2 File : doc/source/contacting.sgml
4 Purpose : Entity included in other project documents.
6 Copyright (C) 2001-2021 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,
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 tagging-related messages
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 additionally
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.
163 Please clear the browser cache before reproducing the problem.
170 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem
171 report, but if you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate
172 between your messages and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that
173 may respond to your request if they have the same problem or already
174 found a solution. Note that due to spam the trackers may not always
175 allow to post without being logged into SourceForge. If that's the
176 case, you are still free to create a login that isn't directly linked
177 to your name, though.
181 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting
182 it, as we may request additional information. If you use a SF id,
183 you should automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
184 Please don't bother to add an email address when using the tracker.
185 If you prefer to communicate through email, just use one of the mailing
190 The <ulink url="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">appendix
191 of the Privoxy User Manual</ulink> also has helpful information
192 on understanding <literal>actions</literal>, and <literal>action</literal> debugging.
195 <sect2 id="contact-support"><title>Get Support</title>
197 All users are welcome to discuss their issues on the <ulink
198 url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo/privoxy-users">users
199 mailing list</ulink>, where the developers also hang around.
203 Please don't send private support requests to individual Privoxy
204 developers, either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
208 If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons,
209 please send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging
210 system. Answers to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's
211 mail server in which case the developer wasted time writing a response you
212 don't get. From your point of view it will look like your message has
213 been completely ignored, so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
217 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
218 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a
219 delay of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly
220 mention Privoxy or one of its features, your message may be accidentally
225 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds
226 to come up with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear
227 that you want to get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to
228 the mailing list only, and you won't see them.
233 <sect2 id="reporting"><title>Reporting Problems</title>
235 <quote>Problems</quote> for our purposes, come in two forms:
241 Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that
242 don't function properly due to one <application>Privoxy</application>
243 <quote>action</quote> or another being turned <quote>on</quote>.
249 <quote>Bugs</quote> in the programming code that makes up
250 <application>Privoxy</application>, such as that might cause a crash.
251 Documentation issues, for example spelling errors and unclear descriptions,
258 <sect3 id="contact-ads"><title>Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</title>
260 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
261 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related problem of
262 <filename>default.action</filename> file, to
263 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/"
264 >https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/</ulink>,
265 the Actions File Tracker.
271 <sect3 id="contact-bugs"><title>Reporting Bugs</title>
274 Before reporting bugs, please make sure that the bug has <emphasis>not already been submitted</emphasis>
275 and observe the additional hints at the top of the <ulink
276 url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/bugs/">submit
277 form</ulink>. If already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the
278 original report that might help to solve the issue.
283 <sect2 id="security-contact"><title>Reporting security problems</title>
285 If you discovered a security problem or merely suspect that a bug might
286 be a security issue, please mail Fabian Keil <fk@fabiankeil.de>
287 (OpenPGP fingerprint: 4F36 C17F 3816 9136 54A1 E850 6918 2291 8BA2 371C).
290 Usually you should get a response within a day, otherwise it's
291 likely that either your mail or the response didn't make it.
292 If that happens, please mail to the developer list to request a
297 <sect2 id="mailing-lists"><title>Mailing Lists</title>
299 If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
300 feel free to use one of the mailing lists.
301 To discuss issues that haven't been completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy
302 users list. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to
303 the project are always welcome on the developers list.
304 You can find an overview of all <application>Privoxy</application>-related mailing lists,
305 including list archives, at:
306 <ulink url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo">https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo</ulink>.
307 The lists hosted on privoxy.org have been created in 2016, the previously-used
308 lists hosted at SourceForge are deprecated but the archives may still be useful:
309 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/">https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/</ulink>.
313 <sect2 id="sf-trackers"><title>SourceForge support trackers</title>
316 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/support-requests/">SourceForge support trackers</ulink>
317 may be used as well, but have various technical problems that are unlikely to
318 be fixed anytime soon. If you don't get a timely response, please try the
319 mailing list as well.