1 <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook V3.1//EN"[
2 <!entity % dummy "IGNORE">
3 <!entity supported SYSTEM "supported.sgml">
4 <!entity newfeatures SYSTEM "newfeatures.sgml">
5 <!entity p-intro SYSTEM "privoxy.sgml">
6 <!entity seealso SYSTEM "seealso.sgml">
7 <!entity contacting SYSTEM "contacting.sgml">
8 <!entity history SYSTEM "history.sgml">
9 <!entity copyright SYSTEM "copyright.sgml">
10 <!entity license SYSTEM "license.sgml">
11 <!entity p-version "3.0.5">
12 <!entity p-status "BETA">
13 <!entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE">
14 <!entity % p-stable "IGNORE">
15 <!entity % p-text "IGNORE"> <!-- define we are not a text only doc -->
16 <!entity % p-doc "INCLUDE"> <!-- and we are a formal doc -->
17 <!entity % p-supp-userman "INCLUDE"> <!-- Include all from supported.sgml -->
18 <!entity my-copy "©"> <!-- kludge for docbook2man -->
19 <!entity % p-newstuff "INCLUDE"> <!-- exclude stuff from devel versions -->
20 <!entity my-app "<application>Privoxy</application>">
23 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/faq.sgml,v $
26 This file belongs into
27 ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
29 $Id: faq.sgml,v 2.18 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9 Exp $
31 Copyright (C) 2001-2006 Privoxy Developers http://privoxy.org
34 Based partially on the Internet Junkbuster FAQ originally written by and
35 Copyright (C) 1997 Anonymous Coders and Junkbusters Corporation.
36 http://www.junkbusters.com/
38 <Qandaset defaultlabel='qanda'>
53 ========================================================================
54 NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
57 Please we keep the info in this file as version independent as possible
58 so we only have to maintain one FAQ. Where significant changes are
59 made to Privoxy configuration, please note the change in such a way that
60 it makes sense to both users of older and newer versions.
61 ========================================================================
67 <article id="index" class="faq">
69 <title>Privoxy Frequently Asked Questions</title>
73 <!-- Completely the wrong markup, but very little is allowed -->
74 <!-- in this part of an article. FIXME -->
75 <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> &my-copy; 2001-2006 by
76 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org">Privoxy Developers</ulink>
80 <pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 2.18 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
84 Note: this should generate a separate page, and a live link to it.
85 But it doesn't for some mysterious reason. Please leave commented
86 unless it can be fixed proper. For the time being, the copyright
87 statement will be in copyright.smgl.
91 <legalnotice id="legalnotice">
93 text goes here ........
103 <orgname>By: Privoxy Developers</orgname>
112 This is here to keep vim syntax file from breaking :/
113 If I knew enough to fix it, I would.
114 PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE! HB: hal@foobox.net
119 This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
120 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
121 It is not a substitute for the
122 <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>Privoxy User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
124 This works, at least in some situtations:
125 Test: <ulink url="privoxy-user-manual.pdf"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
129 <!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
130 <para>What is Privoxy?</para> &p-intro;
131 <!-- end boilerplate -->
134 Please note that this document is a work in progress. This copy represents
135 the state at the release of version &p-version;.
136 You can find the latest version of the document at <ulink
137 url="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</ulink>.
138 Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> if you want to
139 contact the developers.
143 <!-- Feel free to send a note to the developers at <email>ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net</email>. -->
149 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
151 <sect1 id="general"><title>General Information</title>
152 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="who_uses"><title>Who should use Privoxy?</title>
154 Anyone that is interested in security, privacy, or in
155 finer-grained control over their web and Internet experience.
156 Everyone is encouraged to try &my-app;.
160 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="bestchoice"><title>Is Privoxy the best choice for
163 &my-app; is certainly a good choice, especially for those who want more
164 control and security. Those that have the ability to fine-tune their installation
165 will benefit the most. One of <application>Privoxy's</application>
166 strength's is that it is highly configurable giving you the ability to
167 completely personalize your installation. Being familiar with, or at least
168 having an interest in learning about <ulink
169 url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Http">HTTP</ulink> and other networking
170 protocols, <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Html">HTML</ulink>,
171 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Protocol">IP (Internet
172 Protocol)</ulink>, and
173 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_expressions"><quote>Regular
174 Expressions</quote></ulink>
175 will be a big plus and will help you get the most out
179 Much of <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration can be done
180 with a <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_browser">Web browser</ulink>.
181 But there are areas where configuration is done using a
182 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Text_editors">text editor</ulink>
183 to edit configuration files.
187 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="proxymoron"><title>What is a <quote>proxy</quote>? How does
188 Privoxy work? </title>
190 A <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">web proxy</ulink>
191 is a service, based on a software such as
192 <application>Privoxy</application>, that clients (i.e. browsers) can use
193 instead of connecting directly to web servers on the Internet. The
194 clients then ask the proxy to fetch the objects they need (web pages,
195 images, movies etc) on their behalf, and when the proxy has done so, it
196 hands the results back to the client. It is a <quote>go-between</quote>. See
197 the <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server">Wikipedia proxy
198 definition</ulink> for more.
201 There are many reasons to use web proxies, such as security (firewalling),
202 efficiency (caching) and others, and there are any number of proxies
203 to accommodate those needs.
206 <application>Privoxy</application> is a proxy that is primarily focused on privacy
207 protection, ad and junk elimination and freeing the user from restrictions placed on his
208 activities. Sitting between your browser(s) and the Internet,
209 it is in a perfect position to filter outbound personal information that your
210 browser is leaking, as well as inbound junk. It uses a variety of techniques to do
211 this, all of which are under your complete control via the various configuration
216 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newjb"><title>What is this new version of
217 <quote><citetitle>Junkbuster</citetitle></quote>?</title>
219 <!-- Include history.sgml -->
226 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
227 <title id="whyprivoxy">Why <quote>Privoxy</quote>? Why change the name from
228 Junkbuster at all?</title>
230 <ulink url="http://junkbusters.com/">Junkbusters Corporation</ulink>
231 continues to offer their original version of the <application>Internet
232 Junkbuster</application>, so publishing our
233 <application> Junkbuster</application>-derived software under the same name
237 There are also potential legal complications from the continued use of the
238 <application>Junkbuster</application> name, which is a registered trademark of
239 <ulink url="http://junkbusters.com/">Junkbusters Corporation</ulink>.
240 There are, however, no objections from Junkbusters Corporation to the
241 <application>Privoxy</application> project itself, and they, in fact, still
242 share our ideals and goals.
245 The developers also believed that there are so many improvements over the original
246 code, that it was time to make a clean break from the past and make
247 a name in their own right.
250 <application>Privoxy</application> is the
251 <quote><emphasis>Privacy Enhancing Proxy</emphasis></quote>. Also, its content
252 modification and junk suppression gives <emphasis>you</emphasis>, the user, more
253 control, more freedom, and allows you to browse your personal and
254 <quote><emphasis>private</emphasis> edition</quote> of the web.
259 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="differs"><title>How does Privoxy differ
260 from the old Junkbuster?</title>
262 <application>Privoxy</application> picks up where
263 <application>Junkbuster</application> left off. All the old features remain.
264 The new <application>Privoxy</application> still blocks ads and banners,
266 url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>, and still
267 helps protect your privacy. But, these are all greatly enhanced, and many,
268 many new features have been added, all in the same vein.
271 The configuration has changed significantly as well. This is something that
272 users will notice right off the bat if upgrading from
273 <application>Junkbuster</application> 2.0.x. The <quote>blocklist</quote>
274 <quote>cookielist</quote>, <quote>imagelist</quote> and much more has been
275 combined into the <quote>actions</quote> files, with a completely different
276 syntax. <![%p-newstuff;[ See the <ulink url="../user-manual/whatsnew.html">What's New</ulink>
277 page for the latest updates.]]>
280 <application>Privoxy</application>'s new features include:
283 <!-- Include newfeatures.sgml: -->
289 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whatsanad">
290 <title id="knows">How does Privoxy know what is
291 an ad, and what is not?</title>
293 <application>Privoxy</application>'s approach to blocking ads is twofold:
296 First, there are certain patterns in the <emphasis>locations</emphasis> (URLs)
297 of banner images. This applies to both the path (you wouldn't guess how many
298 web sites serve their banners from a directory called <quote>banners</quote>!)
299 and the host (blocking the big banner hosting services like doublecklick.net
300 already helps a lot). <application>Privoxy</application> takes advantage of this
301 fact by using <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS">URL
302 patterns</ulink> to sort out and block the requests for things that sound
303 like they would be ads or banners.
306 Second, banners tend to come in certain <emphasis>sizes</emphasis>. But you
307 can't tell the size of an image by its URL without downloading it, and if you
308 do, it's too late to save bandwidth. Therefore, <application>Privoxy</application>
309 also inspects the HTML sources of web pages while they are loaded, and replaces
310 references to images with standard banner sizes by dummy references, so that
311 your browser doesn't request them anymore in the first place.
314 Both of this involves a certain amount of guesswork and is, of course, freely
315 and readily configurable.
319 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
320 <title id="mistakes">Can Privoxy make mistakes?
321 This does not sound very scientific.</title>
323 Actually, it's a black art ;-) And yes, it is always possible to have a broad
324 rule accidentally block or change something by mistake. You will almost surely
325 run into such situations at some point. It is tricky writing rules to
326 cover every conceivable possibility, and not occasionally get false positives.
330 But this should not be a big concern since the
331 <application>Privoxy</application> configuration is very flexible, and
332 includes tools to help identify these types of situations so they can be
333 addressed as needed, allowing you to customize your installation.
334 (<link linkend="badsite">See the Troubleshooting section below</link>.)
340 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
341 <title id="configornot">Will I have to configure Privoxy
342 before I can use it?</title>
344 No, not really. The default installation should give you a good starting
345 point, and block <emphasis>most</emphasis> unwanted content.
348 But you will certainly run into situations where there are false positives,
349 or ads not being blocked that you may not want to see. In these cases, you
350 would certainly benefit by customizing <application>Privoxy's</application>
351 configuration to more closely match your individual situation. And we would
352 encourage you to do this. This is where the real power of
353 <application>Privoxy</application> lies!
356 You will have to tell your browser about <application>Privoxy</application>
357 (see the Installation section below).
362 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="browsers2"><title>My browser does the same things as
363 Privoxy. Why should I use
364 Privoxy at all?</title>
366 Modern browsers do indeed have <emphasis>some</emphasis> of the same
367 functionality as <application>Privoxy</application>. Maybe this is
368 adequate for you. But <application>Privoxy</application> is much more
369 versatile and powerful, and can do a number of things that browsers just can't.
372 In addition, a proxy is good choice if you use multiple browsers, or
373 have a LAN with multiple computers. This way all the configuration
374 is in one place, and you don't have to maintain a similar configuration
375 for possibly many browsers.
379 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whytrust"><title>Why should I trust Privoxy?</title>
381 The most important reason is because you have access to
382 <emphasis>everything</emphasis>, and you can control everything. You can
383 check every line of every configuration file yourself. You can check every
384 last bit of source code should you desire. And even if you can't read code,
385 there should be some comfort in knowing that thousands of other people can,
386 and do read it. You can build the software from scratch, if you want, so
387 that you know the executable is clean, and that it is
388 <emphasis>yours</emphasis>. In fact, we encourage this level of scrutiny. It
389 is one reason we use &my-app; ourselves.
393 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="license"><title>Is there is a license or fee? What about a
394 warranty? Registration?</title>
396 <application>Privoxy</application> is licensed under the <ulink
397 url="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public License (GPL)</ulink>.
398 It is free to use, copy, modify or distribute as you wish under the terms of this
399 license. Please see the <link linkend="copyright">Copyright</link> section for more
400 information on the license and copyright. Or the <filename>LICENSE</filename> file
401 that should be included.
404 There is <emphasis>no warranty</emphasis> of any kind, expressed, implied or otherwise.
405 That is something that would cost real money ;-) There is no registration either.
406 <application>Privoxy</application> really is <emphasis>free</emphasis>
412 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="spyware">
413 <title>Can Privoxy remove spyware? Adware? Viruses?</title>
415 No. &my-app; cannot remove anything. It is not a removal tool. It is a
416 preventative. &my-app; can help prevent contact from sites
417 that use such tactics with approriate configuration rules, and thus could
418 conceivably prevent contamination from such sites.
423 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherads">
424 <title>Can I use Privoxy with other ad-blocking software?</title>
426 &my-app; should work fine with other proxies and other software in general.
429 But it is probably not necessary to use &my-app; in conjunction with other
430 ad-blocking products, and this could conceivably cause undesirable results.
431 It would be better to choose one software or the other and work a little to
432 tweak its configuration to your liking.
436 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="jointeam"><title>I would like to help you, what can I do?</title>
438 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-work"><title>Would you like to participate?</title>
440 Well, we <emphasis>always</emphasis> need help. There is something for
441 everybody who wants to help us. We welcome new developers, packagers,
442 testers, documentation writers or really anyone with a desire to help in
443 any way. You <emphasis>DO NOT</emphasis> need to be a
444 <quote>programmer</quote>. There are many other tasks available. In fact,
445 the programmers often can't spend as much time programming because of some
446 of the other, more mundane things that need to be done, like checking the
447 Tracker feedback sections.
450 So first thing, <ulink
451 url="https://sourceforge.net/account/register.php">get an account on SourceForge.net</ulink>
452 and mail your id to the <ulink url="mailto:ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">developers
453 mailing list</ulink>. Then, please read the <ulink
454 url="../developer-manual/index.html">Developer's Manual</ulink>, at least
455 the pertinent sections.
458 Once we have added you to the team, you'll have access to the <ulink
459 url="http://sourceforge.net/cvs/?group_id=11118">CVS repository</ulink>, and
460 together we'll find a suitable task for you.
464 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-money"><title>Contribute!</title>
466 We, of course, welcome donations and could use money for domain registering,
467 buying software to test <application>Privoxy</application> with, and, of course,
468 for regular world-wide get-togethers (hahaha). If you enjoy the software and feel
469 like helping us with a donation, just <ulink
470 url="mailto: ijbswa-developers@lists.sourceforge.net">drop us a note</ulink>.
474 <sect3 renderas="sect4" id="jointeam-software"><title>Software</title>
476 If you are a vendor of a web-related software like a browser, web server
477 or proxy, and would like us to ensure that <application>Privoxy</application>
478 runs smoothly with your product, you might consider supplying us with a
479 copy or license. We can't, however, guarantee that we will fix all potential
480 compatibility issues as a result.
490 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
492 <sect1 id="installation"><title>Installation</title>
494 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whichbrowsers">
495 <title>Which browsers are supported by Privoxy?</title>
497 Any browser that can be configured to use a proxy, which
498 should be virtually all browsers, including
499 <application>Firefox</application>, <application>Internet
500 Explorer</application>, and <application>Opera</application> among others.
501 Direct browser support is not an absolute requirement since
502 <application>Privoxy</application> runs as a separate application and talks
503 to the browser in the standardized HTTP protocol, just like a web server
508 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whichos">
509 <title>Which operating systems are supported?</title>
511 Include supported.sgml here:
516 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="email-client">
517 <title>Can I use Privoxy with my email client?</title>
519 As long as there is some way to set a HTTP proxy for the client, then yes,
520 any application can be used, whether it is strictly speaking a
521 <quote>browser</quote> or not. Though this may not be the best approach for
522 dealing with some of the common abuses of HTML in email. See <link
523 linkend="outlook">How can I configure <application>Privoxy</application>
524 with <application>Outlook Express</application>?</link> below for more on
528 Be aware that HTML email presents a number of unique security and privacy
529 related issues, that can require advanced skills to overcome. The developers
530 recommend using email clients that can be configured to convert HTML to plain
531 text for these reasons.
535 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newinstall"><title>Can I install
536 Privoxy over Junkbuster?</title>
538 We recommend you un-install <application>Junkbuster</application>
539 first to minimize conflicts and confusion. You may want to
540 save your old configuration files for future reference. The configuration
541 files and syntax have substantially changed, so you will need to manually
542 port your old patterns. See the <ulink url="../user-manual/upgradersnote.html">note
543 to upgraders</ulink> and <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html">installation
544 chapter</ulink> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink>
548 Note: Some installers may automatically un-install
549 <application>Junkbuster</application>, if present!
554 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
555 <title id="firststep">I just installed Privoxy. Is there anything
556 special I have to do now?</title>
559 All browsers must be told to use <application>Privoxy</application>
560 as a proxy by specifying the correct proxy address and port number
561 in the appropriate configuration area for the browser. See below.
562 You should also flush your browser's memory and disk cache to get rid of any
563 cached junk items, and remove any stored
564 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>.
571 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="localhost"><title>What is the proxy address of Privoxy?</title>
573 If you set up the <application>Privoxy</application> to run on
574 the computer you browse from (rather than your ISP's server or some
575 networked computer on a LAN), the proxy will be on <literal>127.0.0.1</literal>
576 (sometimes referred to as <quote>localhost</quote>,
577 which is the special name used by every computer on the Internet to refer
578 to itself) and the port will be 8118 (unless you have <application>Privoxy</application>
579 to run on a different port with the <ulink
580 url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink> config option).
583 When configuring your browser's proxy settings you typically enter
584 the word <quote>localhost</quote> or the IP address <quote>127.0.0.1</quote>
585 in the boxes next to <quote>HTTP</quote> and <quote>Secure</quote> (HTTPS) and
586 then the number <quote>8118</quote> for <quote>port</quote>.
587 This tells your browser to send all web requests to <application>Privoxy</application>
588 instead of directly to the Internet.
591 <application>Privoxy</application> can also be used to proxy for
592 a Local Area Network. In this case, your would enter either the IP
593 address of the LAN host where <application>Privoxy</application>
594 is running, or the equivalent hostname. Port assignment would be
595 same as above. Note that <application>Privoxy</application> doesn't
596 listen on any LAN interfaces by default.
599 <application>Privoxy</application> does not currently handle
600 any other protocols such as FTP, SMTP, IM, IRC, ICQ, etc. Be sure that
601 proxying any of these other protocols is not activated.
605 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="nothing">
606 <title>I just installed Privoxy, and nothing is happening.
607 All the ads are there. What's wrong?</title>
610 Did you configure your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application>
611 as a proxy? It does not sound like it. See above. You might also try flushing
612 the browser's caches to force a full re-reading of pages. You can verify
613 that <application>Privoxy</application> is running, and your browser
614 is correctly configured by entering the special URL:
615 <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>.
616 <!-- Use http://p.p/ instead of http://config.privoxy.org/ here because
617 of potential redirect caching problem (see next Q). -->
618 This should take you to a page titled <quote>This is Privoxy..</quote> with
619 access to <application>Privoxy's</application> internal configuration.
620 If you see this, then you are good to go. If you receive a page saying
621 <quote>Privoxy is not running</quote>, then the browser is not set up to use
622 your <application>Privoxy</application> installation.
623 If you receive anything else (probably nothing at all), it could either
624 be that the browser is not set up correctly, or that
625 <application>Privoxy</application> is not running at all. Check the <ulink
626 url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">log file</ulink>. For instructions
627 on starting <application>Privoxy</application> and browser configuration,
628 see the <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html">chapter
629 on starting <application>Privoxy</application></ulink> in the
630 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">User Manual</ulink>.
635 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="notused">
636 <title>I get a <quote>Privoxy is not being used</quote> dummy page although
637 Privoxy is running and being used.</title>
640 First, make sure that Privoxy is <emphasis>really</emphasis> running and
641 being used by visiting <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>. You
642 should see the <application>Privoxy</application> main page. If not, see
643 the <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/startup.html">chapter
644 on starting <application>Privoxy</application></ulink> in the
645 <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/">User Manual</ulink>.
649 Now if <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> works for you, but
650 other parts of <application>Privoxy</application>'s web interface show
651 the dummy page, your browser has cached a redirection it encountered before
652 <application>Privoxy</application> was being used. You need to clear your
653 browser's cache. Note that shift-reloading the dummy page won't help, since
654 that'll only refresh the dummy page, not the redirection that lead you there.
658 The procedure for clearing the cache varies from browser to browser. For
659 example, <application>Mozilla/Netscape</application> users would click
660 <guibutton>Edit</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Preferences</guibutton> -->
661 <guibutton>Advanced</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
662 then click both <quote><guibutton>Clear Memory Cache</guibutton></quote>
663 and <quote><guibutton>Clear Disk Cache</guibutton></quote>.
664 And, <application>Firefox</application> users would click
665 <guibutton>Tools</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Options</guibutton> -->
666 <guibutton>Privacy</guibutton> --> <guibutton>Cache</guibutton> and
667 then click <quote><guibutton>Clear Cache Now</guibutton></quote>.
675 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
677 <sect1 id="configuration"><title>Configuration</title>
679 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="getupdates"><title>Where can I get updated Actions Files?</title>
681 Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updates of
682 <filename>default.action</filename> will be
683 made available from time to time on the <ulink
684 url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">files section</ulink> of
685 our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project page</ulink>.
689 If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
690 <application>Privoxy</application> or the actions file, <ulink
691 url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/">subscribe
692 to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
697 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newconfig"><title>Can I use my old config files?</title>
699 The syntax and purpose of configuration files has remained the same
700 throughout the 3.x series. Although each release contains updated,
701 <quote>improved</quote> versions and it is recommended to use the newer
704 If upgrading from version prior to 3.0.4 the syntax for <literal>fast-redirects</literal>
705 has changed. See the <ulink url="../user-manual/whatsnew.html">What's New section</ulink>
706 of the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> for details.]]>
709 But all configuration files have substantially
710 changed from the <application>Junkbuster</application> days, and early
711 versions of <application>Privoxy 2.x</application>. The old files, like
712 <filename>blocklist</filename> will not work at all.
714 <![%p-newstuff;[ <para>
715 Refer to the <ulink url="../user-manual/whatsnew.html">What's New</ulink>
716 page for information on configuration changes that may occur from one release to another.
720 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
721 <title id="actionsfile">What exactly is an <quote>actions</quote> file?</title>
724 <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">Actions files</ulink>
725 are where various <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS">actions</ulink>
726 that <application>Privoxy</application> could take while processing a certain
727 request, are configured. Typically, you would define a set of default actions
728 that apply to all URLs, then add exceptions to these defaults where needed.
729 There is a wide array of actions available that give the user a high degree
730 of control and flexibility on how to process each and every web page.
734 Actions can be defined on a <ulink
735 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS">URL pattern</ulink> basis, i.e.
736 for single URLs, whole web sites, groups or parts thereof etc. Actions can also be
737 grouped together and then applied to requests matching one or more patterns.
738 There are many possible actions that might apply to any given site. As an example,
739 if you are blocking <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>
740 as one of your default actions, but need to accept cookies from a given site,
741 you would need to define an exception for this site in one of your actions
742 files, preferably in <filename>user.action</filename>.
747 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="actionss">
748 <title>The <quote>actions</quote> concept confuses me. Please list
749 some of these <quote>actions</quote>.</title>
751 For a comprehensive discussion of the actions concept, please refer
752 to the <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">actions file
753 chapter</ulink> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">user
754 manual</ulink>. It includes a <ulink
755 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACTIONS">list of all actions</ulink>
756 and an <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">actions
757 file tutorial</ulink> to get you started.
762 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
763 <title id="actconfig">How are actions files configured? What is the easiest
764 way to do this?</title>
767 Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
768 with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
769 <application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface with your web browser
770 at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
771 (Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and then select
772 <quote><ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">View &
773 change the current configuration</ulink></quote> from the menu.
778 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
779 <title>There are several different <quote>actions</quote> files. What are
780 the differences?</title>
782 As of <application>Privoxy</application> v2.9.15, three actions files
783 are being included, to be used for
784 different purposes: These are
785 <filename>default.action</filename>, the <quote>main</quote> actions file
786 which is actively maintained by the <application>Privoxy</application>
787 developers, <filename>user.action</filename>, where users are encouraged
788 to make their private customizations, and <filename>standard.action</filename>,
789 which is for internal <application>Privoxy</application> use only.
790 Please see <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">the actions chapter</ulink>
791 in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink> for a more
792 detailed explanation.
796 Earlier versions included three different versions of the
797 <filename>default.action</filename> file. The new scheme allows for
798 greater flexibility of local configuration, and for browser based
799 selection of pre-defined <quote>aggressiveness</quote> levels.
804 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="yahoo"><title>How can I make my Yahoo/Hotmail/Gmail account work?</title>
806 The default configuration shouldn't impact the usability of any of these services.
807 It will, however, make all <ulink
808 url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>
809 temporary, so that your browser will forget your
810 login credentials in between browser sessions. If you would like not to have to log
811 in manually each time you access those websites, simply turn off all cookie handling
812 for them in the <filename>user.action</filename> file. An example for yahoo might
816 <screen># Allow all cookies for Yahoo login:
818 { -<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">crunch-incoming-cookies</ulink> -<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">crunch-outgoing-cookies</ulink> -<ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</ulink> }
819 .login.yahoo.com</screen>
822 These kinds of sites are often quite complex and heavy with
823 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript">Javascript</ulink> and
824 thus <quote>fragile</quote>. So if <emphasis>still</emphasis> a problem,
826 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ALIASES">alias</ulink> just for such
830 <screen># Gmail is a _fragile_ site:
832 { <literal>fragile</literal> }
833 mail.google.com</screen>
836 Be sure to flush your browser's caches whenever making these kinds of
837 changes, just to make sure the changes <quote>take</quote>.
840 Make sure the domain, host and path are appropriate as well. Your browser can
841 tell you where you are specifically and you should use that information for
842 your configuration settings. Note that above it is not referenced as
843 <literal>gmail.com</literal>, which is a valid domain name.
848 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="configfiles"> <title>What's the difference between the
849 <quote>Cautious</quote>, <quote>Medium</quote> and <quote>Advanced</quote> defaults?</title>
851 Configuring <application>Privoxy</application> is not entirely trivial. To
852 help you get started, we provide you with three different default action
853 <quote>profiles</quote> in the web based actions file editor at <ulink
854 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>.
855 See the <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html"><citetitle>User
856 Manual</citetitle></ulink> for a list of actions, and how the default
861 Where the defaults are likely to break some sites, exceptions for
862 known popular <quote>problem</quote> sites are included, but in
863 general, the more aggressive your default settings are, the more exceptions
864 you will have to make later. See the <ulink
865 url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>
866 for a more detailed discussion.
870 It should be noted that the <quote>Advanced</quote> profile (formerly known
871 as the <quote>Adventuresome</quote> profile) is more
872 aggressive, and will make use of some of
873 <application>Privoxy's</application> advanced features. Use at your own risk!
878 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="browseconfig"> <title>Why can I change the configuration
879 with a browser? Does that not raise security issues?</title>
881 It may seem strange that regular users can edit the config files with their
882 browsers, although the whole <filename>/etc/privoxy</filename> hierarchy
883 belongs to the user <quote>privoxy</quote>, with only 644 permissions.
886 When you use the browser-based editor, <application>Privoxy</application>
887 itself is writing to the config files. Because
888 <application>Privoxy</application> is running as the user <quote>privoxy</quote>,
889 it can update the config files.
892 If you run <application>Privoxy</application> for multiple untrusted users (e.g. in
893 a LAN), you will probably want to turn the web-based editor and remote toggle
894 features off by setting <quote><literal><ulink
895 url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS">enable-edit-actions</ulink>
896 0</literal></quote> and <quote><literal><ulink
897 url="../user-manual/config.html#ENABLE-REMOTE-TOGGLE">enable-remote-toggle</ulink>
898 0</literal></quote> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html">main configuration file</ulink>.
901 Note that in the default configuration, only local users (i.e. those on
902 <quote>localhost</quote>) can connect to <application>Privoxy</application>,
903 so this is not (normally) a security problem.
908 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
909 <title id="filterfile">What is the <filename>default.filter</filename> file? What is a <quote>filter</quote>?</title>
911 The <ulink url="../user-manual/filter-file.html"><filename>default.filter</filename></ulink>
912 file is where <emphasis>filters</emphasis> as supplied by the developers are defined.
913 Filters are a special subset of actions that can be used to modify or
914 remove, web page content on the fly. Filters apply to <emphasis>anything</emphasis>
915 in the page source (and optionally both client and server headers), including
916 HTML tags, and JavaScript. Regular expressions are used to accomplish this.
917 There are a number of pre-defined filters to deal with common annoyances. The
918 filters are only defined here, to invoke them, you need to use the
920 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER"><literal>filter</literal>
921 action</ulink> in one of the actions files. Filtering is automatically
922 disabled for inappropriate MIME types.
926 If you are familiar with regular expressions, and HTML, you can look at
927 the provided <filename>default.filter</filename> with a text editor and define
928 your own filters. This is potentially a very powerful feature, but
929 requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP.
930 <![%p-newstuff;[ You should
931 place any modifications to the default filters, or any new ones you create
932 in a separate file, such as <filename>user.filter</filename>, so they won't
933 be overwritten during upgrades.
934 The ability to define multiple filter files
935 in <filename>config</filename> is a new feature as of v. 3.0.5.]]>
939 There is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
940 but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included
941 <filename>default.filter</filename> file with the <ulink
942 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions file editor</ulink>.
947 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
948 <title id="lanconfig">How can I set up Privoxy to act as a proxy for my
951 By default, <application>Privoxy</application> only responds to requests
952 from <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> (localhost). To have it act as a server for
953 a network, this needs to be changed in the <ulink
954 url="../user-manual/config.html">main configuration file</ulink>. Look for
956 url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS">listen-address</ulink></literal>
957 option, which may be commented out with a <quote>#</quote> symbol. Make sure
958 it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
959 and port number to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
960 wish to run <application>Privoxy</application> on port 8118, this line
966 listen-address 192.168.1.1:8118</screen>
970 Save the file, and restart <application>Privoxy</application>. Configure
971 all browsers on the network then to use this address and port number.
975 Alternately, you can have <application>Privoxy</application> listen on
976 all available interfaces:
981 listen-address :8118</screen>
985 And then use <application>Privoxy's</application>
987 url="../user-manual/config.html#PERMIT-ACCESS">permit-access</ulink>
988 feature to limit connections. A firewall in this situation is recommended
993 The above steps should be the same for any TCP network, regardless of
998 If you run <application>Privoxy</application> on a LAN with untrusted users,
999 we recommend that you double-check the <ulink
1000 url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">access control and security</ulink>
1007 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1008 <title id="noseeum">Instead of ads, now I get a checkerboard pattern. I don't want to see anything.</title>
1010 The replacement for blocked images can be controlled with the <ulink
1011 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><literal>set-image-blocker</literal>
1012 action</ulink>. You have the choice of a checkerboard pattern, a transparent 1x1 GIF
1013 image (aka <quote>blank</quote>), or a redirect to a custom image of your choice.
1014 Note that this choice only has effect for images which are blocked as images, i.e.
1015 whose URLs match both a <literal><ulink
1016 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</ulink></literal>
1017 <emphasis>and</emphasis> <literal><ulink
1018 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</ulink></literal> action.
1021 If you want to see nothing, then change the <ulink
1022 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"><literal>set-image-blocker</literal>
1023 action</ulink> to <quote>blank</quote>. This can be done by editing the
1024 <filename>default.action</filename> file, or trough the <ulink
1025 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">web-based actions file editor</ulink>.
1030 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1031 <title id="whyseeum">Why would anybody want to see a checkerboard pattern?</title>
1033 Remember that <link linkend="whatsanad">telling which image is an ad and which
1034 isn't</link>, is mostly guesswork. While we hope that the standard configuration
1035 is rather smart, it can and will make errors. The checkerboard image is visually
1036 decent, but it shows you that and where images were blocked, which can be very
1037 helpful in case some navigation aid or otherwise innocent image was
1038 erroneously blocked. Some people might also enjoy seeing how many banners
1039 they <emphasis>don't</emphasis> have to see..
1044 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1045 <title id="blockedbytext">I see some images being replaced by a text
1046 instead of the checkerboard image. Why and how do I get rid of this?</title>
1048 This happens when the banners are not embedded in the HTML code of the
1049 page itself, but in separate HTML (sub)documents that are loaded into (i)frames
1050 or (i)layers, and these external HTML documents are blocked. Being non-images
1051 they get replaced by a substitute HTML page rather than a substitute image,
1052 which wouldn't work out technically, since the browser expects and accepts
1053 only HTML when it has requested an HTML document.
1056 The substitute page adapts to the available space and shows itself as a
1057 miniature two-liner if loaded into small frames, or full-blown with a
1058 large red "BLOCKED" banner if space allows.
1061 If you prefer the banners to be blocked by images, you must see to it that
1062 the HTML documents in which they are embedded are not blocked. Clicking
1063 the <quote>See why</quote> link offered in the substitute page will show
1064 you which rule blocked the page. After changing the rule and un-blocking
1065 the HTML documents, the browser will try to load the actual banner images
1066 and the usual image blocking will (hopefully!) kick in.
1071 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="srvany">
1072 <title>Can Privoxy run as a service
1073 on Win2K/NT/XP?</title>
1076 Yes. Version 3.0.5 introduces full <application>Windows</application> service
1077 functionality. See <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html#installation-pack-win">
1078 the User Manual</ulink> for details on how to install and configure
1079 <application>Privoxy</application> as a service.
1082 Earlier ]]>3.x versions could run as a system service using <command>srvany.exe</command>.
1083 See the discussion at <ulink
1084 url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=361118&aid=485617&group_id=11118</ulink>,
1085 for details, and a sample configuration.
1090 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="otherproxy">
1091 <title>How can I make Privoxy work with other
1092 proxies like Squid or Tor?</title>
1094 This can be done and is often useful to combine the benefits of
1095 <application>Privoxy</application> with those of a another proxy.
1097 url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding chapter</ulink>
1098 in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink> which
1099 describes how to do this, and the <link linkend="TOR">
1100 How do I use Privoxy together with
1101 Tor</link> section below.
1105 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="port-80">
1106 <title>Can I just set Privoxy to use port 80
1107 and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</title>
1110 No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
1111 of proxies known as <quote>transparent</quote> proxies (see below).
1116 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="transparent">
1117 <title>Can Privoxy run as a <quote>transparent
1118 </quote> proxy?</title>
1120 No, <application>Privoxy</application> currently does not have this ability,
1121 though it may be added in a future release. Transparent proxies require
1122 special handling of the request headers beyond what
1123 <application>Privoxy</application> is now capable of.
1127 Chaining <application>Privoxy</application> behind another proxy that has
1128 this ability should work though.
1130 url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding chapter</ulink>
1131 in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">User Manual</ulink>. As
1132 a transparent proxy to be used for chaining we recommend Transproxy
1133 (<ulink url="http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/">http://transproxy.sourceforge.net/</ulink>).
1138 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook">
1139 <title>How can I configure Privoxy for use with Outlook
1142 <application>Outlook Express</application> uses <application>Internet Explorer</application>
1143 components to both render HTML, and fetch any HTTP requests that may be embedded in an HTML email.
1144 So however you have <application>Privoxy</application> configured to work
1145 with IE, this configuration should automatically be shared.
1149 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="outlook-more">
1150 <title>How can I have separate rules just for HTML mail?</title>
1152 The short answer is, you can't. <application>Privoxy</application> has no way
1153 of knowing which particular application makes a request, so there is no way to
1154 distinguish between web pages and HTML mail.
1155 <application>Privoxy</application> just blindly proxies all requests. In the
1156 case of <application>Outlook Express</application> (see above), OE uses
1157 IE anyway, and there is no way for <application>Privoxy</application> to ever
1158 be able to distinguish between them (nor could any other proxy type application for
1162 For a good discussion of some of the issues involved (including privacy and
1163 security issues), see
1164 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=detail&atid=211118&aid=629518&group_id=11118</ulink>.
1168 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="sneaky-cookies">
1169 <title>I sometimes notice cookies sneaking through. How?</title>
1172 url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">Cookies</ulink> can be
1173 set in several ways. The classic method is via the
1174 <literal>Set-Cookie</literal> HTTP header. This is straightforward, and an
1175 easy one to manipulate, such as the &my-app; concept of
1176 <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">session-cookies-only</ulink>.
1177 There is also the possibility of using
1178 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript">Javascript</ulink> to
1179 set cookies (&my-app; calls these <literal>content-cookies</literal>). This
1180 is trickier because the syntax can vary widely, and thus requires a certain
1181 amount of guesswork. It is not realistic to catch all of these short of
1182 disabling Javascript, which would break many sites. And lastly, if the
1183 cookies are embedded in a HTTPS/SSL secure session via Javascript, they are beyond
1184 <application>Privoxy's</application> reach.
1187 All in all, &my-app; can help manage cookies in general, can help minimize
1188 the loss of privacy posed by cookies, but can't realistically stop all
1193 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="evil-cookies">
1194 <title>Are all cookies bad? Why?</title>
1196 No, in fact there are many beneficial uses of
1198 url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">cookies</ulink>. Cookies are just a
1199 method that browsers can use to store data between pages, or between browser
1200 sessions. Sometimes there is a good reason for this, and the user's life is a
1201 bit easier as a result. But there is a long history of some websites taking
1202 advantage of this layer of trust, and using the data they glean from you and
1203 your browsing habits for their own purposes, and maybe to your potential
1204 detriment. Such sites are using you and storing their data on your system.
1205 That is why the security conscious watch from whom those cookies come, and why
1206 they really <emphasis>need</emphasis> to be there.
1210 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie">Wikipedia cookie
1211 definition</ulink> for more.
1215 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="allow-cookies">
1216 <title>How can I allow permanent cookies for my trusted sites?</title>
1219 There are several actions that relate to cookies. The default behavior is to
1220 allow only <quote>session cookies</quote>, which means the cookies only last
1221 for the current browser session. This eliminates most kinds of abuse related
1222 to cookies. But there may be cases where we want cookies to last.
1225 To disable all cookie actions, so that cookies are allowed unrestricted,
1226 both in and out, for <literal>example.com</literal>:
1230 { -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies -session-cookies-only -filter{content-cookies} }
1231 .example.com</screen>
1234 Place the above in <filename>user.action</filename>. Note some of these may
1235 be off by default anyway, so this might be redundant, but there is no harm
1236 being explicit in what you want to happen. <filename>user.action</filename>
1237 includes an alias for this situation, called
1238 <literal>allow-all-cookies</literal>.
1242 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="multiples">
1243 <title>Can I have separate configurations for different users?</title>
1245 Each instance of <application>Privoxy</application> has its own
1246 configuration, including such attributes as the TCP port that it listens on.
1247 What you can do is run multiple instances of <application>Privoxy</application>, each with
1248 a unique <literal>listen-address</literal> and configuration path, and then
1249 each of these can have their own configurations. Think of it as per-port
1253 Simple enough for a few users, but for large installations, consider having
1254 groups of users that might share like configurations.
1258 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="whitelists">
1259 <title>Can I set-up Privoxy as a whitelist of
1260 <quote>good</quote> sites?</title>
1262 Sure. There are a couple of things you can do for simple whitelisting.
1263 Here's one real easy one:
1266 ############################################################
1268 ############################################################
1269 { <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">+block</ulink> }
1270 / # Block *all* URLs
1272 ############################################################
1274 ############################################################
1275 { <ulink url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">-block</ulink> }
1278 games.example.com</screen>
1280 This allows access to only those three sites.
1283 A more interesting approach is <application>Privoxy's</application>
1284 <literal>trustfile</literal> concept, which incorporates the notion of
1285 <quote>trusted referrers</quote>. See the <ulink
1286 url="../user-manual/config.html#TRUSTFILE">User Manual Trust</ulink>
1290 These are fairly simple approaches and are not completely foolproof. There
1291 are various other configuration options that should be disabled (described
1292 elsewhere here and in <ulink url="../user-manual/">the User Manual</ulink>)
1293 so that users can't modify their own configuration and easily circumvent the
1300 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
1303 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1305 <sect1 id="misc"><title>Miscellaneous</title>
1307 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1308 <title id="slowsme">How much does Privoxy slow my browsing down? This
1309 has to add extra time to browsing.</title>
1311 How much of an impact depends on many things, including the CPU of the host
1312 system, how aggressive the configuration is, which specific actions are being triggered,
1313 the size of the page, etc.
1316 Overall, it should not slow you down any in real terms, and may actually help
1317 speed things up since ads, banners and other junk are not typically being
1318 retrieved and displayed. The actual processing time required by
1319 <application>Privoxy</application> itself for each page, is relatively small
1320 in the overall scheme of things, and happens very quickly. This is typically
1321 more than offset by time saved not downloading and rendering ad images (if ad
1322 blocking is being used).
1326 <quote>Filtering</quote> content via the <literal><ulink
1327 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER">filter</ulink></literal> or
1329 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</ulink></literal>
1330 actions will certainly cause a perceived slowdown, since the entire document
1331 needs to be buffered before displaying. And on very large documents, there may be
1332 some impact. How much depends on the page size, the actual definition of the
1333 filter(s), etc. See below. Most other actions have little to no impact on
1340 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="loadingtimes"><title>I notice considerable
1341 delays in page requests compared to the old Junkbuster. What's wrong?</title>
1343 If you use any <literal><ulink
1344 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER">filter</ulink></literal> action,
1345 such as filtering banners by size, web-bugs etc, or the <literal><ulink
1346 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS">deanimate-gifs</ulink></literal>
1347 action, the entire document must be loaded into memory in order for the filtering
1348 mechanism to work, and nothing is sent to the browser during this time.
1351 The loading time typically does not really change much in real numbers, but
1352 the feeling is different, because most browsers are able to start rendering
1353 incomplete content, giving the user a feeling of "it works". This effect is
1354 more noticeable on slower dialup connections. Extremely large documents
1355 may have some impact on the time to load the page where there is filtering
1356 being done. But overall, the difference should be very minimal. If there is a
1357 big impact, then probably some other problem is contributing.
1360 Filtering is automatically disabled for inappropriate MIME types. But note
1361 that if the web server mis-reports the MIME type, then content that should
1362 not be filtered, could be. <application>Privoxy</application> only knows how
1363 to differentiate filterable content because of the MIME type as reported by
1364 the server, or because of some configuration setting that enables/disables
1370 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="configurl"><title>What are "http://config.privoxy.org/" and
1371 "http://p.p/"?</title>
1373 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink> is the
1374 address of <application>Privoxy</application>'s built-in user interface, and
1375 <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink> is a shortcut for it.
1378 Since <application>Privoxy</application> sits between your web browser and the Internet,
1379 it can simply intercept requests for these addresses and answer them with its built-in
1380 <quote>web server</quote>.
1383 This also makes for a good test for your browser configuration: If entering the
1384 URL <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
1385 takes you to a page saying <quote>This is Privoxy ...</quote>, everything is OK.
1386 If you get a page saying <quote>Privoxy is not working</quote> instead, then
1387 your browser didn't use <application>Privoxy</application> for the request,
1388 hence it could not be intercepted, and you have accessed the <emphasis>real</emphasis>
1389 web site at config.privoxy.org.
1392 With recent versions of <application>Privoxy</application> (version 2.9.x and
1393 later), the user interface features information on the run time status, the
1394 configuration, and even a built-in editor for the <ulink
1395 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">actions files</ulink>.
1399 Note that the built-in URLs from earlier versions of <application>Junkbuster</application>
1400 / <application>Privoxy</application>, http://example.com/show-proxy-args and http://i.j.b/,
1401 are no longer supported. If you still use such an old version, you should really consider
1402 upgrading to &p-version;.
1407 out of date 09/02/06 HB
1408 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blocklist"><title>Do you still maintain the blocklists?</title>
1410 No. The patterns for blocking now reside (among other things) in the <ulink
1411 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html">actions files</ulink>, which are
1412 actively maintained instead. See next question ...
1416 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newads"><title>How can I submit new ads, or report
1419 Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> for
1420 various ways to interact with the developers.
1425 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="noonecares"><title>Why doesn't anyone answer my support
1428 Rest assured that it has been read and considered. Why it is not answered,
1429 could be for various reasons, including no one has a good answer for it, no
1430 one has had time to yet investigate it thoroughly, it has been reported
1431 numerous times already, or because not enough information was provided to help
1432 us help you. Your efforts are not wasted, and we do appreciate them.
1438 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="ip"><title>How can I hide my IP address?</title>
1440 If you run both the browser and the proxy locally, you cannot hide your IP
1441 address with <application>Privoxy</application> or ultimately any other
1442 software. The server needs to know your IP address so that it knows where to
1443 send the responses back.
1446 There are many publicly usable "anonymous" proxies out there, which
1447 provide a further level of indirection between you and the web server.
1450 However, these proxies are called "anonymous" because you don't need
1451 a password, not because they would offer any real anonymity.
1452 Most of them will log your IP address and make it available to the
1453 authorities in case you violate the law of the country they run in. In fact
1454 you can't even rule out that some of them only exist to *collect* information
1455 on (those suspicious) people with a more than average preference for privacy.
1458 Your best bet is to chain <application>Privoxy</application>
1459 with <ulink url="http://tor.eff.org/">Tor</ulink>,
1460 an <ulink url="http://www.eff.org/">EFF</ulink> supported onion routing system.
1461 The configuration details can be found in
1462 <ulink url="#TOR">How do I use <application>Privoxy</application> together with <application>Tor</application> section</ulink>
1467 There is, however, even in the single-machine case the possibility to make the
1468 server believe that your machine is in fact a shared proxy serving a large
1469 LAN, and we are looking into that.
1471 I assume this is about sending fake forward IP addresses?
1472 David and I looked into it and considered it a waste of time to implement.
1477 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1478 <title id="anonforsure">Can Privoxy guarantee I am anonymous?</title>
1480 No. Your chances of remaining anonymous are greatly improved, but unless you
1481 <ulink url="#TOR">chain <application>Privoxy</application> with <application>Tor</application></ulink>
1482 or a similar system and know what you're doing when it comes to configuring
1483 the rest of your system, it would be safest to assume that everything you do
1484 on the Web can be traced back to you.
1487 <application>Privoxy</application> can remove various information about you,
1488 and allows <emphasis>you</emphasis> more freedom to decide which sites
1489 you can trust, and what details you want to reveal. But it neither
1490 hides your ip address, nor can it guarantee that the rest of the system
1491 behaves correctly. There are several possibilities how a web sites can find
1492 out who you are, even if you are using a strict <application>Privoxy</application>
1493 configuration and chained it with <application>Tor</application>.
1496 Most of <application>Privoxy's</application> protection can be easily subverted
1497 by an insecure browser configuration, therefore you should use a browser that can
1498 be configured to only execute code from trusted sites, and be careful which sites you trust.
1499 For example there is no point in having <application>Privoxy</application>
1500 modify the User-Agent header, if websites can get all the information they want
1501 through JavaScript, ActiveX, Flash, Java etc.
1504 A few browsers disclose the user's email address in certain situations, such
1505 as when transferring a file by FTP. <application>Privoxy</application>
1506 does not filter FTP. If you need this feature, or are concerned about the
1507 mail handler of your browser disclosing your email address, you might
1508 consider products such as <application>NSClean</application>.
1511 Browsers available only as binaries could use non-standard headers to give
1512 out any information they can have access to: see the manufacturer's license
1513 agreement. It's impossible to anticipate and prevent every breach of privacy
1514 that might occur. The professionally paranoid prefer browsers available as
1515 source code, because anticipating their behavior is easier. Trust the source,
1521 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1522 <title id="proxytest">A test site says I am not using a Proxy.</title>
1524 Good! Actually, they are probably testing for some other kinds of proxies.
1525 Hiding yourself completely would require additional steps.
1529 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="tor"><title>How do I use Privoxy
1530 together with Tor?</title>
1532 Before you configure <application>Privoxy</application> to use <application>Tor</application>
1533 (<ulink url="http://tor.eff.org/">http://tor.eff.org/</ulink>),
1534 please follow the User Manual chapters
1535 <ulink url="../user-manual/installation.html">2. Installation</ulink> and
1536 <ulink url="../user-manual/startup.html">5. Startup</ulink> to make sure
1537 <application>Privoxy</application> itself is setup correctly.
1540 If it is, refer to <ulink url="http://tor.eff.org/documentation.html.en">Tor's
1541 extensive documentation</ulink> to learn how to install <application>Tor</application>,
1542 and make sure <application>Tor</application>'s logfile says that
1543 <quote>Tor has successfully opened a circuit</quote> and it
1544 <quote>looks like client functionality is working</quote>.
1547 If either <application>Tor</application> or <application>Privoxy</application>
1548 isn't working, their combination most likely will neither. Testing them on their
1549 own will also help you to direct problem reports to the right audience.
1550 If <application>Privoxy</application> isn't working, don't bother the
1551 <application>Tor</application> developers. If <application>Tor</application>
1552 isn't working, don't send bug reports to the <application>Privoxy</application> Team.
1555 If you verified that <application>Privoxy</application> and <application>Tor</application>
1556 are working, it is time to connect them. As far as <application>Privoxy</application>
1557 is concerned, <application>Tor</application> is just another proxy that can be reached
1558 by socks4 or socks4a. Most likely you are interested in <application>Tor</application>
1559 to increase your anonymity level, therefore you should use socks4a,
1560 to make sure <application>Privoxy's</application> DNS requests are
1561 done through <application>Tor</application> and thus invisible to your local network.
1566 Since <application>Privoxy</application> 3.0.5, its configuration (section 5.2)
1567 is already prepared for <application>Tor</application>, if you are using a
1568 default <application>Tor</application> configuration and run it on the same
1569 system as &my-app;, you just have to uncomment the line:
1573 # forward-socks4a / 127.0.0.1:9050 .
1577 This is enough to reach the Internet, but additionally you should
1578 uncomment the following forward rules, to make sure your local network is still
1579 reachable through Privoxy:
1583 # forward 192.168.*.*/ .
1584 # forward 10.*.*.*/ .
1585 # forward 127.*.*.*/ .
1589 Unencrypted connections to systems in these address ranges will
1590 be as (un)secure as the local network is, but the alternative is
1591 that you can't reach the network at all.
1592 If you also want to be able to reach servers in your local
1593 network by using their names, you will need additional
1594 exceptions that look like this:
1598 # forward localhost/ .
1602 Save the modified configuration file and open
1603 <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status/</ulink>
1604 in your browser, confirm that <application>Privoxy</application> has reloaded its configuration
1605 and that there are no other forward lines, unless you know that you need them. I everything looks good,
1607 <ulink url="http://wiki.noreply.org/noreply/TheOnionRouter/TorFAQ#head-0e1cc2ac330ede8c6ad1ac0d0db0ac163b0e6143">Tor
1608 Faq 4.2</ulink> to learn how to verify that you are really using <application>Tor</application>.
1611 Afterward, please take the time to at least skim through the rest
1612 of <application>Tor's</application> documentation. Make sure you understand
1613 what <application>Tor</application> does, why it is no replacement for
1614 application level security, and why you shouldn't use it for unencrypted logins.
1618 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1619 <title id="sitebreak">Might some things break because header information or
1620 content is being altered?</title>
1623 Definitely. More and more sites use HTTP header content to decide what to
1624 display and how to display it. There is many ways that this can be handled,
1625 so having hard and fast rules, is tricky.
1629 <quote>User-Agent</quote> in particular is often used in this way to identify
1630 the browser, and adjust content accordingly. Changing this now (at least not
1631 further than removing the OS information) is not recommended, since so many
1632 sites do look for it. You may get undesirable results by changing this.
1636 For instance, different browsers use different encodings of Russian and Czech
1637 characters, certain web servers convert pages on-the-fly according to the
1638 User Agent header. Giving a <quote>User Agent</quote> with the wrong
1639 operating system or browser manufacturer causes some sites in these languages
1640 to be garbled; Surfers to Eastern European sites should change it to
1641 something closer. And then some page access counters work by looking at the
1642 <quote>Referer</quote> header; they may fail or break if unavailable. The
1643 weather maps of Intellicast have been blocked by their server when no
1644 <quote>Referer</quote> or cookie is provided, is another example. (But you
1645 can forge both headers without giving information away). There are
1646 many other ways things can go wrong when trying to fool a web server.
1650 Similar thoughts apply to modifying JavaScript, and, to a lesser degree,
1655 If you have problems with a site, you will have to adjust your configuration
1656 accordingly. Cookies are probably the most likely adjustment that may
1657 be required, but by no means the only one.
1663 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1664 <title id="caching">Can Privoxy act as a <quote>caching</quote> proxy to
1665 speed up web browsing?</title>
1667 No, it does not have this ability at all. You want something like
1668 <ulink url="http://www.squid-cache.org/">Squid</ulink> for this. And, yes,
1669 before you ask, <application>Privoxy</application> can co-exist
1670 with other kinds of proxies like <application>Squid</application>.
1671 See the <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#FORWARDING">forwarding
1672 chapter</ulink> in the <ulink url="../user-manual/index.html">user
1673 manual</ulink> for details.
1677 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1678 <title id="firewall">What about as a firewall? Can Privoxy protect me?</title>
1680 Not in the way you mean, or in the way a true firewall can.
1681 <application>Privoxy</application> can help protect your privacy, but not
1682 protect you from intrusion attempts. It is, of course, perfectly possible
1683 and recommended to use <emphasis>both</emphasis>.
1687 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1688 <title id="wasted">I have large empty spaces / a checkerboard pattern now where
1689 ads used to be. Why?</title>
1691 It would be technically possible eliminate the banners in a way that frees
1692 their screen estate in many cases, by doing all banner blocking with filters,
1693 i.e. eliminating the whole image references from the HTML pages instead
1694 of letting them stay in, and blocking the resulting requests for the
1698 But this would consume considerable CPU resources, would likely destroy
1699 the layout of many web pages which rely on the banners consuming a certain
1700 amount of screen space, and would fail in other cases, where the screen space
1701 is reserved e.g. by tables anyway. Also, making the banners disappear without
1702 a visual trace complicates troubleshooting.
1705 So we won't support this in the default configuration, but you can of course
1706 define appropriate filters yourself.
1710 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1711 <title id="ssl">How can Privoxy filter Secure (HTTPS) URLs?</title>
1713 Since secure HTTP connections are encrypted SSL sessions between your browser
1714 and the secure site, and are meant to be reliably <emphasis>secure</emphasis>,
1715 there is little that <application>Privoxy</application> can do but hand the raw
1716 gibberish data though from one end to the other unprocessed.
1719 The only exception to this is blocking by host patterns, as the client needs
1720 to tell <application>Privoxy</application> the name of the remote server,
1721 so that <application>Privoxy</application> can establish the connection.
1722 If that name matches a host-only pattern, the connection will be blocked.
1725 As far as ad blocking is concerned, this is less of a restriction than it may
1726 seem, since ad sources are often identifiable by the host name, and often
1727 the banners to be placed in an encrypted page come unencrypted nonetheless
1728 for efficiency reasons, which exposes them to the full power of
1729 <application>Privoxy</application>'s ad blocking.
1732 <quote>Content cookies</quote> (those that are embedded in the actual HTML or
1733 JS page content, see <literal><ulink
1734 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES">filter{content-cookies}</ulink></literal>),
1735 in an SSL transaction will be impossible to block under these conditions.
1736 Fortunately, this does not seem to be a very common scenario since most
1737 cookies come by traditional means.
1742 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1743 <title id="secure">Privoxy runs as a <quote>server</quote>. How
1744 secure is it? Do I need to take any special precautions?</title>
1746 There are no known exploits that might affect
1747 <application>Privoxy</application>. On Unix-like systems,
1748 <application>Privoxy</application> can run as a non-privileged
1749 user, which is how we recommend it be run. Also, by default
1750 <application>Privoxy</application> only listens to requests
1751 from <quote>localhost</quote> only. The server aspect of
1752 <application>Privoxy</application> is not itself directly exposed to the
1753 Internet in this configuration. If you want to have
1754 <application>Privoxy</application> serve as a LAN proxy, this will have to
1755 be opened up to allow for LAN requests. In this case, we'd recommend
1756 you specify only the LAN gateway address, e.g. 192.168.1.1, in the main
1757 <application>Privoxy</application> configuration file and check all <ulink
1758 url="../user-manual/config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">access control and security
1759 options</ulink>. All LAN hosts can then use this as their proxy address
1760 in the browser proxy configuration, but <application>Privoxy</application>
1761 will not listen on any external interfaces. ACLs can be defined in addition,
1762 and using a firewall is always good too. Better safe than sorry.
1767 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="turnoff">
1768 <title>How can I temporarily disable Privoxy?</title>
1770 The easiest way is to access <application>Privoxy</application> with your
1771 browser by using the remote toggle URL: <ulink
1772 url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>.
1773 See the <ulink url="../user-manual/appendix.html#BOOKMARKLETS">Bookmarklets section</ulink>
1774 of the <citetitle>User Manual</citetitle> for an easy way to access this
1779 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="reallyoff">
1780 <title>When <quote>disabled</quote> is Privoxy totally
1781 out of the picture?</title>
1783 No, this just means all filtering and actions are disabled.
1784 <application>Privoxy</application> is still acting as a proxy, but just not
1785 doing any of the things that <application>Privoxy</application> would
1786 normally be expected to do. It is still a <quote>middle-man</quote> in
1787 the interaction between your browser and web sites.
1791 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="crunch">
1792 <title>My logs show Privoxy <quote>crunches</quote>
1793 ads, but also its own internal CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
1795 A <quote>crunch</quote> simply means <application>Privoxy</application> intercepted
1796 <emphasis>something</emphasis>, nothing more. Often this is indeed ads or
1797 banners, but <application>Privoxy</application> uses the same mechanism for
1798 trapping requests for its own internal pages. For instance, a request for
1799 <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration page at: <ulink
1800 url="http://config.privoxy.org">http://config.privoxy.org</ulink>, is
1801 intercepted (i.e. it does not go out to the 'net), and the familiar CGI
1802 configuration is returned to the browser, and the log consequently will show
1803 a <quote>crunch</quote>.
1807 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads">
1808 <title>Can Privoxy effect files that I download
1809 from a webserver? FTP server?</title>
1811 From the webserver's perspective, there is no difference between
1812 viewing a document (i.e. a page), and downloading a file. The same is true of
1813 <application>Privoxy</application>. If there is a match for a <literal><ulink
1814 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</ulink></literal> pattern,
1815 it will still be blocked, and of course this is obvious.
1818 Filtering is potentially more of a concern since the results are not always
1819 so obvious, and the effects of filtering are there whether the file is simply
1820 viewed, or downloaded. And potentially whether the content is some obnoxious
1821 advertisement, or Mr. Jimmy's latest/greatest source code jewel. Of course,
1822 one of these presumably is <quote>bad</quote> content that we don't want, and
1823 the other is <quote>good</quote> content that we do want.
1824 <application>Privoxy</application> is blind to the differences, and can only
1825 distinguish <quote>good from bad</quote> by the configuration parameters
1826 <emphasis>we</emphasis> give it.
1829 <application>Privoxy</application> knows the differences in files according
1830 to the <quote>Document Type</quote> as reported by the webserver. If this is
1831 reported accurately (e.g. <quote>application/zip</quote> for a zip archive),
1832 then <application>Privoxy</application> knows to ignore these where
1833 appropriate. <application>Privoxy</application> potentially can filter HTML
1834 as well as plain text documents, subject to configuration parameters of
1835 course. Also, documents that are of an unknown type (generally assumed to be
1836 <quote>text/plain</quote>) can be filtered, as will those that might be
1837 incorrectly reported by the webserver. If such a file is a downloaded file
1838 that is intended to be saved to disk, then any content that might have been
1839 altered by filtering, will be saved too, for these (probably rare) cases.
1842 Note that versions later than 3.0.2 do NOT filter document types reported as
1843 <quote>text/plain</quote>. Prior to this, <application>Privoxy</application>
1844 did filter this document type.
1847 In short, filtering is <quote>ON</quote> if a) the Document Type as reported
1848 by the webserver is appropriate <emphasis>and</emphasis> b) the configuration
1849 allows it (or at least does not disallow it). That's it. There is no magic
1850 cookie anywhere to say this is <quote>good</quote> and this is
1851 <quote>bad</quote>. It's the configuration that let's it all happen or not.
1854 If you download text files, you probably do not want these to be filtered,
1855 particularly if the content is source code, or other critical content. Source
1856 code sometimes might be mistaken for Javascript (i.e. the kind that might
1857 open a pop-up window). It is recommended to turn off filtering for download
1858 sites (particularly if the content may be plain text files and you are using
1859 version 3.0.2 or earlier) in your <filename>user.action</filename> file. And
1860 also, for any site or page where making <emphasis>any</emphasis> changes at
1861 all to the content is to be avoided.
1864 <application>Privoxy</application> does not do FTP at all, only HTTP
1865 and HTTPS (SSL) protocols, so please don't try.
1869 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads2">
1870 <title>I just downloaded a Perl script, and Privoxy
1871 altered it! Yikes, what is wrong!</title>
1877 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="hostsfile">
1878 <title>Should I continue to use a <quote>HOSTS</quote> file for ad-blocking?</title>
1880 One time-tested technique to defeat common ads is to trick the local DNS
1881 system by giving a phony IP address for the ad generator in the local
1882 <filename>HOSTS</filename> file, typically using <literal>127.0.0.1</literal>, aka
1883 <literal>localhost</literal>. This effectively blocks the ad.
1886 There is no reason to use this technique in conjunction with
1887 <application>Privoxy</application>. <application>Privoxy</application>
1888 does essentially the same thing, much more elegantly and with much more
1889 flexibility. A large <filename>HOSTS</filename> file, in fact, not only
1890 duplicates effort, but may get in the way. It is recommended to remove
1891 such entries from your <filename>HOSTS</filename> file. If you think
1892 your hosts list is neglected by <application>Privoxy's </application>
1893 configuration, consider adding your list to your <filename>user.action</filename> file:
1900 ads.galore.example.com
1901 etc.example.com</screen>
1905 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="seealso">
1906 <title>Where can I find more information about Privoxy
1907 and related issues?</title>
1908 <!-- Include seealso.sgml boilerplate: -->
1910 <!-- end boilerplate -->
1915 <ulink url="../user-manual/seealso.html">user-manual</ulink> for
1921 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="microsuck">
1922 <title>I've noticed that Privoxy changes <quote>Microsoft</quote> to
1923 <quote>MicroSuck</quote>! Why are you manipulating my browsing?</title>
1926 We're not. The text substitutions that you are seeing are disabled
1927 in the default configuration as shipped. You have either manually
1928 activated the <quote><literal>fun</literal></quote> filter which
1929 is clearly labeled <quote>Text replacements for subversive browsing
1930 fun!</quote> or you are using an older Privoxy version and have implicitly
1931 activated it by choosing the <quote>Adventuresome</quote> profile in the
1932 web-based editor. Please upgrade!
1939 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
1941 <sect1 id="trouble">
1942 <title>Troubleshooting</title>
1944 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1945 <title id="refused">I am getting <quote>connection refused</quote>
1946 with every web page?</title>
1948 Either <application>Privoxy</application> is not running, or your
1949 browser is configured for a different port than what
1950 <application>Privoxy</application> is using, or, if using a forwarding
1951 rule, you have a configuration problem or a problem with a host in the
1957 You should verify that &my-app; is indeed running and that the correct port is set,
1958 and matches what your browser is set to. See <ulink
1959 url="../user-manual/config.html#LISTEN-ADDRESS"><literal>listen-address</literal>
1960 option</ulink> in <application>Privoxy's</application> <ulink
1961 url="../user-manual/config.html">main configuration file</ulink>. If using
1962 any forwarding rules, disable those to make sure the problem is not with
1968 <sect2 renderas="sect3">
1969 <title id="flushit">I just added a new rule, but the steenkin ad is
1970 still getting through. How?</title>
1972 If the ad had been displayed before you added its URL, it will probably be
1973 held in the browser's cache for some time, so it will be displayed without
1974 the need for any request to the server, and <application>Privoxy</application>
1975 will not be in the picture. The best thing to do is try flushing the browser's
1976 caches. And then try again.
1980 If this doesn't help, you probably have an error in the rule you
1981 applied. Try pasting the full URL of the offending ad into <ulink
1982 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
1983 and see if it really matches your new rule. Blocking ads is like blocking
1984 spam: a lot of tinkering is required to stay ahead of the game.
1989 <sect2 id="badsite" renderas="sect3">
1990 <title >One of my favorite sites does not work with Privoxy.
1991 What can I do?</title>
1994 First verify that it is indeed a <application>Privoxy</application> problem,
1995 by toggling off <application>Privoxy</application> through <ulink
1996 url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle">http://config.privoxy.org/toggle</ulink>,
1997 and then shift-reloading the problem page (i.e. holding down the shift key
1998 while clicking reload. Alternatively, flush your browser's disk and memory
2003 If still a problem, go to <ulink
2004 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info">http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</ulink>
2005 and paste the full URL of the page in question into the prompt. See which actions
2006 are being applied to the URL, and which matches in which actions files are
2007 responsible for that. Now, armed with this information, go to <ulink
2008 url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</ulink>
2009 and select the appropriate actions files for editing.
2012 You can now either look for a section which disables the actions that
2013 you suspect to cause the problem and add a pattern for your site there,
2014 or make up a completely new section for your site. In any case, the recommended
2015 way is to disable only the prime suspect, reload the problem page, and only
2016 if the problem persists, disable more and more actions until you have
2017 identified the culprit. You may or may not want to turn the other actions
2018 on again. Remember to flush your browser's caches in between any such changes!
2021 Alternately, if you are comfortable with a text editor, you can accomplish
2022 the same thing by editing the appropriate actions file. Probably the easiest
2023 way to deal with such problems when editing by hand is to add your
2024 site to a <literal>{ fragile }</literal> section in <filename>user.action</filename>,
2025 which is an alias that turns off most <quote>dangerous</quote>
2026 actions, but is also likely to turn off more actions then needed, and thus lower
2027 your privacy and protection more than necessary,
2030 Troubleshooting actions is discussed in more detail in the <ulink
2031 url="../user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">User Manual appendix,
2032 Troubleshooting: the Anatomy of an Action</ulink>.
2033 There is also an <ulink
2034 url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">actions tutorial</ulink>
2035 with general configuration information and examples.
2041 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2042 <sect2 id="dun" renderas="sect3">
2043 <title>After installing Privoxy, I have to log in
2044 every time I start IE. What gives?</title>
2047 This is a quirk that effects the installation of
2048 <application>Privoxy</application>, in conjunction with Internet Explorer and
2049 Internet Connection Sharing on Windows 2000 and Windows XP. The symptoms may
2050 appear to be corrupted or invalid DUN settings, or passwords.
2054 When setting up an NT based Windows system with
2055 <application>Privoxy</application> you may find that things do not seem to be
2056 doing what you expect. When you set your system up you will probably have set
2057 up Internet Connection Sharing (ICS) with Dial up Networking (DUN) when
2058 logged in with administrator privileges. You will probably have made this DUN
2059 connection available to other accounts that you may have set-up on your
2060 system. E.g. Mum or Dad sets up the system and makes accounts suitably
2061 configured for the kids.
2065 When setting up <application>Privoxy</application> in this environment you
2066 will have to alter the proxy set-up of Internet Explorer (IE) for the
2067 specific DUN connection on which you wish to use
2068 <application>Privoxy</application>. When you do this the ICS DUN set-up
2069 becomes user specific. In this instance you will see no difference if you
2070 change the DUN connection under the account used to set-up the connection.
2071 However when you do this from another user you will notice that the DUN
2072 connection changes to make available to "Me only". You will also find that
2073 you have to store the password under each different user!
2077 The reason for this is that each user's set-up for IE is user specific. Each
2078 set-up DUN connection and each LAN connection in IE store the settings for
2079 each user individually. As such this enforces individual configurations
2080 rather than common ones. Hence the first time you use a DUN connection after
2081 re-booting your system it may not perform as you expect, and prompt you for
2082 the password. Just set and save the password again and all should be OK.
2086 [Thanks to Ray Griffith for this submission.]
2091 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2092 <sect2 id="ftp" renderas="sect3">
2093 <title>I cannot connect to any FTP sites. Privoxy
2094 is blocking me.</title>
2096 <application>Privoxy</application> cannot act as a proxy for FTP traffic,
2097 so do not configure your browser to use <application>Privoxy</application>
2098 as an FTP proxy. The same is true for <emphasis>any protocol other than HTTP
2099 or HTTPS (SSL)</emphasis>.
2102 Most browsers understand FTP as well as HTTP. If you connect to a site, with
2103 a URL like <literal>ftp://ftp.example.com</literal>, your browser is making
2104 an FTP connection, and not a HTTP connection. So while your browser may
2105 speak FTP, <application>Privoxy</application> does not, and cannot proxy
2109 To complicate matters, some systems may have a generic <quote>proxy</quote>
2110 setting, which will silently enable various protocols, including
2111 <emphasis>both</emphasis> HTTP and FTP proxying! So it is possible to
2112 accidentally enable FTP proxying in these cases. And of course, if this
2113 happens, <application>Privoxy</application> will indeed cause problems since
2114 it does not know FTP. <![%p-newstuff;[Newer version will give a sane error
2115 message if a FTP connection is attempted.]]> Just disable the FTP setting
2116 and all will be well again.
2119 Will <application>Privoxy</application> ever proxy FTP traffic? Unlikely.
2120 There just is not much reason, and the work to make this happen is more than
2125 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2126 <sect2 id="osxie" renderas="sect3">
2127 <title>In Mac OSX, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
2128 Privoxy as the HTTP proxy.</title>
2130 Microsoft Internet Explorer (in versions like 5.1) respects system-wide
2131 network settings. In order to change the HTTP proxy, open System
2132 Preferences, and click on the Network icon. In the settings pane that
2133 comes up, click on the Proxies tab. Ensure the "Web Proxy (HTTP)" checkbox
2134 is checked and enter <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> in the entry field.
2135 Enter <literal>8118</literal> in the Port field. The next time you start
2136 IE, it should reflect these values.
2140 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2141 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="osxuninstall">
2142 <title>In Mac OSX, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
2143 uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
2144 empty the trash.</title>
2146 Just dragging the <application>Privoxy</application> folder to the trash is
2147 not enough to delete it. <application>Privoxy</application> supplies an
2148 <application>uninstall.command</application> file that takes care of
2149 these details. Open the trash, drag the <application>uninstall.command</application>
2150 file out of the trash and double-click on it. You will be prompted for
2151 confirmation and the administration password.
2154 The trash may still appear full after this command; emptying the trash
2155 from the desktop should make it appear empty again.
2160 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2161 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="osximages">
2162 <title>In Mac OSX Panther (10.3), images often fail to load and/or I
2163 experience random delays in page loading. I'm using
2164 <literal>localhost</literal> as my browser's proxy setting.</title>
2166 We believe this is due to an IPv6-related bug in OSX, but don't fully
2167 understand the issue yet. In any case, changing the proxy setting to
2168 <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> instead of <literal>localhost</literal>
2169 works around the problem.
2173 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2174 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blankpage">
2175 <title>I get a completely blank page at one site. <quote>View Source</quote>
2176 shows only: <markup><![CDATA[<html><body></body></html>]]></markup>. Without
2177 Privoxy the page loads fine.</title>
2179 Chances are that the site suffers from a bug in
2180 <ulink url="http://www.php.net/"><application>PHP</application></ulink>,
2181 which results in empty pages being sent if the client explicitly requests
2182 an uncompressed page, like <application>Privoxy</application> does.
2183 This bug has been fixed in PHP 4.2.3.
2186 To find out if this is in fact the source of the problem, try adding
2187 the site to a <literal>-prevent-compression</literal> section in
2188 <filename>user.action</filename>:
2191 # Make exceptions for ill-behaved sites:
2193 {-prevent-compression}
2194 .example.com</screen>
2196 If that works, you may also want to report the problem to the
2197 site's webmasters, telling them to use zlib.output_compression
2198 instead of ob_gzhandler in their PHP applications (workaround)
2199 or upgrade to PHP 4.2.3 or later (fix).
2203 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2204 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="error503">
2205 <title>Why am I getting a 503 Error (WSAECONNREFUSED) on every page?</title>
2207 More than likely this is a problem with your TCP/IP networking. ZoneAlarm has
2208 been reported to cause this symptom -- even if not running. The solution is
2209 to either fight the ZA configuration, or uninstall ZoneAlarm, and then find
2210 something better behaved in its place. Other personal firewall type products
2211 may cause similar type problems if not configured correctly.
2215 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="nohostname">
2216 <title>My logs show many <quote>Unable to get my own hostname</quote> lines.
2219 <application>Privoxy</application> tries to get the hostname of the system
2220 its running on from the IP address of the system interface it is bound to
2221 (from the <filename>config</filename> file
2222 <emphasis>listen-address</emphasis> setting). If the system cannot supply
2223 this information, <application>Privoxy</application> logs this condition.
2226 Typically, this would be considered a minor system configuration error. It is
2227 not a fatal error to <application>Privoxy</application> however, but may
2228 result in a much slower response from <application>Privoxy</application> on
2229 some platforms due to DNS timeouts.
2232 This can be caused by a problem with the local <filename>HOSTS</filename>
2233 file. If this file has been changed from the original, try reverting it to
2238 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="inuse">
2239 <title>When I try to launch Privoxy, I get an
2240 error message <quote>port 8118 is already in use</quote> (or similar wording).
2243 Port 8118 is <application>Privoxy's</application> default TCP
2244 <quote>listening</quote> port. Typically this message would mean that there
2245 is already one instance of <application>Privoxy</application> running, and
2246 you are actually trying to start a second <application>Privoxy</application>
2247 on the same port, which will not work. (You can have multiple instances but
2248 they must be assigned different ports.) How and why this might happen varies
2249 from platform to platform, but you need to check your installation and
2250 start-up procedures.
2254 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="demoronizer">
2256 Pages with UTF-8 fonts are garbled.
2259 This is caused by the <quote>demoronizer</quote> filter. You should either
2260 upgrade <application>Privoxy</application>, or at least upgrade to the most
2261 recent <filename>default.action</filename> file available from <ulink
2262 url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">SourceForge</ulink>.
2263 Or you can simply disable the demoronizer filter.
2267 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="demoronizer2">
2269 Why are binary files (such as images) corrupted when Privoxy
2273 This may also be caused by the <quote>demoronizer</quote> filter,
2274 in conjunction with a web server that is misreporting a file type. Binary
2275 files are exempted from <application>Privoxy's</application> filtering
2276 (unless the web server by mistake says the file is something else). Either
2277 upgrade <application>Privoxy</application>, or go to the most recent
2278 <filename>default.action</filename> file available from <ulink
2279 url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">SourceForge</ulink>.
2283 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="demoronizer3">
2285 What is the <quote>demoronizer</quote> and why is it there?
2288 The original demoronizer was a Perl script that cleaned up HTML pages which
2289 were created with certain Microsoft products. MS has used proprietary extensions
2290 to standardized font encodings (ISO 8859-1), which has caused problems for pages
2291 that are viewed with non-Microsoft products (and are expecting to see a
2292 standard set of fonts). The demoronizer corrected these errors so the pages
2293 displayed correctly. <application>Privoxy</application> borrowed from this
2294 script, introducing a filter based on the original demoronizer, which in turn could
2295 correct these errors on the fly.
2298 But this is only needed in some situations, and will cause serious problems in some
2302 If you are using Microsoft products, you do not need it. If you need to view
2303 pages with UTF-8 characters (such as Cyrillic or Chinese), then it will
2304 cause corruption of the fonts, and thus <emphasis>should not be on</emphasis>.
2307 On the other hand, if you use non-Microsoft products, and you occasionally
2308 notice wierd characters on pages, you might want to try it.
2312 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="windowopen">
2314 Why do I keep seeing <quote>PrivoxyWindowOpen()</quote> in raw source code?
2317 <application>Privoxy</application> is attempting to disable malicious
2318 <ulink url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javascript">Javascript</ulink>
2319 in this case, with the <literal>unsolicited-popups</literal>
2320 filter. <application>Privoxy</application> cannot tell very well
2321 <quote>good</quote> code snippets from <quote>bad</quote> code snippets.
2324 If you see this in HTML source, and the page displays without problems, then
2325 this is good, and likely some pop-up window was disabled. If you see this
2326 where it is causing a problem, such as a downloaded program source code file,
2327 then you should set an exception for this site or page such that the
2328 integrity of the page stays in tact by disabling all filtering.
2332 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="dnserrors">
2334 I am getting too many DNS errors like <quote>404 No Such Domain</quote>. Why
2335 can't Privoxy do this better?
2338 There are potentially several factors here. First of all, the DNS resolution
2339 is done by the underlying operating system -- not
2340 <application>Privoxy</application> itself. <application>Privoxy</application>
2341 merely initiates the process and hands it off, and then later reports
2342 whatever the outcome was. And tries to give a coherent message if there seems
2343 to be a problem. In some cases, this might otherwise be mitigated by the
2344 browser itself which might try some work-arounds and alternate approaches (e.g
2345 adding <quote>www.</quote> to the URL). In other cases, if
2346 <application>Privoxy</application> is being chained with another proxy, this
2347 could complicate the issue, and cause undue
2348 delays and timeouts. In the case of a <quote>socks4a</quote> proxy, the socks
2349 server handles all the DNS. <application>Privoxy</application> would just be
2350 the <quote>messenger</quote> which is reporting whatever problem occurred
2351 downstream, and not the root cause of the error.
2355 In any case, v. 3.0.5 includes various improvements to help
2356 <application>Privoxy</application> better handle these cases.
2360 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="allcpu">
2362 At one site Privoxy just hangs, and starts taking
2363 all CPU. Why is this?
2366 This is probably a manifestation of the <quote>100% cpu</quote> problem that
2367 occurs on pages containing many (thousands upon thousands) of blank lines. The blank lines
2368 are in the raw HTML source of the page, and the browser just ignores them. But the
2369 pattern matching in <application>Privoxy's</application> page filtering
2370 mechanism is trying to match against absurdly long strings and this becomes
2371 very CPU-intensive, taking a long, long time to complete. Until a better
2372 solution comes along, disable filtering on these pages, particularly the
2373 <literal>js-annoyances</literal> and <literal>unsolicited-popups</literal>
2378 <sect2 renderas="sect3" id="slowcrawl">
2379 <title>I just installed Privoxy, and all my
2380 browsing has slowed to a crawl. What gives? </title>
2382 This should not happen, and for the overwhelming number of users world-wide,
2383 it does not happen. I would suspect some inadvertent interaction of software
2384 components such as anti-virus software, spyware protectors, personal
2385 firewalls or similar components. Try disabling (or uninstalling) these one
2386 at a time and see if that helps.
2393 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2394 <sect1 id="contact"><title>Contacting the developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests</title>
2395 <!-- Include contacting.sgml -->
2397 <!-- end contacting -->
2400 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2401 <sect1 id="copyright"><title>Privoxy Copyright, License and History</title>
2403 <!-- Include copyright.sgml -->
2409 Portions of this document are <quote>borrowed</quote> from the original
2410 <application>Junkbuster</application> (tm) FAQ, and modified as
2411 appropriate for <application>Privoxy</application>.
2414 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2415 <sect2><title>License</title>
2416 <!-- Include copyright.sgml: -->
2418 <!-- end copyright -->
2420 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2422 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2423 <sect2><title>History</title>
2424 <!-- Include history.sgml -->
2430 <!-- ~ End section ~ -->
2433 <!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
2435 <sect1 id="seealso"><title>See also</title>
2437 <!-- Include seealso.sgml -->
2448 Tue 09/11/01 06:38:14 PM EST: Test SGML doc by Hal Burgiss.
2450 This program is free software; you can redistribute it
2451 and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General
2452 Public License as published by the Free Software
2453 Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
2454 your option) any later version.
2456 This program is distributed in the hope that it will
2457 be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the
2458 implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
2459 PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public
2460 License for more details.
2462 The GNU General Public License should be included with
2463 this file. If not, you can view it at
2464 http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
2465 or write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
2466 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA
2469 Revision 2.18 2006/09/22 01:27:55 hal9
2470 Final commit of probably various minor changes here and there. Unless
2471 something changes this should be ready for pending release.
2473 Revision 2.17 2006/09/17 14:56:32 hal9
2474 This includes yet several more new FAQs, some improved wording, enhanced
2475 mark-up, various hyper links to wikipedia to explain key terminology to the
2476 uninitiated, etc. This is ready for release IMO pending final tagging of cvs
2477 and Privoxy version stamping.
2479 Revision 2.16 2006/09/10 15:30:46 hal9
2482 Revision 2.15 2006/09/08 23:05:07 hal9
2483 Fix broken links. Add faq on hosts files. Move most of new windows service
2484 feature to user manual and reference in faq. Various other small changes.
2486 Revision 2.14 2006/09/05 13:25:12 david__schmidt
2487 Add Windows service invocation stuff (duplicated) in FAQ and in user manual under Windows startup. One probably ought to reference the other.
2489 Revision 2.13 2006/09/04 19:20:33 fabiankeil
2490 Adjusted anonymity related sections to match reality.
2491 Added a section about using Privoxy with Tor.
2493 Revision 2.12 2006/09/03 14:15:30 hal9
2494 Various updates, including 7 or 8 new FAQs, and updates/changes to various
2495 other ones to better reflect improvements, additions and changes for the
2496 upcoming release. This is close to final form for 3.0.4 IMHO.
2498 Revision 2.11 2006/07/18 14:48:50 david__schmidt
2499 Reorganizing the repository: swapping out what was HEAD (the old 3.1 branch)
2500 with what was really the latest development (the v_3_0_branch branch)
2502 Revision 1.61.2.41 2004/04/05 13:44:05 oes
2503 Fixed allow-all-cookies alias name; closes SR #929746
2505 Revision 1.61.2.40 2004/01/30 17:00:33 oes
2506 Added OSX Panther problem
2508 Revision 1.61.2.39 2004/01/29 22:53:08 hal9
2509 Minor changes for exempting docs of text/plain. Change copyright date.
2511 Revision 1.61.2.38 2003/12/10 03:39:45 hal9
2512 Added FAQs for: demoronizer, related problems and why its included. Also,
2513 port 8118 already in use questions, and PrivoxyWindowOpen() questions. All in
2514 troubleshooting section.
2516 Revision 1.61.2.37 2003/10/17 11:01:50 oes
2517 Added Q&A for "not being used" page problem
2519 Revision 1.61.2.36 2003/06/26 23:49:20 hal9
2520 More on the filter/source code problem.
2522 Revision 1.61.2.35 2003/06/26 13:38:08 hal9
2523 Add FAQ on whether configuring Privoxy is necessary or not.
2525 Revision 1.61.2.34 2003/06/26 03:00:03 hal9
2526 Sorry, found another copyright date.
2528 Revision 1.61.2.33 2003/06/26 02:57:05 hal9
2529 Fix typo (finally!) and very minor modifications.
2531 Revision 1.61.2.32 2003/06/26 02:52:04 hal9
2534 Revision 1.61.2.31 2003/06/25 01:27:51 hal9
2535 Fix copyright, and a few nits.
2537 Revision 1.61.2.30 2003/06/25 01:13:52 hal9
2540 - FAQ on "Unable to get my own hostname"
2541 - Another one on filtering effects on text files.
2543 Revision 1.61.2.29 2003/06/15 21:32:58 hal9
2544 Add to the 4.17 (filtering effects on downloaded files).
2546 Revision 1.61.2.28 2003/03/18 19:37:21 oes
2547 s/Advanced|Radical/Adventuresome/g to avoid complaints re fun filter
2549 Revision 1.61.2.27 2002/12/01 06:31:58 hal9
2550 Add faq on win32 error 503 due to ZoneAlarm.
2552 Revision 1.61.2.26 2002/11/17 06:41:06 hal9
2553 Move default profiles table from FAQ to U-M, and other minor related changes.
2556 Revision 1.61.2.25 2002/10/29 03:21:50 hal9
2557 Add 3 Q/A's relating to HTML in email. Other minor touchups.
2559 Revision 1.61.2.24 2002/10/15 12:50:22 oes
2560 s/Advanced/Radical/ (stupid me)
2562 Revision 1.61.2.23 2002/10/15 12:38:56 oes
2563 Added Microsuck faq; more detail for PHP problem
2565 Revision 1.61.2.22 2002/10/12 01:13:13 hal9
2566 Updates for demoronizer, more commentary on Radical profile, and update on
2567 the srvany.exe/icon fix.
2569 Revision 1.61.2.21 2002/10/10 04:09:35 hal9
2570 s/Advanced/Radical/ and added very brief note.
2572 Revision 1.61.2.20 2002/09/26 01:22:45 hal9
2573 Small additions for LAN setup, content-cookies/SSL, and FTP non-support.
2575 Revision 1.61.2.19 2002/08/25 23:31:56 hal9
2576 Fix one grammatical error. Add brief FAQ relating to tranparent proxies (ie
2577 port 80 setting). Add FAQ on effects of Privoxy on downloaded files
2578 (especially filtering).
2580 Revision 1.61.2.18 2002/08/14 16:39:37 hal9
2581 Fix wrong tag on FAQ addition.
2583 Revision 1.61.2.17 2002/08/14 00:01:18 hal9
2586 Revision 1.61.2.16 2002/08/13 00:10:38 hal9
2587 Add faq to troubleshooting re: blank page syndrome, ie {-prevent-compression}.
2589 Revision 1.61.2.15 2002/08/10 11:34:22 oes
2590 Add disclaimer about probably being out-of-date
2592 Revision 1.61.2.14 2002/08/07 02:53:43 hal9
2593 Fix some minor markup errors, and move one OSX Q/A to troubleshooting section.
2595 Revision 1.61.2.13 2002/08/06 11:55:32 oes
2596 Added missing close tag
2598 Revision 1.61.2.12 2002/08/06 11:43:46 david__schmidt
2599 Updated OSX uninstall FAQ... we have an uninstall script now.
2601 Revision 1.61.2.11 2002/08/06 08:54:03 oes
2602 Style police: Fixed formatting details
2604 Revision 1.61.2.10 2002/08/02 14:00:25 david__schmidt
2605 Made the OSX removal commands far less dangerous
2607 Revision 1.61.2.9 2002/08/02 13:14:45 oes
2608 Added warning about sudo rm -r for Mac OSX deinstallation; moved this item to install section
2610 Revision 1.61.2.8 2002/08/02 02:01:42 david__schmidt
2611 Add FAQ item for MSIE on OSX HTTP proxy confusion
2613 Revision 1.61.2.7 2002/08/02 01:46:01 david__schmidt
2614 Added FAQ item for Mac OSX uninstall woes
2616 Revision 1.61.2.6 2002/07/30 20:04:56 hal9
2617 Fix typo: 'schould'.
2619 Revision 1.61.2.5 2002/07/26 15:22:58 oes
2620 - Updated to reflect changes in standard.action
2621 - Added info on where to get updated actions files
2623 Revision 1.61.2.4 2002/07/25 21:42:29 hal9
2624 Add brief notes on not proxying non-HTTP protocols.
2626 Revision 1.61.2.3 2002/06/09 16:36:33 hal9
2627 Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
2629 Revision 1.61.2.2 2002/06/06 02:51:34 hal9
2630 Fix typo in URL http:/config.privoxy.org
2632 Revision 1.61.2.1 2002/06/05 23:10:43 hal9
2633 Add new FAQ re: DUN/IE. Change release date from May to June :)
2635 Revision 1.61 2002/05/25 12:37:25 hal9
2636 Various minor changes and edits.
2638 Revision 1.60 2002/05/22 17:17:48 oes
2639 Proofread & added more links into u-m
2641 Revision 1.59 2002/05/15 04:03:30 hal9
2642 Fix ulink -> link markup.
2644 Revision 1.58 2002/05/10 01:48:20 hal9
2645 This is mostly proposed copyright/licensing additions and changes. Docs
2646 are still GPL, but licensing and copyright are more visible. Also, copyright
2647 changed in doc header comments (eliminate references to JB except FAQ).
2649 Revision 1.57 2002/05/05 20:26:02 hal9
2650 Sorting out license vs copyright in these docs.
2652 Revision 1.56 2002/05/04 08:44:44 swa
2655 Revision 1.55 2002/05/04 00:41:56 hal9
2656 -Remove TOC/first page kludge in favor of proper handling via dsl file.
2658 Revision 1.54 2002/05/03 05:06:44 hal9
2659 Add brief Q/A on transparent proxies.
2661 Revision 1.53 2002/05/03 01:34:52 hal9
2662 Fix section numbering for new sections (due to TOC kludge).
2664 Revision 1.52 2002/04/29 03:08:43 hal9
2665 -Added new Q/A on new actions file set up (pointer to u-m)
2666 -Fixed a few broken links and converted old actions as a result of
2669 Revision 1.51 2002/04/26 17:24:31 swa
2670 bookmarks cleaned, changed structure of user manual, screen and programlisting cleanups, and numerous other changes that I forgot
2672 Revision 1.50 2002/04/26 05:25:23 hal9
2673 Mass commit to catch a few scattered fixes.
2675 Revision 1.49 2002/04/12 10:10:18 swa
2678 Revision 1.48 2002/04/10 18:45:15 swa
2681 Revision 1.47 2002/04/10 04:05:32 hal9
2684 Revision 1.45 2002/04/08 22:59:26 hal9
2685 Version update. Spell chkconfig correctly :)
2687 Revision 1.44 2002/04/07 21:24:29 hal9
2688 Touch up on name change.
2690 Revision 1.43 2002/04/04 21:59:53 hal9
2691 Added NT/W2K service/icon situation.
2693 Revision 1.42 2002/04/04 18:46:47 swa
2694 consistent look. reuse of copyright, history et. al.
2696 Revision 1.41 2002/04/04 06:48:37 hal9
2697 Structural changes to allow for conditional inclusion/exclusion of content
2698 based on entity toggles, e.g. 'entity % p-not-stable "INCLUDE"'. And
2699 definition of internal entities, e.g. 'entity p-version "2.9.13"' that will
2700 eventually be set by Makefile.
2701 More boilerplate text for use across multiple docs.
2703 Revision 1.40 2002/04/03 04:22:03 hal9
2704 Fixed several typos.
2706 Revision 1.39 2002/04/03 03:53:03 hal9
2707 Revert some changes, and then make some news, to layout, and appearance.
2709 Revision 1.38 2002/04/02 03:49:10 hal9
2710 Major changes to doc structure and layout. Sections are not automatically
2711 numbered now. TOC is on page by itself.
2713 Revision 1.37 2002/04/01 16:24:07 hal9
2714 -Rework of supported Q/A.
2715 -Set up entities to include boilerplate text.
2717 Revision 1.36 2002/03/31 23:18:47 hal9
2718 More on dealing with BLOCKED.
2720 Revision 1.35 2002/03/30 04:14:19 hal9
2721 Fix privoxy.org/config links.
2723 Revision 1.34 2002/03/29 04:35:56 hal9
2726 Revision 1.33 2002/03/29 01:31:48 hal9
2727 Several new Q/A's and other touch ups.
2729 Revision 1.32 2002/03/27 00:57:03 hal9
2730 Touch ups for name change.
2732 Revision 1.31 2002/03/26 22:29:55 swa
2733 we have a new homepage!
2735 Revision 1.30 2002/03/25 16:39:22 hal9
2736 A few new sections. Made all links relative to user-manual.
2738 Revision 1.29 2002/03/25 05:23:57 hal9
2739 Moved section, and touch ups.
2741 Revision 1.28 2002/03/25 04:27:33 hal9
2742 New section related to name change.
2744 Revision 1.25 2002/03/24 16:08:08 swa
2745 we are too lazy to make a block-built
2746 privoxy logo. hence removed the option.
2748 Revision 1.24 2002/03/24 15:46:20 swa
2749 name change related issue.
2751 Revision 1.23 2002/03/24 12:33:01 swa
2754 Revision 1.22 2002/03/24 11:51:00 swa
2755 name change. changed filenames.
2757 Revision 1.21 2002/03/24 11:01:06 swa
2760 Revision 1.20 2002/03/23 15:13:11 swa
2761 renamed every reference to the old name with foobar.
2762 fixed "application foobar application" tag, fixed
2763 "the foobar" with "foobar". left junkbustser in cvs
2764 comments and remarks to history untouched.
2766 Revision 1.19 2002/03/21 17:01:54 hal9
2769 Revision 1.18 2002/03/18 16:40:31 hal9
2772 Revision 1.17 2002/03/18 03:53:53 hal9
2775 Revision 1.16 2002/03/17 21:32:56 hal9
2776 A few more additions.
2778 Revision 1.15 2002/03/17 07:25:59 hal9
2779 Correcting some of my typos, and some additions.
2781 Revision 1.14 2002/03/17 02:39:13 hal9
2782 A little more added ...
2784 Revision 1.13 2002/03/17 00:22:20 hal9
2785 Adding new stuff, and trying to incorporate stuff from old faq.
2787 Revision 1.12 2002/03/11 20:13:21 swa
2790 Revision 1.11 2002/03/11 18:42:27 swa
2793 Revision 1.10 2002/03/11 13:13:27 swa
2794 correct feedback channels
2796 Revision 1.9 2002/03/10 23:34:04 swa
2797 more info on not hiding ip address
2799 Revision 1.8 2002/03/09 15:55:48 swa
2800 added default config section
2802 Revision 1.7 2002/03/07 18:16:55 swa
2805 Revision 1.6 2002/03/07 13:16:31 oes
2806 Committing changes by Stefan
2808 Revision 1.5 2002/03/02 15:50:04 swa
2809 2.9.11 version. more input for docs.
2811 Revision 1.4 2002/02/24 14:34:24 jongfoster
2812 Formatting changes. Now changing the doctype to DocBook XML 4.1
2813 will work - no other changes are needed.
2815 Revision 1.3 2001/09/23 10:13:48 swa
2816 upload process established. run make webserver and
2817 the documentation is moved to the webserver. documents
2818 are now linked correctly.
2820 Revision 1.2 2001/09/13 15:20:17 swa
2821 merged standards into developer manual
2823 Revision 1.1 2001/09/12 15:36:41 swa
2824 source files for junkbuster documentation
2826 Revision 1.3 2001/09/10 17:43:59 swa
2827 first proposal of a structure.
2829 Revision 1.2 2001/06/13 14:28:31 swa
2830 docs should have an author.
2832 Revision 1.1 2001/06/13 14:20:37 swa
2833 first import of project's documentation for the webserver.