2 File : $Source: /cvsroot/ijbswa/current/doc/source/contacting.sgml,v $
4 Purpose : Entity included in other project documents.
6 $Id: contacting.sgml,v 2.31 2013/01/25 14:21:47 fabiankeil Exp $
8 Copyright (C) 2001-2011 Privoxy Developers http://www.privoxy.org/
11 ======================================================================
12 This file used for inclusion with other documents only.
13 ======================================================================
15 This file is included into:
27 <!-- Careful of the literallayout tags and finished formatting -->
30 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve
31 <application>Privoxy</application> and its configuration.
32 However, please note the following hints, so we can
33 provide you with the best support.
36 <sect2 id="sufficient-information"><title>Please provide sufficient information</title>
38 A lot of support requests don't contain enough information and can't
39 be solved without a lot of back and forth which causes unnecessary
40 delays. Reading this section should help to prevent that.
43 Before contacting us to report a problem, please try to verify that it is a
44 <application>Privoxy</application> problem, and not a browser or site problem
45 or documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
47 try <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">toggling
48 off</ulink> <application>Privoxy</application>, and see if the problem persists.
52 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the default
53 configuration to see if the problem is configuration related.
54 If you're having problems with a feature that is disabled by default,
55 please ask around on the mailing list if others can reproduce the problem.
59 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the problem may have been found
60 and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time
61 to <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/installation.html">upgrade
62 to the latest version</ulink> and verify that the problem still exists.
65 Please be sure to provide the following information when reporting problems
66 or requesting support:
73 The exact <application>Privoxy</application> version you are using
74 (if you got the source from CVS, please also provide the source code revisions
75 as shown in <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/show-version">http://config.privoxy.org/show-version</ulink>).
81 The operating system and versions you run
82 <application>Privoxy</application> on, (e.g. <application>Windows
83 XP SP2</application>), if you are using a Unix flavor,
84 sending the output of <quote>uname -a</quote> should do,
85 in case of GNU/Linux, please also name the distribution.
91 The name, platform, and version of the <application>browser</application>
92 you were using (e.g. <application>Internet Explorer v5.5</application> for Mac).
98 The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
99 problem (e.g. <literal>http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123</literal>).
105 Whether your version of <application>Privoxy</application> is one supplied
106 by the <application>Privoxy</application> developers via SourceForge,
107 or if you got your copy somewhere else.
113 Whether you are using <application>Privoxy</application> in tandem with
114 another proxy such as <application>Tor</application>. If so, please
115 temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
121 Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does
122 <application>Privoxy</application> work without it?
128 Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
129 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each
130 action taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the
131 <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">logfile directive</ulink>
132 is being used and the following <ulink
133 url="../user-manual/config.html#DEBUG">debug options</ulink> are enabled
135 <literallayout>debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through. See also debug 1024.
136 debug 2 # show each connection status
137 debug 4 # show I/O status
138 debug 8 # show header parsing
139 debug 128 # debug redirects
140 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
141 debug 512 # Common Log Format
142 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through, and the reason why.
143 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
144 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors</literallayout>
147 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
148 <literallayout>debug 64 # debug regular expression filters</literallayout>
149 If you are using Privoxy 3.0.17 or later and suspect that it interprets the
150 request or the response incorrectly, please enable
151 <literallayout>debug 32768 # log all data read from the network</literallayout>
154 It's easy for us to ignore log messages that aren't relevant but missing
155 log messages may make it impossible to investigate a problem. If you aren't
156 sure which of the debug directives are relevant, please just enable all of them
157 and let us worry about it.
160 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please don't
161 submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive information
162 as long as it's clear that you removed something.
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 If you are new to reporting problems, you might be interested in
191 <ulink url="http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/bugs.html"
192 >How to Report Bugs Effectively</ulink>.
196 The <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">appendix
197 of the Privoxy User Manual</ulink> also has helpful information
198 on understanding <literal>actions</literal>, and <literal>action</literal> debugging.
201 <sect2 id="contact-support"><title>Get Support</title>
203 For casual users, our
204 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118">support forum at SourceForge</ulink>
205 is probably best suited:
206 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118</ulink>
210 All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the <ulink
211 url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-users">users
212 mailing list</ulink>, where the developers also hang around.
216 Please don't sent private support requests to individual Privoxy
217 developers, either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
221 If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons,
222 please send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging
223 system. Answers to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's
224 mail server in which case the developer wasted time writing a response you
225 don't get. From your point of view it will look like your message has
226 been completely ignored, so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
230 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
231 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a
232 delay of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly
233 mention Privoxy or one of its features, your message may be accidentally
238 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds
239 to come up with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear
240 that you want to get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to
241 the mailing list only, and you won't see them.
246 <sect2 id="reporting"><title>Reporting Problems</title>
248 <quote>Problems</quote> for our purposes, come in two forms:
254 Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that
255 don't function properly due to one <application>Privoxy</application>
256 <quote>action</quote> or another being turned <quote>on</quote>.
262 <quote>Bugs</quote> in the programming code that makes up
263 <application>Privoxy</application>, such as that might cause a crash.
269 <sect3 id="contact-ads"><title>Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</title>
271 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
272 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related problem of
273 <filename>default.action</filename> file, to
274 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288">
275 http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288</ulink>,
276 the Actions File Tracker.
280 New, improved <filename>default.action</filename> files may occasionally be made
281 available based on your feedback. These will be announced on the <ulink
282 url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce">ijbswa-announce</ulink>
283 list and available from our the <ulink
284 url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">files section</ulink> of
285 our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project page</ulink>.
290 <sect3 id="contact-bugs"><title>Reporting Bugs</title>
292 Please report all bugs through our bug tracker:
293 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118</ulink>.
297 Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has <emphasis>not already been submitted</emphasis>
298 and observe the additional hints at the top of the <ulink
299 url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=11118&atid=111118">submit
300 form</ulink>. If already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the
301 original report that might help to solve the issue.
306 <sect2 id="contact-feature"><title>Request New Features</title>
308 You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals
309 for improvement through our feature request tracker at
310 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118</ulink>.
314 <sect2 id="mailing-lists"><title>Mailing Lists</title>
316 If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
317 feel free to use one of the mailing lists.
318 To discuss issues that haven't been completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy
319 users list. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to
320 the project are always welcome on the developers list.
321 You can find an overview of all <application>Privoxy</application>-related mailing lists,
322 including list archives, at:
323 <ulink url="http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118">http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118</ulink>.