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29 <h1 class="SECT1"><a name="CONTACT" id="CONTACT">11. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature
31 <p>We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> and its
32 configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you with the best support.</p>
34 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="SUFFICIENT-INFORMATION" id="SUFFICIENT-INFORMATION">11.1. Please provide sufficient
36 <p>A lot of support requests don't contain enough information and can't be solved without a lot of back and forth
37 which causes unnecessary delays. Reading this section should help to prevent that.</p>
38 <p>Before contacting us to report a problem, please try to verify that it is a <span class=
39 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> problem, and not a browser or site problem or documented behaviour that just happens
40 to be different than what you expected. If unsure, try <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable"
41 target="_top">toggling off</a> <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, and see if the problem persists.</p>
42 <p>If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the default configuration to see if the problem is
43 configuration related. If you're having problems with a feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on
44 the mailing list if others can reproduce the problem.</p>
45 <p>If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the problem may have been found and fixed in the meantime. We
46 would appreciate if you could take the time to <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/installation.html"
47 target="_top">upgrade to the latest version</a> and verify that the problem still exists.</p>
48 <p>Please be sure to provide the following information when reporting problems or requesting support:</p>
51 <p>The exact <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> version you are using.</p>
54 <p>The operating system and versions you run <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> on, e.g. <span class=
55 "APPLICATION">Windows XP SP2</span>.</p>
58 <p>The name, platform, and version of the <span class="APPLICATION">browser</span> you were using (e.g.
59 <span class="APPLICATION">Internet Explorer v5.5</span> for Mac).</p>
62 <p>The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the problem (e.g. <tt class=
63 "LITERAL">http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123</tt>).</p>
66 <p>Whether your version of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> is one supplied by the <span class=
67 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> developers, or if you got your copy somewhere else.</p>
70 <p>Whether you are using <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> together with another proxy such as
71 <span class="APPLICATION">Tor</span>. If so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms
75 <p>Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
79 <p>Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config or log file excerpts (yes, you
80 should have log file entries for each action taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the
81 <a href="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE" target="_top">logfile directive</a> is being used and the
82 following <a href="../user-manual/config.html#DEBUG" target="_top">debug options</a> are enabled (all of
84 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT">
85 debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through.<br>
87 # See also debug 1024.<br>
89 debug 2 # show each connection status<br>
90 debug 4 # show tagging-related messages<br>
91 debug 8 # show header parsing<br>
92 debug 128 # debug redirects<br>
93 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation<br>
94 debug 512 # Common Log Format<br>
95 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through,<br>
97 # and the reason why.<br>
99 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.<br>
100 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors<br>
101 debug 65536 # Log applying actions</p>
102 <p>If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable</p>
103 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT">
104 debug 64 # debug regular expression filters</p>
105 <p>If you suspect that Privoxy interprets the request or the response incorrectly, please enable</p>
106 <p class="LITERALLAYOUT">
107 debug 32768 # log all data read from the network</p>
108 <p>It's easy for us to ignore log messages that aren't relevant but missing log messages may make it
109 impossible to investigate a problem. If you aren't sure which of the debug directives are relevant, please
110 just enable all of them and let us worry about it.</p>
111 <p>Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please don't submit any logfiles you
112 didn't read first. You can mask sensitive information as long as it's clear that you removed something.</p>
115 <p>You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if you don't, please use a
116 nickname so we can differentiate between your messages and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may
117 respond to your request if they have the same problem or already found a solution. Note that due to spam the
118 trackers may not always allow to post without being logged into SourceForge. If that's the case, you are still
119 free to create a login that isn't directly linked to your name, though.</p>
120 <p>Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as we may request additional
121 information. If you use a SF id, you should automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
122 Please don't bother to add an email address when using the tracker. If you prefer to communicate through email,
123 just use one of the mailing lists directly.</p>
124 <p>The <a href="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT" target="_top">appendix of the
125 Privoxy User Manual</a> also has helpful information on understanding <tt class="LITERAL">actions</tt>, and
126 <tt class="LITERAL">action</tt> debugging.</p>
129 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="CONTACT-SUPPORT" id="CONTACT-SUPPORT">11.2. Get Support</a></h2>
130 <p>All users are welcome to discuss their issues on the <a href=
131 "https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo/privoxy-users" target="_top">users mailing list</a>, where the
132 developers also hang around.</p>
133 <p>Please don't send private support requests to individual Privoxy developers, either use the mailing lists or
134 the support trackers.</p>
135 <p>If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons, please send a real mail and do not
136 bother with SourceForge's messaging system. Answers to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's
137 mail server in which case the developer wasted time writing a response you don't get. From your point of view it
138 will look like your message has been completely ignored, so this is frustrating for all parties involved.</p>
139 <p>Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed addresses have to be accepted
140 manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly
141 mention Privoxy or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.</p>
142 <p>If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up with a proper subject.
143 Additionally you should make it clear that you want to get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the
144 mailing list only, and you won't see them.</p>
147 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="REPORTING" id="REPORTING">11.3. Reporting Problems</a></h2>
148 <p><span class="QUOTE">"Problems"</span> for our purposes, come in two forms:</p>
151 <p>Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't function properly due to one
152 <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> <span class="QUOTE">"action"</span> or another being turned
153 <span class="QUOTE">"on"</span>.</p>
156 <p><span class="QUOTE">"Bugs"</span> in the programming code that makes up <span class=
157 "APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, such as that might cause a crash. Documentation issues, for example spelling
158 errors and unclear descriptions, are bugs, too.</p>
162 <h3 class="SECT3"><a name="CONTACT-ADS" id="CONTACT-ADS">11.3.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration
164 <p>Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were blocked, sites that don't work
165 properly, and other configuration related problem of <tt class="FILENAME">default.action</tt> file, to <a href=
166 "https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/" target=
167 "_top">https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/</a>, the Actions File Tracker.</p>
170 <h3 class="SECT3"><a name="CONTACT-BUGS" id="CONTACT-BUGS">11.3.2. Reporting Bugs</a></h3>
171 <p>Before reporting bugs, please make sure that the bug has <span class="emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">not
172 already been submitted</i></span> and observe the additional hints at the top of the <a href=
173 "https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/bugs/" target="_top">submit form</a>. If already submitted, please feel free
174 to add any info to the original report that might help to solve the issue.</p>
178 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="SECURITY-CONTACT" id="SECURITY-CONTACT">11.4. Reporting security problems</a></h2>
179 <p>If you discovered a security problem or merely suspect that a bug might be a security issue, please mail
180 Fabian Keil <fk@fabiankeil.de> (OpenPGP fingerprint: 4F36 C17F 3816 9136 54A1 E850 6918 2291 8BA2
182 <p>Usually you should get a response within a day, otherwise it's likely that either your mail or the response
183 didn't make it. If that happens, please mail to the developer list to request a status update.</p>
186 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="MAILING-LISTS" id="MAILING-LISTS">11.5. Mailing Lists</a></h2>
187 <p>If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface, feel free to use one of the
188 mailing lists. To discuss issues that haven't been completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy users list.
189 Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are always welcome on the
190 developers list. You can find an overview of all <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>-related mailing lists,
191 including list archives, at: <a href="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo" target=
192 "_top">https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo</a>. The lists hosted on privoxy.org have been created in 2016,
193 the previously-used lists hosted at SourceForge are deprecated but the archives may still be useful: <a href=
194 "https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/" target="_top">https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/</a>.</p>
197 <h2 class="SECT2"><a name="SF-TRACKERS" id="SF-TRACKERS">11.6. SourceForge support trackers</a></h2>
198 <p>The <a href="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/support-requests/" target="_top">SourceForge support
199 trackers</a> may be used as well, but have various technical problems that are unlikely to be fixed anytime soon.
200 If you don't get a timely response, please try the mailing list as well.</p>
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