452 lines
20 KiB
HTML
452 lines
20 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"
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"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/loose.dtd">
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<html>
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<head>
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<meta name="generator" content=
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"HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 7 December 2008), see www.w3.org">
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<title>Quickstart to Using Privoxy</title>
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<meta name="GENERATOR" content=
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"Modular DocBook HTML Stylesheet Version 1.79">
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<link rel="HOME" title="Privoxy 3.0.19 User Manual" href="index.html">
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<link rel="PREVIOUS" title="What's New in this Release" href=
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"whatsnew.html">
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<link rel="NEXT" title="Starting Privoxy" href="startup.html">
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<link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="../p_doc.css">
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body {
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:active { color: #0000FF }
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p.c3 {font-weight: bold}
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span.c2 {font-style: italic}
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hr.c1 {text-align: left}
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</style>
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</head>
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<body class="SECT1">
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<div class="NAVHEADER">
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<table summary="Header navigation table" width="100%" border="0"
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cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
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<tr>
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<th colspan="3" align="center">Privoxy 3.0.19 User Manual</th>
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</tr>
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<tr>
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<td width="10%" align="left" valign="bottom"><a href="whatsnew.html"
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accesskey="P">Prev</a></td>
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<td width="80%" align="center" valign="bottom"></td>
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<td width="10%" align="right" valign="bottom"><a href="startup.html"
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accesskey="N">Next</a></td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<hr class="c1" width="100%">
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</div>
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<div class="SECT1">
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<h1 class="SECT1"><a name="QUICKSTART" id="QUICKSTART">4. Quickstart to
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Using Privoxy</a></h1>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>Install <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>. See the <a href=
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"installation.html">Installation Section</a> below for platform
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specific information.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Advanced users and those who want to offer <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> service to more than just their local
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machine should check the <a href="config.html">main config file</a>,
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especially the <a href=
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"config.html#ACCESS-CONTROL">security-relevant</a> options. These are
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off by default.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Start <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>, if the
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installation program has not done this already (may vary according to
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platform). See the section <a href="startup.html">Starting
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<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span></a>.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Set your browser to use <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
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as HTTP and HTTPS (SSL) <a href=
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"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server" target="_top">proxy</a>
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by setting the proxy configuration for address of <tt class=
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"LITERAL">127.0.0.1</tt> and port <tt class="LITERAL">8118</tt>.
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<span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">DO NOT</span> activate proxying
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for <tt class="LITERAL">FTP</tt> or any protocols besides HTTP and
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HTTPS (SSL) unless you intend to prevent your browser from using
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these protocols.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Flush your browser's disk and memory caches, to remove any cached
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ad images. If using <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to
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manage <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Browser_cookie" target=
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"_top">cookies</a>, you should remove any currently stored cookies
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too.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>A default installation should provide a reasonable starting point
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for most. There will undoubtedly be occasions where you will want to
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adjust the configuration, but that can be dealt with as the need
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arises. Little to no initial configuration is required in most cases,
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you may want to enable the <a href="config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS"
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target="_top">web-based action editor</a> though. Be sure to read the
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warnings first.</p>
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<p>See the <a href="configuration.html">Configuration section</a> for
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more configuration options, and how to customize your installation.
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You might also want to look at the <a href=
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"quickstart.html#QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING">next section</a> for a quick
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introduction to how <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> blocks
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ads and banners.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>If you experience ads that slip through, innocent images that are
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blocked, or otherwise feel the need to fine-tune <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> behavior, take a look at the <a href=
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"actions-file.html">actions files</a>. As a quick start, you might
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find the <a href="actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">richly commented
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examples</a> helpful. You can also view and edit the actions files
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through the <a href="http://config.privoxy.org" target=
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"_top">web-based user interface</a>. The Appendix <span class=
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"QUOTE">"<a href="appendix.html#ACTIONSANAT">Troubleshooting: Anatomy
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of an Action</a>"</span> has hints on how to understand and debug
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actions that <span class="QUOTE">"misbehave"</span>.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Please see the section <a href="contact.html">Contacting the
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Developers</a> on how to report bugs, problems with websites or to
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get help.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Now enjoy surfing with enhanced control, comfort and privacy!</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<div class="SECT2">
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<h2 class="SECT2"><a name="QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING" id=
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"QUICKSTART-AD-BLOCKING">4.1. Quickstart to Ad Blocking</a></h2>
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<p>Ad blocking is but one of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span>
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array of features. Many of these features are for the technically
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minded advanced user. But, ad and banner blocking is surely common
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ground for everybody.</p>
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<p>This section will provide a quick summary of ad blocking so you can
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get up to speed quickly without having to read the more extensive
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information provided below, though this is highly recommended.</p>
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<p>First a bit of a warning ... blocking ads is much like blocking
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SPAM: the more aggressive you are about it, the more likely you are to
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block things that were not intended. And the more likely that some
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things may not work as intended. So there is a trade off here. If you
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want extreme ad free browsing, be prepared to deal with more
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<span class="QUOTE">"problem"</span> sites, and to spend more time
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adjusting the configuration to solve these unintended consequences. In
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short, there is not an easy way to eliminate <span class=
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"emphasis EMPHASIS c2">all</span> ads. Either take the easy way and
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settle for <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">most</span> ads blocked
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with the default configuration, or jump in and tweak it for your
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personal surfing habits and preferences.</p>
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<p>Secondly, a brief explanation of <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> <span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span>.
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<span class="QUOTE">"Actions"</span> in this context, are the
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directives we use to tell <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to
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perform some task relating to HTTP transactions (i.e. web browsing). We
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tell <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to take some <span class=
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"QUOTE">"action"</span>. Each action has a unique name and function.
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While there are many potential <span class="APPLICATION">actions</span>
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in <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> arsenal, only a few are
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used for ad blocking. <a href="actions-file.html#ACTIONS">Actions</a>,
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and <a href="actions-file.html">action configuration files</a>, are
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explained in depth below.</p>
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<p>Actions are specified in <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span>
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configuration, followed by one or more URLs to which the action should
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apply. URLs can actually be URL type <a href=
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"actions-file.html#AF-PATTERNS">patterns</a> that use wildcards so they
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can apply potentially to a range of similar URLs. The actions, together
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with the URL patterns are called a section.</p>
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<p>When you connect to a website, the full URL will either match one or
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more of the sections as defined in <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> configuration, or not. If so, then
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<span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will perform the respective
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actions. If not, then nothing special happens. Furthermore, web pages
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may contain embedded, secondary URLs that your web browser will use to
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load additional components of the page, as it parses the original
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page's HTML content. An ad image for instance, is just an URL embedded
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in the page somewhere. The image itself may be on the same server, or a
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server somewhere else on the Internet. Complex web pages will have many
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such embedded URLs. <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> can deal
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with each URL individually, so, for instance, the main page text is not
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touched, but images from such-and-such server are blocked.</p>
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<p>The most important actions for basic ad blocking are: <tt class=
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"LITERAL"><a href="actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt>, <tt class=
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"LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</a></tt>,
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<tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT">handle-as-empty-document</a></tt>,and
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<tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker</a></tt>:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p><tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> - this is perhaps the
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single most used action, and is particularly important for ad
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blocking. This action stops any contact between your browser and
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any URL patterns that match this action's configuration. It can be
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used for blocking ads, but also anything that is determined to be
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unwanted. By itself, it simply stops any communication with the
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remote server and sends <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s
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own built-in BLOCKED page instead to let you now what has happened
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(with some exceptions, see below).</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</a></tt> -
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tells <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> to treat this URL as
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an image. <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>'s default
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configuration already does this for all common image types (e.g.
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GIF), but there are many situations where this is not so easy to
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determine. So we'll force it in these cases. This is particularly
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important for ad blocking, since only if we know that it's an image
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of some kind, can we replace it with an image of our choosing,
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instead of the <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> BLOCKED
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page (which would only result in a <span class="QUOTE">"broken
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image"</span> icon). There are some limitations to this though. For
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instance, you can't just brute-force an image substitution for an
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entire HTML page in most situations.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-EMPTY-DOCUMENT">handle-as-empty-document</a></tt>
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- sends an empty document instead of <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy's</span> normal BLOCKED HTML page. This is
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useful for file types that are neither HTML nor images, such as
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blocking JavaScript files.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p><tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#SET-IMAGE-BLOCKER">set-image-blocker</a></tt> -
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tells <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> what to display in
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place of an ad image that has hit a block rule. For this to come
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into play, the URL must match a <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> action somewhere in the
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configuration, <span class="emphasis EMPHASIS c2">and</span>, it
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must also match an <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#HANDLE-AS-IMAGE">handle-as-image</a></tt>
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action.</p>
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<p>The configuration options on what to display instead of the ad
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are:</p>
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<table border="0">
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<tbody>
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<tr>
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<td> <span class=
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"emphasis EMPHASIS c2">pattern</span> - a checkerboard
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pattern, so that an ad replacement is obvious. This is the
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default.</td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<table border="0">
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<tbody>
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<tr>
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<td> <span class=
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"emphasis EMPHASIS c2">blank</span> - A very small empty GIF
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image is displayed. This is the so-called <span class=
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"QUOTE">"invisible"</span> configuration option.</td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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<table border="0">
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<tbody>
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<tr>
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<td> <span class=
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"emphasis EMPHASIS c2">http://<URL></span> - A redirect
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to any image anywhere of the user's choosing (advanced
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usage).</td>
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</tr>
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</tbody>
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</table>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Advanced users will eventually want to explore <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#FILTER">filters</a></tt> as well. Filters are very
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different from <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#BLOCK">blocks</a></tt>. A <span class=
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"QUOTE">"block"</span> blocks a site, page, or unwanted contented.
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Filters are a way of filtering or modifying what is actually on the
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page. An example filter usage: a text replacement of <span class=
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"QUOTE">"no-no"</span> for <span class="QUOTE">"nasty-word"</span>.
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That is a very simple example. This process can be used for ad
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blocking, but it is more in the realm of advanced usage and has some
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pitfalls to be wary off.</p>
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<p>The quickest way to adjust any of these settings is with your
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browser through the special <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span>
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editor at <a href="http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target=
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"_top">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</a> (shortcut: <a href=
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"http://p.p/" target="_top">http://p.p/show-status</a>). This is an
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internal page, and does not require Internet access.</p>
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<p>Note that as of <span class="APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> 3.0.7 beta
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the action editor is disabled by default. Check the <a href=
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"config.html#ENABLE-EDIT-ACTIONS" target="_top">enable-edit-actions
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section in the configuration file</a> to learn why and in which cases
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it's safe to enable again.</p>
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<p>If you decided to enable the action editor, select the appropriate
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<span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span> file, and click <span class=
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"QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span>"</span>. It is best to put
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personal or local preferences in <tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt>
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since this is not meant to be overwritten during upgrades, and will
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over-ride the settings in other files. Here you can insert new
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<span class="QUOTE">"actions"</span>, and URLs for ad blocking or other
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purposes, and make other adjustments to the configuration. <span class=
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"APPLICATION">Privoxy</span> will detect these changes
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automatically.</p>
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<p>A quick and simple step by step example:</p>
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<ul>
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<li>
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<p>Right click on the ad image to be blocked, then select
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<span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIMENUITEM">Copy Link
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Location</span>"</span> from the pop-up menu.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Set your browser to <a href=
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"http://config.privoxy.org/show-status" target=
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"_top">http://config.privoxy.org/show-status</a></p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Find <tt class="FILENAME">user.action</tt> in the top section,
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and click on <span class="QUOTE">"<span class=
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"GUIBUTTON">Edit</span>"</span>:</p>
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<div class="FIGURE">
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<a name="AEN844" id="AEN844"></a>
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<p class="c3">Figure 1. Actions Files in Use</p>
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<div class="MEDIAOBJECT">
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<p><img src="files-in-use.jpg"></p>
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</div>
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</div>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>You should have a section with only <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> listed under <span class=
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"QUOTE">"Actions:"</span>. If not, click a <span class=
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"QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Insert new section
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below</span>"</span> button, and in the new section that just
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appeared, click the <span class="GUIBUTTON">Edit</span> button
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right under the word <span class="QUOTE">"Actions:"</span>. This
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will bring up a list of all actions. Find <tt class=
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"LITERAL"><a href="actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> near the
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top, and click in the <span class="QUOTE">"Enabled"</span> column,
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then <span class="QUOTE">"<span class=
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"GUIBUTTON">Submit</span>"</span> just below the list.</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Now, in the <tt class="LITERAL"><a href=
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"actions-file.html#BLOCK">block</a></tt> actions section, click the
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<span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Add</span>"</span>
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button, and paste the URL the browser got from <span class=
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"QUOTE">"<span class="GUIMENUITEM">Copy Link
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Location</span>"</span>. Remove the <tt class=
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"LITERAL">http://</tt> at the beginning of the URL. Then, click
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<span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">Submit</span>"</span>
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(or <span class="QUOTE">"<span class="GUIBUTTON">OK</span>"</span>
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if in a pop-up window).</p>
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</li>
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<li>
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<p>Now go back to the original page, and press <b class=
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"KEYCAP">SHIFT-Reload</b> (or flush all browser caches). The image
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should be gone now.</p>
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</li>
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</ul>
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<p>This is a very crude and simple example. There might be good reasons
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to use a wildcard pattern match to include potentially similar images
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from the same site. For a more extensive explanation of <span class=
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"QUOTE">"patterns"</span>, and the entire actions concept, see <a href=
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"actions-file.html">the Actions section</a>.</p>
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<p>For advanced users who want to hand edit their config files, you
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might want to now go to the <a href=
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"actions-file.html#ACT-EXAMPLES">Actions Files Tutorial</a>. The ideas
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explained therein also apply to the web-based editor.</p>
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<p>There are also various <a href=
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"actions-file.html#FILTER">filters</a> that can be used for ad blocking
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(filters are a special subset of actions). These fall into the
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<span class="QUOTE">"advanced"</span> usage category, and are explained
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in depth in later sections.</p>
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</div>
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</div>
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<div class="NAVFOOTER">
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<hr class="c1" width="100%">
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<td width="33%" align="left" valign="top">What's New in this
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Release</td>
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