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40 >Privoxy 3.0.4 User Manual</TH
78 >4. Quickstart to Using <SPAN
92 HREF="installation.html"
93 >Installation Section</A
94 > below for platform specific
100 > Advanced users and those who want to offer <SPAN
104 service to more than just their local machine should check the <A
108 HREF="config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL"
109 >security-relevant</A
119 >, if the installation program has
120 not done this already (may vary according to platform). See the section
132 > Set your browser to use <SPAN
136 HTTPS (SSL) proxy by setting the proxy configuration for address of
147 > and earlier versions of
151 > used port 8000.) See the section <A
158 for more details on this.
163 > Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached ad images.
167 > to manage cookies, you should
168 remove any currently stored cookies too.
173 > A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point for
174 most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to adjust the
175 configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need arises. Little
176 to no initial configuration is required in most cases.
180 HREF="configuration.html"
181 >Configuration section</A
183 configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
188 > If you experience ads that slipped through, innocent images that are
189 blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune
193 > behaviour, take a look at the <A
194 HREF="actions-file.html"
196 >. As a quick start, you might
198 HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
199 >richly commented examples</A
201 helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files through the <A
202 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org"
204 >web-based user interface</A
209 HREF="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT"
213 > has hints how to debug actions that
222 > For easy access to Privoxy's most important controls, drag the provided
224 HREF="appendix.html#BOOKMARKLETS"
226 > into your browser's
232 > Please see the section <A
236 > on how to report bugs or problems with websites or to get
242 > Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!
252 NAME="QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING"
254 >4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking</H2
256 > Ad blocking is but one of <SPAN
260 array of features. Many of these features are for the technically minded advanced
261 user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common ground for everybody.</P
264 This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so
265 you can get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
266 information provided below, though this is highly recommended.</P
268 > First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking SPAM: the
269 more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to block
270 things that were not intended. So there is a trade off here. If you want
271 extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
275 > sites, and to spend more time adjusting the
276 configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In short, there is
277 not an easy way to eliminate <SPAN
284 the easy way and settle for <SPAN
290 > ads blocked with the
291 default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your personal surfing
292 habits and preferences.</P
294 > Secondly, a brief explanation of <SPAN
304 > in this context, are
305 the directives we use to tell <SPAN
309 some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We tell
317 action has a unique name and function. While there are many potential
325 arsenal, only a few are used for ad blocking. <A
326 HREF="actions-file.html#ACTIONS"
329 HREF="actions-file.html"
331 configuration files</A
332 >, are explained in depth below.</P
334 > Actions are specified in <SPAN
338 followed by one or more URLs to which the action should apply. URLs
339 can actually be URL type <A
340 HREF="actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS"
343 wildcards so they can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The
344 actions, together with the URL patterns are called a section.</P
346 > When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or more
347 of the sections as defined in <SPAN
351 or not. If so, then <SPAN
355 respective actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web
356 pages may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will
357 use to load additional components of the page, as it parses the
358 original page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL
359 embedded in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server,
360 or a server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
361 such embedded URLs.</P
363 > The actions we need to know about for ad blocking are: <TT
366 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
372 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
379 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
380 >set-image-blocker</A
392 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
395 > - this action stops
396 any contact between your browser and any URL patterns that match this
397 action's configuration. It can be used for blocking ads, but also anything
398 that is determined to be unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any
399 communication with the remote server and sends <SPAN
403 own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened.
411 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
418 > to treat this URL as an image.
422 >'s default configuration already does this
423 for all common image types (e.g. GIF), but there are many situations where this
424 is not so easy to determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
425 important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image of
426 some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing, instead of the
430 > BLOCKED page (which would only result in
433 >"broken image"</SPAN
434 > icon). There are some limitations to this
435 though. For instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for
436 an entire HTML page in most situations.
444 HREF="actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER"
445 >set-image-blocker</A
451 > what to display in place of an ad image that
452 has hit a block rule. For this to come into play, the URL must match a
456 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
459 > action somewhere in the
466 >, it must also match an
470 HREF="actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE"
476 > The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad are:
491 > - a checkerboard pattern, so that an ad
492 replacement is obvious. This is the default.
512 > - A very small empty GIF image is displayed.
513 This is the so-called <SPAN
516 > configuration option.
534 >http://<URL></I
536 > - A redirect to any image anywhere
537 of the user's choosing (advanced usage).
548 > The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your browser through
553 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
555 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
560 >http://p.p/show-status</A
562 is an internal page, and does not require Internet access. Select the
573 >. It is best to put personal or
574 local preferences in <TT
578 meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will over-ride the settings in
579 other files. Here you can insert new <SPAN
583 blocking or other purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration.
587 > will detect these changes automatically.</P
589 > A quick and simple step by step example:</P
596 > Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
601 >Copy Link Location</SPAN
609 > Set your browser to
611 HREF="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status"
613 >http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</A
622 > in the top section, and click
639 >Figure 1. Actions Files in Use</B
645 SRC="../images/files-in-use.jpg"></P
653 > You should have a section with only
657 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
665 If not, click a <SPAN
669 >Insert new section below</SPAN
672 button, and in the new section that just appeared, click the
676 > button right under the word <SPAN
680 This will bring up a list of all actions. Find
684 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
687 > near the top, and click
706 HREF="actions-file.html#BLOCK"
716 > button, and paste the URL the
717 browser got from <SPAN
721 >Copy Link Location</SPAN
727 > at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
741 > if in a pop-up window).
746 > Now go back to the original page, and press <B
750 (or flush all browser caches). The image should be gone now.
756 > This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons to use a
757 wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images from the same
758 site. For a more extensive explanation of <SPAN
762 the entire actions concept, see <A
763 HREF="actions-file.html"
768 > For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you might want
770 HREF="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES"
771 >Actions Files Tutorial</A
773 The ideas explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.</P
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820 >What's New in this Release</TD