From 54c059d896c0c05f4710c6db0d16bd5d185c5a8e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: hal9 Date: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 03:09:37 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Sync. --- doc/text/faq.txt | 182 ++++++++++++++++++++------------------- doc/text/user-manual.txt | 66 ++++++++------ 2 files changed, 134 insertions(+), 114 deletions(-) diff --git a/doc/text/faq.txt b/doc/text/faq.txt index b267ce61..a65643a0 100644 --- a/doc/text/faq.txt +++ b/doc/text/faq.txt @@ -57,19 +57,19 @@ Table of Contents 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. 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? + 3.6. Why can I change the configuration with a browser? Does that not raise security issues? - 3.6. What is "default.filter"? - 3.7. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN? - 3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see + 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. - 3.9. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern? - 3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how + 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? - 3.11. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright - red square. - 3.12. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT? - 3.13. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid? + 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 @@ -101,7 +101,6 @@ Table of Contents 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? - 5.4. What time is it? 7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests @@ -122,12 +121,12 @@ Table of Contents 1.1. What is this new version of Privoxy? -The original Internet Junkbuster™ (tm) is a copyrighted product of -Junkbusters Corporation. Development of this effort stopped some time ago as of -version 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. The result of -this effort is Privoxy. +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 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. The result of this +effort is Privoxy. Privoxy has evolved from the Junkbuster 2.0.2 code base, and has advanced significantly at this point. @@ -411,7 +410,7 @@ minor changes along the way. "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 @@ -419,10 +418,6 @@ possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example, if we are 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. -Privoxy comes with several default actions files, with varying degrees of -filtering and blocking, as starting points for your own configuration (see -below). - ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3.3. The "actions" concept confuses me. Please list some of these "actions". @@ -434,15 +429,28 @@ These are all explained in the user-manual. Please refer to that. 3.4. How are actions files configured? What is the easiest way to do this? The easiest way to do this, is to access Privoxy with your web browser at http: -//p.p/, 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. +//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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.5. 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 @@ -463,13 +471,13 @@ Note that normally only local users can connect to Privoxy, so this is not ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.6. What is "default.filter"? +3.7. What is "default.filter"? -The "default.filter" file is 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. +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. 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 @@ -477,11 +485,11 @@ 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 "Actions List Editor" from your browser. +the "View & change the current configuration" from your browser. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.7. How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my LAN? +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 @@ -496,25 +504,25 @@ to use this address and port number. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.8. Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see +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 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 "+image" and "+block" actions. +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://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 "+image-blocker" -section for the same reason, but there are some limits and risks to this (see -below). +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). ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.9. Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern? +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 Privoxy so that they can see if their favorite pages are @@ -523,23 +531,23 @@ important. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.10. I see large red banners on some pages that say "Blocked". Why and how do +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. ad banners). 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. +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 aribitray +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. So this -situation can be a little trickier to deal with, and Privoxy will use the -"Blocked" page. +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 @@ -556,22 +564,25 @@ 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 "+image-blocker" action handle the ad that -is embedded in the frame's HTML page. +frame, and diable this. Then let the "+set-image-blocker" action handle the ad +that is embedded in the frame's HTML page. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.11. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. All I see is a bright red -square. +3.12. I cannot see all of the "Blocked" page banner. Help. -There is not enough space to fit the entire page. Try right clicking on the -visible, red 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. +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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.12. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT? +3.13. Can Privoxy run as a service on Win2K/NT? 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 @@ -583,7 +594,7 @@ details, and a sample configuration. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -3.13. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid? +3.14. How can I make Privoxy work with other proxies like Squid? This can be done. See the user manual, which describes how to do this. @@ -608,14 +619,11 @@ the entire page is buffered before displaying. See below. 4.2. I noticed considerable delays in page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. What's wrong? -Using the default filtering configuration, I noticed considerable delays in -page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. Loading pages with large contents -seemed to take forever, then suddenly delivering all the content at once. - -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, Privoxy needs to download the entire page first, do its @@ -871,33 +879,27 @@ show-url-info and see if any actions match your new rule. 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. +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://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 "Edit the actions list". 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 a little more detail in the user-manual -appendix. +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. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -5.4. What time is it? - -Time for you to go! - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - 7. Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests We value your feedback. However, to provide you with the best support, please diff --git a/doc/text/user-manual.txt b/doc/text/user-manual.txt index f4fbceb6..d07c1c71 100644 --- a/doc/text/user-manual.txt +++ b/doc/text/user-manual.txt @@ -519,11 +519,11 @@ config.privoxy.org/ (shortcut: http://p.p/), which is a built-in page and works without Internet access. You will see the following section: Privoxy Menu - ?? View & change the current configuration - ?? View the source code version numbers - ?? View the request headers. - ?? Look up which actions apply to a URL and why - ?? Toggle Privoxy on or off + ? View & change the current configuration + ? View the source code version numbers + ? View the request headers. + ? Look up which actions apply to a URL and why + ? Toggle Privoxy on or off This should be self-explanatory. Note the first item leads to an editor for the @@ -1556,24 +1556,40 @@ console. 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, with slightly -different purposes. default.action sets the default policies. standard.action -is used by Privoxy and the web based editor to set pre-defined values (and -normally should not be edited). Local exceptions are best done in user.action. -The content of these can all be viewed and edited from http:// -config.privoxy.org/show-status. - -Anything you want can be blocked, including ads, banners, or just some -obnoxious URL that you would rather not see is done here. Cookies can be -accepted or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. -not written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking -fooled, and much more. See below for a complete list of available actions. +thereof). There are three such files included with Privoxy (as of version +2.9.15), with differing purposes: + + * standard.action - is used by the web based editor, to set various + pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section in + default.action. These have increasing levels of aggressiveness. It is not + recommend to edit this file. + + * default.action - is the primary action file 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. + + * user.action - is intended to be for local site preferences and exceptions. + As an example, if your ISP or your bank has specific requirements, and need + special handling, this kind of thing should go here. This file will not be + upgraded. + +The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration +file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these can +all be viewed and edited from http://config.privoxy.org/show-status. An actions file typically has sections. Near the top, "aliases" are optionally defined (discussed below), then the default set of rules which will apply universally to all sites and pages. And then below that, exceptions to the defined universal policies. +Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or just +some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted or +rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not written +to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking fooled, and +much more. See below for a complete list of actions. + ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9.1. Finding the Right Mix @@ -2707,6 +2723,7 @@ Now a few examples of some things that one might do with a user.action file. { +block } www.my-isp-example.com/logo[0-9].gif + # Say the site where you do your homebanking needs to open # popup windows, but you have chosen to kill popups by # default. This will allow it for your-example-bank.com: @@ -2714,6 +2731,7 @@ Now a few examples of some things that one might do with a user.action file. { -filter{popups} -kill-popups } .my-example-bank.com + # This site is delicate, and requires kid-glove # treatment. { fragile } @@ -3371,7 +3389,7 @@ Then, for our user.action file, we again have no hits. And finally we pull it all together in the bottom section and summarize how Privoxy is applying all its "actions" to "google.com": - Final results: + Final results: -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs{last} -downgrade-http-version -fast-redirects -filter{popups} -filter{fun} -filter{shockwave-flash} -filter{crude-parental} +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{content-cookies} @@ -3386,7 +3404,7 @@ and "session-cookies-only". Now another example, "ad.doubleclick.net": - { +block +handle-as-image } + { +block +handle-as-image } .ad.doubleclick.net { +block +handle-as-image } @@ -3412,7 +3430,7 @@ and make it more readable. One last example. Let's try "http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/". This one is giving us problems. We are getting a blank page. Hmmm... - Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/: + Matches for http://www.rhapsodyk.net/adsl/HOWTO/: { -add-header -block +deanimate-gifs -downgrade-http-version +fast-redirects +filter{html-annoyances} +filter{js-annoyances} +filter{kill-popups} @@ -3431,7 +3449,7 @@ see why we get the blank page. We could now add a new action below this that explicitly does not block ("{-block}") paths with "adsl". There are various ways to handle such exceptions. Example: - { -block } + { -block } /adsl Now the page displays ;-) Be sure to flush your browser's caches when making @@ -3440,7 +3458,7 @@ such changes. Or, try using Shift+Reload. But now what about a situation where we get no explicit matches like we did with: - { +block +handle-as-image } + { +block +handle-as-image } /ads That actually was very telling and pointed us quickly to where the problem was. @@ -3450,7 +3468,7 @@ and maybe a little trial and error to isolate the offending rule. One likely cause would be one of the "{+filter}" actions. Try adding the URL for the site to one of aliases that turn off "+filter": - {shop} + {shop} .quietpc.com .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com .jungle.com @@ -3460,7 +3478,7 @@ to one of aliases that turn off "+filter": "{shop}" is an "alias" that expands to "{ -filter -session-cookies-only }". Or you could do your own exception to negate filtering: - {-filter} + {-filter} .forbes.com This would probably be most appropriately put in user.action, for local site -- 2.39.2