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42 >Privoxy 3.0.7 User Manual</TH
79 >4. Quickstart to Using Privoxy</A
91 HREF="installation.html"
92 >Installation Section</A
93 > below for platform specific
99 > Advanced users and those who want to offer <SPAN
103 service to more than just their local machine should check the <A
107 HREF="config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL"
108 >security-relevant</A
118 >, if the installation program has
119 not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
131 > Set your browser to use <SPAN
136 HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server"
140 by setting the proxy configuration for address of
154 > activate proxying for <TT
158 any protocols besides HTTP and HTTPS (SSL)! It won't work!
163 > Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
169 HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie"
173 you should remove any currently stored cookies too.
178 > A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
179 most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
180 configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
181 to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
185 HREF="configuration.html"
186 >Configuration section</A
188 configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
189 You might also want to look at the <A
190 HREF="quickstart.html#QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING"
193 introduction to how <SPAN
201 > If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
202 blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
206 > behavior, take a look at the <A
207 HREF="actions-file.html"
209 >. As a quick start, you might
211 HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
212 >richly commented examples</A
214 helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <A
215 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org"
217 >web-based user interface</A
222 HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
223 >Troubleshooting: Anatomy of an
226 > has hints on how to understand and debug actions that
235 > For easy access to <SPAN
238 >'s most important controls, drag the provided
240 HREF="appendix.html#BOOKMARKLETS"
242 > into your browser's
248 > Please see the section <A
252 > on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to get
258 > Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
268 NAME="QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING"
269 >4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking</A
272 > Ad blocking is but one of <SPAN
276 array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
277 user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.</P
280 This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
281 you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
282 information provided below, though this is highly recommended.</P
284 > First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
285 more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
286 things that were not intended. And the more likely that some things
287 may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
288 extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
292 > sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
293 configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
294 not an easy way to eliminate <SPAN
301 the easy way and settle for <SPAN
307 > ads blocked with the
308 default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
309 habits and preferences.</P
311 > Secondly, a brief explanation of <SPAN
321 > in this context, are
322 the directives we use to tell <SPAN
326 some task relating to WWW transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
334 action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
342 arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <A
343 HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
346 HREF="actions-file.html"
348 configuration files</A
349 >, are explained in depth below.</P
351 > Actions are specified in <SPAN
355 followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
356 can actually be URL type <A
357 HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
360 wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
361 actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.</P
363 > When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
364 of the sections as defined in <SPAN
368 or not. If so, then <SPAN
372 respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
373 pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
374 use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
375 original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
376 embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
377 or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
378 such embedded URLs. <SPAN
381 > can deal with each URL individually, so, for
382 instance, the main page text is not touched, but images from such-and-such
383 server are blocked.</P
385 > The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <TT
388 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
394 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
401 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"
402 >handle-as-empty-document</A
408 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
409 >set-image-blocker</A
421 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
425 the single most used action, and is particularly important for ad blocking.
426 This action stops any contact between your browser and any URL patterns
427 that match this action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads,
428 but also anything that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply
429 stops any communication with the remote server and sends
433 >'s own built-in BLOCKED page instead to
434 let you now what has happened (with some exceptions, see below).
442 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
449 > to treat this URL as an image.
453 >'s default configuration already does this
454 for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
455 is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
456 important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
457 some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
461 > BLOCKED page (which would only result in
464 >"broken image"</SPAN
465 > icon). There are some limitations to this
466 though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
467 an entire HTML page in most situations.
475 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT"
476 >handle-as-empty-document</A
479 sends an empty document instead of <SPAN
483 normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is useful for file types that are neither
484 HTML nor images, such as blocking JavaScript files.
492 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
493 >set-image-blocker</A
499 > what to display in place of an ad image that
500 has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
504 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
507 > action somewhere in the
514 >, it must also match an
518 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
524 > The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
539 > - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
540 replacement is obvious. This is the default.
560 > - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
561 This is the so-called <SPAN
564 > configuration option.
582 >http://<URL></I
584 > - A redirect to any image anywhere
585 of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
596 > The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
601 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
603 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
608 >http://p.p/show-status</A
610 is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
621 >. It is best to put personal or
622 local preferences in <TT
626 meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
627 other files. Here you can insert new <SPAN
631 blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
635 > will detect these changes automatically.</P
637 > A quick and simple step by step example:</P
644 > Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
649 >Copy Link Location</SPAN
657 > Set your browser to
659 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
661 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
670 > in the top section, and click
687 >Figure 1. Actions Files in Use</B
693 SRC="files-in-use.jpg"></P
701 > You should have a section with only
705 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
713 If not, click a <SPAN
717 >Insert new section below</SPAN
720 button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
724 > button right under the word <SPAN
728 This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
732 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
735 > near the top, and click
754 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
764 > button, and paste the URL the
765 browser got from <SPAN
769 >Copy Link Location</SPAN
775 > at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
789 > if in a pop-up window).
794 > Now go back to the original page, and press <B
798 (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
804 > This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
805 wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
806 site. For a more extensive explanation of <SPAN
810 the entire actions concept, see <A
811 HREF="actions-file.html"
816 > For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
818 HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
819 >Actions Files Tutorial</A
821 The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.</P
823 > There are also various
825 HREF="actions-file.html#FILTER"
827 > that can be used for ad blocking
828 (filters are a special subset of actions). These
832 > usage category, and are explained in
833 depth in later sections. </P
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880 >What's New in this Release</TD
890 >Starting Privoxy</TD