4 >Quickstart to Using Privoxy</TITLE
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42 >Privoxy 3.0.4 User Manual</TH
80 >4. Quickstart to Using <SPAN
94 HREF="installation.html"
95 >Installation Section</A
96 > below for platform specific
102 > Advanced users and those who want to offer <SPAN
106 service to more than just their local machine should check the <A
110 HREF="config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL"
111 >security-relevant</A
121 >, if the installation program has
122 not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
134 > Set your browser to use <SPAN
138 HTTPS (SSL) proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
152 > activate proxying for <TT
156 any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)! It won't work!
161 > Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
165 > to manage cookies, you should
166 remove any currently stored cookies too.
171 > A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
172 most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
173 configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
174 to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
178 HREF="configuration.html"
179 >Configuration section</A
181 configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
186 > If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
187 blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
191 > behaviour, take a look at the <A
192 HREF="actions-file.html"
194 >. As a quick start, you might
196 HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
197 >richly commented examples</A
199 helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <A
200 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org"
202 >web-based user interface</A
207 HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
211 > has hints how to debug actions that
220 > For easy access to Privoxy's most important controls, drag the provided
222 HREF="appendix.html#BOOKMARKLETS"
224 > into your browser's
230 > Please see the section <A
234 > on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
240 > Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
250 NAME="QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING"
252 >4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking</H2
254 > Ad blocking is but one of <SPAN
258 array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
259 user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.</P
262 This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
263 you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
264 information provided below, though this is highly recommended.</P
266 > First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
267 more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
268 things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
269 extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
273 > sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
274 configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
275 not an easy way to eliminate <SPAN
282 the easy way and settle for <SPAN
288 > ads blocked with the
289 default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
290 habits and preferences.</P
292 > Secondly, a brief explanation of <SPAN
302 > in this context, are
303 the directives we use to tell <SPAN
307 some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
315 action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
323 arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <A
324 HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
327 HREF="actions-file.html"
329 configuration files</A
330 >, are explained in depth below.</P
332 > Actions are specified in <SPAN
336 followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
337 can actually be URL type <A
338 HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
341 wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
342 actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.</P
344 > When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
345 of the sections as defined in <SPAN
349 or not. If so, then <SPAN
353 respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
354 pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
355 use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
356 original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
357 embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
358 or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
359 such embedded URLs.</P
361 > The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <TT
364 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
370 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
377 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
378 >set-image-blocker</A
390 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
393 > - this action stops
394 any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this
395 action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything
396 that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any
397 communication with the remote server and sends <SPAN
401 own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
409 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
416 > to treat this URL as an image.
420 >'s default configuration already does this
421 for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
422 is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
423 important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
424 some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
428 > BLOCKED page (which would only result in
431 >"broken image"</SPAN
432 > icon). There are some limitations to this
433 though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
434 an entire HTML page in most situations.
442 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
443 >set-image-blocker</A
449 > what to display in place of an ad image that
450 has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
454 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
457 > action somewhere in the
464 >, it must also match an
468 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
474 > The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
489 > - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
490 replacement is obvious. This is the default.
510 > - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
511 This is the so-called <SPAN
514 > configuration option.
532 >http://<URL></I
534 > - A redirect to any image anywhere
535 of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
546 > The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
551 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
553 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
558 >http://p.p/show-status</A
560 is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
571 >. It is best to put personal or
572 local preferences in <TT
576 meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
577 other files. Here you can insert new <SPAN
581 blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
585 > will detect these changes automatically.</P
587 > A quick and simple step by step example:</P
594 > Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
599 >Copy Link Location</SPAN
607 > Set your browser to
609 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
611 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
620 > in the top section, and click
637 >Figure 1. Actions Files in Use</B
643 SRC="../images/files-in-use.jpg"></P
651 > You should have a section with only
655 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
663 If not, click a <SPAN
667 >Insert new section below</SPAN
670 button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
674 > button right under the word <SPAN
678 This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
682 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
685 > near the top, and click
704 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
714 > button, and paste the URL the
715 browser got from <SPAN
719 >Copy Link Location</SPAN
725 > at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
739 > if in a pop-up window).
744 > Now go back to the original page, and press <B
748 (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
754 > This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
755 wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
756 site. For a more extensive explanation of <SPAN
760 the entire actions concept, see <A
761 HREF="actions-file.html"
766 > For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
768 HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
769 >Actions Files Tutorial</A
771 The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.</P
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818 >What's New in this Release</TD