block</literal> is the only parameter,
+ that isn't easily detected in the server's log file. If it blocks the
+ referrer, the request will look like the visitor used a bookmark or
+ typed in the address directly.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Leaving the referrer unmodified for requests on the same host
+ allows the server owner to see the visitor's <quote>click path</quote>,
+ but in most cases she could also get that information by comparing
+ other parts of the log file: for example the User-Agent if it isn't
+ a very common one, or the user's IP address if it doesn't change between
+ different requests.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Always blocking the referrer, or using a custom one, can lead to
+ failures on servers that check the referrer before they answer any
+ requests, in an attempt to prevent their valuable content from being
+ embedded or linked to elsewhere.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Both <literal>conditional-block</literal> and <literal>forge</literal>
+ will work with referrer checks, as long as content and valid referring page
+ are on the same host. Most of the time that's the case.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <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>
</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>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-from-header">
-<title><emphasis>+hide-from-header</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
+<title>hide-user-agent</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- To block the browser from sending your email address in a <quote>From:</quote>
- header.
+ Replaces the value of the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> HTTP header
+ in client requests with the specified value.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <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.
+ Any user-defined string.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-from-header{block}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ This can lead to problems on web sites that depend on looking at this header in
+ order to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
+ way, is <emphasis>NOT</emphasis> the right thing to do: good web sites
+ work browser-independently).
+ <!--
+ <ulink url="http://www.javascriptkit.com/javaindex.shtml">smart way to do
+ that</ulink>!).
+ -->
+ </para>
+ </warning>
+ <para>
+ Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different 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. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
+ sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
+ reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
+ let <application>Mozilla</application> enter, yet forging to a
+ <application>Netscape 6.1</application> user-agent works just fine.
+ (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is scheduled for improvement.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
- (not to be confused with the <quote>+block</quote> action).
- Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to send to the web
- server.
+ <screen>+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-referer">
-<title><emphasis><anchor id="hide-referrer">+hide-referer</emphasis></title>
-
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="inspect-jpegs">
+<title>inspect-jpegs</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>To protect against the MS buffer over-run in JPEG processing</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Don't send the <quote>Referer:</quote> (sic) HTTP header to the web site.
- Or, alternately send a forged header instead.
+ To protect against a known exploit
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- Prevent the header from being sent with the keyword, <quote>block</quote>.
- Or, <quote>forge</quote> a URL to one from the same server as the request.
- Or, set to user defined value of your choice.
- </para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-referer{forge}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
</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.
+ See Microsoft Security Bulletin MS04-028. JPEG images are one of the most
+ common image types found across the Internet. The exploit as described can
+ allow execution of code on the target system, giving an attacker access
+ to the system in question by merely planting an altered JPEG image, which
+ would have no obvious indications of what lurks inside. This action
+ prevents unwanted intrusion.
</para>
- <para>
- <quote>+hide-referrer</quote> is an alternate spelling of
- <quote>+hide-referer</quote>. It has the exact 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 as <quote>referer</quote>.)
- </para>
+
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><screen>+inspect-jpegs</screen></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-user-agent">
-<title><emphasis>+hide-user-agent</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popups">
+<title>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows (deprecated)</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- To change the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> header so web servers can't tell
- your browser type. Who's business is it anyway?
+ 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>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Any user defined string.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.msn.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ This action is basically a built-in, hardwired special-purpose filter
+ 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-ALL-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>all-popups</replaceable>}</link></literal>
+ does and is not as smart as <literal><link
+ linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>unsolicited-popups</replaceable>}</link>
+ </literal>is.
+ </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 its filter equivalent.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Killing all pop-ups unconditionally is problematic. Many shops and banks rely on
+ pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and the <literal><link
+ linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{<replaceable>unsolicited-popups</replaceable>}</link>
+ </literal> does a fairly good job of catching only the unwanted ones.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ 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>{<replaceable>js-annoyances</replaceable>}</literal>
+ instead.
+ </para>
+
+ <!--
+ <para>
+ An alternate spelling is <literal>+kill-popup</literal>, which is
+ interchangeable.
+ </para>
+ -->
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>
- Warning! This breaks many web sites that depend on this in order
- to determine how the target browser will respond to various
- requests. Use with caution.
- </para>
+ <para><screen>+kill-popups</screen></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="handle-as-image">
-<title><emphasis>+handle-as-image</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
+<title>limit-connect</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Prevent abuse of <application>Privoxy</application> as a TCP proxy relay or disable SSL for untrusted sites</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- To define what <application>Privoxy</application> should treat
- automatically as an image, and is an important ingredient of how
- ads are handled.
+ Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ 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>Example usage:</term>
+ <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>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> relays HTTPS traffic without seeing
+ the decoded content. Websites can leverage this limitation to circumvent Privoxy's
+ filters. By specifying an invalid port range you can disable HTTPS entirely.
+ If you plan to disable SSL by default, consider enabling
+ <literal><link linkend="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks ">treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</link></literal>
+ as well, to be able to quickly create exceptions.
+ </para>
+ </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
++limit-connect{,} # No HTTPS traffic is allowed</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
+<title>prevent-compression</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>
+ Removes the Accept-Encoding header which can be used to ask for compressed transfer.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+handle-as-image}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This only has meaning if the URL (or pattern) also is
- <quote>+block</quote>ed, in which case a <quote>blocked</quote> image can
- be sent rather than a HTML page. (See
- <ulink url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink>
- below for control over what will actually be displayed by the browser.)
+ 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>
- There is little reason to change the default definition for this.
+ <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>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="set-image-blocker">
-<title><emphasis>+set-image-blocker</emphasis></title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="overwrite-last-modified">
+<title>overwrite-last-modified</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Prevent yet another way to track the user's steps between sessions.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Deletes the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> HTTP server header or modifies its value.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Type:</term>
<!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ One of the keywords: <quote>block</quote>, <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote>
+ and <quote>randomize</quote>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Decide what to do with URLs that end up tagged with <emphasis>both</emphasis>
- <ulink url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink>
- and <ulink
- url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>,
- e.g an advertisement.
+ Removing the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header is useful for filter
+ testing, where you want to force a real reload instead of getting status
+ code <quote>304</quote>, which would cause the browser to reuse the old
+ version of the page.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <quote>randomize</quote> option overwrites the value of the
+ <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with a randomly chosen time
+ between the original value and the current time. In theory the server
+ could send each document with a different <quote>Last-Modified:</quote>
+ header to track visits without using cookies. <quote>Randomize</quote>
+ makes it impossible and the browser can still revalidate cached documents.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <quote>reset-to-request-time</quote> overwrites the value of the
+ <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header with the current time. You could use
+ this option together with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>
+ to further customize your random range.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The preferred parameter here is <quote>randomize</quote>. It is safe
+ to use, as long as the time settings are more or less correct.
+ If the server sets the <quote>Last-Modified:</quote> header to the time
+ of the request, the random range becomes zero and the value stays the same.
+ Therefore you should later randomize it a second time with
+ <literal><link linkend="hide-if-modified-since">hided-if-modified-since</link></literal>,
+ just to be sure.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is also recommended to use this action together with
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-if-none-match">crunch-if-none-match</link></literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Let the browser revalidate without being tracked across sessions
+{+hide-if-modified-since {-1}\
++overwrite-last-modified {randomize}\
++crunch-if-none-match}
+/</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="redirect">
+<title>redirect</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- There are four available options: <quote>-set-image-blocker</quote> will send a HTML
- <quote>blocked</quote> page, usually resulting in a <quote>broken
- image</quote> icon.
- <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>blank</emphasis>}</quote> will send a
- 1x1 transparent GIF image.
- <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>pattern</emphasis>}</quote> will send a
- checkerboard type pattern (the default). And finally,
- <quote>+set-image-blocker{<emphasis>http://xyz.com</emphasis>}</quote> will
- send a HTTP temporary redirect to the specified image. This has the
- advantage of the icon being being cached by the browser, which will speed
- up the display.
+ Redirect requests to other sites.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Convinces the browser that the requested document has been moved
+ to another location and the browser should get it from there.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+set-image-blocker{blank}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>Parameterized</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Any URL.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If you want <emphasis>invisible</emphasis> ads, they need to meet
- criteria as matching both <emphasis>images</emphasis> and <emphasis>blocked</emphasis>
- actions. And then, <quote>image-blocker</quote> should be set to
- <quote>blank</quote> for invisibility. Note you cannot treat HTML pages as
- images in most cases. For instance, frames require an HTML page to
- display. So a frame that is an ad, typically cannot be treated as an image.
- Forcing an <quote>image</quote> in this situation just will not work
- reliably.
+ This action is useful to replace whole documents with your own
+ ones. For that to work, they have to be available on another server.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ You can do the same by combining the actions
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>,
+ <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> and
+ <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker{URL}</link></literal>.
+ It doesn't sound right for non-image documents, and that's why this action
+ was created.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action will be ignored if you use it together with
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen># Replace example.com's style sheet with another one
+{+redirect{http://localhost/css-replacements/example.com.css}}
+example.com/stylesheet.css</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="limit-connect">
-<title><emphasis>+limit-connect</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
+<title>send-vanilla-wafer</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>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- By default, <application>Privoxy</application> only allows HTTP CONNECT
- requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
- <quote>+limit-connect</quote> to disable this altogether, or to allow
- more ports.
+ N/A
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <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>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Any valid port number, or port number range.
+ <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
+<title>send-wafer</title>
+
+<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usages:</term>
+ <term>Typical use:</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 -->
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{443}</emphasis> # This is the default and need not be specified.
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{80,443}</emphasis> # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
- <emphasis>+limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-}</emphasis> # Port less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<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>
- If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
- change this one.
- </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>
+
+ <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>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
+<title>session-cookies-only</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>
+
+ <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>
+ <para>
+ This setting also has no effect on cookies that may have been stored
+ previously by the browser before starting <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ These would have to be removed manually.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> also uses
+ the <link linkend="filter-content-cookies">content-cookies filter</link>
+ to block some types of cookies. Content cookies are not effected by
+ <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <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>set-image-blocker</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.
+ (But note that not all browsers support redirecting to a local file system).
+ </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>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks">
+<title>treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</title>
+<!--
+new action
+-->
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Block forbidden connects with an easy to find error message.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If this action is enabled, <application>Privoxy</application> no longer
+ makes a difference between forbidden connects and ordinary blocks.
+ </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>
+ By default <application>Privoxy</application> answers
+ <link linkend="limit-connect">forbidden <quote>Connect</quote> requests</link>
+ with a short error message inside the headers. If the browser doesn't display
+ headers (most don't), you just see an empty page.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ With this action enabled, <application>Privoxy</application> displays
+ the message that is used for ordinary blocks instead. If you decide
+ to make an exception for the page in question, you can do so by
+ following the <quote>See why</quote> link.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ For <quote>Connect</quote> requests the clients tell
+ <application>Privoxy</application> which host they are interested
+ in, but not which document they plan to get later. As a result, the
+ <quote>Go there anyway</quote> link becomes rather useless:
+ it lets the client request the home page of the forbidden host
+ through unencrypted HTTP, still using the port of the last request.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If you previously configured <application>Privoxy</application> to do the
+ request through a SSL tunnel, everything will work. Most likely you haven't
+ and the server will responds with an error message because it is expecting
+ HTTPS.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+treat-forbidden-connects-like-blocks</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3>
+<title>Summary</title>
+<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, 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>
+ 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>
+ 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>
+ 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 change 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>
+ 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 sections that use aliases
+ with it.
+ This is likely to change in future versions of <application>Privoxy</application>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Now let's define some aliases...
+</para>
+
+<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}}
+
+ # These aliases just save typing later:
+ # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
+ #
+ +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
+ mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
+
+ # These aliases define combinations of actions
+ # that are useful for certain types of sites:
+ #
+ fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link>
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link>
+
+ # Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
+ #
+ c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
+ c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ ...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>
+
+<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
+
+ # 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{all-popups}}
+ .dabs.com
+ .overclockers.co.uk</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ 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>
+<!--
+hal stop here
+-->
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="act-examples">
+<title>Actions Files Tutorial</title>
+<para>
+ The above chapters have shown <link linkend="actions-file">which actions files
+ there are and how they are organized</link>, how actions are <link
+ linkend="actions">specified</link> and <link linkend="actions-apply">applied
+ to URLs</link>, how <link linkend="af-patterns">patterns</link> work, and how to
+ define and use <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link>. Now, let's look at an
+ example <filename>default.action</filename> and <filename>user.action</filename>
+ file and see how all these pieces come together:
+</para>
+
+<sect3><title>default.action</title>
+
+<para>
+Every config file should start with a short comment stating its purpose:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen># Sample default.action file <ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net></screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+Then, since this is the <filename>default.action</filename> file, the
+first section is a special section for internal use that you needn't
+change or worry about:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+##########################################################################
+# Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
+##########################################################################
+
+{{settings}}
+for-privoxy-version=3.0</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example
+section from the above <link linkend="aliases">chapter on aliases</link>,
+that also explains why and how aliases are used:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+##########################################################################
+# Aliases
+##########################################################################
+{{alias}}
+
+ # These aliases just save typing later:
+ # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
+ #
+ +crunch-all-cookies = +<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> +<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link>
+ block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
+ mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link>
+
+ # These aliases define combinations of actions
+ # that are useful for certain types of sites:
+ #
+ fragile = -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> -<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link>
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Now come the regular sections, i.e. sets of actions, accompanied
+ by URL patterns to which they apply. Remember <emphasis>all actions
+ are disabled when matching starts</emphasis>, so we have to explicitly
+ enable the ones we want.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only
+ one pattern, <quote><literal>/</literal></quote>, but this pattern
+ <link linkend="af-patterns">matches all URLs</link>. Therefore, the
+ set of actions used in this <quote>default</quote> section <emphasis>will
+ be applied to all requests as a start</emphasis>. It can be partly or
+ wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or in user.action,
+ but it will still be largely responsible for your overall browsing
+ experience.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
+ no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless,
+ to have a complete listing for your reference. (Remember: a <quote>+</quote>
+ preceding the action name enables the action, a <quote>-</quote> disables!).
+ Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
+ multiple lines with line continuation.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+##########################################################################
+# "Defaults" section:
+##########################################################################
+ { \
+ -<link linkend="ADD-HEADER">add-header</link> \
+ -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> \
+ -<link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</link> \
+ -<link linkend="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link> \
+ +<link linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</link> \
+ -<link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">downgrade-http-version</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-JS-EVENTS">filter{js-events}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES">filter{html-annoyances}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-UNSOLICITED-POPUPS">filter{unsolicited-popups}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{all-popups}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-IMG-REORDER">filter{img-reorder}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK">filter{banners-by-link}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-WEBBUGS">filter{webbugs}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-TINY-TEXTFORMS">filter{tiny-textforms}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-JUMPING-WINDOWS">filter{jumping-windows}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-FRAMESET-BORDERS">filter{frameset-borders}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-DEMORONIZER">filter{demoronizer}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">filter{shockwave-flash}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-QUICKTIME-KIOSKMODE">filter{quicktime-kioskmode}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-FUN">filter{fun}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">filter{crude-parental}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-IE-EXPLOITS">filter{ie-exploits}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> \
+ +<link linkend="HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">hide-forwarded-for-headers</link> \
+ +<link linkend="HIDE-FROM-HEADER">hide-from-header{block}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="HIDE-REFERER">hide-referrer{forge}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT">hide-user-agent</link> \
+ -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> \
+ -<link linkend="LIMIT-CONNECT">limit-connect</link> \
+ +<link linkend="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">prevent-compression</link> \
+ -<link linkend="SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">send-vanilla-wafer</link> \
+ -<link linkend="SEND-WAFER">send-wafer</link> \
+ +<link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</link> \
+ +<link linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker{pattern}</link> \
+ }
+ / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding
+ the user agent, are part of a <quote>general policy</quote> that applies
+ universally and won't get any exceptions defined later. Other choices,
+ like not blocking (which is <emphasis>understandably</emphasis> the
+ default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify explicitly what we
+ want to block in later sections.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The first of our specialized sections is concerned with <quote>fragile</quote>
+ sites, i.e. sites that require minimum interference, because they are either
+ very complex or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that
+ make them unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use
+ our pre-defined <literal>fragile</literal> alias instead of stating the list
+ of actions explicitly:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+##########################################################################
+# Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
+##########################################################################
+
+# "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
+#
+{ fragile }
+.office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
+.windowsupdate.microsoft.com</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically
+ require cookies to log in, and pop-up windows for shopping
+ carts or item details. Again, we'll use a pre-defined alias:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Shopping sites:
+#
+{ shop }
+.quietpc.com
+.worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
+.jungle.com
+.scan.co.uk</screen>
+</para>
+
+<!-- No longer needed BEGIN OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK
+
+<para>
+ Then, there are sites which rely on pop-up windows (yuck!) to work.
+ Since we made pop-up-killing our default above, we need to make exceptions
+ now. <ulink url="http://www.mozilla.org/">Mozilla</ulink> users, who
+ can turn on smart handling of unwanted pop-ups in their browsers, can
+ safely choose
+ -<literal><link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link></literal> (and
+ -<literal><link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link></literal>) above
+ and hence don't need this section. Anyway, disabling an already disabled
+ action doesn't hurt, so we'll define our exceptions regardless of what was
+ chosen in the defaults section:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# These sites require pop-ups too :(
+#
+{ -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> -<link linkend="FILTER-ALL-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> }
+.dabs.com
+.overclockers.co.uk
+.deutsche-bank-24.de</screen>
+</para>
+
+ END OF COMMENTED OUT BLOCK -->
+
+<para>
+ The <literal><link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link></literal>
+ action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some sites. So disable
+ it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+{ -<link linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS">fast-redirects</link> }
+login.yahoo.com
+edit.*.yahoo.com
+.google.com
+.altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
+.altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
+.nytimes.com</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ It is important that <application>Privoxy</application> knows which
+ URLs belong to images, so that <emphasis>if</emphasis> they are to
+ be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
+ Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it
+ would destroy the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it
+ would feed the advertisers (in terms of money <emphasis>and</emphasis>
+ information). We can mark any URL as an image with the <literal><link
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> action,
+ and marking all URLs that end in a known image file extension is a
+ good start:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+##########################################################################
+# Images:
+##########################################################################
+
+# Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
+# blocked further down this file:
+#
+{ +<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link> }
+/.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to
+ generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
+ request is for an image. Hence we block them <emphasis>and</emphasis>
+ mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
+ <literal>block-as-image</literal> alias defined above. (We could of
+ course just as well use <literal>+<link linkend="block">block</link>
+ +<link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal> here.)
+ Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
+ <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
+ action. Since all URLs have matched the default section with its
+ <literal>+<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link>{pattern}</literal>
+ action before, it still applies and needn't be repeated:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Known ad generators:
+#
+{ block-as-image }
+ar.atwola.com
+.ad.doubleclick.net
+.ad.*.doubleclick.net
+.a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+.a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
+bs*.gsanet.com
+bs*.einets.com
+.qkimg.net</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ One of the most important jobs of <application>Privoxy</application>
+ is to block banners. A huge bunch of them are already <quote>blocked</quote>
+ by the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{banners-by-size}</literal>
+ action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
+ images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
+ them anymore, and hence they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally
+ doesn't catch all banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we
+ need a comprehensive list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal> action to them.
+</para>
+<para>
+ First comes a bunch of generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
+ matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
+ a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
+ to keep the example short:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+##########################################################################
+# Block these fine banners:
+##########################################################################
+{ <link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link> }
+
+# Generic patterns:
+#
+ad*.
+.*ads.
+banner?.
+count*.
+/.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
+/(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
+
+# Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
+#
+.hitbox.com</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner
+ servers ads.<replaceable>company</replaceable>.com, or call the directory
+ in which the banners are stored simply <quote>banners</quote>. So the above
+ generic patterns are surprisingly effective.
+</para>
+<para>
+ But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want
+ to block. The pattern <literal>.*ads.</literal> e.g. catches
+ <quote>nasty-<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.nasty-corp.com</quote> as intended,
+ but also <quote>downlo<emphasis>ads</emphasis>.sourcefroge.net</quote> or
+ <quote><emphasis>ads</emphasis>l.some-provider.net.</quote> So here come some
+ well-known exceptions to the <literal>+<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
+ section above.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
+ <quote>downloads.sourcefroge.net</quote>: Initially, all actions are deactivated,
+ so it wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the
+ URL, but just deactivates the <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal>
+ action once again. Then it matches <literal>.*ads.</literal>, an exception to the
+ general non-blocking policy, and suddenly
+ <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">+block</link></literal> applies. And now, it'll match
+ <literal>.*loads.</literal>, where <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">-block</link></literal>
+ applies, so (unless it matches <emphasis>again</emphasis> further down) it ends up
+ with no <literal><link linkend="BLOCK">block</link></literal> action applying.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+##########################################################################
+# Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
+##########################################################################
+
+# By domain:
+#
+{ -<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
+adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
+adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
+ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
+.edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
+.*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
+
+# By path:
+#
+/.*loads/
+
+# Site-specific:
+#
+www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
+www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Filtering source code can have nasty side effects,
+ so make an exception for our friends at sourceforge.net,
+ and all paths with <quote>cvs</quote> in them. Note that
+ <literal>-<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link></literal>
+ disables <emphasis>all</emphasis> filters in one fell swoop!
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Don't filter code!
+#
+{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
+/.*cvs
+.sourceforge.net</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The actual <filename>default.action</filename> is of course more
+ comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.
+</para>
+
+</sect3>
+
+<sect3><title>user.action</title>
+
+<para>
+ So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies,
+ which would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now,
+ you might want to be more specific and have customized rules that
+ are more suitable to your 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 hence has the last word, over-riding any previously
+ defined actions. <filename>user.action</filename> is also a
+ <emphasis>safe</emphasis> place for your personal settings, since
+ <filename>default.action</filename> is actively maintained by the
+ <application>Privoxy</application> developers and you'll probably want
+ to install updated versions from time to time.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
+ <filename>user.action</filename>:
+</para>
+
+
+<!-- brief sample user.action here -->
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com></screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ As <link linkend="aliases">aliases</link> are local to the actions
+ file that they are defined in, you can't use the ones from
+ <filename>default.action</filename>, unless you repeat them here:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Aliases are local to the file they are defined in.
+# (Re-)define aliases for this file:
+#
+{{alias}}
+#
+# These aliases just save typing later, and the alias names should
+# be self explanatory.
+#
++crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
+-crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ allow-all-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+ allow-popups = -filter{all-popups} -kill-popups
++block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
+-block-as-image = -block
+
+# These aliases define combinations of actions that are useful for
+# certain types of sites:
+#
+fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referrer -kill-popups
+shop = -crunch-all-cookies allow-popups
+
+# Allow ads for selected useful free sites:
+#
+allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} -filter{banners-by-link}</screen>
+
+
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
+ you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
+ to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
+ <literal>allow-all-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
+ that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and the
+ processing of cookies to make them only temporary.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+{ allow-all-cookies }
+sourceforge.net
+sunsolve.sun.com
+.slashdot.org
+.yahoo.com
+.msdn.microsoft.com
+.redhat.com</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Your bank is allergic to some filter, but you don't know which, so you disable them all:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> }
+.your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Some file types you may not want to filter for various reasons:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Technical documentation is likely to contain strings that might
+# erroneously get altered by the JavaScript-oriented filters:
+#
+.tldp.org
+/(.*/)?selfhtml/
+
+# And this stupid host sends streaming video with a wrong MIME type,
+# so that Privoxy thinks it is getting HTML and starts filtering:
+#
+stupid-server.example.com/</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Example of a simple <link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> action. Say you've
+ seen an ad on your favourite page on example.com that you want to get rid of.
+ You have right-clicked the image, selected <quote>copy image location</quote>
+ and pasted the URL below while removing the leading http://, into a
+ <literal>{ +block }</literal> section. Note that <literal>{ +handle-as-image
+ }</literal> need not be specified, since all URLs ending in
+ <literal>.gif</literal> will be tagged as images by the general rules as set
+ in default.action anyway:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+{ +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
+www.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.gif
+another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The URLs of dynamically generated banners, especially from large banner
+ farms, often don't use the well-known image file name extensions, which
+ makes it impossible for <application>Privoxy</application> to guess
+ the file type just by looking at the URL.
+ You can use the <literal>+block-as-image</literal> alias defined above for
+ these cases.
+ Note that objects which match this rule but then turn out NOT to be an
+ image are typically rendered as a <quote>broken image</quote> icon by the
+ browser. Use cautiously.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+{ +block-as-image }
+.doubleclick.net
+/Realmedia/ads/
+ar.atwola.com/</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Now you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
+ but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
+ were again too lazy to give <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>, so
+ you just used the <literal>fragile</literal> alias on the site, and
+ -- <emphasis>whoa!</emphasis> -- it worked. The <literal>fragile</literal>
+ aliases disables those actions that are most likely to break a site. Also,
+ good for testing purposes to see if it is <application>Privoxy</application>
+ that is causing the problem or not.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+<screen>
+{ fragile }
+.forbes.com</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ You like the <quote>fun</quote> text replacements in <filename>default.filter</filename>,
+ but it is disabled in the distributed actions file. (My colleagues on the team just
+ don't have a sense of humour, that's why! ;-). So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
+ update-safe config, once and for all:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+<screen>
+{ +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
+/ # For ALL sites!</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions
+ to the filters in <filename>default.action</filename> for things that
+ really shouldn't be filtered, like code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since
+ <filename>user.action</filename> has the last word, these exceptions
+ won't be valid for the <quote>fun</quote> filtering specified here.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ You might also worry about how your favourite free websites are
+ funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
+ to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
+ sites that you feel provide value to you:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+<screen>
+{ allow-ads }
+.sourceforge.net
+.slashdot.org
+.osdn.net</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Note that <literal>allow-ads</literal> has been aliased to
+ <literal>-<link linkend="block">block</link></literal>,
+ <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-size">filter{banners-by-size}</link></literal>, and
+ <literal>-<link linkend="filter-banners-by-link">filter{banners-by-link}</link></literal> above.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <filename>user.action</filename> is generally the best place to define
+ exceptions and additions to the default policies of
+ <filename>default.action</filename>. Some actions are safe to have their
+ default policies set here though. So let's set a default policy to have a
+ <quote>blank</quote> image as opposed to the checkerboard pattern for
+ <emphasis>ALL</emphasis> sites. <quote>/</quote> of course matches all URL
+ paths and patterns:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+<screen>
+{ +<link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker{blank}</link> }
+/ # ALL sites</screen>
+</para>
+
+</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+</sect1>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect1 id="filter-file">
+<title>Filter Files</title>
+
+<para>
+ All text substitutions that can be invoked through the
+ <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action which
+ must first be defined in a <quote>filter file</quote>, such as
+ <filename>default.filter</filename>. Mulitple filter files can be
+ defined through the <literal>
+ <link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config
+ option. The filters as supplied by the developers will be found in
+ <filename>default.filter</filename>. It is recommended that any locally
+ defined or modified filters go in a separately defined file such as
+ <filename>user.filter</filename>.
+
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Typical reasons for doing these kinds of substitutions are to eliminate
+ common annoyances in HTML and JavaScript, such as pop-up windows,
+ exit consoles, crippled windows without navigation tools, the
+ infamous <BLINK> tag etc, to suppress images with certain
+ width and height attributes (standard banner sizes or web-bugs),
+ or just to have fun. The possibilities are endless.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Filtering works on any text-based document type, including
+ HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc. (all <literal>text/*</literal>
+ MIME types, <emphasis>except</emphasis> <literal>text/plain</literal>).
+ Substitutions are made at the source level, so if you want to <quote>roll
+ your own</quote> filters, you should be familiar with HTML syntax.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Just like the <link linkend="actions-file">actions files</link>, the
+ filter file is organized in sections, which are called <emphasis>filters</emphasis>
+ here. Each filter consists of a heading line, that starts with the
+ <emphasis>keyword</emphasis> <literal>FILTER:</literal>, followed by
+ the filter's <emphasis>name</emphasis>, and a short (one line)
+ <emphasis>description</emphasis> of what it does. Below that line
+ come the <emphasis>jobs</emphasis>, i.e. lines that define the actual
+ text substitutions. By convention, the name of a filter
+ should describe what the filter <emphasis>eliminates</emphasis>. The
+ comment is used in the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
+ user interface</ulink>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Once a filter called <replaceable>name</replaceable> has been defined
+ in the filter file, it can be invoked by using an action of the form
+ +<literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>name</replaceable>}</literal>
+ in any <link linkend="actions-file">actions file</link>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ A filter header line for a filter called <quote>foo</quote> could look
+ like this:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Below that line, and up to the next header line, come the jobs that
+ define what text replacements the filter executes. They are specified
+ in a syntax that imitates <ulink url="http://www.perl.org/">Perl</ulink>'s
+ <literal>s///</literal> operator. If you are familiar with Perl, you
+ will find this to be quite intuitive, and may want to look at the
+ PCRS documentation for the subtle differences to Perl behaviour. Most
+ notably, the non-standard option letter <literal>U</literal> is supported,
+ which turns the default to ungreedy matching.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If you are new to regular expressions, you might want to take a look at
+ the <link linkend="regex">Appendix on regular expressions</link>, and
+ see the <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perl.html">Perl
+ manual</ulink> for
+ <ulink url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlop.html#s-PATTERN-REPLACEMENT-egimosx">the
+ <literal>s///</literal> operator's syntax</ulink> and <ulink
+ url="http://perldoc.com/perl5.6.1/pod/perlre.html">Perl-style regular
+ expressions</ulink> in general.
+ The below examples might also help to get you started.
+</para>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect2><title>Filter File Tutorial</title>
+<para>
+ Now, let's complete our <quote>foo</quote> filter. We have already defined
+ the heading, but the jobs are still missing. Since all it does is to replace
+ <quote>foo</quote> with <quote>bar</quote>, there is only one (trivial) job
+ needed:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>s/foo/bar/</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ But wait! Didn't the comment say that <emphasis>all</emphasis> occurrences
+ of <quote>foo</quote> should be replaced? Our current job will only take
+ care of the first <quote>foo</quote> on each page. For global substitution,
+ we'll need to add the <literal>g</literal> option:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>s/foo/bar/g</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Our complete filter now looks like this:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
+s/foo/bar/g</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Let's look at some real filters for more interesting examples. Here you see
+ a filter that protects against some common annoyances that arise from JavaScript
+ abuse. Let's look at its jobs one after the other:
+</para>
+
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+FILTER: js-annoyances Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse
+
+# Get rid of JavaScript referrer tracking. Test page: http://www.randomoddness.com/untitled.htm
+#
+s|(<script.*)document\.referrer(.*</script>)|$1"Not Your Business!"$2|Usg</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Following the header line and a comment, you see the job. Note that it uses
+ <literal>|</literal> as the delimiter instead of <literal>/</literal>, because
+ the pattern contains a forward slash, which would otherwise have to be escaped
+ by a backslash (<literal>\</literal>).
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Now, let's examine the pattern: it starts with the text <literal><script.*</literal>
+ enclosed in parentheses. Since the dot matches any character, and <literal>*</literal>
+ means: <quote>Match an arbitrary number of the element left of myself</quote>, this
+ matches <quote><script</quote>, followed by <emphasis>any</emphasis> text, i.e.
+ it matches the whole page, from the start of the first <script> tag.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ That's more than we want, but the pattern continues: <literal>document\.referrer</literal>
+ matches only the exact string <quote>document.referrer</quote>. The dot needed to
+ be <emphasis>escaped</emphasis>, i.e. preceded by a backslash, to take away its
+ special meaning as a joker, and make it just a regular dot. So far, the meaning is:
+ Match from the start of the first <script> tag in a the page, up to, and including,
+ the text <quote>document.referrer</quote>, if <emphasis>both</emphasis> are present
+ in the page (and appear in that order).
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ But there's still more pattern to go. The next element, again enclosed in parentheses,
+ is <literal>.*</script></literal>. You already know what <literal>.*</literal>
+ means, so the whole pattern translates to: Match from the start of the first <script>
+ tag in a page to the end of the last <script> tag, provided that the text
+ <quote>document.referrer</quote> appears somewhere in between.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ This is still not the whole story, since we have ignored the options and the parentheses:
+ The portions of the page matched by sub-patterns that are enclosed in parentheses, will be
+ remembered and be available through the variables <literal>$1, $2, ...</literal> in
+ the substitute. The <literal>U</literal> option switches to ungreedy matching, which means
+ that the first <literal>.*</literal> in the pattern will only <quote>eat up</quote> all
+ text in between <quote><script</quote> and the <emphasis>first</emphasis> occurrence
+ of <quote>document.referrer</quote>, and that the second <literal>.*</literal> will
+ only span the text up to the <emphasis>first</emphasis> <quote></script></quote>
+ tag. Furthermore, the <literal>s</literal> option says that the match may span
+ multiple lines in the page, and the <literal>g</literal> option again means that the
+ substitution is global.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ So, to summarize, the pattern means: Match all scripts that contain the text
+ <quote>document.referrer</quote>. Remember the parts of the script from
+ (and including) the start tag up to (and excluding) the string
+ <quote>document.referrer</quote> as <literal>$1</literal>, and the part following
+ that string, up to and including the closing tag, as <literal>$2</literal>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Now the pattern is deciphered, but wasn't this about substituting things? So
+ lets look at the substitute: <literal>$1"Not Your Business!"$2</literal> is
+ easy to read: The text remembered as <literal>$1</literal>, followed by
+ <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> (<emphasis>including</emphasis>
+ the quotation marks!), followed by the text remembered as <literal>$2</literal>.
+ This produces an exact copy of the original string, with the middle part
+ (the <quote>document.referrer</quote>) replaced by <literal>"Not Your
+ Business!"</literal>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The whole job now reads: Replace <quote>document.referrer</quote> by
+ <literal>"Not Your Business!"</literal> wherever it appears inside a
+ <script> tag. Note that this job won't break JavaScript syntax,
+ since both the original and the replacement are syntactically valid
+ string objects. The script just won't have access to the referrer
+ information anymore.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ We'll show you two other jobs from the JavaScript taming department, but
+ this time only point out the constructs of special interest:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
+#
+s/window\.status\s*=\s*(['"]).*?\1/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <literal>\s</literal> stands for whitespace characters (space, tab, newline,
+ carriage return, form feed), so that <literal>\s*</literal> means: <quote>zero
+ or more whitespace</quote>. The <literal>?</literal> in <literal>.*?</literal>
+ makes this matching of arbitrary text ungreedy. (Note that the <literal>U</literal>
+ option is not set). The <literal>['"]</literal> construct means: <quote>a single
+ <emphasis>or</emphasis> a double quote</quote>. Finally, <literal>\1</literal> is
+ a backreference to the first parenthesis just like <literal>$1</literal> above,
+ with the difference that in the <emphasis>pattern</emphasis>, a backslash indicates
+ a backreference, whereas in the <emphasis>substitute</emphasis>, it's the dollar.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ So what does this job do? It replaces assignments of single- or double-quoted
+ strings to the <quote>window.status</quote> object with a dummy assignment
+ (using a variable name that is hopefully odd enough not to conflict with
+ real variables in scripts). Thus, it catches many cases where e.g. pointless
+ descriptions are displayed in the status bar instead of the link target when
+ you move your mouse over links.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Kill OnUnload popups. Yummy. Test: http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/tree/yfs.html
+#
+s/(<body [^>]*)onunload(.*>)/$1never$2/iU</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Including the
+ <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">OnUnload
+ event binding</ulink> in the HTML DOM was a <emphasis>CRIME</emphasis>.
+ When I close a browser window, I want it to close and die. Basta.
+ This job replaces the <quote>onunload</quote> attribute in
+ <quote><body></quote> tags with the dummy word <literal>never</literal>.
+ Note that the <literal>i</literal> option makes the pattern matching
+ case-insensitive. Also note that ungreedy matching alone doesn't always guarantee
+ a minimal match: In the first parenthesis, we had to use <literal>[^>]*</literal>
+ instead of <literal>.*</literal> to prevent the match from exceeding the
+ <body> tag if it doesn't contain <quote>OnUnload</quote>, but the page's
+ content does.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The last example is from the fun department:
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+FILTER: fun Fun text replacements
+
+# Spice the daily news:
+#
+s/microsoft(?!\.com)/MicroSuck/ig</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ Note the <literal>(?!\.com)</literal> part (a so-called negative lookahead)
+ in the job's pattern, which means: Don't match, if the string
+ <quote>.com</quote> appears directly following <quote>microsoft</quote>
+ in the page. This prevents links to microsoft.com from being trashed, while
+ still replacing the word everywhere else.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
+#
+s* industry[ -]leading \
+| cutting[ -]edge \
+| customer[ -]focused \
+| market[ -]driven \
+| award[ -]winning # Comments are OK, too! \
+| high[ -]performance \
+| solutions[ -]based \
+| unmatched \
+| unparalleled \
+| unrivalled \
+*<font color="red"><b>BINGO!</b></font> \
+*igx</screen>
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ The <literal>x</literal> option in this job turns on extended syntax, and allows for
+ e.g. the liberal use of (non-interpreted!) whitespace for nicer formatting.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ You get the idea?
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect2 id="predefined-filters"><title>The Pre-defined Filters</title>
+
+<!--
+
+ Note each filter is also listed in the +filter action section above. Please
+ keep these listings in sync.
+
+-->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="prevent-compression">
-<title><emphasis>+prevent-compression</emphasis></title>
+<para>
+The distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file contains a selection of
+pre-defined filters for your convenience:
+</para>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
- <listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <term><emphasis>js-annoyances</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The purpose of this filter is to get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse.
+ To that end, it
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ replaces JavaScript references to the browser's referrer information
+ with the string "Not Your Business!". This compliments the <literal><link
+ linkend="hide-referrer">hide-referrer</link></literal> action on the content level.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ removes the bindings to the DOM's
+ <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/TR/2000/REC-DOM-Level-2-Events-20001113/events.html#Events-eventgroupings-htmlevents">unload
+ event</ulink> which we feel has no right to exist and is responsible for most <quote>exit consoles</quote>, i.e.
+ nasty windows that pop up when you close another one.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ removes code that causes new windows to be opened with undesired properties, such as being
+ full-screen, non-resizable, without location, status or menu bar etc.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>js-events</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Prevent the specified websites from compressing HTTP data.
+ This is a very radical measure. It removes virtually all JavaScript event bindings, which
+ means that scripts can not react to user actions such as mouse movements or clicks, window
+ resizing etc, anymore.
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
- <listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ We <emphasis>strongly discourage</emphasis> using this filter as a default since it breaks
+ many legitimate scripts. It is meant for use only on extra-nasty sites (should you really
+ need to go there).
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+prevent-compression}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+<varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>html-annoyances</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Some websites do this, which can be a problem for
- <application>Privoxy</application>, since
- <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>,
- <ulink url="configuration.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>
- and <ulink
- url="configuration.html#GIF-DEANIMATE"><quote>+gif-deanimate</quote></ulink>
- will not work on compressed data. This will slow down connections to those
- websites, though. Default typically is to turn
- <quote>prevent-compression</quote> on.
+ This filter will undo many common instances of HTML based abuse.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The <literal>BLINK</literal> and <literal>MARQUEE</literal> tags
+ are neutralized (yeah baby!), and browser windows will be created as
+ resizable (as of course they should be!), and will have location,
+ scroll and menu bars -- even if specified otherwise.
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="session-cookies-only">
-<title><emphasis>+session-cookies-only</emphasis></title>
-
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
- <listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>content-cookies</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Allow cookies for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>.
+ Most cookies are set in the HTTP dialogue, where they can be intercepted
+ by the
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>
+ and <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>
+ actions. But web sites increasingly make use of HTML meta tags and JavaScript
+ to sneak cookies to the browser on the content level.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This filter disables HTML and JavaScript code that reads or sets cookies. Use
+ it wherever you would also use the cookie crunch actions.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>refresh tags</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ Disable any refresh tags if the interval is greater than nine seconds (so
+ that redirections done via refresh tags are not destroyed). This is useful
+ for dial-on-demand setups, or for those who find this HTML feature
+ annoying.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (disabling):</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{-session-cookies-only}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>unsolicited-popups</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- If websites set cookies, <quote>+session-cookies-only</quote> will make sure
- they are erased when you exit and restart your web browser. This makes
- profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
- that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
- sites, and is the recommended setting.
+ This filter attempts to prevent only <quote>unsolicited</quote> pop-up
+ windows from opening, yet still allow pop-up windows that the user
+ has explicitly chosen to open. It was added in version 3.0.1,
+ as an improvement over earlier such filters.
</para>
<para>
- <quote>+prevent-*-cookies</quote> actions should be turned off as well (see
- below), for <quote>+session-cookies-only</quote> to work. Or, else no cookies
- will get through at all. For, <quote>persistent</quote> cookies that survive
- across browser sessions, see below as well.
+ Technical note: The filter works by redefining the window.open JavaScript
+ function to a dummy function during the loading and rendering phase of each
+ HTML page access, and restoring the function afterwards.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="prevent-reading-cookies">
-<title><emphasis>+prevent-reading-cookies</emphasis></title>
-
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
- <listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>all-popups</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Explicitly prevent the web server from reading any cookies on your
- system.
+ Attempt to prevent <emphasis>all</emphasis> pop-up windows from opening.
+ Note this should be used with more discretion than the above, since it is
+ more likely to break some sites that require pop-ups for normal usage. Use
+ with caution.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>img-reorder</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ This is a helper filter that has no value if used alone. It makes the
+ <literal>banners-by-size</literal> and <literal>banners-by-link</literal>
+ (see below) filters more effective and should be enabled together with them.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+prevent-reading-cookies}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>banners-by-size</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Often used in conjunction with <quote>+prevent-setting-cookies</quote> to
- disable cookies completely. Note that
- <ulink url="configuration.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></ulink>
- requires these to both be disabled (or else it never gets any cookies to cache).
+ This filter removes image tags purely based on what size they are. Fortunately
+ for us, many ads and banner images tend to conform to certain standardized
+ sizes, which makes this filter quite effective for ad stripping purposes.
</para>
<para>
- For <quote>persistent</quote> cookies to work (i.e. they survive across browser
- sessions and reboots), all three cookie settings should be <quote>off</quote>
- for the specified sites.
+ Occasionally this filter will cause false positives on images that are not ads,
+ but just happen to be of one of the standard banner sizes.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="prevent-setting-cookies">
-<title><emphasis>+prevent-setting-cookies</emphasis></title>
-
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
- <listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>banners-by-link</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Explicitly block the web server from storing cookies on your
- system.
+ This is an experimental filter that attempts to kill any banners if
+ their URLs seem to point to known or suspected click trackers. It is currently
+ not of much value and is not recommended for use by default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>webbugs</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ Webbugs are small, invisible images (technically 1X1 GIF images), that
+ are used to track users across websites, and collect information on them.
+ As an HTML page is loaded by the browser, an embedded image tag causes the
+ browser to contact a third-party site, disclosing the tracking information
+ through the requested URL and/or cookies for that third-party domain, without
+ the use ever becoming aware of the interaction with the third-party site.
+ HTML-ized spam also uses a similar technique to verify email addresses.
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+prevent-setting-cookies}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
- <listitem>
<para>
- Often used in conjunction with <quote>+prevent-reading-cookies</quote> to
- disable cookies completely (see above).
+ This filter removes the HTML code that loads such <quote>webbugs</quote>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ Nvarlistentryew section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="kill-popup">
-<title><emphasis>+kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popups"></emphasis></title>
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
- <listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>tiny-textforms</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Stop those annoying JavaScript pop-up windows!
+ A rather special-purpose filter that can be used to enlarge textareas (those
+ multi-line text boxes in web forms) and turn off hard word wrap in them.
+ It was written for the sourceforge.net tracker system where such boxes are
+ a nuisance, but it can be handy on other sites, too.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is not recommended to use this filter as a default.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>jumping-windows</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ Many consider windows that move, or resize themselves to be abusive. This filter
+ neutralizes the related JavaScript code. Note that some sites might not display
+ or behave as intended when using this filter.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+kill-popups}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>frameset-borders</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <quote>+kill-popups</quote> uses a built in filter to disable pop-ups
- that use the <literal>window.open()</literal> function, etc. This is
- one of the first actions processed by <application>Privoxy</application>
- as it contacts the remote web server. This action is not always 100% reliable,
- and is supplemented by <quote>+filter{<emphasis>popups</emphasis>}</quote>.
- </para>
- <!--
+ Some web designers seem to assume that everyone in the world will view their
+ web sites using the same browser brand and version, screen resolution etc,
+ because only that assumption could explain why they'd use static frame sizes,
+ yet prevent their frames from being resized by the user, should they be too
+ small to show their whole content.
+ </para>
<para>
- An alternate spelling is <quote>+kill-popup</quote>, which is
- interchangeable.
+ This filter removes the related HTML code. It should only be applied to sites
+ which need it.
</para>
- -->
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="send-vanilla-wafer">
-<title><emphasis>+send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis></title>
-
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
- <listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>demoronizer</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Sends a cookie for every site stating that you do not accept any copyright
- on cookies sent to you, and asking them not to track you.
+ Many Microsoft products that generate HTML use non-standard extensions (read:
+ violations) of the ISO 8859-1 aka Latin-1 character set. This can cause those
+ HTML documents to display with errors on standard-compliant platforms.
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
- <listitem>
<para>
- N/A
+ This filter translates the MS-only characters into Latin-1 equivalents.
+ It is not necessary when using MS products, and will cause corruption of
+ all documents that use 8-bit character sets other than Latin-1. It's mostly
+ worthwhile for Europeans on non-MS platforms, if wierd garbage characters
+ sometimes appear on some pages, or user agents that don't correct for this on
+ the fly.
+<!--
+ My version of Mozilla (ancient) shows litte square boxes for quote
+ characters, and apostrophes on moronized pages. So many pages have this, I
+ can read them fine now. HB 08/27/06
+-->
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+send-vanilla-wafer}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>shockwave-flash</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This action only applies if you are using a <filename>jarfile</filename>
- for saving cookies. Of course, this is a (relatively) unique header and
- could conceivably be used to track you.
+ A filter for shockwave haters. As the name suggests, this filter strips code
+ out of web pages that is used to embed shockwave flash objects.
+ </para>
+ <para>
</para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="send-wafer">
-<title><emphasis>+send-wafer</emphasis></title>
-
-<variablelist>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
- <listitem>
- <para>Multi-value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>quicktime-kioskmode</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This allows you to send an arbitrary, user definable cookie.
+ Change HTML code that embeds Quicktime objects so that kioskmode, which
+ prevents saving, is disabled.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>fun</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- User specified cookie name and corresponding value.
+ Text replacements for subversive browsing fun. Make fun of your favorite
+ Monopolist or play buzzword bingo.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+send-wafer{name=value}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term><emphasis>crude-parental</emphasis></term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This can be specified multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you
- like.
- </para>
- </listitem>
- </varlistentry>
-
-</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="act-examples" renderas="sect3">
-<title>Actions Examples</title>
-<para>
- Note that the meaning of any of the above examples 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>.
- But, other actions that are turned on the default section <emphasis>do
- typically require</emphasis> exceptions to be listed in the lower sections of
- actions file. E.g. by default no URLs are <quote>blocked</quote> (i.e. in
- the default definitions of <filename>default.action</filename>). We need
- exceptions to this in order to enable ad blocking.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Some examples:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Turn off cookies by default, then allow a few through for specified sites
- (showing an excerpt from the <quote>default</quote> section of an actions
- file ONLY):
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Excerpt only:
- # Allow cookies to and from the server, but
- # for this browser session ONLY
- {
- # other actions normally listed here...
- -prevent-setting-cookies \
- -prevent-reading-cookies \
- +session-cookies-only \
- }
- / # match all URLs
-
- # Exceptions to the above, sites that benefit from persistent cookies
- # that are saved from one browser session to the next.
- { -session-cookies-only }
- .javasoft.com
- .sun.com
- .yahoo.com
- .msdn.microsoft.com
- .redhat.com
-
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Now turn off <quote>fast redirects</quote>, and then we allow two exceptions:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Turn them off (excerpt only)!
- {
- # other actions normally listed here...
- +fast-redirects
- }
- / # match all URLs
-
- # Reverse it for these two sites, which don't work right without it.
- {-fast-redirects}
- www.ukc.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wac\.cgi\?
- login.yahoo.com
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</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 certain
- # specified sections:
- {
- # other actions normally listed here...
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups}\
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
- }
- / #match all URLs
-
- # Then disable filtering of code from all sourceforge domains!
- {-filter}
- .sourceforge.net
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Now some URLs that we want <quote>blocked</quote> (normally generates
- the <quote>blocked</quote> banner). Typically, the <quote>block</quote>
- action is off by default in the upper section of an actions file, then enabled
- against certain URLs and patterns in the lower part of the file. Many of these use <link
- linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> that will expand to match multiple
- URLs: </para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Blocklist:
- {+block}
- ad*.
- .*ads.
- banner?.
- count*.
- /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
- /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
- .hitbox.com
- /.*/(ng)?adclient\.cgi
- /.*/(plain|live|rotate)[-_.]?ads?/
- /.*/abanners/
- /autoads/
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</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, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
- and fast rules for all sites. See the <link
- linkend="ACTIONSANAT">Appendix</link> for a brief example on troubleshooting
- actions.
-</para>
-</sect4>
-
-</sect3>
-
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="aliases">
-<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 other actions</emphasis> in the
- actions file! And there can only be one set of <quote>aliases</quote>
- defined per file. Each actions file may have its own aliases, but they are
- only visible within that file.
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Now let's define a few aliases:
-</para>
-
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # Useful custom aliases we can use later. These must come first!
- {{alias}}
- +prevent-cookies = +prevent-setting-cookies +prevent-reading-cookies
- -prevent-cookies = -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies
- fragile = -block -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
- shop = -prevent-cookies -filter -fast-redirects
- +imageblock = +block +handle-as-image
-
- # Aliases defined from other aliases, for people who don't like to type
- # too much: ;-)
- c0 = +prevent-cookies
- c1 = -prevent-cookies
- #... etc. Customize to your heart's content.
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
-
-<para>
- Some examples using our <quote>shop</quote> and <quote>fragile</quote>
- aliases from above. These would appear in the lower sections of an
- actions file as exceptions to the default actions (as defined in the
- upper section):
-</para>
+ A demonstration-only filter that shows how <application>Privoxy</application>
+ can be used to delete web content on a keyword basis.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # These sites are very complex and require
- # minimal interference.
- {fragile}
- .office.microsoft.com
- .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- .nytimes.com
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>ie-exploits</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ A collection of text replacements to disable malicious HTML and JavaScript
+ code that exploits known security holes in Internet Explorer.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Presently, it only protects against Nimda and a cross-site scripting bug, and
+ would need active maintenance to provide more substantial protection.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- # Shopping sites - but we still want to block ads.
- {shop}
- .quietpc.com
- .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
- .scan.co.uk
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis>site-specifics</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Some web sites have very specific problems, the cure for which doesn't apply
+ anywhere else, or could even cause damage on other sites.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This is a collection of such site-specific cures which should only be applied
+ to the sites they were intended for, which is what the supplied
+ <filename>default.action</filename> file does. Users shouldn't need to change
+ anything regarding this filter.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
- # These shops require pop-ups also
- {shop -kill-popups}
- .dabs.com
- .overclockers.co.uk
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
-</para>
+ <varlistentry id="filter-server-headers">
+ <term><emphasis>filter-server-headers</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-<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.
+ <varlistentry id="filter-client-headers">
+ <term><emphasis>filter-client-headers</emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
-</para>
+<!--
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term><emphasis> </emphasis></term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+-->
+</variablelist>
-</sect3>
</sect2>
+</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 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.
-</para>
-<para>
- This is potentially a very powerful feature, and requires knowledge of both
- <quote>regular expression</quote> and HTML in order create custom
- filters. But, there are a number of useful filters included with
- <application>Privoxy</application> for many common situations.
-</para>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect1 id="templates">
+<title>Templates</title>
<para>
- The included example file is divided into sections. Each section begins
- with the <literal>FILTER</literal> keyword, followed by the identifier
- for that section, e.g. <quote>FILTER: webbugs</quote>. Each section performs
- a similar type of filtering, such as <quote>html-annoyances</quote>.
+ All <application>Privoxy</application> built-in pages, i.e. error pages such as the
+ <ulink url="http://show-the-404-error.page"><quote>404 - No Such Domain</quote>
+ error page</ulink>, the <ulink
+ url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"><quote>BLOCKED</quote>
+ page</ulink>
+ and all pages of its <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">web-based
+ user interface</ulink>, are generated from <emphasis>templates</emphasis>.
+ (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for the above links to work as
+ intended.)
</para>
<para>
- This file uses regular expressions to alter or remove any string in the
- target page. The expressions can only operate on one line at a time. Some
- examples from the included default <filename>default.filter</filename>:
+ These templates are stored in a subdirectory of the <link linkend="confdir">configuration
+ directory</link> called <filename>templates</filename>. On Unixish platforms,
+ this is typically
+ <ulink url="file:///etc/privoxy/templates/"><filename>/etc/privoxy/templates/</filename></ulink>.
</para>
<para>
- Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by
- deleting such references:
+ The templates are basically normal HTML files, but with place-holders (called symbols
+ or exports), which <application>Privoxy</application> fills at run time. You can
+ edit the templates with a normal text editor, should you want to customize them.
+ (<emphasis>Not recommended for the casual user</emphasis>). Note that
+ just like in configuration files, lines starting with <literal>#</literal> are
+ ignored when the templates are filled in.
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- FILTER: html-annoyances
-
- # New browser windows should be resizeable and have a location and status
- # bar. Make it so.
- #
- s/resizable="?(no|0)"?/resizable=1/ig s/noresize/yesresize/ig
- s/location="?(no|0)"?/location=1/ig s/status="?(no|0)"?/status=1/ig
- s/scrolling="?(no|0|Auto)"?/scrolling=1/ig
- s/menubar="?(no|0)"?/menubar=1/ig
-
- # The <BLINK> tag was a crime!
- #
- s*<blink>|</blink>**ig
-
- # Is this evil?
- #
- #s/framespacing="?(no|0)"?//ig
- #s/margin(height|width)=[0-9]*//gi
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ The place-holders are of the form <literal>@name@</literal>, and you will
+ find a list of available symbols, which vary from template to template,
+ in the comments at the start of each file. Note that these comments are not
+ always accurate, and that it's probably best to look at the existing HTML
+ code to find out which symbols are supported and what they are filled in with.
</para>
<para>
- Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of <quote>Microsoft</quote> with
- <quote>MicroSuck</quote>, and have a little fun with topical buzzwords:
+ A special application of this substitution mechanism is to make whole
+ blocks of HTML code disappear when a specific symbol is set. We use this
+ for many purposes, one of them being to include the beta warning in all
+ our user interface (CGI) pages when <application>Privoxy</application>
+ is in an alpha or beta development stage:
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- FILTER: fun
+ <screen>
+<!-- @if-unstable-start -->
- s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
+ ... beta warning HTML code goes here ...
- # Buzzword Bingo:
- #
- s/industry-leading|cutting-edge|award-winning/<font color=red><b>BINGO!</b></font>/ig
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+<!-- if-unstable-end@ --></screen>
</para>
<para>
- Kill those pesky little web-bugs:
+ If the "unstable" symbol is set, everything in between and including
+ <literal>@if-unstable-start</literal> and <literal>if-unstable-end@</literal>
+ will disappear, leaving nothing but an empty comment:
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
- FILTER: webbugs
-
- s/<img\s+[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1\D[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1(\D[^>]*?)?>/<!-- Squished WebBug -->/sig
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ <screen><!-- --></screen>
</para>
-</sect2>
-
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
-
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect2>
-<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).
+ There's also an if-then-else construct and an <literal>#include</literal>
+ mechanism, but you'll sure find out if you are inclined to edit the
+ templates ;-)
</para>
-<para>
- The default <quote>Blocked</quote> 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>
+ All templates refer to a style located at
+ <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet"><literal>http://config.privoxy.org/send-stylesheet</literal></ulink>.
+ This is, of course, locally served by <application>Privoxy</application>
+ and the source for it can be found and edited in the
+ <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> template.
</para>
-</sect2>
</sect1>
&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, improved <filename>default.action</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 ~ -->
&history;
<!-- end history -->
</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="authors"><title>Authors</title>
+<!-- Include p-authors.sgml: -->
+ &p-authors;
+<!-- end authors -->
+</sect2>
+
</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
<!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
<sect2 id="regex">
<title>Regular Expressions</title>
<para>
- <application>Privoxy</application> can use <quote>regular expressions</quote>
- in various config files. Assuming support for <quote>pcre</quote> (Perl
- Compatible Regular Expressions) is compiled in, which is the default. Such
- configuration directives do not require regular expressions, but they can be
- used to increase flexibility by matching a pattern with wild-cards against
- URLs.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl-style <quote>regular
+ expressions</quote> in its <link linkend="actions-file">actions
+ files</link> and <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>,
+ through the <ulink url="http://www.pcre.org/">PCRE</ulink> and
+<!--
+ dead 08/27/06
+ <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/">PCRS</ulink> libraries.
+-->
+ <application>PCRS</application> libraries.
</para>
<para>
If you are reading this, you probably don't understand what <quote>regular
expressions</quote> are, or what they can do. So this will be a very brief
- introduction only. A full explanation would require a book ;-)
+ introduction only. A full explanation would require a <ulink
+ url="http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/regex/">book</ulink> ;-)
</para>
<para>
- <quote>Regular expressions</quote> is a way of matching one character
- expression against another to see if it matches or not. One of the
- <quote>expressions</quote> is a literal string of readable characters
- (letter, numbers, etc), and the other is a complex string of literal
- characters combined with wild-cards, and other special characters, called
- meta-characters. The <quote>meta-characters</quote> have special meanings and
- are used to build the complex pattern to be matched against. Perl Compatible
- Regular Expressions is an enhanced form of the regular expression language
- with backward compatibility.
+ Regular expressions provide a language to describe patterns that can be
+ run against strings of characters (letter, numbers, etc), to see if they
+ match the string or not. The patterns are themselves (sometimes complex)
+ strings of literal characters, combined with wild-cards, and other special
+ characters, called meta-characters. The <quote>meta-characters</quote> have
+ special meanings and are used to build complex patterns to be matched against.
+ Perl Compatible Regular Expressions are an especially convenient
+ <quote>dialect</quote> of the regular expression language.
</para>
<para>
</member>
</simplelist></para>
-<para><simplelist>
- <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. There must of course be a match on <quote>string1</quote> first.
- </member>
-</simplelist></para>
-
<para>
These are just some of the ones you are likely to use when matching URLs with
<application>Privoxy</application>, and is a long way from a definitive
in the expression anywhere).
</para>
-<para>
- <emphasis><literal>s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/i</literal></emphasis> - This is
- a substitution. <quote>MicroSuck</quote> will replace any occurrence of
- <quote>microsoft</quote>. The <quote>i</quote> at the end of the expression
- means ignore case. The <quote>(?!.com)</quote> means
- the match should fail if <quote>microsoft</quote> is followed by
- <quote>.com</quote>. In other words, this acts like a <quote>NOT</quote>
- modifier. In case this is a hyperlink, we don't want to break it ;-).
-</para>
-
<para>
We are barely scratching the surface of regular expressions here so that you
can understand the default <application>Privoxy</application>
<ulink url="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html">http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</ulink>
</para>
+<para>
+ For information on regular expression based substitutions and their applications
+ in filters, please see the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file tutorial</link>
+ in this manual.
+</para>
</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
</para>
</blockquote>
<para>
- Alternately, this may be reached at <ulink
- url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>, but this
- variation may not work as reliably as the above in some configurations.
+ There is a shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> (But it
+ doesn't provide a fall-back to a real page, in case the request is not
+ sent through <application>Privoxy</application>)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show information about the current configuration:
+ Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
+ editing of actions files:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show the client's request headers:
+ Show the browser's request headers:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
</para>
</blockquote>
</listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Edit the actions list file:
- </para>
- <blockquote>
- <para>
- <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions</ulink>
- </para>
- </blockquote>
- </listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Enable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Enable</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Disable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Disable</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">View Privoxy Status</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy- View Status</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
-
+<!--
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Actions file feedback system</ulink>
+ <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions/index.php?url='+escape(location.href),'Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Actions File Feedback</ulink>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info?url='+escape(location.href),'Why').focus());">Privoxy - Why?</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
-
</itemizedlist>
</para>
-
-
<para>
- Credit: The site which gave me the general idea for these bookmarklets is
- <ulink url="http://www.bookmarklets.com">www.bookmarklets.com</ulink>. They
+ Credit: The site which gave us the general idea for these bookmarklets is
+ <ulink url="http://www.bookmarklets.com/">www.bookmarklets.com</ulink>. They
have more information about bookmarklets.
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
First, your web browser requests a web page. The browser knows to send
- the request to <application>Privoxy</application>, who in turn,
- will relay the request to the remote web server after passing a few quick
+ 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 these back to the browser.
+ pages (e.g http://p.p/) and sends the CGI page back to the browser.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
Next, <application>Privoxy</application> checks to see if the URL
- matches any <ulink
- url="configuration.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> patterns. If
- so, the remote web server is not contacted, and the URL is then further
- checked against <quote>+handle-as-image</quote>. If both match, then the
- setting of <ulink url="configuration.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">
- <quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></ulink> is used to display whichever
- option is appropriate. If <ulink
- url="configuration.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
- does not match, then the <quote>BLOCKED</quote> banner page is displayed.
+ matches any <link
+ linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link> patterns. If
+ so, the URL is then blocked, and the remote web server will not be contacted.
+ <link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>
+ 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 <link
+ linkend="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><quote>+set-image-blocker</quote></link>
+ (blank, checkerboard pattern, or an HTTP redirect to an image elsewhere).
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink
- url="configuration.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></ulink>
- is processed, stripping unwanted parts of the requested web page URL.
+ If the URL pattern matches the <link
+ linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link> 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. <link
+ linkend="HIDE-USER-AGENT"><quote>+hide-user-agent</quote></link>,
+ 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>
- At this point, <application>Privoxy</application> now relays the URL to the
- web server, requesting the page (assuming nothing up to this point has
- prevented getting us from this far).
+ 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 determined by the
+ <link linkend="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"><quote>+crunch-incoming-cookies</quote></link>,
+ <link linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>,
+ and <link linkend="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"><quote>+downgrade-http-version</quote></link>
+ actions.
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- The first few hundred bytes are read from the web server and
- <ulink url="configuration.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink>
- is processed, if enabled.
+ If the <link linkend="KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></link>
+ 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 <ulink url="configuration.html#FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></ulink>
- applies, the rest of the page is read into memory and then the filter rules
- (from <filename>default.filter</filename>) are processed. Filters are
- applied in the order they are specified in the
- <filename>default.filter</filename> file. The entire page, which is now
- filtered, is then sent by <application>Privoxy</application> back to your
- browser.
+ If a <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>
+ or <link
+ linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
+ 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 one of the
+ filter files. 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 <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link>
+ or <link
+ linkend="DEANIMATE-GIFS"><quote>+deanimate-gifs</quote></link>
+ 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 filtered page content, it will read and request any
- embedded URLs on the page, e.g. ad images. As the browser requests these
- secondary URLs from whatever server they may be on,
- <application>Privoxy</application> handles these same as above, and the process
- is repeated all over again for each such URL. Note that a fancy web page may
- have many, many such embedded URLs for graphics, frames, etc.
+ 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>
<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
+ <link linkend="ACTIONS">actions</link> and <link linkend="FILTER">filters</link>
+ 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.
+ <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link> whose consequences are not
+ always 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!).
+ and easy way to do this (be sure to flush caches afterward!). Looking at the
+ logs is a good idea too.
</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 (i.e. the <quote>+filter</quote> 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 (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 <link
+ linkend="FILTER"><quote>+filter</quote></link> action) from
+ one of the filter files 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>
<screen>
Matches for http://google.com:
---- File standard ---
-(no matches in this file)
-
---- File default ---
-
-{ -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects
- -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
- +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
- +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only +prevent-reading-cookies
- +prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
+ In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
+
+{-add-header
+ -block
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ +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
+ -kill-popups
+ -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression
+ -send-vanilla-wafer
+ -send-wafer
+ +session-cookies-only
+ +set-image-blocker{pattern} }
/
- { -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies }
+ { -session-cookies-only }
.google.com
{ -fast-redirects }
.google.com
---- File user ---
+In file: user.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
(no matches in this file)
-
</screen>
</para>
<para>
- This tells us how we have defined our <quote>actions</quote>, and which ones
- match for our example, <quote>google.com</quote>. The first listing is
- for the <filename>standard.action</filename>. 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>.
-
+ This tells us how we have defined our
+ <link linkend="ACTIONS"><quote>actions</quote></link>, 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>
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 various cookie blocking
- actions (i.e. we will allow cookies here). The second is allowing
- <quote>fast-redirects</quote> to take place. 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
- actions file, and <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these
- latter sections.
+ <quote>.google.com</quote>. The first is negating our previous cookie setting,
+ which was for <link
+ linkend="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"><quote>+session-cookies-only</quote></link>
+ (i.e. not persistent). So we will allow persistent cookies for google. The
+ second turns <emphasis>off</emphasis> any
+ <link
+ linkend="FAST-REDIRECTS"><quote>+fast-redirects</quote></link>
+ action, allowing this to take place unmolested. Note that there is a leading
+ dot here -- <quote>.google.com</quote>. This will match any hosts and
+ sub-domains, in the google.com domain also, such as
+ <quote>www.google.com</quote>. So, apparently, we have these two actions
+ defined somewhere in the lower part of our <filename>default.action</filename>
+ file, and <quote>google.com</quote> is referenced somewhere in these latter
+ sections.
</para>
<para>
- Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits, as
- signified by <quote>File user</quote>.
+ Then, for our <filename>user.action</filename> file, we again have no hits.
</para>
<para>
- And finally we pull it altogether in the bottom section and summarize how
+ And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how
<application>Privoxy</application> is applying all its <quote>actions</quote>
to <quote>google.com</quote>:
<screen>
Final results:
- -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version -fast-redirects
- -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental}
- +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies}
- +filter{webbugs} +filter{refresh-tags} +filter{nimda} +filter{banners-by-size}
- +hide-forwarded-for-headers +hide-from-header{block} +hide-referer{forge}
- -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{pattern} -limit-connect
- +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -prevent-reading-cookies
- -prevent-setting-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer
- </screen>
+ -add-header
+ -block
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ +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
+ -kill-popups
+ -limit-connect
+ +prevent-compression
+ -send-vanilla-wafer
+ -send-wafer
+ -session-cookies-only
+ +set-image-blocker{pattern}
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Notice the only difference here to the previous listing, is to
- <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and the two cookie settings.
+ <quote>fast-redirects</quote> and <quote>session-cookies-only</quote>,
+ which are actived specifically for this site in our configuration.
</para>
<para>
{ +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 +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>. (<link
+ linkend="ALIASES"><quote>Aliases</quote></link> are defined in
+ the first section of the actions file and typically used to combine more
than one action.)
</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>+handle-as-image</quote>. The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> does this
- for us.
+ is done here -- as both a <link
+ linkend="BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></link>
+ <emphasis>and</emphasis> an
+ <link
+ linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></link>.
+ The custom alias <quote>+imageblock</quote> just simplifies the process and make
+ it more readable.
</para>
<para>
One last example. Let's try <quote>http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/</quote>.
- This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm...
+ This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm ...
</para>
<para>
Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/:
- { -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-for-headers +hide-from-header{block}
- +hide-referer{forge} -hide-user-agent -handle-as-image +set-image-blocker{blank}
- +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only +prevent-setting-cookies
- +prevent-reading-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
+ In file: default.action <guibutton>[ View ]</guibutton> <guibutton>[ Edit ]</guibutton>
+
+ {-add-header
+ -block
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ +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-for-headers
+ +hide-from-header{block}
+ +hide-referer{forge}
+ -hide-user-agent
+ -handle-as-image
+ +kill-popups
+ +prevent-compression
+ -send-vanilla-wafer
+ -send-wafer
+ +session-cookies-only
+ +set-image-blocker{blank} }
/
{ +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>
was. If you don't get this kind of match, then it means one of the default
rules in the first section is causing the problem. This would require some
guesswork, and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule.
- One likely cause would be one of the <quote>{+filter}</quote> actions. Try
- adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off <quote>+filter</quote>:
+ One likely cause would be one of the <quote>{+filter}</quote> actions. These
+ tend to be harder to troubleshoot. Try adding the URL for the site to one of
+ aliases that turn off <quote>+filter</quote>:
</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 -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies }</quote>.
+ <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 turn off all filtering for that site. This would probably be most
+ appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>, for local site
+ exceptions.
</para>
<para>
- This would probably be most appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>,
- for personal user exceptions.
+ Images that are inexplicably being blocked, may well be hitting the
+ <quote>+filter{banners-by-size}</quote> rule, which assumes
+ that images of certain sizes are ad banners (works well most of the time
+ since these tend to be standardized).
</para>
<para>
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
+ Revision 2.13 2006/08/22 11:04:59 hal9
+ Silence warnings and errors. This should build now. New filters were only
+ stubbed in. More to be done.
+
+ Revision 2.12 2006/08/14 08:40:39 fabiankeil
+ Documented new actions that were part of
+ the "minor Privoxy improvements".
+
+ Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:51 david__schmidt
+ Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
+ with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.43 2005/05/23 09:59:10 hal9
+ Fix typo 'loose'
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.42 2004/12/04 14:39:57 hal9
+ Fix two minor typos per bug SF report.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.41 2004/03/23 12:58:42 oes
+ Fixed an inaccuracy
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.40 2004/02/27 12:48:49 hal9
+ Add comment re: redirecting to local file system for set-image-blocker may
+ is dependent on browser.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.39 2004/01/30 22:31:40 oes
+ Added a hint re bookmarklets to Quickstart section
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.38 2004/01/30 16:47:51 oes
+ Some minor clarifications
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.37 2004/01/29 22:36:11 hal9
+ Updates for no longer filtering text/plain, and demoronizer default settings,
+ and copyright notice dates.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.36 2003/12/10 02:26:26 hal9
+ Changed the demoronizer filter description.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.35 2003/11/06 13:36:37 oes
+ Updated link to nightly CVS tarball
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.34 2003/06/26 23:50:16 hal9
+ Add a small bit on filtering and problems re: source code being corrupted.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.33 2003/05/08 18:17:33 roro
+ Use apt-get instead of dpkg to install Debian package, which is more
+ solid, uses the correct and most recent Debian version automatically.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.32 2003/04/11 03:13:57 hal9
+ Add small note about only one filterfile (as opposed to multiple actions
+ files).
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.31 2003/03/26 02:03:43 oes
+ Updated hard-coded copyright dates
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.30 2003/03/24 12:58:56 hal9
+ Add new section on Predefined Filters.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.29 2003/03/20 02:45:29 hal9
+ More problems with \-\-chroot causing markup problems :(
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.28 2003/03/19 00:35:24 hal9
+ Manual edit of revision log because 'chroot' (even inside a comment) was
+ causing Docbook to hang here (due to double hyphen and the processor thinking
+ it was a comment).
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.27 2003/03/18 19:37:14 oes
+ s/Advanced|Radical/Adventuresome/g to avoid complaints re fun filter
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.26 2003/03/17 16:50:53 oes
+ Added documentation for new chroot option
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.25 2003/03/15 18:36:55 oes
+ Adapted to the new filters
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.24 2002/11/17 06:41:06 hal9
+ Move default profiles table from FAQ to U-M, and other minor related changes.
+ Add faq on cookies.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.23 2002/10/21 02:32:01 hal9
+ Updates to the user.action examples section. A few new ones.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.22 2002/10/12 00:51:53 hal9
+ Add demoronizer to filter section.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.21 2002/10/10 04:09:35 hal9
+ s/Advanced/Radical/ and added very brief note.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.20 2002/10/10 03:49:21 hal9
+ Add notes to session-cookies-only and Quickstart about pre-existing
+ cookies. Also, note content-cookies work differently.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.19 2002/09/26 01:25:36 hal9
+ More explanation on Privoxy patterns, more on content-cookies and SSL.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.18 2002/08/22 23:47:58 hal9
+ Add 'Documentation' to Privoxy Menu shot in Configuration section to match
+ CGIs.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.17 2002/08/18 01:13:05 hal9
+ Spell checked (only one typo this time!).
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.16 2002/08/09 19:20:54 david__schmidt
+ Update to Mac OSX startup script name
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.15 2002/08/07 17:32:11 oes
+ Converted some internal links from ulink to link for PDF creation; no content changed
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.14 2002/08/06 09:16:13 oes
+ Nits re: actions file download
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.13 2002/08/02 18:23:19 g_sauthoff
+ Just 2 small corrections to the Gentoo sections
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.12 2002/08/02 18:17:21 g_sauthoff
+ Added 2 Gentoo sections
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.11 2002/07/26 15:20:31 oes
+ - Added version info to title
+ - Added info on new filters
+ - Revised parts of the filter file tutorial
+ - Added info on where to get updated actions files
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.10 2002/07/25 21:42:29 hal9
+ Add brief notes on not proxying non-HTTP protocols.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.9 2002/07/11 03:40:28 david__schmidt
+
+ Updated Mac OSX sections due to installation location change
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.8 2002/06/09 16:36:32 hal9
+ Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.7 2002/06/09 00:29:34 hal9
+ Touch ups on filtering, in actions section and Anatomy.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.6 2002/06/06 23:11:03 hal9
+ Fix broken link. Linkchecked all docs.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.5 2002/05/29 02:01:02 hal9
+ This is break out of the entire config section from u-m, so it can
+ eventually be used to generate the comments, etc in the main config file
+ so that these are in sync with each other.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.4 2002/05/27 03:28:45 hal9
+ Ooops missed something from David.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.3 2002/05/27 03:23:17 hal9
+ Fix FIXMEs for OS2 and OSX startup. Fix Redhat typos (should be Red Hat).
+ That's a wrap, I think.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.2 2002/05/26 19:02:09 hal9
+ Move Amiga stuff around to take of FIXME in start up section.
+
+ Revision 1.123.2.1 2002/05/26 17:04:25 hal9
+ -Spellcheck, very minor edits, and sync across branches
+
+ Revision 1.123 2002/05/24 23:19:23 hal9
+ Include new image (Proxy setup). More fun with guibutton.
+ Minor corrections/clarifications here and there.
+
+ Revision 1.122 2002/05/24 13:24:08 oes
+ Added Bookmarklet for one-click pre-filled access to show-url-info
+
+ Revision 1.121 2002/05/23 23:20:17 oes
+ - Changed more (all?) references to actions to the
+ <literal><link> style.
+ - Small fixes in the actions chapter
+ - Small clarifications in the quickstart to ad blocking
+ - Removed <emphasis> from <title>s since the new doc CSS
+ renders them red (bad in TOC).
+
+ Revision 1.120 2002/05/23 19:16:43 roro
+ Correct Debian specials (installation and startup).
+
+ Revision 1.119 2002/05/22 17:17:05 oes
+ Added Security hint
+
+ Revision 1.118 2002/05/21 04:54:55 hal9
+ -New Section: Quickstart to Ad Blocking
+ -Reformat Actions Anatomy to match new CGI layout
+
+ Revision 1.117 2002/05/17 13:56:16 oes
+ - Reworked & extended Templates chapter
+ - Small changes to Regex appendix
+ - #included authors.sgml into (C) and hist chapter
+
+ Revision 1.116 2002/05/17 03:23:46 hal9
+ Fixing merge conflict in Quickstart section.
+
+ Revision 1.115 2002/05/16 16:25:00 oes
+ Extended the Filter File chapter & minor fixes
+
+ Revision 1.114 2002/05/16 09:42:50 oes
+ More ulink->link, added some hints to Quickstart section
+
+ Revision 1.113 2002/05/15 21:07:25 oes
+ Extended and further commented the example actions files
+
+ Revision 1.112 2002/05/15 03:57:14 hal9
+ Spell check. A few minor edits here and there for better syntax and
+ clarification.
+
+ Revision 1.111 2002/05/14 23:01:36 oes
+ Fixing the fixes
+
+ Revision 1.110 2002/05/14 19:10:45 oes
+ Restored alphabetical order of actions
+
+ 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.
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff