X-Git-Url: http://www.privoxy.org/gitweb/?p=privoxy.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=doc%2Fsource%2Fuser-manual.sgml;h=7fd3f8353d949d61ba563ab0dc5f0f365b7d9021;hp=8bc750849ea65c71e32651c242476620f76a1115;hb=7bbee96637ad3a65a3ef35d37efc7fc059a96e5a;hpb=1ebaf56647ca9a7fdcc9c55a78cb740f31a6cd1d
diff --git a/doc/source/user-manual.sgml b/doc/source/user-manual.sgml
index 8bc75084..7fd3f835 100644
--- a/doc/source/user-manual.sgml
+++ b/doc/source/user-manual.sgml
@@ -11,11 +11,11 @@
-
-
+
+
-
-
+
+
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
+Privoxy">
]>
- Copyright &my-copy; 2001, 2002 by
- Privoxy Developers
+ Copyright &my-copy; 2001 - 2007 by
+ Privoxy Developers
-$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 1.124 2002/05/29 02:01:02 hal9 Exp $
+$Id: user-manual.sgml,v 2.31 2007/06/02 14:01:37 fabiankeil Exp $
@@ -97,9 +87,9 @@ Hal.
]]>
- The User Manual gives users information on how to
+ The Privoxy User Manual gives users information on how to
install, configure and use Privoxy.
+ url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy.
@@ -107,9 +97,9 @@ Hal.
- You can find the latest version of the User Manual at Privoxy User Manual at http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/.
- Please see the Contact section on how to
+ Please see the Contact section on how to
contact the developers.
@@ -127,10 +117,9 @@ Hal.
Privoxy, v.&p-version;soon ;-)]]>.
+ configuration files. Development of a new version is currently nearing
+ completion, and includes significant changes and enhancements over
+ earlier versions. ]]>.
@@ -146,10 +135,12 @@ Hal.
Features
- In addition to Internet Junkbuster's traditional
- features of ad and banner blocking and cookie management,
- Privoxy provides new features:
+ In addition to the core
+ features of ad blocking and
+ cookie management,
+ Privoxy provides many supplemental
+ features,
+ that give the end-user more control, more privacy and more freedom:
&newfeatures;
@@ -173,13 +164,11 @@ Hal.
- Note: If you have a previous Junkbuster or
- Privoxy installation on your system, you
- 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
- be sure to backup your old configuration if it is valuable to
- you. See the note to
- upgraders section below.
+ Note:
+ On some platforms, the installer may remove previously installed versions, if
+ found. (See below for your platform). In any case be sure to backup
+ your old configuration if it is valuable to you. See the note to upgraders section below.
@@ -188,8 +177,10 @@ Hal.
How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
+
+
-Red Hat, SuSE and Conectiva RPMs
+Red Hat and Fedora RPMs
RPMs can be installed with rpm -Uvh privoxy-&p-version;-1.rpm,
@@ -201,8 +192,7 @@ How to install the binary packages depends on your operating system:
Note that on Red Hat, Privoxy will
not be automatically started on system boot. You will
need to enable that using chkconfig,
- ntsysv, or similar methods. Note that SuSE will
-automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+ ntsysv, or similar methods.
@@ -215,17 +205,16 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
Also note that if you have a Junkbuster RPM installed
on your system, you need to remove it first, because the packages conflict.
Otherwise, RPM will try to remove Junkbuster
- automatically, before installing Privoxy.
+ automatically if found, before installing Privoxy.
Debian
- DEBs can be installed with dpkg -i
- privoxy_&p-version;-1.deb, and will use
- /etc/privoxy for the location of configuration
- files.
+ DEBs can be installed with apt-get install privoxy,
+ and will use /etc/privoxy for the location of
+ configuration files.
@@ -235,13 +224,45 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
Just double-click the installer, which will guide you through
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.
+ in the same directory as you installed Privoxy in.
+
+
+ Version 3.0.4 introduced full Windows service
+ functionality. On Windows only, the Privoxy
+ program has two new command line arguments to install and uninstall
+ Privoxy as a service.
+
+
+
+ Arguments:
+
+
+ --install[:service_name]
+
+
+ --uninstall[:service_name]
+
+
+
+
+
+ After invoking Privoxy with
+ --install, you will need to bring up the
+ Windows service console to assign the user you
+ want Privoxy to run under, and whether or not you
+ want it to run whenever the system starts. You can start the
+ Windows services console with the following
+ command: services.msc. If you do not take the manual step
+ of modifying Privoxy's service settings, it will
+ not start. Note too that you will need to give Privoxy a user account that
+ actually exists, or it will not be permitted to
+ write to its log and configuration files.
+
-Solaris, NetBSD, FreeBSD, HP-UX
+Solaris, NetBSD, HP-UX
Create a new directory, cd to it, then unzip and
@@ -277,17 +298,32 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-Max OSX
-
- Unzip the downloaded package (you can either double-click on the file
- in the finder, or on the desktop if you downloaded it there). Then,
- double-click on the package installer icon and follow the installation
- process.
- Privoxy will be installed in the subdirectory
- /Applications/Privoxy.app.
- Privoxy will set itself up to start
- automatically on system bring-up via
- /System/Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.
+Mac OSX
+
+ Unzip the downloaded file (you can either double-click on the file
+ from the finder, or from the desktop if you downloaded it there).
+ Then, double-click on the package installer icon named
+ Privoxy.pkg
+ and follow the installation process.
+ Privoxy will be installed in the folder
+ /Library/Privoxy.
+ It will start automatically whenever you start up. To prevent it from
+ starting automatically, remove or rename the folder
+ /Library/StartupItems/Privoxy.
+
+
+ To start Privoxy by hand, double-click on
+ StartPrivoxy.command in the
+ /Library/Privoxy folder.
+ Or, type this command in the Terminal:
+
+
+
+ /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
+
+
+
+ You will be prompted for the administrator password.
@@ -300,6 +336,47 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
remove this directory.
+
+
+FreeBSD
+
+
+ Privoxy is part of FreeBSD's Ports Collection, you can build and install
+ it with cd /usr/ports/www/privoxy; make install clean.
+
+
+ If you don't use the ports, you can fetch and install
+ the package with pkg_add -r privoxy.
+
+
+ The port skeleton and the package can also be downloaded from the
+ File Release
+ Page, but if you're interested in stable releases only you don't
+ gain anything by using them.
+
+
+
+
+Gentoo
+
+ Gentoo source packages (Ebuilds) for Privoxy are
+ contained in the Gentoo Portage Tree (they are not on the download page,
+ but there is a Gentoo section, where you can see when a new
+ Privoxy Version is added to the Portage Tree).
+
+
+ Before installing Privoxy under Gentoo just do
+ first emerge rsync to get the latest changes from the
+ Portage tree. With emerge privoxy you install the latest
+ version.
+
+
+ Configuration files are in /etc/privoxy, the
+ documentation is in /usr/share/doc/privoxy-&p-version;
+ and the Log directory is in /var/log/privoxy.
+
+
+
@@ -307,7 +384,8 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
The most convenient way to obtain the Privoxy sources
- is to download the source tarball from our project
+ is to download the source tarball from our
+ project download
page.
@@ -315,9 +393,13 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
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 the
- CVS repository or simply download the nightly CVS
+ CVS repository.
+
@@ -325,82 +407,315 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
+Keeping your Installation Up-to-Date
+
+ As user feedback comes in and development continues, we will make updated versions
+ of both the main actions file (as a separate
+ package) and the software itself (including the actions file) available for
+ download.
+
+
+
+ If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
+ Privoxy or the actions file, subscribe
+ to our announce mailing list, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
+
+
+
+ In order not to lose your personal changes and adjustments when updating
+ to the latest default.action file we strongly
+ recommend that you use user.action and
+ user.filter for your local
+ customizations of Privoxy. See the Chapter on actions files for details.
+
+
+
+
-
-Note to Upgraders
-
- There are very significant changes from earlier
- Junkbuster versions to the current
- Privoxy. The number, names, syntax, and
- purposes of configuration files have substantially changed.
- Junkbuster 2.0.x configuration
- files will not migrate, Junkbuster 2.9.x
- and Privoxy configurations will need to be
- ported. The functionalities of the old blockfile,
- cookiefile and imagelist
- are now combined into the actions
- files.
- default.action, is the main actions file. Local
- exceptions should best be put into user.action.
-
+
+What's New in this Release
- A filter file (typically
- default.filter) is new as of Privoxy
- 2.9.x, and provides some of the new sophistication (explained
- below). config is much the same as before.
+ There are many improvements and new features since Privoxy 3.0.6, the last stable release:
+
- If upgrading from a 2.0.x version, you will have to use the new config
- files, and possibly adapt any personal rules from your older files.
- When porting personal rules over from the old blockfile
- to the new actions files, please note that even the pattern syntax has
- changed. If upgrading from 2.9.x development versions, it is still
- recommended to use the new configuration files.
+
+
+
+ Header filtering can be done with dedicated header filters now. As a result
+ the actions filter-client-headers and filter-server-headers
+ that were introduced with Privoxy 3.0.5 to apply
+ the content filters to the headers as, well have been removed again.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Note to Upgraders
+
- A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading:
+ A quick list of things to be aware of before upgrading from earlier
+ versions of Privoxy:
-
- The default listening port is now 8118 due to a conflict with another
- service (NAS).
+
+ Some installers may remove earlier versions completely, including
+ configuration files. Save any important configuration files!
-
+
- Some installers may remove earlier versions completely. Save any
- important configuration files!
+ On the other hand, other installers may not overwrite any existing configuration
+ files, thinking you will want to do that. You may want to manually check
+ your saved files against the newer versions to see if the improvements have
+ merit, or whether there are new options that you may want to consider.
+ There are a number of new features, but most won't be available unless
+ these features are incorporated into your configuration somehow.
-
- Privoxy is controllable with a web browser
- at the special URL: http://config.privoxy.org/
- (Shortcut: http://p.p/). Many
- aspects of configuration can be done here, including temporarily disabling
- Privoxy.
-
-
+
+ See the full documentation on
+ fast-redirects
+ which has changed syntax, and will require adjustments to local configs,
+ such as user.action. You must reference the new
+ syntax:
+
+
+
+ { +fast-redirects{check-decoded-url} }
+ .example.com
+ mybank.com
+ .google.
+
+
+
+
+
+ The jarfile,
+ cookie logger, is off by default now.
+
+
+
+
+ What constitutes a default configuration has changed,
+ and you may want to review which actions are on by
+ default. This is primarily a matter of emphasis, but some features
+ you may have been used to, may now be off by default.
+ There are also a number of new actions and filters you may want to
+ consider, most of which are not fully incorporated into the default
+ settings as yet (see above).
+
+
+
+
+
+ The default actions setting is now Cautious. Previous
+ releases had a default setting of Medium. Experienced
+ users may want to adjust this, as it is fairly conservative by &my-app;
+ standards and past practices. See
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default. New users
+ should try the default settings for a while before turning up the volume.
+
+
+
+
+
+ The default setting has filtering turned off, which
+ subsequently means that compression is on. Remember
+ that filtering does not work on compressed pages, so if you use, or want to
+ use, filtering, you will need to force compression off. Example:
+
+
+
+ { +filter{google} +prevent-compression }
+ .google.
+
+
+ Or if you use a number of filters, or filter many sites, you may just want
+ to turn off compression for all sites in
+ default.action (or
+ user.action).
+
+
+
+
+
- The primary configuration files for cookie management, ad and banner
- blocking, and many other aspects of Privoxy
- configuration are the actions
- files. It is strongly recommended to become familiar with the new
- actions concept below, before modifying these files. Locally defined rules
- should go into user.action.
+ Also, session-cookies-only is
+ off by default now. If you've liked this feature in the past, you may want
+ to turn it back on in user.action now.
-
+
+
+
@@ -410,22 +725,17 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
+
-Quickstart to Using Privoxy
+Quickstart to Using Privoxy
-
-
- If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
- files. See the Note to Upgraders Section.
-
-
-
Install Privoxy. See the
Set your browser to use Privoxy as HTTP and
- HTTPS proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
+ HTTPS (SSL) proxy
+ by setting the proxy configuration for address of
127.0.0.1 and port 8118.
- (Junkbuster and earlier versions of
- Privoxy used port 8000.) See the section Starting Privoxy below
- for more details on this.
+ DO NOT activate proxying for FTP or
+ any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)! It won't work!
Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
+ If using Privoxy to manage
+ cookies,
+ you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
@@ -480,39 +792,47 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
See the Configuration section for more
configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
- next section for a quick
introduction to how Privoxy blocks ads and
- banners.]]>
-
+ banners.
+
- If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+ If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
- Privoxy's behaviour, take a look at the Privoxy's behavior, take a look at the actions files. As a quick start, you might
find the richly commented examples
helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the web-based user interface. The
- Appendix Anatomy of an
- Action has hints how to debug actions that
+ Appendix Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
+ Action has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
misbehave.
+
+
+ For easy access to &my-app;'s most important controls, drag the provided
+ Bookmarklets into your browser's
+ personal toolbar.
+
+
+
Please see the section Contacting the
- Developers on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
+ Developers on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
help.
- Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy!
+ Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
@@ -541,7 +861,8 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
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
+ things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
+ may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
problem sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
@@ -554,7 +875,7 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
Secondly, a brief explanation of Privoxy's actions. Actions in this context, are
the directives we use to tell Privoxy to perform
- some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
+ some task relating to WWW transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
Privoxy to take some action. Each
action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
actions in Privoxy's
@@ -579,13 +900,17 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
- such embedded URLs.
+ such embedded URLs. &my-app; can deal with each URL individually, so, for
+ instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
+ server are blocked.
- The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: block, handle-as-image, and
+ linkend="handle-as-image">handle-as-image,
+ handle-as-empty-document,and
set-image-blocker:
@@ -594,12 +919,14 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
- block - 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 Privoxy's
- own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
+ block - this is perhaps
+ the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
+ 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
+ Privoxy's own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
+ let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
@@ -619,6 +946,15 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
+
+ handle-as-empty-document -
+ sends an empty document instead of Privoxy's
+ normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
+ HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
+
+
+
Actions Files in Use
-
+ [ Screenshot of Actions Files in Use ]
@@ -759,6 +1095,13 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
to now go to the Actions Files Tutorial.
The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.
+
+ There are also various
+ filters that can be used for ad blocking
+ (filters are a special subset of actions). These
+ fall into the advanced usage category, and are explained in
+ depth in later sections.
+
@@ -769,21 +1112,28 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-Starting Privoxy
+Starting Privoxy
Before launching Privoxy for the first time, you
will want to configure your browser(s) to use
- Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS proxy. The default is
+ Privoxy as a HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)
+ 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!
+ used port 8000). This is the one configuration step that must be done
+!
+
+
+ Please note that Privoxy can only proxy HTTP and
+ HTTPS traffic. It will not work with FTP or other protocols.
-
+
+
+ With Firefox, this is typically set under:
+
+
+
+ Tools -> Options -> General -> Connection Settings -> Manual Proxy Configuration
+
+
+
+
+ Or optionally on some platforms:
+
+
+
+ Edit -> Preferences -> General -> Connection Settings -> Manual Proxy Configuration
+
+
+
+
With Netscape (and
Mozilla), this can be set under:
-
+
+
- Edit
- |_
- Preferences
- |_
- Advanced
- |_
- Proxies
- |_
- HTTP Proxy
+ Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Proxies -> HTTP Proxy
+
- For Internet Explorer:
+ For Internet Explorer v.5-6:
-
-
- Tools
- |_
- Internet Properties
- |_
- Connections
- |_
- LAN Settings
+ Tools -> Internet Options -> Connections -> LAN Settings
Then, check Use Proxy and fill in the appropriate info
(Address: 127.0.0.1, Port: 8118). Include HTTPS (SSL), if you want HTTPS
- proxy support too.
+ proxy support too (sometimes labeled Secure). Make sure any
+ checkboxes like Use the same proxy server for all protocols is
+ UNCHECKED. You want only HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)!
+
+
+ Proxy Configuration Showing
+ Internet Explorer HTTP and HTTPS (Secure) Settings
+
+
+
+
+
+ [ Screenshot of IE Proxy Configuration ]
+
+
+
+
+
+
After doing this, flush your browser's disk and memory caches to force a
- re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. You
- are now ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
+ re-reading of all pages and to get rid of any ads that may be cached. Remove
+ any cookies,
+ if you want Privoxy to manage that. You are now
+ ready to start enjoying the benefits of using
Privoxy!
- Privoxy is typically started by specifying the
+ Privoxy itself is typically started by specifying the
main configuration file to be used on the command line. If no configuration
file is specified on the command line, Privoxy
will look for a file named config in the current
@@ -849,23 +1225,31 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
-Red Hat and Conectiva
+Red Hat and Fedora
- We use a script. Note that Red Hat does not start Privoxy upon booting per
- default. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config as
- its main configuration file.
+ A default Red Hat installation may not start &my-app; upon boot. It will use
+ the file /etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration
+ file.
# /etc/rc.d/init.d/privoxy start
+
+ Or ...
+
+
+
+ # service privoxy start
+
+Debian
- We use a script. Note that Debian starts Privoxy upon booting per
+ We use a script. Note that Debian typically starts &my-app; upon booting per
default. It will use the file
/etc/privoxy/config as its main configuration
file.
@@ -877,6 +1261,9 @@ automatically start Privoxy in the boot process.
+
Windows
-Click on the Privoxy Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
+Click on the &my-app; Icon to start Privoxy. If no configuration file is
specified on the command line, Privoxy will look
for a file named config.txt. Note that Windows will
- automatically start Privoxy upon booting you PC.
+ automatically start &my-app; when the system starts if you chose that option
+ when installing.
+
+
+ Privoxy can run with full Windows service functionality.
+ On Windows only, the &my-app; program has two new command line arguments
+ to install and uninstall &my-app; as a service. See the
+ Windows Installation
+ instructions for details.
@@ -924,16 +1319,21 @@ Example Unix startup command:
-MAX OSX
+Mac OSX
During installation, Privoxy is configured to
- start automatically when the system restarts. You can start it manually
- through the Terminal with these commands:
+ start automatically when the system restarts. To start &my-app; manually,
+ double-click on the StartPrivoxy.command icon in the
+ /Library/Privoxy folder. Or, type this command
+ in the Terminal:
- cd /Applications/Privoxy.app
- ./privoxy
+ /Library/Privoxy/StartPrivoxy.command
+
+
+
+ You will be prompted for the administrator password.
@@ -951,11 +1351,34 @@ Example Unix startup command:
+
+Gentoo
+
+ A script is again used. It will use the file /etc/privoxy/config
+ as its main configuration file.
+
+
+
+ /etc/init.d/privoxy start
+
+
+
+ Note that Privoxy is not automatically started at
+ boot time by default. You can change this with the rc-update
+ command.
+
+
+
+ rc-update add privoxy default
+
+
+
+
@@ -1109,7 +1532,20 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
USER, and if included the GID of GROUP. Exit if the
privileges are not sufficient to do so. Unix only.
-
+
+
+
+ --chroot
+
+
+
+ Before changing to the user ID given in the --user option,
+ chroot to that user's home directory, i.e. make the kernel pretend to the &my-app;
+ process that the directory tree starts there. If set up carefully, this can limit
+ the impact of possible vulnerabilities in &my-app; to the files contained in that hierarchy.
+ Unix only.
+
+ configfile
@@ -1127,6 +1563,14 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
+
+ On MS Windows only there are two additional
+ command-line options to allow Privoxy to install and
+ run as a service. See the
+Window Installation section
+for details.
+
+
@@ -1135,7 +1579,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
-Privoxy Configuration
+Privoxy Configuration
All Privoxy configuration is stored
in text files. These files can be edited with a text editor.
@@ -1147,7 +1591,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
-Controlling Privoxy with Your Web Browser
+Controlling Privoxy with Your Web BrowserPrivoxy's user interface can be reached through the special
URL http://config.privoxy.org/
@@ -1178,7 +1622,11 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
▪ Toggle Privoxy on or off
-
+
+ ▪ Documentation
+
+
@@ -1257,7 +1705,7 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
default.action (which you will most probably want
to define sooner or later) are probably best applied in
user.action, where you can preserve them across
- upgrades. standard.action is for
+ upgrades. standard.action is only for
Privoxy's internal use.
@@ -1272,17 +1720,32 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
- default.filter (the filter
+ Filter files (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.
+ whether to apply them or not is up to the actions files.
+ default.filter includes various filters made
+ available for use by the developers. Some are much more intrusive than
+ others, and all should be used with caution. You may define additional
+ filter files in config as you can with
+ actions files. We suggest user.filter for any
+ locally defined filters or customizations.
+
+ The syntax of all configuration files has remained the same throughout the
+ 3.x series. There have been enhancements, but no changes that would preclude
+ the use of any configuration file from one version to the next. (There is
+ one exception: +fast-redirects which
+ has enhanced syntax and will require updating any local configs from earlier
+ versions.)
+
+
All files use the # character to denote a
comment (the rest of the line will be ignored) and understand line continuation
@@ -1290,11 +1753,11 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
in a line. If the # is preceded by a backslash, it looses
its special function. Placing a # in front of an otherwise
valid configuration line to prevent it from being interpreted is called "commenting
- out" that line.
+ out" that line. Blank lines are ignored.
- The actions files and default.filter
+ The actions files and filter files
can use Perl style regular expressions for
maximum flexibility.
@@ -1341,12 +1804,20 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
Actions Files
- The actions files are used to define what actions
- Privoxy takes for which URLs, and thus determine
+ The actions files are used to define what actions
+ Privoxy takes for which URLs, and thus determines
how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
- transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
- are three such files included with Privoxy (as of
- version 2.9.15), with differing purposes:
+ transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof).
+ There are a number of such actions, with a wide range of functionality.
+ Each action does something a little different.
+ These actions give us a veritable arsenal of tools with which to exert
+ our control, preferences and independence. Actions can be combined so that
+ their effects are aggregated when applied against a given set of URLs.
+
+
+ There
+ are three action files included with Privoxy with
+ differing purposes:
@@ -1357,9 +1828,13 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
provide a base level of functionality for
Privoxy's 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.
+ a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well as-is for most users.
+ This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and making available to users.
+ The user's preferences as set in standard.action,
+ e.g. either Cautious (the default),
+ Medium, or Advanced (see
+ below).
@@ -1372,23 +1847,188 @@ must find a better place for this paragraph
- standard.action - is used by the web based editor,
+ standard.action - is used only by the web based editor
+ at
+ http://config.privoxy.org/edit-actions-list?f=default,
to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
- in default.action. These have increasing levels of
- aggressiveness and have no influence on your browsing unless
- you select them explicitly in the editor. It is not recommend
- to edit this file.
+ in default.action.
+
+
+ EditSet to CautiousSet to MediumSet to Advanced
+
+
+ These have increasing levels of aggressiveness and have no
+ influence on your browsing unless you select them explicitly in the
+ editor. A default installation should be pre-set to
+ Cautious (versions prior to 3.0.5 were set to
+ Medium). New users should try this for a while before
+ adjusting the settings to more aggressive levels. The more aggressive
+ the settings, then the more likelihood there is of problems such as sites
+ not working as they should.
+
+
+ The Edit button allows you to turn each
+ action on/off individually for fine-tuning. The Cautious
+ button changes the actions list to low/safe settings which will activate
+ ad blocking and a minimal set of &my-app;'s features, and subsequently
+ there will be less of a chance for accidental problems. The
+ Medium button sets the list to a medium level of
+ other features and a low level set of privacy features. The
+ Advanced button sets the list to a high level of
+ ad blocking and medium level of privacy. See the chart below. The latter
+ three buttons over-ride any changes via with the
+ Edit button. More fine-tuning can be done in the
+ lower sections of this internal page.
+
+
+ It is not recommend to edit the standard.action file
+ itself.
+
+ The default profiles, and their associated actions, as pre-defined in
+ standard.action are:
+
+
+
Default Configurations
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Feature
+ Cautious
+ Medium
+ Advanced
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+ Ad-blocking Aggressiveness
+ medium
+ high
+ high
+
+
+
+ Ad-filtering by size
+ no
+ yes
+ yes
+
+
+
+ Ad-filtering by link
+ no
+ no
+ yes
+
+
+ Pop-up killing
+ blocks only
+ blocks only
+ blocks only
+
+
+
+ Privacy Features
+ low
+ medium
+ medium/high
+
+
+
+ Cookie handling
+ none
+ session-only
+ kill
+
+
+
+ Referer forging
+ no
+ yes
+ yes
+
+
+
+
+ GIF de-animation
+ no
+ yes
+ yes
+
+
+
+
+ Fast redirects
+ no
+ no
+ yes
+
+
+
+ HTML taming
+ no
+ no
+ yes
+
+
+
+ JavaScript taming
+ no
+ no
+ yes
+
+
+
+ Web-bug killing
+ no
+ yes
+ yes
+
+
+
+ Image tag reordering
+ no
+ no
+ yes
+
+
+
+
+