This file belongs into
ijbswa.sourceforge.net:/home/groups/i/ij/ijbswa/htdocs/
- $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.65 2002/07/25 21:51:24 hal9 Exp $
+ $Id: faq.sgml,v 1.61.2.19 2002/08/25 23:31:56 hal9 Exp $
Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 Privoxy Developers <developers@privoxy.org>
See LICENSE.
========================================================================
NOTE: Please read developer-manual/documentation.html before touching
- anything in this, or other Privoxy documentation.
+ anything in this, or other Privoxy documentation. You have been warned!
+ Failure to abide by this rule will result in the revocation of your license
+ to live a peaceful existence!
========================================================================
</subscript>
</pubdate>
-<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.65 2002/07/25 21:51:24 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
+<pubdate>$Id: faq.sgml,v 1.61.2.19 2002/08/25 23:31:56 hal9 Exp $</pubdate>
<!--
]]>
<para>
This FAQ gives quick answers to frequently asked questions about
- <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>
- <![%p-stable;[ v.&p-version]]>. It can't and doesn't replace the
+ <ulink url="http://www.privoxy.org/">Privoxy</ulink>.
+ It can't and doesn't replace the
<ulink url="../user-manual/index.html"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
+<!--
+ This works, at least in some situtations:
+ Test: <ulink url="privoxy-user-manual.pdf"><citetitle>User Manual</citetitle></ulink>.
+-->
</para>
<!-- Include privoxy.sgml boilerplate: -->
<!-- end boilerplate -->
<para>
+ Please note that this document is constantly evolving. This copy represents
+ the state at the release of version &p-version;.
You can find the latest version of the document at <ulink
url="http://www.privoxy.org/faq/">http://www.privoxy.org/faq/</ulink>.
Please see the <link linkend="contact">Contact section</link> if you want to
</para>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="nothing">I just installed <application>Privoxy</application>, and nothing is happening.
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="nothing">
+<title>I just installed <application>Privoxy</application>, and nothing is happening.
All the ads are there. What's wrong?</title>
<para>
be that the browser is not set up correctly, or that
<application>Privoxy</application> is not running at all. Check the <ulink
url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">log file</ulink>.
-
-
</para>
</sect2>
<sect1 id="configuration"><title>Configuration</title>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="getupdates"><title>Where can I get updated Actions Files?</title>
+ <para>
+ Based on your feedback and the continuing development, updated actions files will be
+ made available on the <ulink
+ url="http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118">files section</ulink> of
+ our <ulink url="http://sf.net/projects/ijbswa/">project page</ulink>.
+ </para>
+
+ <para>
+ If you wish to receive an email notification whenever we release updates of
+ <application>Privoxy</application> or the actions file, <ulink
+ url="http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/ijbswa-announce/">subscribe
+ to our announce mailing list</ulink>, ijbswa-announce@lists.sourceforge.net.
+ </para>
+
+</sect2>
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="newconfig"><title>Can I use my old config files?</title>
<para>
The syntax, number, and purpose of configuration files has substantially
<para>
Actions files are just text files in a special syntax and can be edited
- with a text editor. The probably easiest way is to access
+ with a text editor. But probably the easiest way is to access
<application>Privoxy</application>'s user interface with your web browser
at <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/">http://config.privoxy.org/</ulink>
(Shortcut: <ulink url="http://p.p/">http://p.p/</ulink>) and then select
<row>
<entry>Pop-up killing</entry>
<entry>no</entry>
- <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
<entry>yes</entry>
</row>
+<row>
+ <entry>Image tag reordering</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+</row>
+
+<row>
+ <entry>Ad-filtering by link</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>no</entry>
+ <entry>yes</entry>
+</row>
+
+
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</table>
<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="filterfile">What is the <filename>default.filter</filename> file?</title>
+<title id="filterfile">What is the <filename>default.filter</filename> file? What is a <quote>filter</quote>?</title>
<para>
The <ulink url="../user-manual/filter-file.html"><filename>default.filter</filename></ulink>
file is where <emphasis>filters</emphasis> are defined, which can be used to modify or
requires some expertise in both regular expressions and HTML/HTTP.
</para>
-
<para>
Presently, there is no GUI editor option for this part of the configuration,
but you can disable/enable the various pre-defined filters of the included
it is uncommented, and assign it the address of the LAN gateway interface,
and port number to use. Assuming your LAN address is 192.168.1.1 and you
wish to run <application>Privoxy</application> on port 8118, this line
- schould look like:
+ should look like:
</para>
<para>
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="port-80">
+<title>Can I just set <application>Privoxy</application> to use port 80
+and thus avoid individual browser configuration?</title>
+
+<para>
+ No, its more complicated than that. This only works with special kinds
+ of proxies known as <quote>transparent</quote> proxies (see below).
+</para>
+
+</sect2>
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="transparent">
<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> run as a <quote>transparent
</quote> proxy?</title>
</para>
<para>
Filtering is automatically disabled for inappropriate MIME types.
+
</para>
</sect2>
</sect2>
-
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="turnoff">
<title>How can I temporarily disable <application>Privoxy</application>?</title>
<para>
</para>
</sect2>
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="crunch">
+<title>My logs show <application>Privoxy</application> <quote>crunches</quote>
+ads, but also its own CGI pages. What is a <quote>crunch</quote>?</title>
+<para>
+ A <quote>crunch</quote> simply means <application>Privoxy</application> intercepted
+ <emphasis>something</emphasis>, nothing more. Often this is indeed ads or
+ banners, but <application>Privoxy</application> uses the same mechanism for
+ trapping requests for its own internal pages. For instance, a request for
+ <application>Privoxy's</application> configuration page at: <ulink
+ url="http://config.privoxy.org">http://config.privoxy.org</ulink>, is
+ intercepted (i.e. it does not go out to the 'net), and the familiar CGI
+ configuration is returned to the browser, and the log consequently will show
+ a <quote>crunch</quote>.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="downloads">
+<title>Can <application>Privoxy</application> effect files that I download
+from a webserver? FTP server?</title>
+<para>
+ From the webserver's perspective, there is no difference between
+ viewing a document (i.e. a page), and downloading a file. The same is true of
+ <application>Privoxy</application>. If there is a match for a <literal><ulink
+ url="../user-manual/actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</ulink></literal> pattern,
+ it will still be blocked, and of course this is obvious. Filtering is
+ potentially more of a concern since the results are not always so obvious.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> knows the differences in files according
+ to the <quote>Document Type</quote> as reported by the webserver. If this is
+ reported accurately (e.g. <quote>application/zip</quote> for a zip archive),
+ then <application>Privoxy</application> knows to ignore these where
+ appropriate. It is possible, however, that documents that are of an unknown
+ type (generally assumed to be <quote>text/plain</quote>) will be filtered, as
+ will those that might be incorrectly reported by the webserver. If such a
+ file is a downloaded file that is intended to be saved to disk, then any
+ content that might have been altered by filtering, will be saved too, for
+ these (probably very rare) cases.
+</para>
+<para>
+ <application>Privoxy</application> does not do FTP at all, only HTTP
+ protocols.
+</para>
+</sect2>
+
<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="seealso">
<title>Where can I find more information about <application>Privoxy</application>
</sect2>
-<sect2 renderas="sect3">
-<title id="badsite">One of my favorite sites does not work with <application>Privoxy</application>.
+<sect2 id="badsite" renderas="sect3">
+<title >One of my favorite sites does not work with <application>Privoxy</application>.
What can I do?</title>
<para>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="dun">
+<sect2 id="dun" renderas="sect3">
<title>After installing <application>Privoxy</application>, I have to log in
every time I start IE. What gives?</title>
<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
-<sect2 id="ftp">
+<sect2 id="ftp" renderas="sect3">
<title>I cannot connect to any FTP sites. <application>Privoxy</application>
seems to be blocking me.</title>
<para>
</para>
</sect2>
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 id="osxie" renderas="sect3">
+<title>In Mac OSX, I can't configure Microsoft Internet Explorer to use
+ <application>Privoxy</application> as the HTTP proxy.</title>
+ <para>
+ Microsoft Internet Explorer (in versions like 5.1) respects system-wide
+ network settings. In order to change the HTTP proxy, open System
+ Preferences, and click on the Network icon. In the settings pane that
+ comes up, click on the Proxies tab. Ensure the "Web Proxy (HTTP)" checkbox
+ is checked and enter <literal>127.0.0.1</literal> in the entry field.
+ Enter <literal>8118</literal> in the Port field. The next time you start
+ IE, it should reflect these values.
+ </para>
+</sect2>
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="osxuninstall">
+<title>In Mac OSX, I dragged the Privoxy folder to the trash in order to
+ uninstall it. Now the finder tells me I don't have sufficient privileges to
+ empty the trash.</title>
+ <para>
+ Just dragging the <application>Privoxy</application> folder to the trash is
+ not enough to delete it. <application>Privoxy</application> supplies an
+ <application>uninstall.command</application> file that takes care of
+ these details. Open the trash, drag the <application>uninstall.command</application>
+ file out of the trash and double-click on it. You will be prompted for
+ confirmation and the administration password.
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ The trash may still appear full after this command; emptying the trash
+ from the desktop should make it appear empty again.
+ </para>
+</sect2>
+
+
+<!-- ~~~~~ New section ~~~~~ -->
+<sect2 renderas="sect3" id="blankpage">
+<title>I get a completely blank page at one site. <quote>View Source</quote>
+ shows only: <markup><![CDATA[<html><body></body></html>]]></markup>.</title>
+ <para>
+ This is often the result of a webserver using
+ <application>PHP</application> that mishandles the request
+ <application>Privoxy</application> sends to not compress the content
+ (a <application>PHP</application> bug).
+ </para>
+ <para>
+ In a default configuration, <application>Privoxy</application> requests all
+ data be sent <quote>uncompressed</quote>. This is required for the page
+ filtering and other magic to work. In some rare cases, the browser and
+ webserver miscommunicate and the result is a totally blank page. The
+ suggested work around is to selectively turn off this feature for sites
+ that exhibit such behavior. Example section for <filename>user.action</filename>:
+ </para>
+ <screen>
+ # Make exceptions for ill-behaved sites:
+ #
+ {-prevent-compression}
+ .example.com</screen>
+</sect2>
+
+
</sect1>
<!--
</sect1>
Temple Place - Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.
$Log: faq.sgml,v $
-Revision 1.65 2002/07/25 21:51:24 hal9
-Warnings on non-HTTP traffic.
+Revision 1.61.2.19 2002/08/25 23:31:56 hal9
+Fix one grammatical error. Add brief FAQ relating to tranparent proxies (ie
+port 80 setting). Add FAQ on effects of Privoxy on downloaded files
+(especially filtering).
+
+Revision 1.61.2.18 2002/08/14 16:39:37 hal9
+Fix wrong tag on FAQ addition.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.17 2002/08/14 00:01:18 hal9
+Add a crunch FAQ.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.16 2002/08/13 00:10:38 hal9
+Add faq to troubleshooting re: blank page syndrome, ie {-prevent-compression}.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.15 2002/08/10 11:34:22 oes
+Add disclaimer about probably being out-of-date
+
+Revision 1.61.2.14 2002/08/07 02:53:43 hal9
+Fix some minor markup errors, and move one OSX Q/A to troubleshooting section.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.13 2002/08/06 11:55:32 oes
+Added missing close tag
+
+Revision 1.61.2.12 2002/08/06 11:43:46 david__schmidt
+Updated OSX uninstall FAQ... we have an uninstall script now.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.11 2002/08/06 08:54:03 oes
+Style police: Fixed formatting details
+
+Revision 1.61.2.10 2002/08/02 14:00:25 david__schmidt
+Made the OSX removal commands far less dangerous
+
+Revision 1.61.2.9 2002/08/02 13:14:45 oes
+Added warning about sudo rm -r for Mac OSX deinstallation; moved this item to install section
+
+Revision 1.61.2.8 2002/08/02 02:01:42 david__schmidt
+Add FAQ item for MSIE on OSX HTTP proxy confusion
+
+Revision 1.61.2.7 2002/08/02 01:46:01 david__schmidt
+Added FAQ item for Mac OSX uninstall woes
+
+Revision 1.61.2.6 2002/07/30 20:04:56 hal9
+Fix typo: 'schould'.
+
+Revision 1.61.2.5 2002/07/26 15:22:58 oes
+- Updated to reflect changes in standard.action
+- Added info on where to get updated actions files
+
+Revision 1.61.2.4 2002/07/25 21:42:29 hal9
+Add brief notes on not proxying non-HTTP protocols.
-Revision 1.64 2002/06/09 16:37:31 hal9
-Sync with filtering clarifications in 3.0 branch.
+Revision 1.61.2.3 2002/06/09 16:36:33 hal9
+Clarifications on filtering and MIME. Hardcode 'latest release' in index.html.
-Revision 1.63 2002/06/05 00:31:55 hal9
-Mass commit for new entities, most significantly so docs can read version
-and code status info from tmp files, so perl is no longer used. Also, docs can
-differentiate on alpha -> beta -> stable now.
+Revision 1.61.2.2 2002/06/06 02:51:34 hal9
+Fix typo in URL http:/config.privoxy.org
-Revision 1.62 2002/06/03 00:28:16 hal9
-Sync with various changes from 3.0 branch. Add two new files for config stuff.
+Revision 1.61.2.1 2002/06/05 23:10:43 hal9
+Add new FAQ re: DUN/IE. Change release date from May to June :)
Revision 1.61 2002/05/25 12:37:25 hal9
Various minor changes and edits.