>Quickstart to Using Privoxy</TITLE
><META
NAME="GENERATOR"
-CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.64
-"><LINK
+CONTENT="Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.60"><LINK
REL="HOME"
TITLE="Privoxy User Manual"
HREF="index.html"><LINK
CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="QUICKSTART"
->5. Quickstart to Using <SPAN
+>4. Quickstart to Using <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
></A
><UL
><LI
><P
+> If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
+ files. See the <A
+HREF="upgradersnote.html"
+>Note to Upgraders</A
+> Section.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
> Install <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
+>. See the <A
HREF="installation.html"
->Installing</A
->.
+>Installation Section</A
+> below for platform specific
+ information.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> Advanced users and those who want to offer <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+>
+ service to more than just their local machine should check the <A
+HREF="config.html"
+>main config file</A
+>, especially the <A
+HREF="config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL"
+>security-relevant</A
+> options. These are
+ off by default.
</P
></LI
><LI
> Start <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
->. See the section <A
+>, if the installation program has
+ not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
+ <A
HREF="startup.html"
>Starting <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Change your browser's configuration to use the proxy <TT
+> Set your browser to use <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> as HTTP and
+ HTTPS proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
+ <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
->localhost</TT
-> on port
- <TT
+>127.0.0.1</TT
+> and port <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>8118</TT
->. See the section <A
+>.
+ (<SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Junkbuster</SPAN
+> and earlier versions of
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> used port 8000.) See the section <A
HREF="startup.html"
>Starting <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
></A
+> below
+ for more details on this.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> 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.
+ </P
+><P
+> See the <A
+HREF="configuration.html"
+>Configuration section</A
+> for more
+ configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
+
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+ blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy's</SPAN
+> behaviour, take a look at the <A
+HREF="actions-file.html"
+>actions files</A
+>. As a quick start, you might
+ find the <A
+HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
+>richly commented examples</A
+>
+ helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <A
+HREF="http://config.privoxy.org"
+TARGET="_top"
+>web-based user interface</A
+>. The
+ Appendix <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<A
+HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
+>Anatomy of an
+ Action</A
+>"</SPAN
+> has hints how to debug actions that
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"misbehave"</SPAN
>.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy. Please see the section
- <A
+> Please see the section <A
HREF="contact.html"
->Contacting the Developers</A
-> on how to report
- bugs or problems with websites or to get help. You may want to change the
- file <TT
+>Contacting the
+ Developers</A
+> on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
+ help.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy!
+ </P
+></LI
+></UL
+></P
+><DIV
+CLASS="SECT2"
+><H2
+CLASS="SECT2"
+><A
+NAME="QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING"
+>4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking</A
+></H2
+><P
+> Ad blocking is but one of <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy's</SPAN
+>
+ array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
+ user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.</P
+><P
+>
+ This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
+ you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
+ information provided below, though this is highly recommeneded.</P
+><P
+> First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
+ more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
+ things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
+ extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"problem"</SPAN
+> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
+ configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
+ not an easy way to eliminate <I
+CLASS="EMPHASIS"
+>all</I
+> ads. Either take
+ the easy way and settle for <I
+CLASS="EMPHASIS"
+>most</I
+> ads blocked with the
+ default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
+ habits and preferences.</P
+><P
+> Secondly, a brief explanation of <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy's </SPAN
+>
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"actions"</SPAN
+>. <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"Actions"</SPAN
+> in this context, are
+ the directives we use to tell <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> to perform
+ some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> to take some <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"action"</SPAN
+>. Each
+ action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>actions</SPAN
+> in <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy's</SPAN
+>
+ arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <A
+HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
+>Actions</A
+>, and <A
+HREF="actions-file.html"
+>action
+ configuration files</A
+>, are explained in depth below.</P
+><P
+> Actions are specified in <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy's</SPAN
+> configuration,
+ followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
+ can actually be URL type <A
+HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
+>patterns</A
+> that use
+ wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
+ actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.</P
+><P
+> When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
+ of the sections as defined in <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy's</SPAN
+> configuration,
+ or not. If so, then <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> will perform the
+ respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Futhermore, web
+ pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
+ use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
+ original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just 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.</P
+><P
+> The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
+>block</A
+></TT
+>, <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
+>handle-as-image</A
+></TT
+>, and
+ <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
+>set-image-blocker</A
+></TT
+>:</P
+><P
+> <P
+></P
+><UL
+><LI
+><P
+> <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
+>block</A
+></TT
+> - this action stops
+ any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this
+ action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything
+ that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any
+ communication with the remote server and sends <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+>'s
+ own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
+>handle-as-image</A
+></TT
+> -
+ tells <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> to treat this URL as an image.
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+>'s default configuration already does this
+ for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
+ is not as easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
+ important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image, we can replace
+ it by an image instead of the BLOCKED page, which would only result in a
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"broken image"</SPAN
+> icon. There are some limitations to this though. For
+ instance, you can't just brute-force an image substituion for an entire HTML page
+ in most situations.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
+>set-image-blocker</A
+></TT
+> - tells
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> 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
+ <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
+>block</A
+></TT
+> action somewhere in the
+ configuration, <I
+CLASS="EMPHASIS"
+>and</I
+>, it must also match an
+ <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
+>handle-as-image</A
+></TT
+> action.
+ </P
+><P
+> The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
+ </P
+><P
+></P
+><TABLE
+BORDER="0"
+><TBODY
+><TR
+><TD
+> <I
+CLASS="EMPHASIS"
+>pattern</I
+> - a checkboard pattern, so that an ad
+ replacement is obvious. This is the default.
+ </TD
+></TR
+></TBODY
+></TABLE
+><P
+></P
+><P
+></P
+><TABLE
+BORDER="0"
+><TBODY
+><TR
+><TD
+> <I
+CLASS="EMPHASIS"
+>blank</I
+> - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
+ This is the so-called <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"invisible"</SPAN
+> configuration option.
+ </TD
+></TR
+></TBODY
+></TABLE
+><P
+></P
+><P
+></P
+><TABLE
+BORDER="0"
+><TBODY
+><TR
+><TD
+> <I
+CLASS="EMPHASIS"
+>http://<URL></I
+> - A redirect to any image anywhere
+ of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
+ </TD
+></TR
+></TBODY
+></TABLE
+><P
+></P
+></LI
+></UL
+></P
+><P
+> The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
+ the special <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> editor at <A
+HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
+TARGET="_top"
+>http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
+>
+ (shortcut: <A
+HREF="http://p.p/"
+TARGET="_top"
+>http://p.p/show-status</A
+>). This
+ is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
+ appropriate <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"actions"</SPAN
+> file, and click
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>Edit</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+>. It is best to put personal or
+ local preferences in <TT
CLASS="FILENAME"
>user.action</TT
-> to further tweak your new browsing
- experience.
+> since this is not
+ meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
+ other files. Here you can insert new <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"actions"</SPAN
+>, and URLs for ad
+ blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> will detect these changes automatically.</P
+><P
+> A quick and simple step by step example:</P
+><P
+> <P
+></P
+><UL
+><LI
+><P
+> Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
+>Copy Link Location</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+> from the
+ pop-up menu.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> Set your browser to
+ <A
+HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
+TARGET="_top"
+>http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
+>
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> Find <TT
+CLASS="FILENAME"
+>user.action</TT
+> in the top section, and click
+ on <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>Edit</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+>:
+ </P
+><P
+> <DIV
+CLASS="FIGURE"
+><A
+NAME="AEN356"
+></A
+><P
+><B
+>Figure 1. Actions Files in Use</B
+></P
+><DIV
+CLASS="MEDIAOBJECT"
+><P
+><IMG
+SRC="../images/files-in-use.jpg"
+ALT="Screenshot of Files in Use"
+></IMG
+></P
+></DIV
+></DIV
+>
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> You should have a section with only
+ <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
+>block</A
+></TT
+> listed under
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"Actions:"</SPAN
+>.
+ If not, click a <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>Insert new section below</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+>
+ button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>Edit</SPAN
+> button right under the word <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"Actions:"</SPAN
+>.
+ This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
+ <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
+>block</A
+></TT
+> near the top, and click
+ in the <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"Enabled"</SPAN
+> column, then <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>Submit</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+>
+ just below the list.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> Now, in the <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
+>block</A
+></TT
+> actions section,
+ click the <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>Add</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+> button, and paste the URL the
+ browser got from <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIMENUITEM"
+>Copy Link Location</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+>.
+ Remove the <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+>http://</TT
+> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>Submit</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+> (or
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"<SPAN
+CLASS="GUIBUTTON"
+>OK</SPAN
+>"</SPAN
+> if in a pop-up window).
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> Now go back to the original page, and press <B
+CLASS="KEYCAP"
+>SHIFT-Reload</B
+>
+ (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
</P
></LI
></UL
></P
+><P
+> This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
+ wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
+ site. For a more extensive explanation of <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"patterns"</SPAN
+>, and
+ the entire actions concept, see <A
+HREF="actions-file.html"
+>the Actions
+ section</A
+>.</P
+><P
+> For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
+ to now go to the <A
+HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
+>Actions Files Tutorial</A
+>.
+ The ideas explained thererin also apply to the web-based editor.</P
+></DIV
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="NAVFOOTER"
projects / privoxy.git / blobdiff