2 File : doc/source/contacting.sgml
4 Purpose : Entity included in other project documents.
6 Copyright (C) 2001-2021 Privoxy Developers https://www.privoxy.org/
9 ======================================================================
10 This file used for inclusion with other documents only.
11 ======================================================================
13 This file is included into:
24 <!-- Careful of the literallayout tags and finished formatting -->
27 We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve
28 <application>Privoxy</application> and its configuration.
29 However, please note the following hints, so we can
30 provide you with the best support.
33 <sect2 id="sufficient-information"><title>Please provide sufficient information</title>
35 A lot of support requests don't contain enough information and can't
36 be solved without a lot of back and forth which causes unnecessary
37 delays. Reading this section should help to prevent that.
40 Before contacting us to report a problem, please try to verify that it is a
41 <application>Privoxy</application> problem, and not a browser or site problem
42 or documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected.
44 try <ulink url="http://config.privoxy.org/toggle?set=disable">toggling
45 off</ulink> <application>Privoxy</application>, and see if the problem persists.
49 If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the default
50 configuration to see if the problem is configuration related.
51 If you're having problems with a feature that is disabled by default,
52 please ask around on the mailing list if others can reproduce the problem.
56 If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the problem may have been found
57 and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time
58 to <ulink url="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/installation.html">upgrade
59 to the latest version</ulink> and verify that the problem still exists.
62 Please be sure to provide the following information when reporting problems
63 or requesting support:
69 The exact <application>Privoxy</application> version you are using.
75 The operating system and versions you run
76 <application>Privoxy</application> on, e.g. <application>Windows
83 The name, platform, and version of the <application>browser</application>
84 you were using (e.g. <application>Internet Explorer v5.5</application> for Mac).
90 The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the
91 problem (e.g. <literal>http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123</literal>).
97 Whether your version of <application>Privoxy</application> is one supplied
98 by the <application>Privoxy</application> developers,
99 or if you got your copy somewhere else.
105 Whether you are using <application>Privoxy</application> together with
106 another proxy such as <application>Tor</application>. If so, please
107 temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.
113 Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does
114 <application>Privoxy</application> work without it?
120 Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config
121 or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each
122 action taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the
123 <ulink url="../user-manual/config.html#LOGFILE">logfile directive</ulink>
124 is being used and the following <ulink
125 url="../user-manual/config.html#DEBUG">debug options</ulink> are enabled
128 <literallayout>debug 1 # Log the destination for each request. See also debug 1024.
129 # See also debug 1024.
130 debug 2 # show each connection status
131 debug 4 # show tagging-related messages
132 debug 8 # show header parsing
133 debug 128 # debug redirects
134 debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
135 debug 512 # Common Log Format
136 debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through,
137 # and the reason why.
138 debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
139 debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors
140 debug 65536 # Log applying actions</literallayout>
142 If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable
144 <literallayout>debug 64 # debug regular expression filters</literallayout>
146 If you suspect that Privoxy interprets the request or the response
147 incorrectly, please enable additionally
149 <literallayout>debug 32768 # log all data read from the network</literallayout>
151 It's easy for us to ignore log messages that aren't relevant but missing
152 log messages may make it impossible to investigate a problem. If you aren't
153 sure which of the debug directives are relevant, please just enable all of them
154 and let us worry about it.
157 Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please don't
158 submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive information
159 as long as it's clear that you removed something.
162 Please clear the browser cache before reproducing the problem.
169 You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem
170 report, but if you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate
171 between your messages and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that
172 may respond to your request if they have the same problem or already
173 found a solution. Note that due to spam the trackers may not always
174 allow to post without being logged into SourceForge. If that's the
175 case, you are still free to create a login that isn't directly linked
176 to your name, though.
180 Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting
181 it, as we may request additional information. If you use a SF id,
182 you should automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request.
183 Please don't bother to add an email address when using the tracker.
184 If you prefer to communicate through email, just use one of the mailing
189 The <ulink url="https://www.privoxy.org/user-manual/appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">appendix
190 of the Privoxy User Manual</ulink> also has helpful information
191 on understanding <literal>actions</literal>, and <literal>action</literal> debugging.
194 <sect2 id="contact-support"><title>Get Support</title>
196 All users are welcome to discuss their issues on the <ulink
197 url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo/privoxy-users">users
198 mailing list</ulink>, where the developers also hang around.
202 Please don't send private support requests to individual Privoxy
203 developers, either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.
207 If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons,
208 please send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging
209 system. Answers to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's
210 mail server in which case the developer wasted time writing a response you
211 don't get. From your point of view it will look like your message has
212 been completely ignored, so this is frustrating for all parties involved.
216 Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed
217 addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a
218 delay of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly
219 mention Privoxy or one of its features, your message may be accidentally
224 If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds
225 to come up with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear
226 that you want to get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to
227 the mailing list only, and you won't see them.
232 <sect2 id="reporting"><title>Reporting Problems</title>
234 <quote>Problems</quote> for our purposes, come in two forms:
240 Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that
241 don't function properly due to one <application>Privoxy</application>
242 <quote>action</quote> or another being turned <quote>on</quote>.
248 <quote>Bugs</quote> in the programming code that makes up
249 <application>Privoxy</application>, such as that might cause a crash.
250 Documentation issues, for example spelling errors and unclear descriptions,
257 <sect3 id="contact-ads"><title>Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems</title>
259 Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were
260 blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related problem of
261 <filename>default.action</filename> file, to
262 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/"
263 >https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/actionsfile-feedback/</ulink>,
264 the Actions File Tracker.
270 <sect3 id="contact-bugs"><title>Reporting Bugs</title>
273 Before reporting bugs, please make sure that the bug has <emphasis>not already been submitted</emphasis>
274 and observe the additional hints at the top of the <ulink
275 url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/bugs/">submit
276 form</ulink>. If already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the
277 original report that might help to solve the issue.
282 <sect2 id="security-contact"><title>Reporting security problems</title>
284 If you discovered a security problem or merely suspect that a bug might
285 be a security issue, please mail Fabian Keil <fk@fabiankeil.de>
286 (OpenPGP fingerprint: 4F36 C17F 3816 9136 54A1 E850 6918 2291 8BA2 371C).
289 Usually you should get a response within a day, otherwise it's
290 likely that either your mail or the response didn't make it.
291 If that happens, please mail to the developer list to request a
296 <sect2 id="mailing-lists"><title>Mailing Lists</title>
298 If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface,
299 feel free to use one of the mailing lists.
300 To discuss issues that haven't been completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy
301 users list. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to
302 the project are always welcome on the developers list.
303 You can find an overview of all <application>Privoxy</application>-related mailing lists,
304 including list archives, at:
305 <ulink url="https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo">https://lists.privoxy.org/mailman/listinfo</ulink>.
306 The lists hosted on privoxy.org have been created in 2016, the previously-used
307 lists hosted at SourceForge are deprecated but the archives may still be useful:
308 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/">https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/mailman/</ulink>.
312 <sect2 id="sf-trackers"><title>SourceForge support trackers</title>
315 <ulink url="https://sourceforge.net/p/ijbswa/support-requests/">SourceForge support trackers</ulink>
316 may be used as well, but have various technical problems that are unlikely to
317 be fixed anytime soon. If you don't get a timely response, please try the
318 mailing list as well.