2 File : doc/source/contacting.sgml
4 Purpose : Entity included in other project documents.
6 Copyright (C) 2001-2018 Privoxy Developers https://www.privoxy.org/
9 ======================================================================
10 This file used for inclusion with other documents only.
11 ======================================================================
13 This file is included into:
25 <!-- Careful of the literallayout tags and finished formatting -->
28 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve
29 <application>Privoxy</application> and its configuration.
30 However, please note the following hints, so we can
31 provide you with the best support.
34 <sect2 id="sufficient-information"><title>Please provide sufficient information</title>
36 A lot of support requests don't contain enough information and can't
37 be solved without a lot of back and forth which causes unnecessary
38 delays. Reading this section should help to prevent that.
41 Before contacting us to report a problem, please try to verify that it is a
42 <application>Privoxy</application> problem, and not a browser or site problem
43 or documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
45 try <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">toggling
46 off</ulink> <application>Privoxy</application>, and see if the problem persists.
50 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the default
51 configuration to see if the problem is configuration related.
52 If you're having problems with a feature that is disabled by default,
53 please ask around on the mailing list if others can reproduce the problem.
57 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the problem may have been found
58 and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time
59 to <ulink url="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/installation.html">upgrade
60 to the latest version</ulink> and verify that the problem still exists.
63 Please be sure to provide the following information when reporting problems
64 or requesting support:
70 The exact <application>Privoxy</application> version you are using.
76 The operating system and versions you run
77 <application>Privoxy</application> on, e.g. <application>Windows
84 The name, platform, and version of the <application>browser</application>
85 you were using (e.g. <application>Internet Explorer v5.5</application> for Mac).
91 The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
92 problem (e.g. <literal>http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123</literal>).
98 Whether your version of <application>Privoxy</application> is one supplied
99 by the <application>Privoxy</application> developers via SourceForge,
100 or if you got your copy somewhere else.
106 Whether you are using <application>Privoxy</application> together with
107 another proxy such as <application>Tor</application>. If so, please
108 temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
114 Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does
115 <application>Privoxy</application> work without it?
121 Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
122 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each
123 action taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the
124 <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">logfile directive</ulink>
125 is being used and the following <ulink
126 url="../user-manual/config.html#DEBUG">debug options</ulink> are enabled
129 <literallayout>debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through.
130 # See also debug 1024.
131 debug 2 # show each connection status
132 debug 4 # show I/O status
133 debug 8 # show header parsing
134 debug 128 # debug redirects
135 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
136 debug 512 # Common Log Format
137 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through,
138 # and the reason why.
139 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
140 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
141 debug 65536 # Log applying actions</literallayout>
143 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
145 <literallayout>debug 64 # debug regular expression filters</literallayout>
147 If you suspect that Privoxy interprets the request or the response
148 incorrectly, please enable
150 <literallayout>debug 32768 # log all data read from the network</literallayout>
152 It's easy for us to ignore log messages that aren't relevant but missing
153 log messages may make it impossible to investigate a problem. If you aren't
154 sure which of the debug directives are relevant, please just enable all of them
155 and let us worry about it.
158 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please don't
159 submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive information
160 as long as it's clear that you removed something.
167 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem
168 report, but if you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate
169 between your messages and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that
170 may respond to your request if they have the same problem or already
171 found a solution. Note that due to spam the trackers may not always
172 allow to post without being logged into SourceForge. If that's the
173 case, you are still free to create a login that isn't directly linked
174 to your name, though.
178 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting
179 it, as we may request additional information. If you use a SF id,
180 you should automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
181 Please don't bother to add an email address when using the tracker.
182 If you prefer to communicate through email, just use one of the mailing
187 If you are new to reporting problems, you might be interested in
188 <ulink url="http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html"
189 >How to Report Bugs Effectively</ulink>.
193 The <ulink url="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">appendix
194 of the Privoxy User Manual</ulink> also has helpful information
195 on understanding <literal>actions</literal>, and <literal>action</literal> debugging.
198 <sect2 id="contact-support"><title>Get Support</title>
200 All users are welcome to discuss their issues on the <ulink
201 url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo/privoxy-users">users
202 mailing list</ulink>, where the developers also hang around.
206 Please don't send private support requests to individual Privoxy
207 developers, either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
211 If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons,
212 please send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging
213 system. Answers to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's
214 mail server in which case the developer wasted time writing a response you
215 don't get. From your point of view it will look like your message has
216 been completely ignored, so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
220 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
221 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a
222 delay of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly
223 mention Privoxy or one of its features, your message may be accidentally
228 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds
229 to come up with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear
230 that you want to get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to
231 the mailing list only, and you won't see them.
236 <sect2 id="reporting"><title>Reporting Problems</title>
238 <quote>Problems</quote> for our purposes, come in two forms:
244 Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that
245 don't function properly due to one <application>Privoxy</application>
246 <quote>action</quote> or another being turned <quote>on</quote>.
252 <quote>Bugs</quote> in the programming code that makes up
253 <application>Privoxy</application>, such as that might cause a crash.
254 Documentation issues, for example spelling errors and unclear descriptions,
261 <sect3 id="contact-ads"><title>Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</title>
263 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
264 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related problem of
265 <filename>default.action</filename> file, to
266 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288">
267 https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288</ulink>,
268 the Actions File Tracker.
274 <sect3 id="contact-bugs"><title>Reporting Bugs</title>
277 Before reporting bugs, please make sure that the bug has <emphasis>not already been submitted</emphasis>
278 and observe the additional hints at the top of the <ulink
279 url="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=11118&atid=111118">submit
280 form</ulink>. If already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the
281 original report that might help to solve the issue.
286 <sect2 id="security-contact"><title>Reporting security problems</title>
288 If you discovered a security problem or merely suspect that a bug might
289 be a security issue, please mail Fabian Keil <fk@fabiankeil.de>
290 (OpenPGP fingerprint: 4F36 C17F 3816 9136 54A1 E850 6918 2291 8BA2 371C).
293 Usually you should get a response within a day, otherwise it's
294 likely that either your mail or the response didn't make it.
295 If that happens, please mail to the developer list to request a
300 <sect2 id="mailing-lists"><title>Mailing Lists</title>
302 If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
303 feel free to use one of the mailing lists.
304 To discuss issues that haven't been completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy
305 users list. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to
306 the project are always welcome on the developers list.
307 You can find an overview of all <application>Privoxy</application>-related mailing lists,
308 including list archives, at:
309 <ulink url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo">https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo</ulink>.
310 The lists hosted on privoxy.org have been created in 2016, the previously-used
311 lists hosted at SourceForge are deprecated but the archives may still be useful:
312 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118">https://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118</ulink>.
316 <sect2 id="sf-trackers"><title>SourceForge support trackers</title>
319 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118">SourceForge support trackers</ulink>
320 may be used as well, but have various technical problems that are unlikely to
321 be fixed anytime soon. If you don't get a timely response, please try the
322 mailing list as well.