Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests

Privoxy 3.0.19 User Manual
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# 11. Contacting the Developers, Bug Reporting and Feature Requests

We value your feedback. In fact, we rely on it to improve Privoxy and its configuration. However, please note the following hints, so we can provide you with the best support:

## 11.1. Get Support

For casual users, our support forum at SourceForge is probably best suited: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=211118

All users are of course welcome to discuss their issues on the users mailing list, where the developers also hang around.

Please don't sent private support requests to individual Privoxy developers, either use the mailing lists or the support trackers.

If you have to contact a Privoxy developer directly for other reasons, please send a real mail and do not bother with SourceForge's messaging system. Answers to SourceForge messages are usually bounced by SourceForge's mail server in which case the developer wasted time writing a response you don't get. From your point of view it will look like your message has been completely ignored, so this is frustrating for all parties involved.

Note that the Privoxy mailing lists are moderated. Posts from unsubscribed addresses have to be accepted manually by a moderator. This may cause a delay of several days and if you use a subject that doesn't clearly mention Privoxy or one of its features, your message may be accidentally discarded as spam.

If you aren't subscribed, you should therefore spend a few seconds to come up with a proper subject. Additionally you should make it clear that you want to get CC'd. Otherwise some responses will be directed to the mailing list only, and you won't see them.

## 11.2. Reporting Problems

"Problems" for our purposes, come in two forms:

- Configuration issues, such as ads that slip through, or sites that don't function properly due to one Privoxy "action" or another being turned "on".

- "Bugs" in the programming code that makes up Privoxy, such as that might cause a crash.

### 11.2.1. Reporting Ads or Other Configuration Problems

Please send feedback on ads that slipped through, innocent images that were blocked, sites that don't work properly, and other configuration related problem of `default.action` file, to http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=460288, the Actions File Tracker.

New, improved `default.action` files may occasionally be made available based on your feedback. These will be announced on the ijbswa-announce list and available from our the files section of our project page.

### 11.2.2. Reporting Bugs

Please report all bugs through our bug tracker: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?group_id=11118&atid=111118.

Before doing so, please make sure that the bug has not already been submitted and observe the additional hints at the top of the submit form. If already submitted, please feel free to add any info to the original report that might help to solve the issue.

Please try to verify that it is a Privoxy bug, and not a browser or site bug or documented behaviour that just happens to be different than what you expected. If unsure, try toggling off Privoxy, and see if the problem persists.

If you are using your own custom configuration, please try the stock configs to see if the problem is configuration related. If you're having problems with a feature that is disabled by default, please ask around on the mailing list if others can reproduce the problem.

If you aren't using the latest Privoxy version, the bug may have been found and fixed in the meantime. We would appreciate if you could take the time to upgrade to the latest version (or even the latest CVS snapshot) and verify that your bug still exists.

Please be sure to provide the following information:

- The exact Privoxy version you are using (if you got the source from CVS, please also provide the source code revisions as shown in http://config.privoxy.org/show-version).

- The operating system and versions you run Privoxy on, (e.g. Windows XP SP2), if you are using a Unix flavor, sending the output of "uname -a" should do, in case of GNU/Linux, please also name the distribution.

- The name, platform, and version of the browser you were using (e.g. Internet Explorer v5.5 for Mac).

- The URL where the problem occurred, or some way for us to duplicate the problem (e.g. `http://somesite.example.com/?somethingelse=123`).

- Whether your version of Privoxy is one supplied by the Privoxy developers via SourceForge, or if you got your copy somewhere else.

- Whether you are using Privoxy in tandem with another proxy such as Tor. If so, please temporary disable the other proxy to see if the symptoms change.

- Whether you are using a personal firewall product. If so, does Privoxy work without it?

- Any other pertinent information to help identify the problem such as config or log file excerpts (yes, you should have log file entries for each action taken). To get a meaningful logfile, please make sure that the logfile directive is being used and the following debug options are enabled:

  debug 1 # Log the destination for each request Privoxy let through. See also debug 1024.
  debug 2 # show each connection status
  debug 4 # show I/O status
  debug 8 # show header parsing
  debug 128 # debug redirects
  debug 256 # debug GIF de-animation
  debug 512 # Common Log Format
  debug 1024 # Log the destination for requests Privoxy didn't let through, and the reason why.
  debug 4096 # Startup banner and warnings.
  debug 8192 # Non-fatal errors

  If you are having trouble with a filter, please additionally enable

  debug 64 # debug regular expression filters

  If you are using Privoxy 3.0.17 or later and suspect that it interprets the request or the response incorrectly, please enable

  debug 32768 # log all data read from the network

  Note that Privoxy log files may contain sensitive information so please don't submit any logfiles you didn't read first. You can mask sensitive information as long as it's clear that you removed something.

You don't have to tell us your actual name when filing a problem report, but if you don't, please use a nickname so we can differentiate between your messages and the ones entered by other "anonymous" users that may respond to your request if they have the same problem or already found a solution. Note that due to spam the trackers may not always allow to post without being logged into SourceForge. If that's the case, you are still free to create a login that isn't directly linked to your name, though.

Please also check the status of your request a few days after submitting it, as we may request additional information. If you use a SF id, you should automatically get a mail when someone responds to your request. Please don't bother to add an email address when using the tracker. If you prefer to communicate through email, just use one of the mailing lists directly.

If you are new to reporting problems, you might be interested in How to Report Bugs Effectively.

The appendix of the Privoxy User Manual also has helpful information on understanding `actions`, and `action` debugging.

## 11.3. Request New Features

You are welcome to submit ideas on new features or other proposals for improvement through our feature request tracker at http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=361118&group_id=11118.

## 11.4. Mailing Lists

If you prefer to communicate through email, instead of using a web interface, feel free to use one of the mailing lists. To discuss issues that haven't been completely diagnosed yet, please use the Privoxy users list. Technically interested users and people who wish to contribute to the project are always welcome on the developers list. You can find an overview of all Privoxy-related mailing lists, including list archives, at: http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=11118.

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