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+>Privoxy 3.0.15 User Manual</TH
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+HREF="whatsnew.html"
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CLASS="SECT1"
><A
NAME="QUICKSTART"
->4. Quickstart to Using <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-></A
+>4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy</A
></H1
><P
> <P
><UL
><LI
><P
-> If upgrading, from versions before 2.9.16, please back up any configuration
- files. See the <A
-HREF="upgradersnote.html"
->Note to Upgraders</A
-> Section.
- </P
-></LI
-><LI
-><P
> Install <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> as HTTP and
- HTTPS proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
+ HTTPS (SSL) <A
+HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server"
+TARGET="_top"
+>proxy</A
+>
+ by setting the proxy configuration for address of
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>127.0.0.1</TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
>8118</TT
>.
- (<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Junkbuster</SPAN
-> and earlier versions of
<SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-> used port 8000.) See the section <A
-HREF="startup.html"
->Starting <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-></A
-> below
- for more details on this.
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
+CLASS="EMPHASIS"
+>DO NOT</I
+></SPAN
+> activate proxying for <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+>FTP</TT
+> or
+ any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) unless you intend to prevent your
+ browser from using these protocols.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
> Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
+ If using <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> to manage
+ <A
+HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie"
+TARGET="_top"
+>cookies</A
+>,
+ you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
</P
></LI
><LI
> A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
- to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
+ to no initial configuration is required in most cases, you may want
+ to enable the
+ <A
+HREF="config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS"
+TARGET="_top"
+>web-based action editor</A
+> though.
+ Be sure to read the warnings first.
</P
><P
> See the <A
>Configuration section</A
> for more
configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
-
- </P
+ You might also want to look at the <A
+HREF="quickstart.html#QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING"
+>next section</A
+> for a quick
+ introduction to how <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> blocks ads and
+ banners.</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
+> If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
<SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy's</SPAN
-> behaviour, take a look at the <A
+> behavior, take a look at the <A
HREF="actions-file.html"
>actions files</A
>. As a quick start, you might
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"<A
HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
->Anatomy of an
+>Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
Action</A
>"</SPAN
-> has hints how to debug actions that
+> has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"misbehave"</SPAN
HREF="contact.html"
>Contacting the
Developers</A
-> on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
+> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
help.
</P
></LI
><LI
><P
-> Now enjoy surfing with enhanced comfort and privacy!
+> Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
</P
></LI
></UL
>
This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
- information provided below, though this is highly recommeneded.</P
+ information provided below, though this is highly recommended.</P
><P
> First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
- things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
+ things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
+ may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
<SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"problem"</SPAN
> sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
- not an easy way to eliminate <I
+ not an easy way to eliminate <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>all</I
+></SPAN
> ads. Either take
- the easy way and settle for <I
+ the easy way and settle for <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>most</I
+></SPAN
> ads blocked with the
default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
habits and preferences.</P
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
> will perform the
- respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Futhermore, web
+ respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
- original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just a URL
+ original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
- such embedded URLs.</P
+ such embedded URLs. <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> can deal with each URL individually, so, for
+ instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
+ server are blocked.</P
><P
-> The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <TT
+> The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
>handle-as-image</A
></TT
->, and
+>,
+ <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"
+>handle-as-empty-document</A
+></TT
+>,and
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><A
HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
>block</A
></TT
-> - this action stops
- any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this
- action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything
- that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any
- communication with the remote server and sends <SPAN
+> - this is perhaps
+ the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
+ This action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns
+ that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads,
+ but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply
+ stops any communication with the remote server and sends
+ <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
>Privoxy</SPAN
->'s
- own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
+>'s own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
+ let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
</P
></LI
><LI
>Privoxy</SPAN
>'s default configuration already does this
for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
- is not as easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
- important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image, we can replace
- it by an image instead of the BLOCKED page, which would only result in a
+ is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
+ important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
+ some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
<SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> BLOCKED page (which would only result in
+ a <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"broken image"</SPAN
-> icon. There are some limitations to this though. For
- instance, you can't just brute-force an image substituion for an entire HTML page
- in most situations.
+> icon). There are some limitations to this
+ though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
+ an entire HTML page in most situations.
+ </P
+></LI
+><LI
+><P
+> <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"
+>handle-as-empty-document</A
+></TT
+> -
+ sends an empty document instead of <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy's</SPAN
+>
+ normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
+ HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
</P
></LI
><LI
>block</A
></TT
> action somewhere in the
- configuration, <I
+ configuration, <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>and</I
+></SPAN
>, it must also match an
<TT
CLASS="LITERAL"
><TBODY
><TR
><TD
-> <I
+> <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>pattern</I
-> - a checkboard pattern, so that an ad
+></SPAN
+> - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
replacement is obvious. This is the default.
</TD
></TR
><TBODY
><TR
><TD
-> <I
+> <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>blank</I
+></SPAN
> - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
This is the so-called <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
><TBODY
><TR
><TD
-> <I
+> <SPAN
+CLASS="emphasis"
+><I
CLASS="EMPHASIS"
>http://<URL></I
+></SPAN
> - A redirect to any image anywhere
of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
</TD
></UL
></P
><P
+> Advanced users will eventually want to explore <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+>
+ <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
+>filters</A
+></TT
+> as well. Filters
+ are very different from <TT
+CLASS="LITERAL"
+><A
+HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
+>blocks</A
+></TT
+>.
+ A <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"block"</SPAN
+> blocks a site, page, or unwanted contented. Filters
+ are a way of filtering or modifying what is actually on the page. An example
+ filter usage: a text replacement of <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"no-no"</SPAN
+> for
+ <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"nasty-word"</SPAN
+>. That is a very simple example. This process can be
+ used for ad blocking, but it is more in the realm of advanced usage and has
+ some pitfalls to be wary off.</P
+><P
> The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
the special <SPAN
CLASS="APPLICATION"
TARGET="_top"
>http://p.p/show-status</A
>). This
- is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
- appropriate <SPAN
+ is an internal page, and does not require Internet access.</P
+><P
+> Note that as of <SPAN
+CLASS="APPLICATION"
+>Privoxy</SPAN
+> 3.0.7 beta the
+ action editor is disabled by default. Check the
+ <A
+HREF="config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS"
+TARGET="_top"
+>enable-edit-actions
+ section in the configuration file</A
+> to learn why and in which
+ cases it's safe to enable again.</P
+><P
+> If you decided to enable the action editor, select the appropriate
+ <SPAN
CLASS="QUOTE"
>"actions"</SPAN
> file, and click
> <DIV
CLASS="FIGURE"
><A
-NAME="AEN356"
+NAME="AEN593"
></A
><P
><B
CLASS="MEDIAOBJECT"
><P
><IMG
-SRC="../images/files-in-use.jpg"
-ALT="Screenshot of Files in Use"
-></IMG
-></P
+SRC="files-in-use.jpg"></P
></DIV
></DIV
>
HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
>Actions Files Tutorial</A
>.
- The ideas explained thererin also apply to the web-based editor.</P
+ The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.</P
+><P
+> There are also various
+ <A
+HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
+>filters</A
+> that can be used for ad blocking
+ (filters are a special subset of actions). These
+ fall into the <SPAN
+CLASS="QUOTE"
+>"advanced"</SPAN
+> usage category, and are explained in
+ depth in later sections. </P
></DIV
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->Note to Upgraders</TD
+>What's New in this Release</TD
><TD
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ALIGN="center"
WIDTH="33%"
ALIGN="right"
VALIGN="top"
->Starting <SPAN
-CLASS="APPLICATION"
->Privoxy</SPAN
-></TD
+>Starting Privoxy</TD
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