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40 >Privoxy 3.1.1 User Manual</TH
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76 NAME="ACTIONS-FILE">8. Actions Files</H1
78 > The actions files are used to define what actions
82 > takes for which URLs, and thus determine
83 how ad images, cookies and various other aspects of HTTP content and
84 transactions are handled, and on which sites (or even parts thereof). There
85 are three such files included with <SPAN
89 version 2.9.15), with differing purposes:
100 > - is the primary action file
101 that sets the initial values for all actions. It is intended to
102 provide a base level of functionality for
106 > array of features. So it is
107 a set of broad rules that should work reasonably well for users everywhere.
108 This is the file that the developers are keeping updated, and <A
109 HREF="installation.html#INSTALLATION-KEEPUPDATED"
110 >making available to users</A
119 > - is intended to be for local site
120 preferences and exceptions. As an example, if your ISP or your bank
121 has specific requirements, and need special handling, this kind of
122 thing should go here. This file will not be upgraded.
130 > - is used by the web based editor,
131 to set various pre-defined sets of rules for the default actions section
135 >. These have increasing levels of
140 >and have no influence on your browsing unless
141 you select them explicitly in the editor</I
143 >. It is not recommend
151 > The list of actions files to be used are defined in the main configuration
152 file, and are processed in the order they are defined. The content of these
153 can all be viewed and edited from <A
154 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
156 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
159 > An actions file typically has multiple sections. If you want to use
163 > in an actions file, you have to place the (optional)
165 HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
167 > at the top of that file.
168 Then comes the default set of rules which will apply universally to all
169 sites and pages (be <SPAN
179 > or any other actions file after
183 >, because it will override the result
184 from consulting any previous file). And then below that,
185 exceptions to the defined universal policies. You can regard
189 > as an appendix to <TT
193 with the advantage that is a separate file, which makes preserving your
194 personal settings across <SPAN
197 > upgrades easier.</P
200 Actions can be used to block anything you want, including ads, banners, or
201 just some obnoxious URL that you would rather not see. Cookies can be accepted
202 or rejected, or accepted only during the current browser session (i.e. not
203 written to disk), content can be modified, JavaScripts tamed, user-tracking
204 fooled, and much more. See below for a <A
205 HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
214 NAME="AEN1645">8.1. Finding the Right Mix</H2
217 HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
219 >, like cookie suppression
220 or script disabling, may render some sites unusable that rely on these
221 techniques to work properly. Finding the right mix of actions is not always easy and
222 certainly a matter of personal taste. In general, it can be said that the more
226 > your default settings (in the top section of the
227 actions file) are, the more exceptions for <SPAN
231 will have to make later. If, for example, you want to kill popup windows per
232 default, you'll have to make exceptions from that rule for sites that you
233 regularly use and that require popups for actually useful content, like maybe
234 your bank, favorite shop, or newspaper.</P
236 > We have tried to provide you with reasonable rules to start from in the
237 distribution actions files. But there is no general rule of thumb on these
238 things. There just are too many variables, and sites are constantly changing.
239 Sooner or later you will want to change the rules (and read this chapter again :).</P
246 NAME="AEN1652">8.2. How to Edit</H2
248 > The easiest way to edit the actions files is with a browser by
249 using our browser-based editor, which can be reached from <A
250 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
252 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
254 The editor allows both fine-grained control over every single feature on a
255 per-URL basis, and easy choosing from wholesale sets of defaults like
267 > If you prefer plain text editing to GUIs, you can of course also directly edit the
268 the actions files. Look at <TT
279 NAME="ACTIONS-APPLY">8.3. How Actions are Applied to URLs</H2
281 > Actions files are divided into sections. There are special sections,
285 HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
288 > sections which will
289 be discussed later. For now let's concentrate on regular sections: They have a
290 heading line (often split up to multiple lines for readability) which consist
291 of a list of actions, separated by whitespace and enclosed in curly braces.
292 Below that, there is a list of URL patterns, each on a separate line.</P
294 > To determine which actions apply to a request, the URL of the request is
295 compared to all patterns in each action file file. Every time it matches, the list of
296 applicable actions for the URL is incrementally updated, using the heading
297 of the section in which the pattern is located. If multiple matches for
298 the same URL set the same action differently, the last match wins. If not,
299 the effects are aggregated. E.g. a URL might match a regular section with
300 a heading line of <TT
304 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
308 then later another one with just <TT
312 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
322 > actions to apply.</P
324 > You can trace this process for any given URL by visiting <A
325 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info"
327 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-url-info</A
330 > More detail on this is provided in the Appendix, <A
331 HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
332 > Anatomy of an Action</A
340 NAME="AF-PATTERNS">8.4. Patterns</H2
342 > Generally, a pattern has the form <TT
344 ><domain>/<path></TT
348 ><domain></TT
353 are optional. (This is why the pattern <TT
356 > matches all URLs).</P
365 >www.example.com/</TT
369 > is a domain-only pattern and will match any request to <TT
373 regardless of which document on that server is requested.
383 > means exactly the same. For domain-only patterns, the trailing <TT
393 >www.example.com/index.html</TT
397 > matches only the single document <TT
414 > matches the document <TT
417 >, regardless of the domain,
434 > matches nothing, since it would be interpreted as a domain name and
435 there is no top-level domain called <TT
448 NAME="AEN1716">8.4.1. The Domain Pattern</H3
450 > The matching of the domain part offers some flexible options: if the
451 domain starts or ends with a dot, it becomes unanchored at that end.
465 > matches any domain that <SPAN
485 > matches any domain that <SPAN
505 > matches any domain that <SPAN
515 (Correctly speaking: It matches any FQDN that contains <TT
524 > Additionally, there are wild-cards that you can use in the domain names
525 themselves. They work pretty similar to shell wild-cards: <SPAN
529 stands for zero or more arbitrary characters, <SPAN
533 any single character, you can define character classes in square
534 brackets and all of that can be freely mixed:</P
549 >"adserver.example.com"</SPAN
553 >"ads.example.com"</SPAN
556 >"sfads.example.com"</SPAN
563 >*ad*.example.com</TT
567 > matches all of the above, and then some.
583 >pictures.epix.com</TT
586 >a.b.c.d.e.upix.com</TT
593 >www[1-9a-ez].example.c*</TT
599 >www1.example.com</TT
610 >wwwz.example.com</TT
620 >wwww.example.com</TT
632 NAME="AEN1778">8.4.2. The Path Pattern</H3
637 > uses Perl compatible regular expressions
639 HREF="http://www.pcre.org/"
643 matching the path.</P
646 HREF="appendix.html#REGEX"
648 > with a brief quick-start into regular
649 expressions, and full (very technical) documentation on PCRE regex syntax is available on-line
651 HREF="http://www.pcre.org/man.txt"
653 >http://www.pcre.org/man.txt</A
655 You might also find the Perl man page on regular expressions (<TT
659 useful, which is available on-line at <A
660 HREF="http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html"
662 >http://www.perldoc.com/perl5.6/pod/perlre.html</A
665 > Note that the path pattern is automatically left-anchored at the <SPAN
669 i.e. it matches as if it would start with a <SPAN
672 > (regular expression speak
673 for the beginning of a line).</P
675 > Please also note that matching in the path is <SPAN
682 by default, but you can switch to case sensitive at any point in the pattern by using the
688 >www.example.com/(?-i)PaTtErN.*</TT
690 only documents whose path starts with <TT
700 > this capitalization.</P
708 NAME="ACTIONS">8.5. Actions</H2
710 > All actions are disabled by default, until they are explicitly enabled
711 somewhere in an actions file. Actions are turned on if preceded with a
715 >, and turned off if preceded with a <SPAN
724 >"do that action"</SPAN
731 >"please block URLs that match the
732 following patterns"</SPAN
739 block URLs that match the following patterns, even if <TT
743 previously applied."</SPAN
747 Again, actions are invoked by placing them on a line, enclosed in curly braces and
748 separated by whitespace, like in
751 >{+some-action -some-other-action{some-parameter}}</TT
753 followed by a list of URL patterns, one per line, to which they apply.
754 Together, the actions line and the following pattern lines make up a section
755 of the actions file. </P
758 There are three classes of actions:</P
766 Boolean, i.e the action can only be <SPAN
789 > # enable action <TT
800 > # disable action <TT
822 Parameterized, where some value is required in order to enable this type of action.
844 >} # enable action and set parameter to <TT
850 # overwriting parameter from previous match if necessary
856 > # disable action. The parameter can be omitted</PRE
863 > Note that if the URL matches multiple positive forms of a parameterized action,
864 the last match wins, i.e. the params from earlier matches are simply ignored.
870 >+hide-user-agent{ Mozilla 1.0 }</TT
877 Multi-value. These look exactly like parameterized actions,
878 but they behave differently: If the action applies multiple times to the
879 same URL, but with different parameters, <SPAN
892 > matches are remembered. This is used for actions
893 that can be executed for the same request repeatedly, like adding multiple
894 headers, or filtering through multiple filters. Syntax:
915 >} # enable action and add <TT
920 > to the list of parameters
931 >} # remove the parameter <TT
936 > from the list of parameters
937 # If it was the last one left, disable the action.
943 > # disable this action completely and remove all parameters from the list</PRE
953 >+add-header{X-Fun-Header: Some text}</TT
957 >+filter{html-annoyances}</TT
964 > If nothing is specified in any actions file, no <SPAN
968 taken. So in this case <SPAN
972 normal, non-blocking, non-anonymizing proxy. You must specifically enable the
973 privacy and blocking features you need (although the provided default actions
974 files will give a good starting point).</P
976 > Later defined actions always over-ride earlier ones. So exceptions
977 to any rules you make, should come in the latter part of the file (or
978 in a file that is processed later when using multiple actions files). For
979 multi-valued actions, the actions are applied in the order they are specified.
980 Actions files are processed in the order they are defined in
984 > (the default installation has three actions
985 files). It also quite possible for any given URL pattern to match more than
986 one pattern and thus more than one set of actions!</P
988 > The list of valid <SPAN
997 NAME="ADD-HEADER">8.5.1. add-header</H4
1001 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1007 >Confuse log analysis, custom applications</P
1013 > Sends a user defined HTTP header to the web server.
1026 > Any string value is possible. Validity of the defined HTTP headers is not checked.
1027 It is recommended that you use the <SPAN
1041 > This action may be specified multiple times, in order to define multiple
1042 headers. This is rarely needed for the typical user. If you don't know what
1045 >"HTTP headers"</SPAN
1046 > are, you definitely don't need to worry about this
1062 >+add-header{X-User-Tracking: sucks}</PRE
1077 NAME="BLOCK">8.5.2. block</H4
1081 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1087 >Block ads or other obnoxious content</P
1093 > Requests for URLs to which this action applies are blocked, i.e. the requests are not
1094 forwarded to the remote server, but answered locally with a substitute page or image,
1095 as determined by the <TT
1098 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
1105 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
1106 >set-image-blocker</A
1130 > sends a special <SPAN
1134 for requests to blocked pages. This page contains links to find out why the request
1135 was blocked, and a click-through to the blocked content (the latter only if compiled with the
1136 force feature enabled). The <SPAN
1139 > page adapts to the available
1140 screen space -- it displays full-blown if space allows, or miniaturized and text-only
1141 if loaded into a small frame or window. If you are using <SPAN
1145 right now, you can take a look at the
1147 HREF="http://ads.bannerserver.example.com/nasty-ads/sponsor.html"
1158 A very important exception occurs if <SPAN
1171 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
1175 apply to the same request: it will then be replaced by an image. If
1179 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
1180 >set-image-blocker</A
1183 (see below) also applies, the type of image will be determined by its parameter,
1184 if not, the standard checkerboard pattern is sent.
1187 > It is important to understand this process, in order
1188 to understand how <SPAN
1192 ads and other unwanted content.
1198 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
1202 action can perform a very similar task, by <SPAN
1206 banner images and other content through rewriting the relevant URLs in the
1207 document's HTML source, so they don't get requested in the first place.
1208 Note that this is a totally different technique, and it's easy to confuse the two.
1212 >Example usage (section):</DT
1223 >{+block} # Block and replace with "blocked" page
1224 .nasty-stuff.example.com
1226 {+block +handle-as-image} # Block and replace with image
1243 NAME="CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES">8.5.3. crunch-incoming-cookies</H4
1247 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1253 > Prevent the web server from setting any cookies on your system
1262 >"Set-Cookie:"</SPAN
1263 > HTTP headers from server replies.
1283 > This action is only concerned with <SPAN
1300 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
1301 >crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
1310 > to disable cookies completely.
1319 > to use this action in conjunction
1323 HREF="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
1324 >session-cookies-only</A
1327 since it would prevent the session cookies from being set.
1342 >+crunch-incoming-cookies</PRE
1357 NAME="CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES">8.5.4. crunch-outgoing-cookies</H4
1361 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1367 > Prevent the web server from reading any cookies from your system
1377 > HTTP headers from client requests.
1397 > This action is only concerned with <SPAN
1414 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
1415 >crunch-incoming-cookies</A
1424 > to disable cookies completely.
1433 > to use this action in conjunction
1437 HREF="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
1438 >session-cookies-only</A
1441 since it would prevent the session cookies from being read.
1456 >+crunch-outgoing-cookies</PRE
1471 NAME="DEANIMATE-GIFS">8.5.5. deanimate-gifs</H4
1475 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1481 >Stop those annoying, distracting animated GIF images.</P
1487 > De-animate GIF animations, i.e. reduce them to their first or last image.
1513 > This will also shrink the images considerably (in bytes, not pixels!). If
1517 > is given, the first frame of the animation
1518 is used as the replacement. If <SPAN
1521 > is given, the last
1522 frame of the animation is used instead, which probably makes more sense for
1523 most banner animations, but also has the risk of not showing the entire
1524 last frame (if it is only a delta to an earlier frame).
1527 > You can safely use this action with patterns that will also match non-GIF
1528 objects, because no attempt will be made at anything that doesn't look like
1544 >+deanimate-gifs{last}</PRE
1559 NAME="DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION">8.5.6. downgrade-http-version</H4
1563 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1569 >Work around (very rare) problems with HTTP/1.1</P
1575 > Downgrades HTTP/1.1 client requests and server replies to HTTP/1.0.
1595 > This is a left-over from the time when <SPAN
1599 didn't support important HTTP/1.1 features well. It is left here for the
1600 unlikely case that you experience HTTP/1.1 related problems with some server
1601 out there. Not all (optional) HTTP/1.1 features are supported yet, so there
1602 is a chance you might need this action.
1606 >Example usage (section):</DT
1617 >{+downgrade-http-version}
1618 problem-host.example.com</PRE
1633 NAME="FAST-REDIRECTS">8.5.7. fast-redirects</H4
1637 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1643 >Fool some click-tracking scripts and speed up indirect links</P
1649 > Cut off all but the last valid URL from requests.
1670 Many sites, like yahoo.com, don't just link to other sites. Instead, they
1671 will link to some script on their own servers, giving the destination as a
1672 parameter, which will then redirect you to the final target. URLs
1673 resulting from this scheme typically look like:
1678 >http://some.place/click-tracker.cgi?target=http://some.where.else</I
1683 > Sometimes, there are even multiple consecutive redirects encoded in the
1684 URL. These redirections via scripts make your web browsing more traceable,
1685 since the server from which you follow such a link can see where you go
1686 to. Apart from that, valuable bandwidth and time is wasted, while your
1687 browser ask the server for one redirect after the other. Plus, it feeds
1691 > This feature is currently not very smart and is scheduled for improvement.
1692 It is likely to break some sites. You should expect to need possibly
1693 many exceptions to this action, if it is enabled by default in
1697 >. Some sites just don't work without
1713 >{+fast-redirects}</PRE
1728 NAME="FILTER">8.5.8. filter</H4
1732 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
1738 >Get rid of HTML and JavaScript annoyances, banner advertisements (by size), do fun text replacements, etc.</P
1744 > Text documents, including HTML and JavaScript, to which this action
1745 applies, are filtered on-the-fly through the specified regular expression
1746 based substitutions.
1759 > The name of a filter, as defined in the <A
1760 HREF="filter-file.html"
1770 HREF="config.html#FILTERFILE"
1778 can be completely disabled without the use of parameters.
1785 > For your convenience, there are a number of pre-defined filters available
1786 in the distribution filter file that you can use. See the examples below for
1790 > This is potentially a very powerful feature! But <SPAN
1792 >"rolling your own"</SPAN
1794 filters requires a knowledge of regular expressions and HTML.
1797 > Filtering requires buffering the page content, which may appear to
1798 slow down page rendering since nothing is displayed until all content has
1799 passed the filters. (It does not really take longer, but seems that way
1800 since the page is not incrementally displayed.) This effect will be more
1801 noticeable on slower connections.
1804 > The amount of data that can be filtered is limited to the
1808 HREF="config.html#BUFFER-LIMIT"
1812 option in the main <A
1816 default is 4096 KB (4 Megs). Once this limit is exceeded, the buffered
1817 data, and all pending data, is passed through unfiltered. Inappropriate
1818 MIME types are not filtered.
1821 > At this time, <SPAN
1824 > cannot (yet!) uncompress compressed
1825 documents. If you want filtering to work on all documents, even those that
1826 would normally be sent compressed, use the
1830 HREF="actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION"
1831 >prevent-compression</A
1834 action in conjunction with <TT
1840 > Filtering can achieve some of the same effects as the
1844 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
1848 action, i.e. it can be used to block ads and banners. But the mechanism
1849 works quite differently. One effective use, is to block ad banners
1850 based on their size (see below), since many of these seem to be somewhat
1857 > with suggestions for new or
1858 improved filters is particularly welcome!
1862 >Example usage (with filters from the distribution <TT
1869 NAME="FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES"
1880 >+filter{html-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying HTML abuse.</PRE
1888 NAME="FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES"
1899 >+filter{js-annoyances} # Get rid of particularly annoying JavaScript abuse</PRE
1907 NAME="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"
1918 >+filter{banners-by-size} # Kill banners based on their size for this page (<SPAN
1932 NAME="FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK"
1943 >+filter{banners-by-link} # Kill banners based on the link they are contained in (experimental)</PRE
1951 NAME="FILTER-IMG-REORDER"
1962 >+filter{img-reorder} # Reorder attributes in <img> tags to make the banners-by-* filters more effective</PRE
1970 NAME="FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES"
1981 >+filter{content-cookies} # Kill cookies that come sneaking in the HTML or JS content</PRE
1989 NAME="FILTER-POPUPS"
2000 >+filter{popups} # Kill all popups in JS and HTML</PRE
2008 NAME="FILTER-WEBBUGS"
2019 >+filter{webbugs} # Squish WebBugs (1x1 invisible GIFs used for user tracking)</PRE
2038 >+filter{fun} # Text replacements for subversive browsing fun!</PRE
2046 NAME="FILTER-FRAMESET-BORDERS"
2057 >+filter{frameset-borders} # Give frames a border and make them resizeable</PRE
2065 NAME="FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS"
2076 >+filter{refresh-tags} # Kill automatic refresh tags (for dial-on-demand setups)</PRE
2095 >+filter{nimda} # Remove Nimda (virus) code.</PRE
2103 NAME="FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH"
2114 >+filter{shockwave-flash} # Kill embedded Shockwave Flash objects</PRE
2122 NAME="FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL"
2133 >+filter{crude-parental} # Kill all web pages that contain the words "sex" or "warez"</PRE
2141 NAME="FILTER-JS-EVENTS"
2152 >+filter{js-events} # Kill all JS event bindings (<SPAN
2156 >Radically destructive!</I
2158 > Only for extra nasty sites) </PRE
2173 NAME="HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">8.5.9. handle-as-image</H4
2177 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
2183 >Mark URLs as belonging to images (so they'll be replaced by images <SPAN
2187 >if they get blocked</I
2195 > This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. It just marks URLs as images.
2199 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
2209 the presence or absence of this mark decides whether an HTML <SPAN
2213 page, or a replacement image (as determined by the <TT
2216 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
2217 >set-image-blocker</A
2219 > action) will be sent to the
2220 client as a substitute for the blocked content.
2240 > The below generic example section is actually part of <TT
2244 It marks all URLs with well-known image file name extensions as images and should
2248 > Users will probably only want to use the handle-as-image action in conjunction with
2252 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
2255 >, to block sources of banners, whose URLs don't
2256 reflect the file type, like in the second example section.
2259 > Note that you cannot treat HTML pages as images in most cases. For instance, (in-line) ad
2260 frames require an HTML page to be sent, or they won't display properly.
2263 >handle-as-image</TT
2264 > in this situation will not replace the
2265 ad frame with an image, but lead to error messages.
2269 >Example usage (sections):</DT
2280 ># Generic image extensions:
2283 /.*\.(gif|jpg|jpeg|png|bmp|ico)$
2285 # These don't look like images, but they're banners and should be
2286 # blocked as images:
2288 {+block +handle-as-image}
2289 some.nasty-banner-server.com/junk.cgi?output=trash
2291 # Banner source! Who cares if they also have non-image content?
2292 ad.doubleclick.net </PRE
2307 NAME="HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS">8.5.10. hide-forwarded-for-headers</H4
2311 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
2317 >Improve privacy by hiding the true source of the request</P
2323 > Deletes any existing <SPAN
2325 >"X-Forwarded-for:"</SPAN
2326 > HTTP header from client requests,
2327 and prevents adding a new one.
2347 > It is fairly safe to leave this on.
2350 > This action is scheduled for improvement: It should be able to generate forged
2353 >"X-Forwarded-for:"</SPAN
2354 > headers using random IP addresses from a specified network,
2355 to make successive requests from the same client look like requests from a pool of different
2356 users sharing the same proxy.
2371 >+hide-forwarded-for-headers</PRE
2386 NAME="HIDE-FROM-HEADER">8.5.11. hide-from-header</H4
2390 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
2396 >Keep your (old and ill) browser from telling web servers your email address</P
2402 > Deletes any existing <SPAN
2405 > HTTP header, or replaces it with the
2422 >, or any user defined value.
2432 > will completely remove the header
2433 (not to be confused with the <TT
2436 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
2443 > Alternately, you can specify any value you prefer to be sent to the web
2444 server. If you do, it is a matter of fairness not to use any address that
2445 is actually used by a real person.
2448 > This action is rarely needed, as modern web browsers don't send
2467 >+hide-from-header{block}</PRE
2480 >+hide-from-header{spam-me-senseless@sittingduck.example.com}</PRE
2495 NAME="HIDE-REFERRER">8.5.12. hide-referrer</H4
2502 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
2508 >Conceal which link you followed to get to a particular site</P
2517 > (sic) HTTP header from the client request,
2518 or replaces it with a forged one.
2538 > to delete the header completely.</P
2545 > to pretend to be coming from the homepage of the server we are talking to.</P
2549 >Any other string to set a user defined referrer.</P
2560 > is the preferred option here, since some servers will
2561 not send images back otherwise, in an attempt to prevent their valuable
2562 content from being embedded elsewhere (and hence, without being surrounded
2576 > is an alternate spelling of
2580 > and the two can be can be freely
2581 substituted with each other. (<SPAN
2585 correct English spelling, however the HTTP specification has a bug - it
2586 requires it to be spelled as <SPAN
2604 >+hide-referrer{forge}</PRE
2617 >+hide-referrer{http://www.yahoo.com/}</PRE
2632 NAME="HIDE-USER-AGENT">8.5.13. hide-user-agent</H4
2636 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
2642 >Conceal your type of browser and client operating system</P
2648 > Replaces the value of the <SPAN
2650 >"User-Agent:"</SPAN
2652 in client requests with the specified value.
2665 > Any user-defined string.
2690 > This breaks many web sites that depend on looking at this header in order
2691 to customize their content for different browsers (which, by the
2699 HREF="http://www.javascriptkit.com/javaindex.shtml"
2710 > Using this action in multi-user setups or wherever different types of
2711 browsers will access the same <SPAN
2721 >. In single-user, single-browser
2722 setups, you might use it to delete your OS version information from
2723 the headers, because it is an invitation to exploit known bugs for your
2724 OS. It is also occasionally useful to forge this in order to access
2725 sites that won't let you in otherwise (though there may be a good
2726 reason in some cases). Example of this: some MSN sites will not
2730 > enter, yet forging to a
2734 > user-agent works just fine.
2735 (Must be just a silly MS goof, I'm sure :-).
2738 > This action is scheduled for improvement.
2753 >+hide-user-agent{Netscape 6.1 (X11; I; Linux 2.4.18 i686)}</PRE
2768 NAME="KILL-POPUPS">8.5.14. kill-popups<A
2775 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
2781 >Eliminate those annoying pop-up windows</P
2787 > While loading the document, replace JavaScript code that opens
2788 pop-up windows with (syntactically neutral) dummy code on the fly.
2808 > This action is easily confused with the built-in, hardwired <TT
2811 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
2815 action, but there are important differences: For <TT
2819 the document need not be buffered, so it can be incrementally rendered while
2820 downloading. But <TT
2823 > doesn't catch as many pop-ups as
2827 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
2839 > Think of it as a fast and efficient replacement for a filter that you
2840 can use if you don't want any filtering at all. Note that it doesn't make
2841 sense to combine it with any <TT
2844 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
2848 since as soon as one <TT
2851 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
2855 the whole document needs to be buffered anyway, which destroys the advantage of
2859 > action over its filter equivalent.
2862 > Killing all pop-ups is a dangerous business. Many shops and banks rely on
2863 pop-ups to display forms, shopping carts etc, and killing only the unwanted pop-ups
2864 would require artificial intelligence in <SPAN
2868 If the only kind of pop-ups that you want to kill are exit consoles (those
2875 > windows that appear when you close an other
2876 one), you might want to use
2880 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
2918 NAME="LIMIT-CONNECT">8.5.15. limit-connect</H4
2922 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
2928 >Prevent abuse of <SPAN
2931 > as a TCP proxy relay</P
2937 > Specifies to which ports HTTP CONNECT requests are allowable.
2950 > A comma-separated list of ports or port ranges (the latter using dashes, with the minimum
2951 defaulting to 0 and the maximum to 65K).
2958 > By default, i.e. if no <TT
2965 > only allows HTTP CONNECT
2966 requests to port 443 (the standard, secure HTTPS port). Use
2970 > if more fine-grained control is desired
2971 for some or all destinations.
2974 > The CONNECT methods exists in HTTP to allow access to secure websites
2978 > URLs) through proxies. It works very simply:
2979 the proxy connects to the server on the specified port, and then
2980 short-circuits its connections to the client and to the remote server.
2981 This can be a big security hole, since CONNECT-enabled proxies can be
2982 abused as TCP relays very easily.
2985 > If you don't know what any of this means, there probably is no reason to
2986 change this one, since the default is already very restrictive.
2990 >Example usages:</DT
3001 >+limit-connect{443} # This is the default and need not be specified.
3002 +limit-connect{80,443} # Ports 80 and 443 are OK.
3003 +limit-connect{-3, 7, 20-100, 500-} # Ports less than 3, 7, 20 to 100 and above 500 are OK.
3004 +limit-connect{-} # All ports are OK (gaping security hole!)</PRE
3019 NAME="PREVENT-COMPRESSION">8.5.16. prevent-compression</H4
3023 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
3029 > Ensure that servers send the content uncompressed, so it can be
3033 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
3043 > Adds a header to the request that asks for uncompressed transfer.
3063 > More and more websites send their content compressed by default, which
3064 is generally a good idea and saves bandwidth. But for the <TT
3067 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
3073 HREF="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"
3080 HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
3087 > needs access to the uncompressed data.
3088 Unfortunately, <SPAN
3091 > can't yet(!) uncompress, filter, and
3092 re-compress the content on the fly. So if you want to ensure that all websites, including
3093 those that normally compress, can be filtered, you need to use this action.
3096 > This will slow down transfers from those websites, though. If you use any of the above-mentioned
3097 actions, you will typically want to use <TT
3099 >prevent-compression</TT
3104 > Note that some (rare) ill-configured sites don't handle requests for uncompressed
3105 documents correctly (they send an empty document body). If you use <TT
3107 >prevent-compression</TT
3109 per default, you'll have to add exceptions for those sites. See the example for how to do that.
3113 >Example usage (sections):</DT
3126 {+prevent-compression}
3129 # Make exceptions for ill sites:
3131 {-prevent-compression}
3133 www.pclinuxonline.com</PRE
3148 NAME="SEND-VANILLA-WAFER">8.5.17. send-vanilla-wafer</H4
3152 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
3158 > Feed log analysis scripts with useless data.
3165 > Sends a cookie with each request stating that you do not accept any copyright
3166 on cookies sent to you, and asking the site operator not to track you.
3186 > The vanilla wafer is a (relatively) unique header and could conceivably be used to track you.
3189 > This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
3204 >+send-vanilla-wafer</PRE
3219 NAME="SEND-WAFER">8.5.18. send-wafer</H4
3223 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
3229 > Send custom cookies or feed log analysis scripts with even more useless data.
3236 > Sends a custom, user-defined cookie with each request.
3249 > A string of the form <SPAN
3269 > Being multi-valued, multiple instances of this action can apply to the same request,
3270 resulting in multiple cookies being sent.
3273 > This action is rarely used and not enabled in the default configuration.
3277 >Example usage (section):</DT
3288 >{+send-wafer{UsingPrivoxy=true}}
3289 my-internal-testing-server.void</PRE
3304 NAME="SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY">8.5.19. session-cookies-only</H4
3308 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
3314 > Allow only temporary <SPAN
3317 > cookies (for the current browser session <SPAN
3335 >"Set-Cookie:"</SPAN
3337 Most browsers will not store such cookies permanently and forget them in between sessions.
3357 > This is less strict than <TT
3360 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
3361 >crunch-incoming-cookies</A
3367 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
3368 >crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
3370 > and allows you to browse
3371 websites that insist or rely on setting cookies, without compromising your privacy too badly.
3374 > Most browsers will not permanently store cookies that have been processed by
3377 >session-cookies-only</TT
3378 > and will forget about them between sessions.
3379 This makes profiling cookies useless, but won't break sites which require cookies so
3380 that you can log in for transactions. This is generally turned on for all
3381 sites, and is the recommended setting.
3392 >session-cookies-only</TT
3397 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
3398 >crunch-incoming-cookies</A
3404 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
3405 >crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
3407 >. If you do, cookies
3408 will be plainly killed.
3411 > Note that it is up to the browser how it handles such cookies without an <SPAN
3415 field. If you use an exotic browser, you might want to try it out to be sure.
3430 >+session-cookies-only</PRE
3445 NAME="SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">8.5.20. set-image-blocker</H4
3449 CLASS="VARIABLELIST"
3455 >Choose the replacement for blocked images</P
3461 > This action alone doesn't do anything noticeable. If <SPAN
3471 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
3483 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
3493 apply, i.e. if the request is to be blocked as an image,
3500 > the parameter of this action decides what will be
3501 sent as a replacement.
3521 > to send a built-in checkerboard pattern image. The image is visually
3522 decent, scales very well, and makes it obvious where banners were busted.
3530 > to send a built-in transparent image. This makes banners disappear
3531 completely, but makes it hard to detect where <SPAN
3535 images on a given page and complicates troubleshooting if <SPAN
3539 has blocked innocent images, like navigation icons.
3553 send a redirect to <TT
3559 to any image anywhere, even in your local filesystem (via <SPAN
3565 > A good application of redirects is to use special <SPAN
3569 URLs, which send the built-in images, as <TT
3575 This has the same visual effect as specifying <SPAN
3582 the first place, but enables your browser to cache the replacement image, instead of requesting
3583 it over and over again.
3592 > The URLs for the built-in images are <SPAN
3594 >"http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=<TT
3615 > There is a third (advanced) type, called <SPAN
3627 >set-image-blocker</TT
3628 >, but meant for use from <A
3629 HREF="filter-file.html"
3632 Auto will select the type of image that would have applied to the referring page, had it been an image.
3650 >+set-image-blocker{pattern}</PRE
3657 > Redirect to the BSD devil:
3668 >+set-image-blocker{http://www.freebsd.org/gifs/dae_up3.gif}</PRE
3675 > Redirect to the built-in pattern for better caching:
3686 >+set-image-blocker{http://config.privoxy.org/send-banner?type=pattern}</PRE
3701 NAME="AEN2706">8.5.21. Summary</H3
3703 > Note that many of these actions have the potential to cause a page to
3704 misbehave, possibly even not to display at all. There are many ways
3705 a site designer may choose to design his site, and what HTTP header
3706 content, and other criteria, he may depend on. There is no way to have hard
3707 and fast rules for all sites. See the <A
3708 HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
3710 > for a brief example on troubleshooting
3719 NAME="ALIASES">8.6. Aliases</H2
3731 >, can be defined by combining other actions.
3732 These can in turn be invoked just like the built-in actions.
3733 Currently, an alias name can contain any character except space, tab,
3751 > that you only use <SPAN
3771 Alias names are not case sensitive, and are not required to start with a
3778 > sign, since they are merely textually
3781 > Aliases can be used throughout the actions file, but they <SPAN
3786 defined in a special section at the top of the file!</I
3789 And there can only be one such section per actions file. Each actions file may
3790 have its own alias section, and the aliases defined in it are only visible
3791 within that file.</P
3793 > There are two main reasons to use aliases: One is to save typing for frequently
3794 used combinations of actions, the other one is a gain in flexibility: If you
3795 decide once how you want to handle shops by defining an alias called
3799 >, you can later change your policy on shops in
3806 > place, and your changes will take effect everywhere
3807 in the actions file where the <SPAN
3810 > alias is used. Calling aliases
3811 by their purpose also makes your actions files more readable.</P
3813 > Currently, there is one big drawback to using aliases, though:
3817 >'s built-in web-based action file
3818 editor honors aliases when reading the actions files, but it expands
3819 them before writing. So the effects of your aliases are of course preserved,
3820 but the aliases themselves are lost when you edit sections that use aliases
3822 This is likely to change in future versions of <SPAN
3827 > Now let's define some aliases...</P
3837 > # Useful custom aliases we can use later.
3839 # Note the (required!) section header line and that this section
3840 # must be at the top of the actions file!
3844 # These aliases just save typing later:
3845 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
3847 +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
3848 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
3849 block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
3850 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
3852 # These aliases define combinations of actions
3853 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
3855 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
3856 shop = -crunch-all-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
3858 # Short names for other aliases, for really lazy people ;-)
3860 c0 = +crunch-all-cookies
3861 c1 = -crunch-all-cookies</PRE
3867 > ...and put them to use. These sections would appear in the lower part of an
3868 actions file and define exceptions to the default actions (as specified further
3882 > # These sites are either very complex or very keen on
3883 # user data and require minimal interference to work:
3886 .office.microsoft.com
3887 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com
3891 # Allow cookies (for setting and retrieving your customer data)
3895 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
3898 # These shops require pop-ups:
3900 {shop -kill-popups -filter{popups}}
3902 .overclockers.co.uk</PRE
3908 > Aliases like <SPAN
3914 > are often used for
3918 > sites that require some actions to be disabled
3919 in order to function properly.</P
3926 NAME="ACT-EXAMPLES">8.7. Actions Files Tutorial</H2
3928 > The above chapters have shown <A
3929 HREF="actions-file.html"
3930 >which actions files
3931 there are and how they are organized</A
3932 >, how actions are <A
3933 HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
3936 HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS-APPLY"
3940 HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
3944 HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
3946 >. Now, let's look at an
3954 file and see how all these pieces come together:</P
3960 NAME="AEN2758">8.7.1. default.action</H3
3962 >Every config file should start with a short comment stating its purpose:</P
3972 ># Sample default.action file <developers@privoxy.org></PRE
3978 >Then, since this is the <TT
3982 first section is a special section for internal use that you needn't
3983 change or worry about:</P
3993 >##########################################################################
3994 # Settings -- Don't change! For internal Privoxy use ONLY.
3995 ##########################################################################
3998 for-privoxy-version=3.0</PRE
4004 >After that comes the (optional) alias section. We'll use the example
4005 section from the above <A
4006 HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
4007 >chapter on aliases</A
4009 that also explains why and how aliases are used:</P
4019 >##########################################################################
4021 ##########################################################################
4024 # These aliases just save typing later:
4025 # (Note that some already use other aliases!)
4027 +crunch-all-cookies = +crunch-incoming-cookies +crunch-outgoing-cookies
4028 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
4029 block-as-image = +block +handle-as-image
4030 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
4032 # These aliases define combinations of actions
4033 # that are useful for certain types of sites:
4035 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
4036 shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups</PRE
4042 > Now come the regular sections, i.e. sets of actions, accompanied
4043 by URL patterns to which they apply. Remember <SPAN
4048 are disabled when matching starts</I
4050 >, so we have to explicitly
4051 enable the ones we want.</P
4053 > The first regular section is probably the most important. It has only
4062 HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
4063 >matches all URLs</A
4065 set of actions used in this <SPAN
4073 be applied to all requests as a start</I
4075 >. It can be partly or
4076 wholly overridden by later matches further down this file, or in user.action,
4077 but it will still be largely responsible for your overall browsing
4080 > Again, at the start of matching, all actions are disabled, so there is
4081 no real need to disable any actions here, but we will do that nonetheless,
4082 to have a complete listing for your reference. (Remember: a <SPAN
4086 preceding the action name enables the action, a <SPAN
4090 Also note how this long line has been made more readable by splitting it into
4091 multiple lines with line continuation.</P
4101 >##########################################################################
4102 # "Defaults" section:
4103 ##########################################################################
4106 HREF="actions-file.html#ADD-HEADER"
4110 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4114 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-INCOMING-COOKIES"
4115 >crunch-incoming-cookies</A
4118 HREF="actions-file.html#CRUNCH-OUTGOING-COOKIES"
4119 >crunch-outgoing-cookies</A
4122 HREF="actions-file.html#DEANIMATE-GIFS"
4126 HREF="actions-file.html#DOWNGRADE-HTTP-VERSION"
4127 >downgrade-http-version</A
4130 HREF="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"
4134 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-HTML-ANNOYANCES"
4135 >filter{html-annoyances}</A
4138 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-JS-ANNOYANCES"
4139 >filter{js-annoyances}</A
4142 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-CONTENT-COOKIES"
4143 >filter{content-cookies}</A
4146 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"
4150 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-WEBBUGS"
4154 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-REFRESH-TAGS"
4155 >filter{refresh-tags}</A
4158 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-FUN"
4162 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-NIMDA"
4166 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"
4167 >filter{banners-by-size}</A
4170 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-LINK"
4171 >filter{banners-by-link}</A
4174 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-IMG-REORDER"
4175 >filter{img-reorder}</A
4178 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-SHOCKWAVE-FLASH"
4179 >filter{shockwave-flash}</A
4182 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-CRUDE-PARENTAL"
4183 >filter{crude-parental}</A
4186 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-JS-EVENTS"
4187 >filter{js-events}</A
4190 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
4194 HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-FORWARDED-FOR-HEADERS"
4195 >hide-forwarded-for-headers</A
4198 HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-FROM-HEADER"
4199 >hide-from-header{block}</A
4202 HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-REFERER"
4203 >hide-referrer{forge}</A
4206 HREF="actions-file.html#HIDE-USER-AGENT"
4210 HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
4214 HREF="actions-file.html#LIMIT-CONNECT"
4218 HREF="actions-file.html#PREVENT-COMPRESSION"
4219 >prevent-compression</A
4222 HREF="actions-file.html#SEND-VANILLA-WAFER"
4223 >send-vanilla-wafer</A
4226 HREF="actions-file.html#SEND-WAFER"
4230 HREF="actions-file.html#SESSION-COOKIES-ONLY"
4231 >session-cookies-only</A
4234 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
4235 >set-image-blocker{pattern}</A
4238 / # forward slash will match *all* potential URL patterns.</PRE
4244 > The default behavior is now set. Note that some actions, like not hiding
4245 the user agent, are part of a <SPAN
4247 >"general policy"</SPAN
4249 universally and won't get any exceptions defined later. Other choices,
4250 like not blocking (which is <SPAN
4257 default!) need exceptions, i.e. we need to specify explicitly what we
4258 want to block in later sections.
4259 We will also want to make exceptions from our general pop-up-killing,
4260 and use our defined aliases for that.</P
4262 > The first of our specialized sections is concerned with <SPAN
4266 sites, i.e. sites that require minimum interference, because they are either
4267 very complex or very keen on tracking you (and have mechanisms in place that
4268 make them unusable for people who avoid being tracked). We will simply use
4272 > alias instead of stating the list
4273 of actions explicitly:</P
4283 >##########################################################################
4284 # Exceptions for sites that'll break under the default action set:
4285 ##########################################################################
4287 # "Fragile" Use a minimum set of actions for these sites (see alias above):
4290 .office.microsoft.com # surprise, surprise!
4291 .windowsupdate.microsoft.com</PRE
4297 > Shopping sites are not as fragile, but they typically
4298 require cookies to log in, and pop-up windows for shopping
4299 carts or item details. Again, we'll use a pre-defined alias:</P
4313 .worldpay.com # for quietpc.com
4321 > Then, there are sites which rely on pop-up windows (yuck!) to work.
4322 Since we made pop-up-killing our default above, we need to make exceptions
4324 HREF="http://www.mozilla.org/"
4328 can turn on smart handling of unwanted pop-ups in their browsers, can
4333 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"
4340 HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
4344 and hence don't need this section. Anyway, disabling an already disabled
4345 action doesn't hurt, so we'll define our exceptions regardless of what was
4346 chosen in the defaults section:</P
4356 ># These sites require pop-ups too :(
4359 HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
4362 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-POPUPS"
4367 .deutsche-bank-24.de</PRE
4376 HREF="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"
4380 action, which we enabled per default above, breaks some sites. So disable
4381 it for popular sites where we know it misbehaves:</P
4392 HREF="actions-file.html#FAST-REDIRECTS"
4398 .altavista.com/.*(like|url|link):http
4399 .altavista.com/trans.*urltext=http
4406 > It is important that <SPAN
4410 URLs belong to images, so that <SPAN
4417 be blocked, a substitute image can be sent, rather than an HTML page.
4418 Contacting the remote site to find out is not an option, since it
4419 would destroy the loading time advantage of banner blocking, and it
4420 would feed the advertisers (in terms of money <SPAN
4427 information). We can mark any URL as an image with the <TT
4430 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
4434 and marking all URLs that end in a known image file extension is a
4445 >##########################################################################
4447 ##########################################################################
4449 # Define which file types will be treated as images, in case they get
4450 # blocked further down this file:
4453 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
4456 /.*\.(gif|jpe?g|png|bmp|ico)$</PRE
4462 > And then there are known banner sources. They often use scripts to
4463 generate the banners, so it won't be visible from the URL that the
4464 request is for an image. Hence we block them <SPAN
4471 mark them as images in one go, with the help of our
4475 > alias defined above. (We could of
4476 course just as well use <TT
4479 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4483 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
4487 Remember that the type of the replacement image is chosen by the
4491 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
4492 >set-image-blocker</A
4495 action. Since all URLs have matched the default section with its
4499 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
4500 >set-image-blocker</A
4503 action before, it still applies and needn't be repeated:</P
4513 ># Known ad generators:
4518 .ad.*.doubleclick.net
4519 .a.yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
4520 .a[0-9].yimg.com/(?:(?!/i/).)*$
4529 > One of the most important jobs of <SPAN
4533 is to block banners. A huge bunch of them are already <SPAN
4540 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
4542 >{banners-by-size}</TT
4544 action, which we enabled above, and which deletes the references to banner
4545 images from the pages while they are loaded, so the browser doesn't request
4546 them anymore, and hence they don't need to be blocked here. But this naturally
4547 doesn't catch all banners, and some people choose not to use filters, so we
4548 need a comprehensive list of patterns for banner URLs here, and apply the
4552 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4555 > action to them.</P
4557 > First comes a bunch of generic patterns, which do most of the work, by
4558 matching typical domain and path name components of banners. Then comes
4559 a list of individual patterns for specific sites, which is omitted here
4560 to keep the example short:</P
4570 >##########################################################################
4571 # Block these fine banners:
4572 ##########################################################################
4574 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4584 /.*count(er)?\.(pl|cgi|exe|dll|asp|php[34]?)
4585 /(?:.*/)?(publicite|werbung|rekla(ma|me|am)|annonse|maino(kset|nta|s)?)/
4587 # Site-specific patterns (abbreviated):
4595 > You wouldn't believe how many advertisers actually call their banner
4601 >.com, or call the directory
4602 in which the banners are stored simply <SPAN
4606 generic patterns are surprisingly effective.</P
4608 > But being very generic, they necessarily also catch URLs that we don't want
4609 to block. The pattern <TT
4621 >.nasty-corp.com"</SPAN
4631 >.sourcefroge.net"</SPAN
4641 >l.some-provider.net."</SPAN
4643 well-known exceptions to the <TT
4646 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4652 > Note that these are exceptions to exceptions from the default! Consider the URL
4655 >"downloads.sourcefroge.net"</SPAN
4656 >: Initially, all actions are deactivated,
4657 so it wouldn't get blocked. Then comes the defaults section, which matches the
4658 URL, but just deactivates the <TT
4661 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4665 action once again. Then it matches <TT
4668 >, an exception to the
4669 general non-blocking policy, and suddenly
4673 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4676 > applies. And now, it'll match
4683 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4687 applies, so (unless it matches <SPAN
4693 > further down) it ends up
4697 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4700 > action applying.</P
4710 >##########################################################################
4711 # Save some innocent victims of the above generic block patterns:
4712 ##########################################################################
4717 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4720 adv[io]*. # (for advogato.org and advice.*)
4721 adsl. # (has nothing to do with ads)
4722 ad[ud]*. # (adult.* and add.*)
4723 .edu # (universities don't host banners (yet!))
4724 .*loads. # (downloads, uploads etc)
4732 www.globalintersec.com/adv # (adv = advanced)
4733 www.ugu.com/sui/ugu/adv</PRE
4739 > Filtering source code can have nasty side effects,
4740 so make an exception for our friends at sourceforge.net,
4741 and all paths with <SPAN
4744 > in them. Note that
4748 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
4758 > filters in one fell swoop!</P
4768 ># Don't filter code!
4771 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
4775 .sourceforge.net</PRE
4785 comprehensive, but we hope this example made clear how it works.</P
4792 NAME="AEN2915">8.7.2. user.action</H3
4794 > So far we are painting with a broad brush by setting general policies,
4795 which would be a reasonable starting point for many people. Now,
4796 you might want to be more specific and have customized rules that
4797 are more suitable to your personal habits and preferences. These would
4798 be for narrowly defined situations like your ISP or your bank, and should
4802 >, which is parsed after all other
4803 actions files and hence has the last word, over-riding any previously
4804 defined actions. <TT
4814 > place for your personal settings, since
4818 > is actively maintained by the
4822 > developers and you'll probably want
4823 to install updated versions from time to time.</P
4825 > So let's look at a few examples of things that one might typically do in
4839 ># My user.action file. <fred@foobar.com></PRE
4846 HREF="actions-file.html#ALIASES"
4848 > are local to the actions
4849 file that they are defined in, you can't use the ones from
4853 >, unless you repeat them here:</P
4863 ># (Re-)define aliases for this file:
4866 -crunch-all-cookies = -crunch-incoming-cookies -crunch-outgoing-cookies
4867 mercy-for-cookies = -crunch-all-cookies -session-cookies-only
4868 fragile = -block -crunch-all-cookies -filter -fast-redirects -hide-referer -kill-popups
4869 shop = mercy-for-cookies -filter{popups} -kill-popups
4870 allow-ads = -block -filter{banners-by-size} # (see below)</PRE
4877 > Say you have accounts on some sites that you visit regularly, and
4878 you don't want to have to log in manually each time. So you'd like
4879 to allow persistent cookies for these sites. The
4882 >mercy-for-cookies</TT
4883 > alias defined above does exactly
4884 that, i.e. it disables crunching of cookies in any direction, and
4885 processing of cookies to make them temporary.</P
4895 >{ mercy-for-cookies }
4906 > Your bank needs popups and is allergic to some filter, but you don't
4907 know which, so you disable them all:</P
4918 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
4921 HREF="actions-file.html#KILL-POPUPS"
4924 .your-home-banking-site.com</PRE
4930 > While browsing the web with <SPAN
4934 noticed some ads that sneaked through, but you were too lazy to
4935 report them through our fine and easy <A
4939 system, so you have added them here:</P
4950 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
4953 www.a-popular-site.com/some/unobvious/path
4954 another.popular.site.net/more/junk/here/</PRE
4960 > Note that, assuming the banners in the above example have regular image
4961 extensions (most do),
4965 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
4969 need not be specified, since all URLs ending in these extensions will
4970 already have been tagged as images in the relevant section of
4976 > Then you noticed that the default configuration breaks Forbes Magazine,
4977 but you were too lazy to find out which action is the culprit, and you
4978 were again too lazy to give <A
4982 you just used the <TT
4985 > alias on the site, and
4986 -- whoa! -- it worked:</P
5003 > You like the <SPAN
5006 > text replacements in <TT
5010 but it is disabled in the distributed actions file. (My colleagues on the team just
5011 don't have a sense of humour, that's why! ;-). So you'd like to turn it on in your private,
5012 update-safe config, once and for all:</P
5023 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-FUN"
5026 / # For ALL sites!</PRE
5032 > Note that the above is not really a good idea: There are exceptions
5033 to the filters in <TT
5037 really shouldn't be filtered, like code on CVS->Web interfaces. Since
5041 > has the last word, these exceptions
5042 won't be valid for the <SPAN
5045 > filtering specified here.</P
5047 > Finally, you might think about how your favourite free websites are
5048 funded, and find that they rely on displaying banner advertisements
5049 to survive. So you might want to specifically allow banners for those
5050 sites that you feel provide value to you:</P
5072 > has been aliased to
5076 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
5083 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER-BANNERS-BY-SIZE"
5084 >filter{banners-by-size}</A
5096 SUMMARY="Footer navigation table"
5125 HREF="filter-file.html"
5135 >The Main Configuration File</TD
5145 >The Filter File</TD