For a comprehensive discussion of the actions concept, please refer
to the Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
@@ -212,20 +215,26 @@ TARGET="_top"
>View &
change the current configuration3.3. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
-way to do this?
Three actions files are being included by the developers, to be used for @@ -282,15 +291,15 @@ CLASS="SECT2" CLASS="SECT2" >3.5. Where can I get updated Actions Files?3.5. Where can I get updated Actions Files?
Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updates of - Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updates of + default.action will be - made available from time to time on the files sectionsubscribe - to our announce mailing list, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained the same - throughout the 3.x series. Although each release contains updated, - The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained roughly the + same throughout the 3.x series, but backwards compatibility is not guaranteed. + Also each release contains updated, "improved" versions and it is recommended to use the newer - configuration files. - - If upgrading from version prior to 3.0.4 the syntax for fast-redirects - has changed. See the What's New section - of the User Manual for details. -
But all configuration files have substantially - changed from the Junkbuster days, and early - versions of Privoxy 2.x. The old files, like - blocklist will not work at all. -
Refer to the What's New - page for information on configuration changes that may occur from one release to another. +> versions and it is + therefore strongly recommended to install the newer configuration files + and merge back your modifications.
3.8. How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?3.8. How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work? The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of these services.
It may, however, make all 3.9. What's the difference between the
and "Advanced" defaults? defaults? Configuring 3.10. Why can I change the configuration
-with a browser? Does that not raise security issues? It may seem strange that regular users can edit the config files with their
browsers, although the whole "privoxy" If you run Privoxy for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in
- a LAN), you will probably want to turn the web-based editor and remote toggle
- features off by setting "off" by setting ".
Note that in the default configuration, only local users (i.e. those on
- "localhost") can connect to As of Privoxy,
- so this is not (normally) a security problem.
+> 3.0.7 these options are disabled by default.
There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common annoyances. The filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the filter action in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically - disabled for inappropriate MIME types.
in one of the actions files. Content filtering is automatically + disabled for inappropriate MIME types, but if you now better than Privoxy + what should or should not be filtered you can filter any content you like.Filters should + not be confused with blocks, which + is a completely different action, and is more typically used to block ads and + unwanted sites.
If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at the provided web-based actions file editor. + Note that the custom actions editor must be explicitly enabled in + the main config file (see enable-edit-actions).
If you intend to develop your own filters, you might want to have a look at + Privoxy-Filter-Test.
By default, The replacement for blocked images can be controlled with the Remember that This happens when the banners are not embedded in the HTML code of the
page itself, but in separate HTML (sub)documents that are loaded into (i)frames
@@ -1000,9 +1006,9 @@ CLASS="SECT2"
CLASS="SECT2"
>3.16. Can Privoxy run as a service
-on Win2K/NT/XP? Yes. Version 3.0.5 introduces full srvany.exe.
See the discussion at http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118,
@@ -1038,9 +1044,9 @@ CLASS="SECT2"
CLASS="SECT2"
>3.17. How can I make Privoxy work with other
-proxies like Squid or Tor? This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
3.18. Can I just set Privoxy to use port 80
-and thus avoid individual browser configuration? No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
of proxies known as "transparent""intercepting"3.13. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.
3.13. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.3.14. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?
3.14. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?3.15. I see some images being replaced by a text
-instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?
3.15. I see some images being replaced with text
+instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?
No, The whole idea of Privoxy is to modify client requests + and server responses in all sorts of ways and therefore + it's not a transparent proxy as described in + RFC 2616.
However, some people say "transparent proxy" when they + mean "intercepting proxy". If you are one of them, + please read the next entry.
Privoxy currently does not have this ability, - though it may be added in a future release. Transparent proxies require - special handling of the request headers beyond what - can't intercept traffic itself, + but it can handle requests that where intercepted and redirected + with a packet filter (like Privoxy is now capable of.
PF or + iptables), as long as the Host + header is present. +As the Host header is required by HTTP/1.1 and as most + web sites rely on it anyway, this limitation shouldn't be a problem.
Chaining Please refer to your packet filter's documentation to learn how to + intercept and redirect traffic into Privoxy behind another proxy that has - this ability should work though. - See the forwarding chapter - in the User Manual. As - a transparent proxy to be used for chaining we suggest Transproxy - (. + Afterward you just have to configure Privoxy to + http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/).
accept + intercepted requests. 3.21. How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?3.22. How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail? The short answer is, you can't. For a good discussion of some of the issues involved (including privacy and
security issues), see
http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118. 3.23. Are all cookies bad? Why?3.24. Are all cookies bad? Why? No, in fact there are many beneficial uses of
3.24. How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?3.25. How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites? There are several actions that relate to cookies. The default behavior is to
allow only "session cookies", which means the cookies only last
for the current browser session. This eliminates most kinds of abuse related
- to cookies. But there may be cases where we want cookies to last. To disable all cookie actions, so that cookies are allowed unrestricted,
both in and out, for Place the above in user.action. Note some of these may
+>. Note that some of these may
be off by default anyway, so this might be redundant, but there is no harm
being explicit in what you want to happen. 3.25. Can I have separate configurations for different users?3.26. Can I have separate configurations for different users? Each instance of 3.26. Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of
+>3.27. Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of
"good" sites? sites? Sure. There are a couple of things you can do for simple white-listing.
Here's one real easy one: A more interesting approach is Another approach is Privoxy's
@@ -1431,9 +1480,9 @@ CLASS="QUOTE"
>. See the User Manual TrustTrust documentation
- documentation. These are fairly simple approaches and are not completely foolproof. There
are various other configuration options that should be disabled (described
@@ -1443,7 +1492,7 @@ TARGET="_top"
>the User Manual)
so that users can't modify their own configuration and easily circumvent the
- whitelist.
Ad blocking is achieved through a complex application of various 3.28. How can I have custom template pages, like the
+>3.29. How can I have custom template pages, like the
BLOCKED page? page? templates. Knowing something about HTML syntax
- will of course be helpful. You cannot rename any of these files, or create
- completely new templates, that is not possible. But you can change the page
- content to whatever you like. Be forewarned that these files are subject to
- being overwritten during upgrades, so be sure to save any customizations. Be forewarned that the default templates are subject to being overwritten
+ during upgrades. You can, however, create completely new templates,
+ place them in another directory and specify the alternate path in the main
+ config. For details, have a look at the templdir option.
There is more than one way to do it (although Perl is not involved).
Editing the BLOCKED template page (see above) may dissuade some users, but this method is easily circumvented. Where you need this level of control, you - should build Privoxy from source, and enable various features that are +> from source, and disable various features that are available as compile-time options. You should Privoxy does not allow easy bypassing of blocked sites, or changing the - current configuration via any connected user's web browser. Some of these - features can also be toggled on/off via options in + current configuration via any connected user's web browser.
Finally, all of these features can also be toggled on/off via options in Privoxy's main - main config file. But - compiled-in compliance is a much better method of ensuring that a block is - really a block.
Default builds of Privoxy are typically built with these features - disabled.
file which + means you don't have to recompile anything.