-Junkbuster Frequently Asked Questions
+Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions
-By: Junkbuster Developers
+By: Privoxy Developers
-$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.18 2002/03/18 16:40:31 hal9 Exp $
+$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.51 2002/04/26 17:24:31 swa Exp $
-The FAQ document gives users and developers alike answers to frequently asked
-questions about the Internet Junkbuster. Internet Junkbuster is a web proxy
-with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting privacy, filtering web page
-content, managing cookies, controlling access, and removing ads, banners,
-pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet Junk. Junkbuster has a very flexible
-configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and tastes.
-Internet Junkbuster has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
+This FAQ gives users and developers alike answers to frequently asked questions
+about Privoxy .
+
+Privoxy is a web proxy with advanced filtering capabilities for protecting
+privacy, filtering web page content, managing cookies, controlling access, and
+removing ads, banners, pop-ups and other obnoxious Internet junk. Privoxy has a
+very flexible configuration and can be customized to suit individual needs and
+tastes. Privoxy has application for both stand-alone systems and multi-user
networks.
-You can find the latest version of the document at http://
-ijbswa.sourceforge.net/faq/. Please see the Contact section in the user-manual
-if you want to contact the developers.
+Privoxy is based on Internet Junkbuster (tm).
+
+You can find the latest version of the document at http://www.privoxy.org/faq/.
+Please see the Contact section if you want to contact the developers.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Table of Contents
-1. Frequently Asked Questions
+
+1. General Information
- 1.1. General Information
-
- 1.1.1. What is this new version of Junkbuster?
- 1.1.2. How does it differ from the old Junkbuster?
- 1.1.3. What are some of the new features?
- 1.1.4. What is a "proxy"? How does Junkbuster work?
- 1.1.5. My browser does the same things as Junkbuster. Why should I use
- Junkbuster at all?
- 1.1.6. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty?
- Registration?
-
- 1.2. Installation
-
- 1.2.1. Can I install the new Junkbuster over the old one?
- 1.2.2. I just installed Junkbuster. Is there anything special I have to
- do now?
- 1.2.3. What is the proxy address of Junkbuster?
- 1.2.4. I just installed Junkbuster, and nothing is happening. All the
- ads are there. What's wrong?
-
- 1.3. Configuration
-
- 1.3.1. Can I use my old config files?
- 1.3.2. What is an "actions" file?
- 1.3.3. The "actions"concept confuses me. Please list some of these
- "actions".
- 1.3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do
- this?
- 1.3.5. What are the differences between ijb-intermediate.action,
- ijb-basic.action, etc.?
- 1.3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not
- raise security issues?
- 1.3.7. How can I set up Junkbuster to act as a proxy for my LAN?
- 1.3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a Junkbuster logo [or checkerboard]. I
- don't want to see anything.
- 1.3.9. Why would anybody want to see the logo or checkerboard?
- 1.3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". How
- do I get rid of this?
-
- 1.4. Misc
-
- 1.4.1. How much does Junkbuster slow my browsing down? This has to add
- extra time to browsing.
- 1.4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the
- old IJB. What's wrong?
- 1.4.3. What is the "http://i.j.b/"?
- 1.4.4. I would like to help you, what do I do?
- 1.4.5. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
- 1.4.6. How can I submit new ads?
- 1.4.7. How can I hide my IP address?
- 1.4.8. Can Junkbuster guarantee I am anonymous?
- 1.4.9. Might some things break because header information is being
- altered?
- 1.4.10. Can Junkbuster act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web
- browsing?
- 1.4.11. What about as a firewall? Can Junkbuster protect me?
- 1.4.12. The Junkbuster logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly
- looking. Can't a better font be used?
- 1.4.13. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why does
- Junkbuster leave these large gaps?
- 1.4.14. How can Junkbuster filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
- 1.4.15. Junkbuster runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to
- take any special precautions?
- 1.4.16. What is a "re_filterfile"?
+ 1.1. What is this new version of Privoxy?
+ 1.2. Why "Privoxy"? Why a name change at all?
+ 1.3. How does Privoxy differ from the old Junkbuster?
+ 1.4. What are some of the new features?
+ 1.5. What is a "proxy"? How does Privoxy work?
+ 1.6. How does Privoxy know what is an ad, and what is not?
+ 1.7. Can Privoxy make mistakes? This does not sound very scientific.
+ 1.8. My browser does the same things as Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy
+ at all?
+ 1.9. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?
+ 1.10. I would like to help you, what do I do?
- 1.5. Troubleshooting
+ 1.10.1. Money Money Money
+ 1.10.2. You want to work with us?
- 1.5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every
- web page?
- 1.5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting
- through. How?
- 1.5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Junkbuster. What can
- I do?
- 1.5.4. What time is it?
-
-2. Contact the developers
-3. Copyright and History
-4. See also
-
-1. Frequently Asked Questions
+2. Installation
+
+ 2.1. Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?
+ 2.2. Which operating systems are supported?
+ 2.3. Can I install Privoxy over Junkbuster?
+ 2.4. I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?
+ 2.5. What is the proxy address of Privoxy?
+ 2.6. I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are
+ there. What's wrong?
+
+3. Configuration
+
+ 3.1. Can I use my old config files?
+ 3.2. What is an "actions" file?
+ 3.3. The "actions" concept confuses me. Please list some of these
+ "actions".
+ 3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
+ 3.5. There are several different "actions" files. What are the differences?
+ 3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
+ security issues?
+ 3.7. What is "default.filter"?
+ 3.8. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?
+ 3.9. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
+ anything.
+ 3.10. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
+ 3.11. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how
+ do I get rid of this?
+ 3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. Help.
+ 3.13. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
+ 3.14. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
+
+4. Miscellaneous
+
+ 4.1. How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This has to add extra
+ time to browsing.
+ 4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old
+ Junkbuster. What's wrong?
+ 4.3. What is the "http://p.p/"?
+ 4.4. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
+ 4.5. How can I submit new ads?
+ 4.6. How can I hide my IP address?
+ 4.7. Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?
+ 4.8. Might some things break because header information is being altered?
+ 4.9. Can Privoxy act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web browsing?
+ 4.10. What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?
+ 4.11. The Privoxy logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly looking.
+ Can't a better font be used?
+ 4.12. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why?
+ 4.13. How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
+ 4.14. Privoxy runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to take any
+ special precautions?
+ 4.15. How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?
+ 4.16. Where can I find more information about Privoxy and related issues?
+
+5. Troubleshooting
+
+ 5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every web
+ page?
+ 5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through.
+ How?
+ 5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?
+
+7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+ 7.1. Get Support
+ 7.2. Report bugs
+ 7.3. Request new features
+ 7.4. Report ads or other filter problems
+ 7.5. Other
+
+8. Copyright and History
+
+ 8.1. Copyright
+ 8.2. History
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.1. General Information
+1. General Information
-1.1.1. What is this new version of Junkbuster?
+1.1. What is this new version of Privoxy?
-The original Internet Junkbuster (tm) is a coyrighted product of Junkbusters
+The original Internet JunkbusterTM (tm) is a copyrighted product of Junkbusters
Corporation. Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of version
-2.0.2. Stefan Walherr started the ijbswa project on Sourceforge to rekindle
+2.0.2. Stefan Waldherr started the ijbswa project on Sourceforge to rekindle
development. Other developers subsequently joined with Stefan, and have since
-added many new features, refinements and enhancements.
+added many new features, refinements and enhancements. The result of this
+effort is Privoxy.
-The new Junkbuster started with the same code base, but has changed
+Privoxy has evolved from the Junkbuster 2.0.2 code base, and has advanced
significantly at this point.
+Please see the History section for more information on the history of
+Junkbuster and Privoxy.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.2. Why "Privoxy"? Why a name change at all?
+
+Privoxy is the "Privacy Enhancing Proxy".
+
+There are potential legal complications from the continued use of the
+Junkbuster name, which is a registered trademark of Junkbusters Corporation.
+And thus they "own" the rights to the name. (There are, however, no objections
+from Junkbusters Corporation to the Privoxy project itself, and they, in fact,
+still share our ideals and goals.)
+
+The developers also believed that there are so many changes from the original
+code, that it was time to make a clean break from the past and make a name in
+their own right, especially now with the pending release of version 3.0.
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.1.2. How does it differ from the old Junkbuster?
+1.3. How does Privoxy differ from the old Junkbuster?
-All the old features remain. The new Junkbuster still blocks ads and banners,
-still manages cookies, and still helps protect your privacy. But, these are all
-enhanced, and many new features have been added, all in the same vein.
+Privoxy picks up where Junkbuster left off. All the old features remain. The
+new Privoxy still blocks ads and banners, still manages cookies, and still
+helps protect your privacy. But, these are all enhanced, and many new features
+have been added, all in the same vein.
The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that
-users will notice right off the bat. The "blocklist" file does not exist any
-more. This is replaced by "actions" files, such as ijb.actions. This is where
-most of the per site configuration is now.
+users will notice right off the bat if you are upgrading from Junkbuster 2.0.x.
+The "blocklist" file does not exist any more. This is replaced by "actions"
+files, such as default.actions. This is where most of the per site
+configuration is now.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.1.3. What are some of the new features?
+1.4. What are some of the new features?
- * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility (http://i.j.b).
- Browser-based tracing of rule and filter effects.
+ * FIXME: complete the list of features. change the order: most important
+ features to the top of the list. prefix new features with "NEW".
+
+ * Integrated browser based configuration and control utility at http://
+ config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/). Browser-based tracing of rule
+ and filter effects. Remote toggling.
* Blocking of annoying pop-up browser windows.
- * HTTP/1.1 compliant (most, but not all 1.1 features are supported).
+ * HTTP/1.1 compliant (but not all optional 1.1 features are supported).
* Support for Perl Compatible Regular Expressions in the configuration files,
and generally a more sophisticated and flexible configuration syntax over
* GIF de-animation.
* Web page content filtering (removes banners based on size, invisible
- "web-bugs", JavaScript, pop-ups, status bar abuse, etc.)
+ "web-bugs", JavaScript and HTML annoyances, pop-ups, etc.)
* Bypass many click-tracking scripts (avoids script redirection).
* Improved cookie management features (e.g. session based cookies).
- * Builds from source on most UNIX-like systems. Packages available for: Linux
- (RedHat, SuSE, or Debian), Windows, Sun Solaris, Mac OSX, OS/2, HP-UX 11
- and AmigaOS.
+ * Improved signal handling, and a true daemon mode (Unix).
- * In addition, the configuration is much more powerful and versatile
- over-all.
+ * Every feature now controllable on a per-site or per-location basis,
+ configuration more powerful and versatile over-all.
+
+ * Many smaller new features added, limitations and bugs removed, and security
+ holes fixed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.1.4. What is a "proxy"? How does Junkbuster work?
+1.5. What is a "proxy"? How does Privoxy work?
-When you connect to a web site with Junkbuster, you are really connecting to
-your locally running version of Junkbuster. Junkbuster intercepts your requests
-for the web page, and relays that to the "real" web site. The web site sends
-the HTTP data stream back to Junkbuster, where Junkbuster can work its magic
-before it relays this data back to your web browser.
+When you connect to a web site with Privoxy, you are really connecting to your
+locally running version of Privoxy. Privoxy intercepts your requests for the
+web page, and relays that to the "real" web site. The web site sends the HTTP
+data stream back to Privoxy, where Privoxy can work its magic before it relays
+this data back to your web browser.
-Since Junkbuster sits between you and the WWW, it is in a position to intercept
+Since Privoxy sits between you and the WWW, it is in a position to intercept
and completely manage all web traffic and HTTP content before it gets to your
-browser. Junkbuster uses various programming methods to do this, all of which
-is under your control via the various configuration files and options.
+browser. Privoxy uses various programming methods to do this, all of which is
+under your control via the various configuration files and options.
-There are many kinds of proxies. Junkbuster best fits the "filtering proxy"
+There are many kinds of proxies. Privoxy best fits the "filtering proxy"
category.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.1.5. My browser does the same things as Junkbuster. Why should I use
-Junkbuster at all?
+1.6. How does Privoxy know what is an ad, and what is not?
+
+Privoxy processes all the raw content of every web page. So it reads everything
+on each page. It then compares this to the rules as set up in the configuration
+files, and looks for any matches to these rules. Privoxy makes heavy use of
+"regular expressions". (If you are not familiar with regular expressions, it is
+explained briefly in the user manual.) Regular expressions facilitate matching
+of one text string against another, using wildcards to build complex patterns.
+So Privoxy will typically look for URLs and other content that match certain
+key words and expressions as defined in the configuration files. For instance a
+URL that contains "/banners", has a high probability of containing ad banners,
+and thus would be a prime candidate to have a matching rule.
+
+So Privoxy will look for these kinds of obvious looking culprits. And also,
+will use lists of known organizations that specialize in ads. Again, using
+complex patterns to match as many potential combinations as possible since
+there tend to be many, many variations used by advertisers, and new ones are
+being introduced all the time.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.7. Can Privoxy make mistakes? This does not sound very scientific.
+
+Actually, it's a black art ;-) And yes, it is always possible to have a broad
+rule accidentally block something by mistake. There is a good chance you may
+run into such a situation at some point. It is tricky writing rules to cover
+every conceivable possibility, and not occasionally get false positives.
-Modern browsers do indeed have some of the same functionality as Junkbuster.
-Maybe this is adequate for you. But Junkbuster is much more verstatile and
-powerful, and can do a number of things that browsers just can't.
+But this should not be a big concern since the Privoxy configuration is very
+flexible, and includes tools to help identify these types of situations so they
+can be addressed as needed, allowing you to customize your installation. (See
+the Troubleshooting section below.)
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.8. My browser does the same things as Privoxy. Why should I use Privoxy at
+all?
+
+Modern browsers do indeed have some of the same functionality as Privoxy. Maybe
+this is adequate for you. But Privoxy is much more versatile and powerful, and
+can do a number of things that browsers just can't.
In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or have a LAN
with multiple computers. This way all the configuration is in one place, and
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.1.6. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?
+1.9. Is there is a license or fee? What about a warranty? Registration?
-Junkbuster is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It is free
-to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of this license.
-See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html for specifics.
+Privoxy is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL). It is free to
+use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of this license.
+Please see the Copyright section for more information on the license and
+copyright.
There is no warranty of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise. That is
something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
-Junkbuster really is free in every respect!
+Privoxy really is free in every respect!
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.10. I would like to help you, what do I do?
+
+1.10.1. Money Money Money
+
+We, of course, welcome donations and use the money for domain registering,
+regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). Anyway, we'll soon describe the
+process how to donate money to the team.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+1.10.2. You want to work with us?
+
+Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new developers, RPM
+gurus or documentation makers. Simply get an account on sourceforge.net and
+mail your id to the developer mailing list. Then read the section Quickstart in
+the Developer's Manual.
+
+Once we have added you to the team, you'll have write access to the CVS
+repository, and together we'll find a suitable task for you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.2. Installation
+2. Installation
+
+2.1. Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?
+
+Any browser that can be configured to use a "proxy", which should be virtually
+all browsers. Direct browser support is not necessary since Privoxy runs as a
+separate application and just exchanges standard HTML data with your browser,
+just like a web server does.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+2.2. Which operating systems are supported?
+
+At present, Privoxy is known to run on Windows(95, 98, ME, 2000, XP), Linux
+(RedHat, Suse, Debian), Mac OSX, OS/2, AmigaOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, BeOS, and many
+more flavors of Unix.
+
+But any operating system that runs TCP/IP, can conceivably take advantage of
+Privoxy in a networked situation where Privoxy would run as a server on a LAN
+gateway. Then only the "gateway" needs to be running one of the above operating
+systems.
+
+Source code is freely available, so porting to other operating systems, is
+always a possibility.
-1.2.1. Can I install the new Junkbuster over the old one?
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+2.3. Can I install Privoxy over Junkbuster?
-We recommend you uninstall the old Junkbuster first to minimize conflicts and
+We recommend you uninstall Junkbuster first to minimize conflicts and
confusion. You may want to save your old configuration files for future
reference. The configuration is substantially changed.
-See the user-manual for platform specific installation instructions. [FIXME:
-This is meant for after the name change for 3.0!]
+See the user-manual for platform specific installation instructions.
+
+Note: Some installers may automatically uninstall Junkbuster, if present!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.2.2. I just installed Junkbuster. Is there anything special I have to do now?
+2.4. I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything special I have to do now?
-All browsers must be told to use Junkbuster as a proxy by specifying the
-correct proxy address and port number in the appropriate configuration area for
-the browser. See below.
+All browsers must be told to use Privoxy as a proxy by specifying the correct
+proxy address and port number in the appropriate configuration area for the
+browser. See below. Also, you should flush your browser's memory and disk cache
+to get rid of any cached items.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.2.3. What is the proxy address of Junkbuster?
+2.5. What is the proxy address of Privoxy?
-If you set up the Junkbuster to run on the computer you browse from (rather
-than your ISP's server or some networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be
-on "localhost" (which is the special name used by every computer on the
-Internet to refer to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you have told
-the Internet Junkbuster to run on a different port with the listen-address
-config option).
+If you set up the Privoxy to run on the computer you browse from (rather than
+your ISP's server or some networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on
+"localhost" (which is the special name used by every computer on the Internet
+to refer to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you have Privoxy to run
+on a different port with the listen-address config option).
When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter the word
"localhost" in the boxes next to "HTTP" and "Secure" (HTTPS) and then the
number "8118" for "port". This tells your browser to send all web requests to
-"Junkbuster" instead of directly to the Interenet.
+Privoxy instead of directly to the Internet.
-Junkbuster can also be used to proxy for a Local Area Network. In this case,
-your would enter either the IP address of the LAN host where Junkbuster is
-running, or the equivalent hostname. Port assignment would be same as above.
+Privoxy can also be used to proxy for a Local Area Network. In this case, your
+would enter either the IP address of the LAN host where Privoxy is running, or
+the equivalent hostname. Port assignment would be same as above.
-Junkbuster does not currently handle protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ,
-or other Internet protocols.
+Privoxy does not currently handle protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, or
+other Internet protocols.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.2.4. I just installed Junkbuster, and nothing is happening. All the ads are
-there. What's wrong?
+2.6. I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening. All the ads are there.
+What's wrong?
-Did you configure your browser to use Junkbuster as a proxy? It does not sound
+Did you configure your browser to use Privoxy as a proxy? It does not sound
like it. See above. You might also try flushing the browser's caches to force a
-full re-reading of pages. You can verify that Junkbuster is running, and your
-browser is correctly configured by entering the special URL: http://i.j.b/.
-This should give you a banner that says "This is the Internet JUNKBUSTER" and
-access to Junkbuster's internal configuration. If you see this, then you are
-good to go. If not, the browser or Junkbuster are not set up correctly.
+full re-reading of pages. You can verify that Privoxy is running, and your
+browser is correctly configured by entering the special URL: http://p.p/. This
+should give you a banner that says "This is Privoxy" and access to Privoxy's
+internal configuration. If you see this, then you are good to go. If not, the
+browser or Privoxy are not set up correctly.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3. Configuration
+3. Configuration
-1.3.1. Can I use my old config files?
+3.1. Can I use my old config files?
-There are major changes to Junkbuster configuration from version 2.0.x to 2.9.x
-and later. The older files will not work at all. If this is the case, you will
-need to re-enter your old data into the new configuration structure. This is
-probably also a good recommendation even if upgrading from 2.9.x to 3.x since
-there were many minor changes along the way.
+There are major changes to Junkbuster/ Privoxy configuration from version 2.0.x
+to 2.9.x and later. Most of the older files will not work at all. This is
+especially true of blocklist. If this is the case, you will need to re-enter
+your old data into the new configuration structure. This is probably also a
+good recommendation even if upgrading from 2.9.x to 3.x since there were many
+minor changes along the way.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.2. What is an "actions" file?
+3.2. What is an "actions" file?
-"actions" files are where various actions that Junkbuster might take, are
+"actions" files are where various actions that Privoxy might take, are
configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions that apply to
-all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults.
+all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.
Actions can be defined on a per site basis, or for groups of sites. Actions can
also be grouped together and then applied to one or more sites. There are many
blocking cookies as one of our default actions, but need to accept cookies from
a given site, we would define this in our "actions" file.
-Junkbuster comes with several default actions files, with varying degrees of
-filtering and blocking, as starting points for your own configuration (see
-below).
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.3. The "actions"concept confuses me. Please list some of these "actions".
+3.3. The "actions" concept confuses me. Please list some of these "actions".
These are all explained in the user-manual. Please refer to that.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
+3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this?
-The easiest way to do this, is to access Junkbuster with your web browser at
-http://i.j.b/, and then select "Edit the actions list" from the selection list.
-You can also do this by editing the appropriate file with a text editor.
+The easiest way to do this, is to access Privoxy with your web browser at http:
+//p.p/, and then select "View & change the current configuration" from the
+selection list. You can also do this by editing the appropriate file with a
+text editor.
Please see the user-manual for a detailed explanation of these and other
configuration files, and their various options and syntax.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.5. What are the differences between ijb-intermediate.action,
-ijb-basic.action, etc.?
-
-Configuring the Internet Junkbuster is not easy. To help you get started, we
-provide you with three different default configurations. The following table
-shows you, which features are enabled in each configuration.
-
-Table 1. Default Configurations
-
-+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-|Feature |ijb.action |ijb-basic.action|ijb-intermediate.action|ijb-advanced.action|
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|ad-filtering |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|blank image |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|de-animate GIFs |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|referer forging |? |x |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|jon's |? |x |x |x |
-|+no-cookies-keep | | | | |
-|(i.e. session | | | | |
-|cookies only) | | | | |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|no-popup windows |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|fast redirects |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|hide-referrer |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|hide-useragent |? | |x |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|content-modification|? | | |x |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|feature-x |? | | | |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|feature-y |? | | | |
-|--------------------+--------------+----------------+-----------------------+-------------------|
-|feature-z |? | | | |
-+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-1.3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
+3.5. There are several different "actions" files. What are the differences?
+
+As of Privoxy v2.9.15, three actions files are being included, to be used for
+different purposes. These are default.action, standard.action, and user.action.
+Please see the User Manual for an explanation of each.
+
+Earlier versions included three different versions default.action files. The
+new scheme allows for greater flexibility of local configuration, and for
+browser based configuration.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise
security issues?
What I don't understand, is how I can browser edit the config file as a regular
-user, while the whole /etc/junkbuster hierarchy belongs to the user
-"junkbuster", with only 644 perms.
+user, while the whole /etc/privoxy hierarchy belongs to the user "privoxy",
+with only 644 permissions.
-When you use the browser-based editor, JunkBuster itself is writing to the
-config files. Because JunkBuster is running as the user "junkbuster", it can
-update the config files.
+When you use the browser-based editor, Privoxy itself is writing to the config
+files. Because Privoxy is running as the user "privoxy", it can update the
+config files.
If you don't like this, setting "enable-edit-actions 0" in the config file will
disable the browser-based editor. If you're that paranoid, you should also
consider setting "enable-remote-toggle 0" to prevent browser-based enabling/
-disabling of JunkBuster.
+disabling of Privoxy.
-Note that normally only local users can connect to JunkBuster, so this is not
+Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy, so this is not
(normally) a security problem.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.7. How can I set up Junkbuster to act as a proxy for my LAN?
+3.7. What is "default.filter"?
+
+The "default.filter" file is where "filters" are defined, which are used to
+"filter" any web page content. By "filtering" we mean it can modify, remove, or
+change anything on the page, including HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular
+expressions are used to accomplish this, and operate on a line by line basis.
+This is potentially a very powerful feature, but requires some expertise.
-By default, Junkbuster only responds to requests from localhost. To have it act
-as a server for a network, this needs to be changed in the main config file
-where the Junkbuster configuration is located. In that file is a
-"listen-address" option. It may be commented out with a "#" symbol. Make sure
-it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface, and
-port number to use:
+If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at the
+provided default.filter with a text editor and see some of things it can be
+used for.
+
+Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
+but you can disable/enable various sections of the included default file with
+the "View & change the current configuration" from your browser.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.8. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN?
+
+By default, Privoxy only responds to requests from localhost. To have it act as
+a server for a network, this needs to be changed in the main config file where
+the Privoxy configuration is located. In that file is a "listen-address"
+option. It may be commented out with a "#" symbol. Make sure it is uncommented,
+and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface, and port number to use:
listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118
-
-Save the file, and restart Junkbuster. Configure all browsers on the network
-then to use this address and port number.
+Save the file, and restart Privoxy. Configure all browsers on the network then
+to use this address and port number.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a Junkbuster logo [or checkerboard]. I don't
-want to see anything.
+3.9. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see
+anything.
-This is a configuration option for images that Junkbuster is stopping. You have
-the choice of the Junkbuster logo, a checkerboard pattern (this scales better),
-a transparent 1x1 GIF image, or a custom URL or your choice.
+This is a configuration option for images that Privoxy is stopping. You have
+the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF image (aka
+"blank"), or a custom URL of your choice. Note that to fit this category, the
+URL must match both the "+handle-as-image" and "+block" actions.
-If you want to see nothing, then change the "+image-blocker" action to
-"+image-blocker{blank}". This can be done from the "Edit Actions List"
-selection at http://i.j.b/. Or by hand editing the appropriate actions file.
-This will only effect what is defined as "images" though.
+If you want to see nothing, then change the "+set-image-blocker" action to
+"+image-blocker{blank}". This can be done from the "View & change the current
+configuration" selection at http://p.p/. Or by hand editing the appropriate
+actions file. This will only effect what is defined as "images" though. Also,
+some URLs that generate the bright red "Blocked" banner, can be moved to the
+"+set-image-blocker" section for the same reason, but there are some limits and
+risks to this (see below).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.9. Why would anybody want to see the logo or checkerboard?
+3.10. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
This can be helpful for troubleshooting problems. It might also be good for
-anyone new to Junkbuster so that they can see if their favorite pages are
-displaying correctly, and Junkbuster is not inadvertantly removing something
+anyone new to Privoxy so that they can see if their favorite pages are
+displaying correctly, and Privoxy is not inadvertently removing something
important.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". How do I get
-rid of this?
+3.11. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how do
+I get rid of this?
+
+These are URLs that match something in one of Privoxy's block actions ("+block"
+). It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has been blocked and
+an easy way for you to see why. These are handled differently than what has
+been defined explicitly as "images" (e.g. ads that are GIF image files).
+Depending on the URL itself, it is sometimes hard for Privoxy to really know
+whether there is indeed an ad image there or not. And there are limitations as
+to what Privoxy can do to "fool" the browser.
+
+For instance, if the ad is in a frame, then it is embedded in the separate HTML
+page used for the frame. In this case, you cannot just substitute an aribitrary
+image (like we would for a "blank" image), for an HTML page. The browser is
+expecting an HTML page, and that is what it must have for frames. Such
+situations can be a little trickier to deal with, and Privoxy may show the
+"Blocked" page, despite your best efforts.
+
+If you want these to be treated as if they were images, so that they can be
+made invisible, you can try moving the offending URL from the "+block" section
+to the "+imageblock" section of your actions file. Just be forewarned, if any
+URL is made "invisible", you may not have any inkling that something has been
+removed from that page, or why. If this approach does not work, then you are
+probably dealing with a frame (or "ilayer"), and the only thing that can go
+there is an HTML page of some sort.
+
+To deal with this situation, you could modify the "block" HTML template that is
+used by Privoxy to display this, and make it something more to your liking.
+Currently, there is no configuration option for this. You will have to modify,
+or create your own page, and use this to replace templates/blocked, which is
+what Privoxy uses to display the "Blocked" page.
+
+Another way to deal with this is find why and where Privoxy is blocking the
+frame, and diable this. Then let the "+set-image-blocker" action handle the ad
+that is embedded in the frame's HTML page.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. Help.
+
+There is not enough available space to fit the entire Blocked page. Try right
+clicking on the visible portion, and select "Show Frame", or equivalent. This
+will usually allow you to see the entire Privoxy "Blocked" page, and from there
+you can see just what is being blocked, and why.
+
+As of Privoxy 2.9.14, the Blocked banner page is re-sizeable, and tries to
+adjust to the allotted space. There may be occassions where there just isn't
+enough room to display much of anything useful though.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+3.13. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT?
-These are URLs that match something in one of Junkbuster's block actions
-(+block). It is meant to be a warning so that you know something has been
-blocked and an easy way for you to see why. These are handled differently than
-what has been defined as "images" (e.g. ad banners). If you want them to be
-treated as if they were images, so that they can be invisible, then move the
-offending URL from the "+block" section to the "+imageblock" section of your
-actions file. Alternately, you could modify the "block" HTML template that is
-used by Junkbuster to display this, and make it something more to your liking.
+Yes, it can run as a system service using srvany.exe. The only catch is that
+this will effectively disable the Privoxy icon in the taskbar. You can have one
+or the other, but not both at this time :(
+
+There is a pending feature request for this functionality. See thread: http://
+sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118, for
+details, and a sample configuration.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4. Misc
+3.14. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid?
-1.4.1. How much does Junkbuster slow my browsing down? This has to add extra
-time to browsing.
+This can be done. See the user manual, which describes how to do this.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+4. Miscellaneous
+
+4.1. How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This has to add extra time to
+browsing.
It should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help speed
things up since ads, banners and other junk are not being displayed. The actual
-processing time required by Junkbuster itself for each page, is relatively
-small in the overall scheme of things, and happens very quickly. This is
-typically more than offset by time saved not downloading and rendering ad
-images.
+processing time required by Privoxy itself for each page, is relatively small
+in the overall scheme of things, and happens very quickly. This is typically
+more than offset by time saved not downloading and rendering ad images.
-"Filtering" via the re_filterfile mechanism may cause a perceived slowdown,
-since the entire page is buffered before displaying. See below.
+"Filtering" via the filterfile mechanism may cause a perceived slowdown, since
+the entire page is buffered before displaying. See below.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old IJB.
-What's wrong?
-
-Using the default filtering configuration, I noticed considerable delays in
-page requests compared to the old IJB. Loading pages with large contents seemed
-to take forever, then suddenly delivering all the content at once.
+4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old
+Junkbuster. What's wrong?
-The whole content must be loaded in order to filter, and nothing is is sent to
-the browser during this time. The loading time does not really change in real
-numbers, but the feeling is different, because most browsers are able to start
-rendering incomplete content, giving the user a feeling of "it works".
+The entire page content must be loaded into memory in order for the filtering
+mechanism to work, and nothing is sent to the browser during this time. The
+loading time does not really change in real numbers, but the feeling is
+different, because most browsers are able to start rendering incomplete
+content, giving the user a feeling of "it works".
To modify the content of a page (i.e. make frames resizeable again, etc.) and
-not just replace ads, the Internet Junkbuster needs to download the entire page
-first, do its content magic and then send the page to the browser.
+not just replace ads, Privoxy needs to download the entire page first, do its
+content magic and then send the page to the browser.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.3. What is the "http://i.j.b/"?
+4.3. What is the "http://p.p/"?
-Since JunkBuster sits between your web browser and the Internet, it can be
+Since Privoxy sits between your web browser and the Internet, it can be
programmed to handle certain pages specially.
-With recent versions of JunkBuster (version 2.9.x), you can get some
-information about JunkBuster and change some settings by going to http://i.j.b/
-or, equivalently, http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/ (Note that i.j.b is far
-easier to type but may not work in some configurations).
+With recent versions of Privoxy (version 2.9.x and greater), you can get some
+information about Privoxy and change some settings by going to http://p.p/ or,
+equivalently, http://config.privoxy.org/ (Note that p.p is far easier to type
+but may not work in some configurations. With the name change to Privoxy, this
+is changed from the previous http://i.j.b/ and earlier 2.9.x versions).
-These pages are *not* forwarded to a server on the internet - instead they are
-handled by a special web server which is built in to JunkBuster.
+These pages are not forwarded to a server on the Internet - instead they are
+handled by a special web server which is built in to Privoxy.
-If you are not running JunkBuster, then http://i.j.b/ will fail, and http://
-ijbswa.sourceforge.net/config/ will return a web page telling you you're not
-running JunkBuster.
+If you are not running Privoxy, then http://p.p/ will fail, and http://
+config.privoxy.org/ will return a web page telling you you're not running
+Privoxy.
If you have version 2.0.2, then the equivalent is http://example.com/
show-proxy-args (but you get far less information, and you should really
-consider upgrading to 2.9.x).
+consider upgrading to 2.9.14).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.4. I would like to help you, what do I do?
+4.4. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
-Well, helping the team is always a good idea. We welcome new developers, RPM
-gurus or documentation makers. Simply get an account on sourceforge.net and
-mail your id to the developer mailing list. Once we have added you to the team,
-you'll have write access to the CVS repository, and together we'll find a
-suitable task for you.
+No, not by this name. The format of the blocklists has changed significantly in
+versions 2.9.x and later. This functionality is done by the "actions" file now.
+See next question ...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.5. Do you still maintain the blocklists?
+4.5. How can I submit new ads?
-No. The format of the blocklists has changed significantly in the versions
-2.9.x. Once we have released the new version, there will again be blocklists
-that you can update automatically.
-
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+Please see the Contact section.
-1.4.6. How can I submit new ads?
-
-As of now, please discontinue to submit new ad blocking infos. Once we have
-released the new version, there will again be a form on the website, which you
-can use to contribute new ads.
+This process does not work with earlier versions of Privoxy or Junkbuster.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.7. How can I hide my IP address?
+4.6. How can I hide my IP address?
-You cannot hide your IP address with Junkbuster or any other software, since
-the server needs to know your IP address to send the answer to you.
+You cannot hide your IP address with Privoxy or any other software, since the
+server needs to know your IP address to send the answers back to you.
Fortunately there are many publicly usable anonymous proxies out there, which
solve the problem by providing a further level of indirection between you and
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.8. Can Junkbuster guarantee I am anonymous?
+4.7. Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?
No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but unless you
are an expert on Internet security it would be safest to assume that everything
you do on the Web can be traced back to you.
-Junkbuster can remove various information about you, and allows you more
-freedom to decide which sites you can trust. But it's still possible that web
-sites can find out who you are. Here's one way this can happen.
+Privoxy can remove various information about you, and allows you more freedom
+to decide which sites you can trust, and what details you want to reveal. But
+it's still possible that web sites can find out who you are. Here's one way
+this can happen.
A few browsers disclose the user's email address in certain situations, such as
-when transferring a file by FTP. Junkbuster does not filter FTP. If you need
-this feature, or are concerned about the mail handler of your browser
-disclosing your email address, you might consider products such as NSClean.
+when transferring a file by FTP. Privoxy does not filter FTP. If you need this
+feature, or are concerned about the mail handler of your browser disclosing
+your email address, you might consider products such as NSClean.
Browsers available only as binaries could use non-standard headers to give out
any information they can have access to: see the manufacturer's license
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.9. Might some things break because header information is being altered?
+4.8. Might some things break because header information is being altered?
Definitely. More and more sites use HTTP header content to decide what to
display and how to display it. There is many ways that this can be handled, so
If you have problems with a site, you will have to adjust your configuration
accordingly. Cookies are probably the most likely adjustment that may be
-required, but by no means the only one.
+required, but by no means the only one.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.10. Can Junkbuster act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web browsing?
+4.9. Can Privoxy act as a "caching" proxy to speed up web browsing?
No, it does not have this ability at all. You want something like Squid for
-this. And, yes, before you ask, Junkbuster can co-exist with other kinds of
-proxies like "Squid".
+this. And, yes, before you ask, Privoxy can co-exist with other kinds of
+proxies like Squid.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.11. What about as a firewall? Can Junkbuster protect me?
+4.10. What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?
Not in the way you mean, or in the way a true firewall can, or a proxy that has
-this specific capability. Junkbuster can help protect your privacy, but not
-really protect you from intrusion attempts.
+this specific capability. Privoxy can help protect your privacy, but not really
+protect you from intrusion attempts.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.12. The Junkbuster logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly looking.
-Can't a better font be used?
+4.11. The Privoxy logo that replaces ads is very blocky and ugly looking. Can't
+a better font be used?
+
+This is not a font problem. The logo is an image that is created by Privoxy on
+the fly. So as to not waste memory, the image is rather small. The blockiness
+comes when the image is scaled to fill a largish area. There is not much to be
+done about this, other than to use one of the other "imageblock" directives:
+pattern, blank, or a URL of your choosing.
-This is not a font problem. The logo is an image that is created by Junkbuster
-on the fly. So as to not waste memory, the image is rather small. The
-blockiness comes when the image is scaled to fill a largish area. There is not
-much to be done about this, other than to use one of the other "imageblock"
-directives: pattern, blank, or a URL of your chosing.
+Given the above problem, we have decided to remove the logo option entirely [as
+of v2.9.13].
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.13. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why does Junkbuster
-leave these large gaps?
+4.12. I have large empty spaces now where ads used to be. Why?
It would be easy enough to just eliminate this space altogether, rather than
fill it with blank space. But, this would create problems with many pages that
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.14. How can Junkbuster filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
+4.13. How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?
This is a limitation since HTTPS transactions are encrypted SSL sessions
between your browser and the secure site, and are meant to be reliably secure
and private. This means that all cookies and HTTP header information are also
encrypted from the time they leave your browser, to the site, and vice versa.
-Junkbuster does not try to unencrypt this information, so it just passes
-through as is. Junkbuster can still catch images and ads that are embedded in
-the SSL stream though.
+Privoxy does not try to unencrypt this information, so it just passes through
+as is. Privoxy can still catch images and ads that are embedded in the SSL
+stream though.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.15. Junkbuster runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to take any
+4.14. Privoxy runs as a "server". How secure is it? Do I need to take any
special precautions?
-There are no known exploits that might effect Junkbuster. On Unix-like systems,
-Junkbuster can run as a non-privileged user, which is how we recommend it be
-run. Also, by default Junkbuster only listens to requests from "localhost". It
-is not itself directly exposed to the Internet in this configuration. If you
-want to have Junkbuster serve as a LAN proxy, this will have to be opened up to
-allow for LAN requests. In this case, we'd recommend you specify only the LAN
-gateway address, e.g. 192.168.1.1 in the main Junkbuster config file. All LAN
-hosts can then use this as their proxy address in the browser proxy
-configuration. In this way, Junkbuster will not listen on any external ports.
-Of course, a firewall is always good too. Better safe than sorry.
+There are no known exploits that might effect Privoxy. On Unix-like systems,
+Privoxy can run as a non-privileged user, which is how we recommend it be run.
+Also, by default Privoxy only listens to requests from "localhost". The server
+aspect of Privoxy is not itself directly exposed to the Internet in this
+configuration. If you want to have Privoxy serve as a LAN proxy, this will have
+to be opened up to allow for LAN requests. In this case, we'd recommend you
+specify only the LAN gateway address, e.g. 192.168.1.1, in the main Privoxy
+config file. All LAN hosts can then use this as their proxy address in the
+browser proxy configuration. In this way, Privoxy will not listen on any
+external ports. Of course, a firewall is always good too. Better safe than
+sorry.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.4.16. What is a "re_filterfile"?
+4.15. How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?
-The "re_filterfile" is used to "filter" any page content. By "filtering" we
-mean it can modify, remove, or change anything on the page, including HTML
-tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this. This is
-potentially a very powerful feature, but requires some expertise.
+The easiest way is to access Privoxy with your browser by using the special
+URL: http://p.p/ and select "Toggle Privoxy on or off" from that page.
-If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at the
-provided re_filterfile with a text editor and see some of things it can be used
-for.
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration.
+4.16. Where can I find more information about Privoxy and related issues?
+
+Other references and sites of interest to Privoxy users:
+
+http://www.privoxy.org/, The Privoxy Home page.
+
+http://sourceforge.net/projects/ijbswa, the Project Page for Privoxy on
+Sourceforge.
+
+http://p.p/, access Privoxy from your browser. Alternately, http://
+config.privoxy.org may work in some situations where the first does not.
+
+http://p.p/, and select "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback" to submit "misses"
+to the developers.
+
+http://www.junkbusters.com/ht/en/cookies.html
+
+http://www.waldherr.org/junkbuster/
+
+http://privacy.net/analyze/
+
+http://www.squid-cache.org/
+
+
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.5. Troubleshooting
+5. Troubleshooting
-1.5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every web page?
+5.1. I just upgraded and am getting "connection refused" with every web page?
-Either Junkbuster is not running, or your browser is configured for a different
-port than what Junkbuster is using.
+Either Privoxy is not running, or your browser is configured for a different
+port than what Privoxy is using.
-The old Junkbuster used port 8000 by default. This has been changed to port
-8118 now, due to a conflict with NAS (Network Audio Service), which uses port
-8000. If you haven't, you need to change your browser to the new port number,
-or alternately change Junkbuster's "listen-address" setting in the config file
-used to start Junkbuster.
+The old Privoxy (and also Junkbuster) used port 8000 by default. This has been
+changed to port 8118 now, due to a conflict with NAS (Network Audio Service),
+which uses port 8000. If you haven't, you need to change your browser to the
+new port number, or alternately change Privoxy's "listen-address" setting in
+the config file used to start Privoxy.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through.
+5.2. I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is still getting through.
How?
If the ad had been displayed before you added its URL, it will probably be held
in the browser's cache for some time, so it will be displayed without the need
-for any request to the server, and Junkbuster will not be in the picture. The
-best thing to do is try flusing the browser's caches. And then try again.
+for any request to the server, and Privoxy will not be in the picture. The best
+thing to do is try flushing the browser's caches. And then try again.
If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you applied. Try
-pasting the full URL of the offending ad into http://ijbswa.sourceforge.net/
-config/show-url-info and see if any actions match your new rule.
+pasting the full URL of the offending ad into http://config.privoxy.org/
+show-url-info and see if any actions match your new rule.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Junkbuster. What can I do?
+5.3. One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy. What can I do?
-First verify that it is indeed a Junkbuster problem, by disabling Junkbuster
-filtering and blocking. Go to http://i.j.b/ and click on "Toggle Junkbuster On
-or Off", then disable it. Now try that page again.
+First verify that it is indeed a Privoxy problem, by disabling Privoxy
+filtering and blocking. Go to http://p.p/ and click on "Toggle Privoxy On or
+Off", then disable it. Now try that page again. It's probably a good idea to
+flush the browser cache as well with Shift+Reload to flush caches.
If still a problem, go to "Show which actions apply to a URL and why" from
-http://i.j.b/ and paste the full URL of the page in question into the prompt.
-See which actions are being applied to the URL. Now, armed with this
-information, go to "Edit the actions list". Here you should see various
-sections that have various "Junkbuster" features disabled for specific sites.
-Disabled "actions" will have a "-" (minus sign) in front of them. Add your
-problem page URL to one of these sections that looks like it is disabling the
-feature that is causing the problem. Re-try the page. There might be some trial
-and error involved. This is discussed in a little more detail in the
-user-manual appendix.
+http://p.p/ and paste the full URL of the page in question into the prompt. See
+which actions are being applied to the URL. Now, armed with this information,
+go to "View & change the current configuration". Here you should see various
+sections that have various Privoxy features disabled for specific sites. Most
+disabled "actions" will have a "-" (minus sign) in front of them. Some aliases
+are used just to disable other actions, e.g. "shop" and "fragile", and won't
+necessarily use a "+" or "-" sign. Add your problem page URL to one of these
+sections that looks like it is disabling the feature that is causing the
+problem. Rember to flush your browser's caches when making such changes! As a
+last resort, try "fragile" which disables most actions. Now re-try the page.
+There might be some trial and error involved. This is discussed in more detail
+in the user-manual appendix.
Alternately, if you are comfortable with a text editor, you can accomplish the
same thing by editing the appropriate "actions" file.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-1.5.4. What time is it?
+7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests
+
+We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please
+note the following sections.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.1. Get Support
+
+To get support, use the Sourceforge Support Forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.2. Report bugs
+
+To submit bugs, use the Sourceforge Bug Forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.
+
+Make sure that the bug has not already been submitted. Please try to verify
+that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug first. If you are using
+your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the
+problem is a configuration related bug. And if not using the latest development
+snapshot, please try the latest one. Or even better, CVS sources. Please be
+sure to include the Privoxy version, platform, browser, any pertinent log data,
+any other relevant details (please be specific) and, if possible, some way to
+reproduce the bug.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.3. Request new features
+
+To submit ideas on new features, use the Sourceforge feature request forum:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118&func=browse.
+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+7.4. Report ads or other filter problems
-Time for you to go!
+You can also send feedback on websites that Privoxy has problems with. Please
+bookmark the following link: "Privoxy - Submit Filter Feedback". Once you surf
+to a page with problems, use the bookmark to send us feedback. We will look
+into the issue as soon as possible.
+
+New, improved default.action files will occasionally be made available based on
+your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-2. Contact the developers
+7.5. Other
+
+For any other issues, feel free to use the mailing lists:
+
+ http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.
-Please see the user manual for information on how to contact the developers.
+Anyone interested in actively participating in development and related
+discussions can also join the appropriate mailing list. Archives are available,
+too. See the page on Sourceforge.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-3. Copyright and History
+8. Copyright and History
-Please see the user manual for information on Copyright and History.
+8.1. Copyright
+
+Privoxy is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the
+terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software
+Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later
+version.
+
+This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY
+WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
+PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License for more details, which
+is available from the Free Software Foundation, Inc, 59 Temple Place - Suite
+330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with
+this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple
+Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-4. See also
+8.2. History
+
+Privoxy is evolved, and derived from, the Internet Junkbuster, with many
+improvments and enhancements over the original.
-Please see the user manual for information on references.
+Junkbuster was originally written by Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters
+Corporation, and was released as free open-source software under the GNU GPL.
+Stefan Waldherr made many improvements, and started the SourceForge project
+Privoxy to rekindle development. There are now several active developers
+contributing. The last stable release of Junkbuster was v2.0.2, which has now
+grown whiskers ;-).
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff