<!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
<!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
<!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
-<!entity p-version "2.9.14">
+<!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
+<!entity p-version "2.9.15">
<!entity p-status "beta">
<!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
<!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-readme "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-config "IGNORE">
<!entity % p-supp-userman "IGNORE"> <!-- Omit some from supported.sgml -->
+<!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
+<!entity % draft "IGNORE"> <!-- WIP -->
]>
<!--
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 1.115 2002/05/16 16:25:00 oes Exp $
+ Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
+ See LICENSE.
========================================================================
NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
<article id="index">
<artheader>
+
<title>Privoxy User Manual</title>
-<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.91 2002/04/24 02:39:31 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>
+ <subscript>
+<!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
+<!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
+ <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001, 2002 by
+ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
+ </subscript>
+</pubdate>
+
+<pubdate>$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.115 2002/05/16 16:25:00 oes Exp $</pubdate>
+
+<!--
+
+Note: the following should generate a separate page, and a live link to it,
+all nicely done. But it doesn't for some mysterious reason. Please leave
+commented unless it can be fixed proper. For the time being, the
+copyright/license declarations will be in their own sgml.
+
+Hal.
+
+<copyright>
+ <year>2001</year>
+ <year>2002</year>
+ <holder>Privoxy Developers</holder>
+</copyright>
+
+<legalnotice id="legalnotice">
+ <para>
+ text goes here ........
+ </para>
+</legalnotice>
+
+-->
-<authorgroup>
- <author>
- <affiliation>
- <orgname>By: Privoxy Developers</orgname>
- </affiliation>
- </author>
-</authorgroup>
<abstract>
+
<![%dummy;[
<para>
<comment>
The user manual gives users information on how to install, configure and use
<ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/"><application>Privoxy</application></ulink>.
- </para>
+ </para>
<!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
&p-intro;
url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/</ulink>.
Please see the <ulink url="contact.html">Contact section</ulink> on how to
contact the developers.
- </para>
+ </para>
<!-- <para> -->
<!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
</artheader>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect1 id="intro" label=""><title></title>
-<!-- dummy section to force TOC on page by itself -->
-<!-- DO NOT REMOVE! please ;) -->
-<para> </para>
-</sect1>
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
<sect1 label="1" id="introduction"><title>Introduction</title>
<para>
This documentation is included with the current &p-status; version of
]]>
<!-- ~~~~~ 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 RPMs and Conectiva</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>
<para>
Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
- the installation process.
+ the installation process. You will find the configuration files
+ in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in. We do not
+ use the registry of Windows.
</para>
</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="installation-source"><title>Building from Source</title>
+<para>
+ The most convenient way to obtain the <application>Privoxy</application> sources
+ is to download the source tarball from our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project
+ page</ulink>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ If you like to live on the bleeding edge and are not afraid of using
+ possibly unstable development versions, you can check out the up-to-the-minute
+ version directly from <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">the
+ CVS repository</ulink> or simply download <ulink
+ url="http://cvs.sourceforge.net/cvstarballs/ijbswa-cvsroot.tar.gz">the nightly CVS
+ tarball.</ulink>
+</para>
+
<!-- include buildsource.sgml boilerplate: -->
- &buildsource;
+&buildsource;
<!-- end boilerplate -->
+
</sect2>
</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-
-<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
-
-
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="upgradersnote">
+<sect1 id="upgradersnote">
<title>Note to Upgraders</title>
<para>
- There are very significant changes from older versions of
- <application>Junkbuster</application> to the current
- <application>Privoxy</application>. Configuration is substantially
- changed. <application>Junkbuster 2.0.x</application> and earlier
- configuration files will not migrate. The functionality of the old
- <filename>blockfile</filename>, <filename>cookiefile</filename> and
- <filename>imagelist</filename>, are now combined into the
- <quote>actions files</quote>. <filename>default.action</filename>,
- is the main actions file. Local exceptions should best be put into
- <filename>user.action</filename>.
+ There are very significant changes from earlier
+ <application>Junkbuster</application> versions to the current
+ <application>Privoxy</application>. The number, names, syntax, and
+ purposes of configuration files have substantially changed.
+ <application>Junkbuster 2.0.x</application> configuration
+ files will not migrate, <application>Junkbuster 2.9.x</application>
+ and <application>Privoxy</application> configurations will need to be
+ ported. The functionalities of the old <filename>blockfile</filename>,
+ <filename>cookiefile</filename> and <filename>imagelist</filename>
+ are now combined into the <link linkend="actions-file"><quote>actions
+ files</quote></link>.
+ <filename>default.action</filename>, is the main actions file. Local
+ exceptions should best be put into <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
<para>
- A <quote>filter file</quote> (typically <filename>default.filter</filename>)
- is new 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.
+ A <link linkend="filter-file"><quote>filter file</quote></link> (typically
+ <filename>default.filter</filename>) is new as of <application>Privoxy
+ 2.9.x</application>, and provides some of the new sophistication (explained
+ below). <filename>config</filename> is much the same as before.
</para>
<para>
If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- The primary configuration file for cookie management, ad and banner
+ The primary configuration files 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
+ configuration are the <link linkend="actions-file">actions
+ files</link>. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new
+ actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
should go into <filename>user.action</filename>.
</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
+</sect1>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect1 id="quickstart"><title>Quickstart to Using <application>Privoxy</application></title>
+<para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
+ files. See the <link linkend="upgradersnote">Note to Upgraders</link> Section.
+ </para>
+</listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Install <application>Privoxy</application>. See the <link
+ linkend="installation">Installation Section</link> 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>
+ 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 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>
+ Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ 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>
+ <para>
+ 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>
+ 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 comfort and privacy!
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ </itemizedlist>
+</para>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<![%draft;[
+
+<sect2 id="quickstart-ad-blocking">
+<title>Quickstart to Ad Blocking</title>
+<!--
+ FIXME: This is unfinished. Do not publish yet!
+-->
+<para>
+ 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 blocking is surely common ground for everybody.
+</para>
+<para>
+ This section will provide a quick overview 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 recommeneded.
+</para>
+<para>
+ 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 a few
+ 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.
+</para>
+<para>
+ Secondly, a quick note on <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>
+ 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.
+</para>
+<para>
+ When you connect to a website, the full path of the URL will either match one
+ of actions as defined in <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration,
+ or not. If so, then <application>Privoxy</application> will perform the
+ action accordingly. If not, then nothing special happens. Futhermore, web
+ pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
+ display as it parses the original page's HTML content. An ad image for
+ instance, is just a 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>
+ The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <link
+ linkend="block">block</link>, <link
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link>, and <link
+ linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link>.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <itemizedlist>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="block"><emphasis>block</emphasis></link> - 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. If this is the only action that
+ matches for a particular URL, then <application>Privoxy</application> will
+ display its own BLOCKED page to let you now what has happened.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="handle-as-image"><emphasis>handle-as-image</emphasis></link> -
+ forces <application>Privoxy</application> to treat this URL as if it were
+ an image. <application>Privoxy</application> knows about common image
+ types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this does not apply.
+ So we'll force it. This is particularly important for ad blocking, since
+ once we can treat it as an image, we can make more intelligent decisisions
+ on how to handle it. There are some limitations to this though. For
+ instance, you can't just force an image substituion for an entire HTML page
+ in most situations.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <link
+ linkend="set-image-blocker"><emphasis>set-image-blocker</emphasis></link> -
+ 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 block action somewhere in the configuration.
+ <emphasis>And</emphasis>, it must also either be of a known image type, or
+ match an <link
+ linkend="handle-as-image"><emphasis>handle-as-image</emphasis></link>
+ action.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
+ </para>
+ <simplelist>
+ <member>
+ <emphasis>pattern</emphasis> - a checkboard 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 URL of the
+ user's choosing.
+ </member>
+ </simplelist>
+ </listitem>
+
+</itemizedlist>
+</para>
</sect2>
+]]>
+
+</sect1>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="startup">
+<sect1 id="startup">
<title>Starting <application>Privoxy</application></title>
<para>
- Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
- will want to configure your browser(s) to use <application>Privoxy</application>
- as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is localhost for the proxy address,
- and port 8118 (earlier versions used port 8000). This is the one
- configuration step that must be done!
+ Before launching <application>Privoxy</application> for the first time, you
+ will want to configure your browser(s) to use
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is
+ 127.0.0.1 (or localhost) for the proxy address, and port 8118 (earlier versions
+ used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done!
</para>
<para>
For <application>Internet Explorer</application>: <literal>Tools ->
Internet Properties -> Connections -> LAN Setting</literal>. Then,
check <quote>Use Proxy</quote> and fill in the appropriate info (Address:
- localhost, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
+ 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include if HTTPS proxy support too.
</para>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application>!
</para>
-
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> is typically started by specifying the
- main configuration file to be used on the command line. Example Unix startup
- command:
+ main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
+ file is specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application>
+ will look for a file named <filename>config</filename> in the current
+ directory. Except on Win32 where it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>.
</para>
+<sect2 id="start-redhatdebian">
+<title>RedHat, Conectiva and Debian</title>
+<para>
+We use a script. Note that RedHat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
+default. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename> as its
+main configuration file. FIXME: Debian??
+</para>
<para>
<screen>
-
- # /usr/sbin/privoxy /etc/privoxy/config
-
- </screen>
+ # /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
+</screen>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-suse">
+<title>SuSE</title>
+<para>
+We use a script. It will use the file <filename>/etc/privoxy/config</filename>
+as its main configuration file. Note that SuSE starts Privoxy upon booting
+your PC.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+ # rcprivoxy start
+</screen>
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-windows">
+<title>Windows</title>
+<para>
+Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
+ specified on the command line, <application>Privoxy</application> will look
+ for a file named <filename>config.txt</filename>. Note that Windows will
+ automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC.
</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="start-unices">
+<title>Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX and others</title>
<para>
- See <link linkend="cmdoptions">below</link> for other command line options.
+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>
- An init script is provided for SuSE and Red Hat.
+FIXME.
</para>
+</sect2>
+<sect2 id="start-macosx">
+<title>MAX OSX</title>
<para>
- For for SuSE: <command>rcprivoxy start</command>
+FIXME.
</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 id="start-amigaos">
+<title>AmigaOS</title>
<para>
- For Red Hat and Debian: <command>/etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start</command>
+FIXME.
</para>
+</sect2>
+<!--
<para>
- If no configuration file is specified on the command line,
- <application>Privoxy</application> will look for a file named
- <filename>config</filename> in the current directory. Except on Win32 where
- it will try <filename>config.txt</filename>. If no file is specified on the
- command line and no default configuration file can be found,
- <application>Privoxy</application> will fail to start.
+ See the section <link linkend="cmdoptions">Command line options</link> for
+ furher info.
</para>
+must find a better place for this paragraph
<para>
The included default configuration files should give a reasonable starting
point. Most of the per site configuration is done in the
- <quote>actions</quote> files. These are where various cookie actions are
- defined, ad and banner blocking, and other aspects of
- <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several such
- files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html"><quote>actions</quote></ulink> files. These are
+ where various cookie actions are defined, ad and banner blocking, and other
+ aspects of <application>Privoxy</application> configuration. There are several
+ such files included, with varying levels of aggressiveness.
</para>
<para>
- You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites that require persistent
- cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
+ You will probably want to keep an eye out for sites for which you may prefer
+ persistent cookies, and add these to your actions configuration as needed. By
default, most of these will be accepted only during the current browser
- session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), until you add them to the
+ session (aka <quote>session cookies</quote>), unless you add them to the
configuration. If you want the browser to handle this instead, you will need
to edit <filename>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.
+ and disable this feature. If you use more than one browser, it would make
+ more sense to let <application>Privoxy</application> handle this. In which
+ case, the browser(s) should be set to accept all cookies.
</para>
<para>
Another feature where you will probably want to define exceptions for trusted
- sites is the popup-killing (through the <literal>+popup</literal> and
- <literal>+filter{popups}</literal> actions), because your favorite shopping,
- banking, or leisure site may need popups.
+ sites is the popup-killing (through the <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"><quote>+kill-popups</quote></ulink> and
+ <ulink
+ url="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"><quote>+filter{popups}</quote></ulink>
+ actions), because your favorite shopping, banking, or leisure site may need
+ popups (explained below).
</para>
<para>
<para>
If the above paragraph sounds gibberish to you, you might want to <ulink
- url="configuration.html#ACTIONSFILE">read more about the actions concept</ulink>
+ url="actions-file.html#ACTIONSFILE">read more about the actions concept</ulink>
or even dive deep into the <ulink url="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">Appendix
on actions</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
If you can't get rid of the problem at all, think you've found a bug in
Privoxy, want to propose a new feature or smarter rules, please see the
-
chapter <ulink url="contact.html"><quote>Contacting the
+
section <ulink url="contact.html"><quote>Contacting the
Developers</quote></ulink> below.
</para>
-</sect2>
-
+-->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect2 id="cmdoptions">
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>
+ </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.
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> (the <link linkend="filter-file">filter
+ file</link>) can be used to re-write the raw page content, including
+ viewable text as well as embedded HTML and JavaScript, and whatever else
+ lurks on any given web page. The filtering jobs are only pre-defined here;
+ whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
</para>
</listitem>
please check all your configuration files on important issues.
</para>
]]>
+
</sect2>
+</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="config">
+<sect1 id="config">
<title>The Main Configuration File</title>
+
<para>
Again, the main configuration file is named <filename>config</filename> on
Linux/Unix/BSD and OS/2, and <filename>config.txt</filename> on Windows.
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <emphasis>confdir /etc/privoxy</emphasis></literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="conf-log-loc">
+<sect2 id="conf-log-loc">
<title>Configuration and Log File Locations</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> can (and normally does) use a number of
- other files for additional configuration and logging.
+ other files for additional configuration, help and logging.
This section of the configuration file tells <application>Privoxy</application>
where to find those other files.
</para>
+<para>
+ The user running Privoxy, must have read permission for all
+ configuration files, and write permission to any files that would
+ be modified, such as log files.
+</para>
-<sect4 id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="confdir"><title>confdir</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logdir"><title>logdir</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="actionsfile"><title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="actionsfile"><title>
+actionsfile
+</title>
<anchor id="default.action">
<anchor id="standard.action">
<anchor id="user.action">
-actionsfile
-</title>
-
+<!-- Note: slightly modified this section 04/28/02, hal. See NOTE. -->
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The actions file(s) to use
+ The <link linkend="actions-file">actions file(s)</link> to use
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Type of value:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal></para>
+ <para>File name, relative to <literal>confdir</literal>, without the <literal>.action</literal> suffix</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Default value:</term>
+ <term>Default values:</term>
<listitem>
<simplelist>
<member>
- <msgtext><literallayout> standard # Internal purposes, recommended not editing</literallayout></msgtext>
+ <msgtext><literallayout> standard # Internal purposes, no editing recommended</literallayout></msgtext>
</member>
<member>
<msgtext><literallayout> default # Main actions file</literallayout></msgtext>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are OK and are in fact recommended!
+ Multiple <literal>actionsfile</literal> lines are permitted, and are in fact recommended!
</para>
<para>
The default values include standard.action, which is used for internal
purposes and should be loaded, default.action, which is the
<quote>main</quote> actions file maintained by the developers, and
- user.action, where you can make your personal additions.
+ <filename>user.action</filename>, where you can make your personal additions.
</para>
<para>
- There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without an actions file.
+ Actions files are where all the per site and per URL configuration is done for
+ ad blocking, cookie management, privacy considerations, etc.
+ There is no point in using <application>Privoxy</application> without at
+ least one actions file.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="filterfile"><title><anchor id="default.filter">filterfile</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="filterfile"><title>filterfile</title>
+<anchor id="default.filter">
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- The filter file to use
+ The <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link> to use
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<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
+ <literal>+<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
+ actions in the actions files are turned neutral.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</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
+ The <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link> contains content modification
+ rules that use <link linkend="regex">regular expressions</link>. 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.
</para>
+ <para>
+ The
+ <literal>+<link linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>}</literal>
+ actions rely on the relevant filter (<replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>)
+ to be defined in the filter file!
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A pre-defined filter file called <filename>default.filter</filename> that contains
+ a bunch of handy filters for common problems is included in the distribution.
+ See the section on the <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
+ action for a list.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="logfile"><title>logfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
the effect that cron.daily will automatically archive, gzip, and empty the
log, when it exceeds 1M size.
</para>
+ <para>
+ Any log files must be writable by whatever user <application>Privoxy</application>
+ is being run as (default on UNIX, user id is <quote>privoxy</quote>).
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="jarfile"><title>jarfile</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jarfile"><title>jarfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
-<sect4 id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
+</sect3>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trustfile"><title>trustfile</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="local-set-up">
+<sect2 id="local-set-up">
<title>Local Set-up Documentation</title>
<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.
+ than 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>
+
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="user-manual"><title>user-manual</title>
+<variablelist>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Specifies:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ Location of the <application>Privoxy</application> User Manual.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Type of value:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>A fully qualified URI</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Default value:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><emphasis>Unset</emphasis></para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Effect if unset:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">http://www.privoxy.org/<replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable>/user-manual/</ulink>
+ will be used, where <replaceable class="parameter">version</replaceable> is the <application>Privoxy</application> version.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ The User Manual URI is used for help links from some of the internal CGI pages.
+ The manual itself is normally packaged with the binary distributions, so you probably want
+ to set this to a locally installed copy. For multi-user setups, you could provide a copy on
+ a local webserver for all your users and use the corresponding URL here.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Examples:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Unix, in local filesystem:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>user-manual file:///usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;/user-manual/</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Any platform, on local webserver (called <quote>local-webserver</quote>):
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>user-manual http://local-webserver/privoxy-user-manual/</screen>
+ </para>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ If set, this option should be <emphasis>the first option in the config file</emphasis>, because
+ it is used while the config file is being read.
</para>
+ </warning>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="trust-info-url"><title>trust-info-url</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<listitem>
<para>
The value of this option only matters if the experimental trust mechanism has been
- activated. (See <literal>trustfile</literal> above.)
+ activated. (See <link linkend="trustfile"><emphasis>trustfile</emphasis></link> above.)
</para>
<para>
If you use the trust mechanism, it is a good idea to write up some on-line
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="admin-address"><title>admin-address</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="proxy-info-url"><title>proxy-info-url</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+
+</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="debugging">
+<sect2 id="debugging">
<title>Debugging</title>
<para>
command line option when debugging.
</para>
-<sect4 id="debug"><title>debug</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="debug"><title>debug</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Key values that determine what information gets logged.
+ Key values that determine what information gets logged to the
+ <link linkend="logfile"><emphasis>logfile</emphasis></link>.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
debug 1024 # debug kill pop-ups
debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
- </programlisting>
+</programlisting>
</para>
<para>
To select multiple debug levels, you can either add them or use
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="single-threaded"><title>single-threaded</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="access-control">
+<sect2 id="access-control">
<title>Access Control and Security</title>
<para>
of <application>Privoxy</application>'s configuration.
</para>
-<sect4 id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="listen-address"><title>listen-address</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<para>[<replaceable class="parameter">IP-Address</replaceable>]:<replaceable class="parameter">Port</replaceable></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Default value:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>localhost:8118</para>
+ <para>127.0.0.1:8118</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>Effect if unset:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Bind to localhost (127.0.0.1), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for
+ Bind to 127.0.0.1 (localhost), port 8118. This is suitable and recommended for
home users who run <application>Privoxy</application> on the same machine as
their browser.
</para>
<para>
<programlisting>
listen-address 192.168.0.1:8118
- </programlisting>
+</programlisting>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="toggle"><title>toggle</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<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.
+ proxy where all ad blocking, filtering, etc are disabled. 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> than via
+ editing the <filename>conf</filename> file.
</para>
<para>
The windows version will only display the toggle icon in the system tray
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-remote-toggle"><title>enable-remote-toggle</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="enable-edit-actions"><title>enable-edit-actions</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">web-based actions
+ Whether or not the <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions
file editor</ulink> may be used
</para>
</listitem>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="acls"><title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="acls"><title>
+ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
<anchor id="permit-acces">
<anchor id="deny-acces">
-ACLs: permit-access and deny-access</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
Access controls are included at the request of ISPs and systems
administrators, and <emphasis>are not usually needed by individual users</emphasis>.
For a typical home user, it will normally suffice to ensure that
- <application>Privoxy</application> only listens on the localhost or internal (home)
- network address by means of the <literal>listen-address</literal> option.
+ <application>Privoxy</application> only listens on the localhost
+ (127.0.0.1) or internal (home) network address by means of the
+ <link linkend="listen-address"><emphasis>listen-address</emphasis></link>
+ option.
</para>
<para>
Please see the warnings in the FAQ that this proxy is not intended to be a substitute
<para>
<screen>
permit-access localhost
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Allow any host on the same class C subnet as www.privoxy.org access to
<para>
<screen>
permit-access www.privoxy.org/24 www.example.com/32
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Allow access from any host on the 26-bit subnet 192.168.45.64 to anywhere,
<screen>
permit-access 192.168.45.64/26
deny-access 192.168.45.73 www.dirty-stuff.example.com
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="buffer-limit"><title>buffer-limit</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="forwarding">
+<sect2 id="forwarding">
<title>Forwarding</title>
<para>
supports the SOCKS 4 and SOCKS 4A protocols.
</para>
-<sect4 id="forward"><title>forward</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="forward"><title>forward</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>Specifies:</term>
<screen>
forward .* anon-proxy.example.org:8080
forward :443 .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Everything goes to our example ISP's caching proxy, except for requests
<screen>
forward .*. caching-proxy.example-isp.net:8000
forward .example-isp.net .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="socks"><title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="socks"><title>
+forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
<anchor id="forward-socks4">
<anchor id="forward-socks4a">
-forward-socks4 and forward-socks4a</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<screen>
forward-socks4a .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 www-cache.example-isp.net:8080
forward .example.com .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
A rule that uses a SOCKS 4 gateway for all destinations but no HTTP parent looks like this:
<para>
<screen>
forward-socks4 .*. socks-gw.example.com:1080 .
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<sect4 id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="advanced-forwarding-examples"><title>Advanced Forwarding Examples</title>
<para>
If you have links to multiple ISPs that provide various special content
<screen>
forward .*. .
forward .isp-b.net host-b:8118
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<screen>
forward .*. .
forward .isp-a.net host-a:8118
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
always_direct allow ftp
# Forward all the rest to Privoxy
- never_direct allow all
- </screen>
+ never_direct allow all</screen>
</para>
<para>
Squid normally uses port 3128. If unsure consult <literal>http_port</literal> in <filename>squid.conf</filename>.
</para>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="windows-gui">
+<sect2 id="windows-gui">
<title>Windows GUI Options</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> has a number of options specific to the
<literal>
<msgtext>
<literallayout>
- #hide-console
+ #<emphasis>hide-console</emphasis>
</literallayout>
</msgtext>
</literal>
</para>
-</sect3>
</sect2>
+</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
-<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="actions-file">
-<title>Actions Files</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect1 id="actions-file"><title>Actions Files</title>
<para>
The actions files are used to define what actions
- <application>Privoxy</application> takes for which URLs, and thus determines
+ <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 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>
+ are three such files included with <application>Privoxy</application> (as of
+ version 2.9.15), 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 making
+ available to users.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <filename>user.action</filename> - is intended to be for local site
+ preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
+ has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
+ thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <filename>standard.action</filename> - is used by the web based editor,
+ to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
+ in <filename>default.action</filename>. These have increasing levels of
+ aggressiveness <emphasis>and have no influence on your browsing unless
+ you select them explicitly in the editor</emphasis>. It is not recommend
+ to edit this file.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
+ </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>
+ The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
+ file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these
+ can all be viewed and edited from <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
</para>
<para>
- 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.
+ 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 ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2>
<title>Finding the Right Mix</title>
<para>
- Note that some actions like cookie suppression or script disabling may
- render some sites unusable, which rely on these techniques to work properly.
- Finding the right mix of actions is not easy and certainly a matter of personal
- taste. In general, it can be said that the more <quote>aggressive</quote>
- your default settings (in the top section of the actions file) are,
- the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you will have to
- make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per default, you'll
- have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you regularly use
- and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe your bank,
- favorite shop, or newspaper.
+ Note that some <link linkend="actions">actions</link>, like cookie suppression
+ or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
+ techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
+ certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
+ <quote>aggressive</quote> your default settings (in the top section of the
+ actions file) are, the more exceptions for <quote>trusted</quote> sites you
+ will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
+ default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
+ regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
+ your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.
</para>
<para>
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>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2>
<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>.
+ The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
+ using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
+ The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a
+ per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like
+ <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> or <quote>Advanced</quote>.
</para>
<para>
If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
- the actions files.
+ the actions files. Look at <filename>default.action</filename> which is richly
+ commented.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
-<sect3>
+<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>alias</quote> sections which will be discussed later. For now
+ 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
<para>
To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
- compared to all patterns in this file. Every time it matches, the list of
+ compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of
applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
- the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins.
+ the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
+ the effects are aggregated (e.g. a URL might match both the
+ <ulink url="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"><quote>+handle-as-image</quote></ulink>
+ and <ulink url="actions-file.html#BLOCK"><quote>+block</quote></ulink> actions).
+
</para>
<para>
- You can trace this process by visiting <ulink
+ You can trace this process
for any given URL by visiting <ulink
url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>.
</para>
More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <link linkend="ACTIONSANAT">
Anatomy of an Action</link>.
</para>
-</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3>
+<sect2 id="af-patterns">
<title>Patterns</title>
<para>
Generally, a pattern has the form <literal><domain>/<path></literal>,
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-<sect4><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3><title>The Domain Pattern</title>
<para>
The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
-<sect4><title>The Path Pattern</title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3><title>The Path Pattern</title>
<para>
<application>Privoxy</application> uses Perl compatible regular expressions
documents whose path starts with <literal>PaTtErN</literal> in
<emphasis>exactly</emphasis> this capitalization.
</para>
-</sect4>
-
</sect3>
+</sect2>
+
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect3 id="actions">
+<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
- <quote>+action</quote> means <quote>do that action</quote>, e.g.
- <quote>+block</quote> means please <quote>block the following URL
- patterns</quote>.
+ <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>
- 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:
+ 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>
+ Boolean, i.e the action can only be <quote>enabled</quote> or
+ <quote>disabled</quote>. Syntax:
+ </para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name}</emphasis> # enable this action
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable this action
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ <screen>
+ +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # enable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable>
+ -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action <replaceable class="parameter">name</replaceable></screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Example: <literal>+block</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- Parameterized, e.g. <quote>+/-hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</quote>,
- where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
- Examples:
+ Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
+ Syntax:
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>
+ +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and set parameter to <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>,
+ # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
+ -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable> # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</screen>
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name{param}}</emphasis> # enable action and set parameter to <quote>param</quote>
- <emphasis>{-name}</emphasis> # disable action (<quote>parameter</quote>) can be omitted
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+ Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
+ the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Example: <literal>+hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <!-- 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:
+ Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
+ but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
+ same URL, but with different parameters, <emphasis>all</emphasis> the parameters
+ from <emphasis>all</emphasis> matches are remembered. This is used for actions
+ that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
+ headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+name{param=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>
+ <screen>
+ +<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # enable action and add <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> to the list of parameters
+ -<replaceable class="function">name</replaceable>{<replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable>} # remove the parameter <replaceable class="parameter">param</replaceable> from the list of parameters
+ # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
+ <replaceable class="parameter">-name</replaceable> # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Examples: <literal>+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</literal> and
+ <literal>+filter{html-annoyances}</literal>
</para>
</listitem>
<para>
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!
+ to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
+ in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
+ multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
+ Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
+ <filename>config</filename> (the default installation has three actions
+ files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
+ one pattern and thus more than one set of actions!
</para>
<!-- start actions listing -->
<para>
- The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>actions</quote> are:
+ The list of valid <application>Privoxy</application> actions are:
</para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="add-header">
-<title><emphasis>+add-header{Name: value}</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="add-header">
+<title><emphasis>add-header</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Multi-value.</para>
+ <para>Confuse log analysis, custom applications</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Send a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
+ Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- Any value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
- </para>
+ <para>Multi-value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
+ It is recommended that you use the <quote><literal>X-</literal></quote> prefix
+ for custom headers.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="block">
-<title><emphasis>+block</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="block">
+<title><emphasis>block</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Block ads or other obnoxious content</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.
+ 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>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>{+block}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.banners.example.com</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.ads.r.us</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>N/A</para>
</listitem>
</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.
+ <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 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.
+ A very important exception occurs if <emphasis>both</emphasis>
+ <literal>block</literal> and <literal><link linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image</link></literal>,
+ apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
+ <literal><link linkend="set-image-blocker">set-image-blocker</link></literal>
+ (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
+ if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It is important to understand this process, in order
+ to understand how <application>Privoxy</application> deals with
+ ads and other unwanted content.
</para>
<para>
- The <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.
+ 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>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
+.nasty-stuff.example.com
+
+{+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
+.ad.doubleclick.net
+.ads.r.us</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+</variablelist>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="deanimate-gifs">
-<title><emphasis>+deanimate-gifs</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-incoming-cookies">
+<title><emphasis>crunch-incoming-cookies</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>
+ Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- To stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.
+ Deletes any <quote>Set-Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from server replies.
</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>
- <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+deanimate-gifs{last}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ This action is only concerned with <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies. For
+ <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies, use
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>.
+ Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
+ with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
+ since it would prevent the session cookies from being set.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</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).
+ <screen>+crunch-incoming-cookies</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="downgrade-http-version">
-<title><emphasis>+downgrade-http-version</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="crunch-outgoing-cookies">
+<title><emphasis>crunch-outgoing-cookies</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>
+ Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
+ </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 any <quote>Cookie:</quote> HTTP headers from client requests.
</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>
N/A
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+downgrade-http-version}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ This action is only concerned with <emphasis>outgoing</emphasis> cookies. For
+ <emphasis>incoming</emphasis> cookies, use
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal>.
+ Use <emphasis>both</emphasis> to disable cookies completely.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use this action in conjunction
+ with the <literal><link linkend="session-cookies-only">session-cookies-only</link></literal> action,
+ since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</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.
+ <screen>+crunch-outgoing-cookies</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="fast-redirects">
-<title><emphasis>+fast-redirects</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="deanimate-gifs">
+<title><emphasis>deanimate-gifs</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</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).
+ De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
</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>{+fast-redirects}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ <quote>last</quote> or <quote>first</quote>
+ </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.
+ 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>
- This is a normally <quote>on</quote> feature, and often requires exceptions
- for sites that are sensitive to defeating this mechanism.
+ You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
+ objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
+ a GIF.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+deanimate-gifs{last}</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="filter">
-<title><emphasis>+filter</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="downgrade-http-version">
+<title><emphasis>downgrade-http-version</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- boolean, parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</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.
+ Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
</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>
- <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>).
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
- <varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (from the current <filename>default.filter</filename>):</term>
+<varlistentry>
+ <term>Notes:</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>
+ This is a left-over from the time when <application>Privoxy</application>
+ didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
+ unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
+ out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there
+ is a chance you might need this action.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (section):</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.
- </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>
- 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.
- </para>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+downgrade-http-version}
+problem-host.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="fast-redirects">
+<title><emphasis>fast-redirects</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links</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.
+ Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests.
</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>{+hide-forwarded-for-headers}</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 servers, giving the destination as a
+ parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
+ resulting from this scheme typically look like:
+ <emphasis>http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?target=http://some.where.else</emphasis>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
+ URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
+ since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
+ to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
+ browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
+ the advertisers.
+ </para>
<para>
- It is fairly safe to leave this on. It does not seem to break many sites.
+ This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
+ It is likely to break some sites. You should expect to need possibly
+ many exceptions to this action, if it is enabled by default in
+ <filename>default.action</filename>. Some sites just don't work without
+ it.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>{+fast-redirects}</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="filter">
+<title><emphasis>filter</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</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.
+ Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action applies, are filtered on-the-fly
+ through the specified regular expression based substitutions.
</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.
+ The name of a filter, as defined in the <link linkend="filter-file">filter file</link>
+ (typically <filename>default.filter</filename>, set by the
+ <literal><link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal>
+ option in the <link linkend="config">config file</link>)
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-from-header{block}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ For your convenience, there are a bunch of pre-defined filters available
+ in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the example below for
+ a list.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This is potentially a very powerful feature! But <quote>rolling your own</quote>
+ filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
+ slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
+ passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
+ since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
+ noticeable on slower connections.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ At this time, <application>Privoxy</application> cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed
+ documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that
+ would normally be sent compressed, use the
+ <literal><link linkend="prevent-compression">prevent-compression</link></literal>
+ action in conjunction with <literal>filter</literal>.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Filtering can achieve some of the effects as the
+ <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
+ action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <link linkend="contact">Feedback</link> with suggestions for new or improved filters is particularly
+ welcome!
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (with filters from the distribution <filename>default.filter</filename> file):</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.
+ <anchor id="filter-html-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-js-annoyances">
+ <screen>+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-banners-by-size">
+ <screen>+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners by size (<emphasis>very</emphasis> efficient!)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-content-cookies">
+ <screen>+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-popups">
+ <screen>+filter{popups} # Kill all popups in JS and HTML</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-webbugs">
+ <screen>+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-fun">
+ <screen>+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-frameset-borders">
+ <screen>+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-refresh-tags">
+ <screen>+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-nimda">
+ <screen>+filter{nimda} # Remove Nimda (virus) code.</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-shockwave-flash">
+ <screen>+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</screen>
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ <anchor id="filter-crude-parental">
+ <screen>+filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-referer">
-<title><emphasis><anchor id="hide-referrer">+hide-referer</emphasis></title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="handle-as-image">
+<title><emphasis>handle-as-image</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</para>
+ <para>Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <emphasis>if they get blocked</emphasis>)</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>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.
+ 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>
- 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.
+ N/A
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-referer{forge}}</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, (inline) ad
+ frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
+ Forcing <literal>handle-as-image</literal> in this situation will not replace the
+ ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- <quote>forge</quote> is the preferred option here, since some servers will
- not send images back otherwise.
+ <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>
- <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>
-
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="hide-user-agent">
-<title><emphasis>+hide-user-agent</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-forwarded-for-headers">
+<title><emphasis>hide-forwarded-for-headers</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</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>
- To change the <quote>User-Agent:</quote> header so web servers can't tell
- your browser type. Who's business is it anyway?
+ 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>
- Any user defined string.
- </para>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.msn.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ N/A
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</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.
+ It is fairly safe to leave this on.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged
+ <quote>X-Forwarded-for:</quote> headers using random IP addresses from a specified network,
+ to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different
+ users sharing the same proxy.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <screen>+hide-forwarded-for-headers</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="handle-as-image">
-<title><emphasis>+handle-as-image</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-from-header">
+<title><emphasis>hide-from-header</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</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>
- To define what <application>Privoxy</application> should treat
- automatically as an image, and is an important ingredient of how
- ads are handled.
+ 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>
- N/A
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+handle-as-image}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>/.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ Keyword: <quote>block</quote>, or any user defined value.
+ </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.)
+ The keyword <quote>block</quote> will completely remove the header
+ (not to be confused with the <literal><link linkend="block">block</link></literal>
+ action).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
+ server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
+ is actually used by a real person.
</para>
<para>
- There is little reason to change the default definition for this.
+ 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="set-image-blocker">
-<title><emphasis>+set-image-blocker</emphasis></title>
-
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-referrer">
+<title><emphasis>hide-referrer</emphasis></title>
+<anchor id="hide-referer">
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Parameterized.</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>
- 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.
+ 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>
- 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.
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+set-image-blocker{blank}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>block</quote> to delete the header completely.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><quote>forge</quote> to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- 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.
+ <quote>forge</quote> is the preferred option here, since some servers will
+ not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable
+ content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded
+ by <emphasis>their</emphasis> banners).
</para>
+ <para>
+ <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="limit-connect">
-<title><emphasis>+limit-connect</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="hide-user-agent">
+<title><emphasis>hide-user-agent</emphasis></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>
- 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.
+ 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>
- Any valid port number, or port number range.
+ Any user-defined string.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usages:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</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>
- </listitem>
+ <warning>
+ <para>
+ This breaks many 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> a <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 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>
+ <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="prevent-compression">
-<title><emphasis>+prevent-compression</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="kill-popups">
+<title><emphasis>kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popup"></emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Prevent the specified websites from compressing HTTP data.
+ 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>
N/A
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+prevent-compression}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ This action is easily confused with the built-in, hardwired <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>
+ action, but there are important differences: For <literal>kill-popups</literal>,
+ the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
+ downloading. But <literal>kill-popups</literal> doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="filter">filter</link>{<replaceable>popups</replaceable>}</literal>
+ does.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
+ can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
+ sense to combine it with any <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action,
+ since as soon as one <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> applies,
+ the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
+ the <literal>kill-popups</literal> action over its filter equivalent.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Killing all pop-ups is a dangerous business. Many shops and banks rely on
+ pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and killing only the unwanted pop-ups
+ would require artificial intelligence in <application>Privoxy</application>.
+ If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
+ <emphasis>really nasty</emphasis> windows that appear when you close an other
+ one), you might want to use
+ <literal><link
+ linkend="filter">filter</link>{<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>
- 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.
- </para>
+ <para><screen>+kill-popups</screen></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="session-cookies-only">
-<title><emphasis>+session-cookies-only</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="limit-connect">
+<title><emphasis>limit-connect</emphasis></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</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Allow cookies for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>.
+ 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>
- N/A
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage (disabling):</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{-session-cookies-only}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
+ defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- 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.
+ 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>
- <quote>+prevent-*-cookies</quote> actions should be turned off as well (see
- below), for <quote>+session-cookies-only</quote> to work. Or, else no cookies
- will get through at all. For, <quote>persistent</quote> cookies that survive
- across browser sessions, see below as well.
- </para>
+ 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>
+ If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
+ change this one, since the default is already very restrictive.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Example usages:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <!-- I had trouble getting the spacing to look right in my browser -->
+ <!-- I probably have the wrong font setup, bollocks. -->
+ <!-- Apparently the emphasis tag uses a proportional font no matter what -->
+ <para>
+ <screen>+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
++limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
++limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
++limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK (gaping security hole!)</screen>
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
-
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="prevent-reading-cookies">
-<title><emphasis>+prevent-reading-cookies</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="prevent-compression">
+<title><emphasis>prevent-compression</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <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>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Explicitly prevent the web server from reading any cookies on your
- system.
+ Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer.
</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>
N/A
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+prevent-reading-cookies}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
+ is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the <literal><link
+ linkend="filter">filter</link></literal>, <literal><link linkend="deanimate-gifs">deanimate-gifs</link></literal>
+ and <literal><link linkend="kill-popups">kill-popups</link></literal> actions to work,
+ <application>Privoxy</application> needs access to the uncompressed data.
+ Unfortunately, <application>Privoxy</application> can't yet(!) uncompress, filter, and
+ re-compress the content on the fly. So if you want to ensure that all websites, including
+ those that normally compress, can be filtered, you need to use this action.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any of the above-mentioned
+ actions, you will typically want to use <literal>prevent-compression</literal> in conjunction
+ with them.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
+ documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you use <literal>prevent-compression</literal>
+ per default, you'll have to add exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage (sections):</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).
- </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.
+ <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="prevent-setting-cookies">
-<title><emphasis>+prevent-setting-cookies</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-vanilla-wafer">
+<title><emphasis>send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>
+ Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Explicitly block the web server from storing cookies on your
- system.
+ 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>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Boolean.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </varlistentry>
+
+ <varlistentry>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
N/A
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+prevent-setting-cookies}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <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>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Often used in conjunction with <quote>+prevent-reading-cookies</quote> to
- disable cookies completely (see above).
+ <screen>+send-vanilla-wafer</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
-<!-- ~~~~~ Nvarlistentryew section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="kill-popup">
-<title><emphasis>+kill-popups<anchor id="kill-popups"></emphasis></title>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="send-wafer">
+<title><emphasis>send-wafer</emphasis></title>
+
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>
+ Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- Stop those annoying JavaScript pop-up windows!
+ Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- N/A
- </para>
+ <para>Multi-value.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+kill-popups}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <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>
- <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>
- <!--
+ Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
+ resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
+ </para>
<para>
- An alternate spelling is <quote>+kill-popup</quote>, which is
- interchangeable.
+ 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 ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="send-vanilla-wafer">
-<title><emphasis>+send-vanilla-wafer</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="session-cookies-only">
+<title><emphasis>session-cookies-only</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Boolean.</para>
+ <para>
+ Allow only temporary <quote>session</quote> cookies (for the current browser session <emphasis>only</emphasis>).
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</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.
+ 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>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
N/A
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
+ <term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+send-vanilla-wafer}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <para>
+ This is less strict than <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> /
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal> and allows you to browse
+ websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
+ <literal>session-cookies-only</literal> and will forget about them between sessions.
+ This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
+ that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
+ sites, and is the recommended setting.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ It makes <emphasis>no sense at all</emphasis> to use <literal>session-cookies-only</literal>
+ together with <literal><link linkend="crunch-incoming-cookies">crunch-incoming-cookies</link></literal> or
+ <literal><link linkend="crunch-outgoing-cookies">crunch-outgoing-cookies</link></literal>. If you do, cookies
+ will be plainly killed.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <quote>expires</quote>
+ field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
+ </para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Notes:</term>
+ <term>Example usage:</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.
+ <screen>+session-cookies-only</screen>
</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
</variablelist>
-</sect4>
+</sect3>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect4 id="send-wafer">
-<title><emphasis>+send-wafer</emphasis></title>
+<sect3 renderas="sect4" id="set-image-blocker">
+<title><emphasis>set-image-blocker</emphasis></title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Type:</term>
- <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
+ <term>Typical use:</term>
<listitem>
- <para>Multi-value.</para>
+ <para>Choose the replacement for blocked images</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
- <term>Typical uses:</term>
+ <term>Effect:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This allows you to send an arbitrary, user definable cookie.
+ 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>Possible values:</term>
+ <term>Type:</term>
+ <!-- Boolean, Parameterized, Multi-value -->
<listitem>
- <para>
- User specified cookie name and corresponding value.
- </para>
+ <para>Parameterized.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
-
+
<varlistentry>
- <term>Example usage:</term>
- <listitem>
- <literallayout>
- <emphasis>{+send-wafer{name=value}}</emphasis>
- <emphasis>.example.com</emphasis>
- </literallayout>
+ <term>Parameter:</term>
+ <listitem>
+ <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>pattern</quote> to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
+ decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote>blank</quote> to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
+ completely, but makes it hard to detect where <application>Privoxy</application> has blocked
+ images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <application>Privoxy</application>
+ has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>
+ <quote><replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable></quote> to
+ send a redirect to <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>. You can redirect
+ to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via <quote>file:///</quote> URL).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ A good application of redirects is to use special <application>Privoxy</application>-built-in
+ URLs, which send the built-in images, as <replaceable class="parameter">target-url</replaceable>.
+ This has the same visual effect as specifying <quote>blank</quote> or <quote>pattern</quote> in
+ the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
+ it over and over again.
+ </para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<term>Notes:</term>
<listitem>
<para>
- This can be specified multiple times in order to add as many cookies as you
- like.
+ 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>
-</sect4>
+</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 = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
+ mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+
+ # These aliases define combinations of actions
+ # that are useful for certain types of sites:
+ #
+ fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
+ shop = -crunch-all-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
+
+ # 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{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>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ 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 <developers@privoxy.org></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 = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
+-crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
+mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+
+# These aliases define combinations of actions
+# that are useful for certain types of sites:
+#
+fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
+shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups</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-HTML-ANNOYANCES">filter{html-annoyances}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES">filter{js-annoyances}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-WEBBUGS">filter{webbugs}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS">filter{refresh-tags}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-FUN">filter{fun}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-NIMDA">filter{nimda}</link> \
+ +<link linkend="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE">filter{banners-by-size}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH">filter{shockwave-flash}</link> \
+ -<link linkend="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL">filter{crude-parental}</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.
+ We will also want to make exceptions from our general pop-up-killing,
+ and use our defined aliases for that.
+</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>
+
+<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-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-POPUPS">filter{popups}</link> }
+.dabs.com
+.overclockers.co.uk
+.deutsche-bank-24.de</screen>
+</para>
+
+<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'd maybe 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>
+# (Re-)define aliases for this file:
+#
+{{alias}}
+-crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
+fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
+shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
+allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} # (see below)</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>mercy-for-cookies</literal> alias defined above does exactly
+ that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and
+ processing of cookies to make them temporary.
+</para>
-<!-- ~~~~~ 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.
+ <screen>
+{ mercy-for-cookies }
+sunsolve.sun.com
+slashdot.org
+.yahoo.com
+.msdn.microsoft.com
+.redhat.com</screen>
</para>
<para>
- Some examples:
+ Your bank needs popups and is allergic to some filter, but you don't
+ know which, so you disable them all:
</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):
+ <screen>
+{ -<link linkend="FILTER">filter</link> -<link linkend="KILL-POPUPS">kill-popups</link> }
+.your-home-banking-site.com</screen>
</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
+ While browsing the web with <application>Privoxy</application> you
+ noticed some ads that sneaked through, but you were too lazy to
+ report them through our fine and easy <link linkend="contact">feedback</link>
+ system, so you have added them here:
+</para>
- # 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
+<para>
+ <screen>
+{ +<link linkend="BLOCK">block</link> }
+www.a-popular-site.com/some/unobvious/path
+another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</screen>
+</para>
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+<para>
+ Note that, assuming the banners in the above example have regular image
+ extensions (most do),
+ <literal>+<link linkend="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</link></literal>
+ need not be specified, since all URLs ending in these extensions will
+ already have been tagged as images in the relevant section of
+ <filename>default.action</filename> by now.
</para>
<para>
- Now turn off <quote>fast redirects</quote>, and then we allow two exceptions:
+ Then 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
+ -- whoa! -- it worked:
</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>
+<screen>
+{ fragile }
+.forbes.com</screen>
</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>
+ 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>
- <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>
+<screen>
+{ +<link linkend="filter-fun">filter{fun}</link> }
+/ # For ALL sites!</screen>
</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>
+ 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>
- <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>
+ Finally, you might think 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>
- 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.
+<screen>
+{ allow-ads }
+.sourceforge.net
+.slashdot.org
+.osdn.net</screen>
</para>
-</sect4>
+<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>
+ above.
+</para>
</sect3>
+</sect2>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+</sect1>
+
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+<!-- ~~~~~~~~ New section Header ~~~~~~~~~ -->
+
+<sect1 id="filter-file">
+<title>The Filter File</title>
-<!-- ~~~~~ 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.
+ All text substitutions that can be invoked through the
+ <literal><link linkend="filter">filter</link></literal> action
+ must first be defined in the filter file, which is typically
+ called <filename>default.filter</filename> and which can be
+ selected through the <literal>
+ <link linkend="filterfile">filterfile</link></literal> config
+ option.
</para>
<para>
- Now let's define a few aliases:
+ Typical reasons for doing such 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>
- <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>
+ Filtering works on any text-based document type, including plain
+ text, HTML, JavaScript, CSS etc. (all <literal>text/*</literal>
+ MIME types). 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>
- 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):
+ 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>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # These sites are very complex and require
- # minimal interference.
- {fragile}
- .office.microsoft.com
- .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
- .nytimes.com
+ 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>
- # Shopping sites - but we still want to block ads.
- {shop}
- .quietpc.com
- .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
- .scan.co.uk
+<para>
+ <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"</screen>
+</para>
- # These shops require pop-ups also
- {shop -kill-popups}
- .dabs.com
- .overclockers.co.uk
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+<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
+ <ulink url="http://www.oesterhelt.org/pcrs/pcrs.1.html">PCRS man page</ulink>
+ 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>
- 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.
+ 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>
-</sect3>
-</sect2>
+<para>
+ <screen>s/foo/bar/</screen>
+</para>
-<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+<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>
-<!-- ~~~~~ 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.
+ Our complete filter now looks like this:
+</para>
+<para>
+ <screen>FILTER: foo Replace all "foo" with "bar"
+s/foo/bar/g</screen>
</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.
+ 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>
- 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>.
+ <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>
- 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>:
+ 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>
- Stop web pages from displaying annoying messages in the status bar by
- deleting such references:
+ 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>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- FILTER: html-annoyances
+ 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>
- # 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
+<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>
- # The <BLINK> tag was a crime!
- #
- s*<blink>|</blink>**ig
+<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>
- # Is this evil?
- #
- #s/framespacing="?(no|0)"?//ig
- #s/margin(height|width)=[0-9]*//gi
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+<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>
- Just for kicks, replace any occurrence of <quote>Microsoft</quote> with
- <quote>MicroSuck</quote>, and have a little fun with topical buzzwords:
+ 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>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- FILTER: fun
+ 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>
- s/microsoft(?!.com)/MicroSuck/ig
+<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>
- # Buzzword Bingo:
- #
- s/industry-leading|cutting-edge|award-winning/<font color=red><b>BINGO!</b></font>/ig
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# The status bar is for displaying link targets, not pointless blahblah
+#
+s/window\.status\s*=\s*['"].*?['"]/dUmMy=1/ig</screen>
</para>
<para>
- Kill those pesky little web-bugs:
+ <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>.
</para>
<para>
- <literal>
- <msgtext>
- <literallayout>
- # webbugs: Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)
- FILTER: webbugs
+ 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>
- s/<img\s+[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1\D[^>]*?(width|height)\s*=\s*['"]?1(\D[^>]*?)?>/<!-- Squished WebBug -->/sig
- </literallayout>
- </msgtext>
- </literal>
+<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.
+</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 messed, while
+ still replacing the word everywhere else.
+</para>
+
+<para>
+ <screen>
+# Buzzword Bingo (example for extended regex syntax)
+#
+s* industry[ -]leading \
+| cutting[ -]edge \
+| 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>
+</sect1>
<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2>
+<sect1 id="templates">
<title>Templates</title>
<para>
When <application>Privoxy</application> displays one of its internal
- pages, such as a 404 Not Found error page, it uses the appropriate template.
- On Linux, BSD, and Unix, these are located in
- <filename>/etc/privoxy/templates</filename> by default. These may be
- customized, if desired. <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> is
- used to control the HTML attributes (fonts, etc).
+ pages, such as a <ulink url="http://bogus_404_page.com">404 Not Found error page</ulink>
+ (<application>Privoxy</application> must be running for link to work as
+ intended), it uses the appropriate template. On Linux, BSD, and Unix, these
+ are located in <filename>/etc/privoxy/templates</filename> by default. These
+ may be customized, if desired. <filename>cgi-style.css</filename> is used to
+ control the HTML attributes (fonts, etc).
</para>
<para>
- The default <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.
-
+ The default
+ <ulink
+ url="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html">Blocked
+ </ulink> (<application>Privoxy</application> needs to be running for page to
+ display) 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 (not recommended for the casual
+ user).
</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 ~ -->
</sect2>
</sect1>
+<!-- ~ End section ~ -->
+
+
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
<sect1 id="seealso"><title>See Also</title>
<!-- Include seealso.sgml: -->
<listitem>
<para>
- Show information about the current configuration:
+ Show information about the current configuration, including viewing and
+ editing of actions files:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
<listitem>
<para>
- Show the client's request headers:
+ Show the browser's request headers:
</para>
<blockquote>
<para>
</para>
</blockquote>
</listitem>
-
- <listitem>
- <para>
- Edit the actions list file:
- </para>
- <blockquote>
- <para>
- <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions">http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions</ulink>
- </para>
- </blockquote>
- </listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Enable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=enabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Enable</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Disable Privoxy</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=disabled','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Disable</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y&set=toggle','ijbstatus','width=250,height=100,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Toggle Privoxy</ulink> (Toggles between enabled and disabled)
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">View Privoxy Status</ulink>
+ <ulink
+ url="javascript:void(window.open('http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?mini=y','ijbstatus','width=250,height=2,resizable=yes,scrollbars=no,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy- View Status</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>
- <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Actions file feedback system</ulink>
+ <ulink url="javascript:w=Math.floor(screen.width/2);h=Math.floor(screen.height*0.9);void(window.open('http://www.privoxy.org/actions','Feedback','screenx='+w+',width='+w+',height='+h+',scrollbars=yes,toolbar=no,location=no,directories=no,status=no,menubar=no,copyhistory=no').focus());">Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback</ulink>
</para>
</listitem>
<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 deterimed 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 the
+ <filename>default.filter</filename> file. Animated GIFs, if present, are
+ reduced to either the first or last frame, depending on the action
+ setting.The entire page, which is now filtered, is then sent by
+ <application>Privoxy</application> back to your browser.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ If neither <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"><quote>actions</quote></link>
+ and <link linkend="FILTER"><quote>filters</quote></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
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
+ the <filename>default.filter</filename> file since this is handled very
+ differently and not so easy to trap! It also will not tell you about any other
+ URLs that may be embedded within the URL you are testing. For instance, images
+ such as ads are expressed as URLs within the raw page source of HTML pages. So
+ you will only get info for the actual URL that is pasted into the prompt area
+ -- not any sub-URLs. If you want to know about embedded URLs like ads, you
+ will have to dig those out of the HTML source. Use your browser's <quote>View
+ Page Source</quote> option for this. Or right click on the ad, and grab the
+ URL.
</para>
<para>
+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 }
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
/
- { -prevent-setting-cookies -prevent-reading-cookies }
+ { -session-cookies-only }
.google.com
{ -fast-redirects }
--- File user ---
(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>:
+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>
+ +prevent-compression -session-cookies-only -crunch-outgoing-cookies
+ -crunch-incoming-cookies -kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer
+</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>.
</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>
+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 }
+ +prevent-compression +session-cookies-only -crunch-incoming-cookies
+ -crunch-outgoing-cookies +kill-popups -send-vanilla-wafer -send-wafer }
/
{ +block +handle-as-image }
/ads
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
Ooops, the <quote>/adsl/</quote> is matching <quote>/ads</quote>! But
we did not want this at all! Now we see why we get the blank page. We could
now add a new action below this that explicitly does <emphasis>not</emphasis>
- block (-block) pages with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are various ways to
- handle such exceptions. Example:
+ block (<quote>{-block}</quote>) paths with <quote>adsl</quote>. There are
+ various ways to handle such exceptions. Example:
</para>
<para>
{ -block }
/adsl
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<para>
<screen>
- { -block }
- /adsl
-
- </screen>
+ { +block +handle-as-image }
+ /ads
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
.jungle.com
.scan.co.uk
.forbes.com
-
- </screen>
+</screen>
</para>
<para>
<quote>{shop}</quote> is an <quote>alias</quote> that expands to
- <quote>{ -filter -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 probably be most appropriately put in <filename>user.action</filename>,
- for personal user exceptions.
+ for local site exceptions.
</para>
<para>
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: user-manual.sgml,v $
+ 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