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<div class="SECT1">
<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="QUICKSTART" id="QUICKSTART">4. Quickstart to
Using Privoxy</a></h1>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Install <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. See the <a href=
"installation.html">Installation Section</a> below for platform
specific information.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Advanced users and those who want to offer <span class=
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> service to more than just their local
machine should check the <a href="config.html">main config file</a>,
especially the <a href=
"config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">security-relevant</a> options. These are
off by default.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, if the
installation program has not done this already (may vary according to
platform). See the section <a href="startup.html">Starting
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Set your browser to use <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
as HTTP and 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> and port <tt class="LITERAL">8118</tt>.
<span 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>
<p>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,
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 href="configuration.html">Configuration section</a> for
more configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
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 slip through, innocent images that are
blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune <span class=
"APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> behavior, take a look at the <a href=
"actions-file.html">actions files</a>. As a quick start, you might
find the <a href="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">richly commented
examples</a> helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files
through the <a href="http://config.privoxy.org" target=
"_top">web-based user interface</a>. The Appendix <span class=
"QUOTE">"<a href="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">Troubleshooting: Anatomy
of an Action</a>"</span> has hints on how to understand and debug
actions that <span class="QUOTE">"misbehave"</span>.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Please see the section <a href="contact.html">Contacting the
Developers</a> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to
get help.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!</p>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="SECT2">
<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING" id=
"QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING">4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking</a></h2>
<p>Ad blocking is but one of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span>
array of features. Many of these features are for the technically
minded advanced user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common
ground for everybody.</p>
<p>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 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. 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 <span class=
"emphasis"><i class="EMPHASIS">all</i></span> ads. Either take 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>
<p>Secondly, a brief explanation of <span class=
"APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span>.
<span class="QUOTE">"Actions"</span> in this context, are the
directives we use to tell <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to
perform some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We
tell <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to take some <span class=
"QUOTE">"action"</span>. Each action has a unique name and function.
While there are many potential <span class="APPLICATION">actions</span>
in <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> arsenal, only a few are
used for ad blocking. <a href="actions-file.html#ACTIONS">Actions</a>,
and <a href="actions-file.html">action configuration files</a>, are
explained in depth below.</p>
<p>Actions are specified in <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span>
configuration, followed by one or more URLs to which the action should
apply. URLs can actually be URL type <a href=
"actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS">patterns</a> that use wildcards so they
can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The actions, together
with the URL patterns are called a section.</p>
<p>When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or
more of the sections as defined in <span class=
"APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> configuration, or not. If so, then
<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will perform the 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 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. <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 most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <tt class=
"LITERAL"><a href="actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt>, <tt class=
"LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</a></tt>,
<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#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker</a></tt>:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p><tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> - 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
(with some exceptions, see below).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p><tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</a></tt> -
tells <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to treat this URL as
an image. <span class="APPLICATION">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 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 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>
<p><tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker</a></tt> -
tells <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> what to display in
place of an ad image that has hit a block rule. For this to come
into play, the URL must match a <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> action somewhere in the
configuration, <span class="emphasis"><i class=
"EMPHASIS">and</i></span>, it must also match an <tt class=
"LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</a></tt>
action.</p>
<p>The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad
are:</p>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> <span class="emphasis"><i class=
"EMPHASIS">pattern</i></span> - a checkerboard pattern, so
that an ad replacement is obvious. This is the default.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> <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">"invisible"</span> configuration option.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td> <span class="emphasis"><i class=
"EMPHASIS">http://<URL></i></span> - A redirect to any
image anywhere of the user's choosing (advanced usage).</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</li>
</ul>
<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">Privoxy</span>
editor at <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target=
"_top">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</a> (shortcut: <a href=
"http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/show-status</a>). This 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 <span class=
"QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span>"</span>. It is best to put
personal or local preferences in <tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt>
since this is not meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will
over-ride the settings in other files. Here you can insert new
<span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span>, and URLs for ad blocking or other
purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration. <span class=
"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will detect these changes
automatically.</p>
<p>A quick and simple step by step example:</p>
<ul>
<li>
<p>Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
<span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIMENUITEM">Copy Link
Location</span>"</span> from the pop-up menu.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Set your browser to <a href=
"http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target=
"_top">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</a></p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Find <tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt> in the top section,
and click on <span class="QUOTE">"<span class=
"GUIBUTTON">Edit</span>"</span>:</p>
<div class="FIGURE">
<a name="AEN854" id="AEN854"></a>
<p><b>Figure 1. Actions Files in Use</b></p>
<div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
<p><img src="files-in-use.jpg"></p>
</div>
</div>
</li>
<li>
<p>You should have a section with only <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> listed under <span class=
"QUOTE">"Actions:"</span>. If not, click a <span class=
"QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Insert new section
below</span>"</span> button, and in the new section that just
appeared, click the <span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> button
right under the word <span class="QUOTE">"Actions:"</span>. This
will bring up a list of all actions. Find <tt class=
"LITERAL"><a href="actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> near the
top, and click in the <span class="QUOTE">"Enabled"</span> column,
then <span class="QUOTE">"<span class=
"GUIBUTTON">Submit</span>"</span> just below the list.</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Now, in the <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> actions section, click the
<span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Add</span>"</span>
button, and paste the URL the browser got from <span class=
"QUOTE">"<span class="GUIMENUITEM">Copy Link
Location</span>"</span>. Remove the <tt class=
"LITERAL">http://</tt> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
<span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Submit</span>"</span>
(or <span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">OK</span>"</span>
if in a pop-up window).</p>
</li>
<li>
<p>Now go back to the original page, and press <b class=
"KEYCAP">SHIFT-Reload</b> (or flush all browser caches). The image
should be gone now.</p>
</li>
</ul>
<p>This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons
to use a wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images
from the same site. For a more extensive explanation of <span class=
"QUOTE">"patterns"</span>, and the entire actions concept, see <a href=
"actions-file.html">the Actions section</a>.</p>
<p>For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you
might want to now go to the <a href=
"actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">Actions Files Tutorial</a>. 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>
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