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[p2u]

Hi!

I'm new to this forum, so bear with me if I ask a question I missed the answer to.

My default content blocking filter for Adblock Plus is * (= block all ANYWHERE). I don't use any other blocking rules or black lists, since I don't believe in black-listing.

I have one default Exception rule: @@*.css (= Allow style sheets ANYWHERE)

Believe it or not, but on most unknown sites this is just enough to quickly get acquainted with the written content with an acceptable view of the page without falling victim to an onslaught of banners and other unwanted stuff.

Now, the question: when I set 'Disable on example.org', not only example.org is allowed to display content, but all third parties as well. Would it be possible (maybe sometime in the future) to differentiate among parties as NoScript does? Thanks in advance for your reply. :=)

Paul

[Adblock Plus Fan]

I have one default Exception rule: @@*.css (= Allow style sheets ANYWHERE)

No, that rule can potentially do more than just allow stylesheets anywhere. It'll allow all files which matches *.css*
You better change that filter to:

Code: Select all

@@*$stylesheet

This one will truly allow stylesheets anywhere.

when I set 'Disable on example.org', not only example.org is allowed to display content, but all third parties as well.

The solution would be to not use that feature. You know what Disable on example.org implies, right? Right, you're not really interested in disabling ABP.

Would it be possible (maybe sometime in the future) to differentiate among parties as NoScript does?

It's already possible now, you'll see ABP in fact has more domain control capability than Noscript, read Wladimir's post here:
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3269

So in your case, whenever you want to exempt a domain, you have (at least) 2 options:
First one, you can alter your @@* filter everytime you want to exempt a domain.
In your case, the filter would look something like this after a while:

Code: Select all

@@*$domain=example1.org|example2.org|example3.org|example4.org|example5.org|example6.org

Second one, you can alter your * filter everytime you want to exempt a domain.
In that case you will have something that ends up looking like:

Code: Select all

*$domain=~example1.org|~example2.org|~example3.org|~example4.org|~example5.org|~example6.org

Which ones you choose depends on your preferences. The first one gives absolute allowance, while the second one will respect other additional blocking filters you may have made.
Additionally, there is a difference in how they will interact with the Blockable Items List.
The first method will show a red entry if you have not yet allowed a site, and a green entry if the site is allowed. The second method will show a red entry if you have not yet allowed a site, and no coloured entries at all if the site is allowed.



Then there's the traditional method to whitelist sites. This method currently have weaknesses wherein you must consider factors such as:

Code: Select all

@@|http://example.org$~document
@@|http://www.example.org$~document
@@|https://example.org$~document
@@|https://www.example.org$~document

This issue will be dealt with in the future though:
http://adblockplus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3344
So in the future you will have 3 reliable methods to whitelist.
When it gets fixed, this traditional method will be the most user friendly one, since it allows the most optimal use of the blockable items list. Not to mention you'll have better sorting capabilities to keep order of your exemptions.





Whatever you choose, hopefully you'll keep your domain definitions in good order and shape. Otherwise it'll end up with a huge mess...

You can even setup your filters in categories:

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*$domain=~sites-I-like-alot1.org
*$domain=~experiment-site1.org|~experiment-site2.org|~experiment-site3.org

(This is just a tip to give you an idea of what you can do in order to better categorize your list.)

Further more, you can also use advanced filter options as part of the categorising:
http://adblockplus.org/en/filters#options
Example of usage:

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@@*$domain=sites-I-like-alot1.org
@@*$background,domain=experiment-site1.org
@@*$script,object,object_subrequest,domain=video-site1.org|video-site2.org

[p2u]

@ Adblock Plus Fan:

Thanks a lot for your detailed reply. I'll play with the ideas you have given me. Happy to know that style sheets can be even more precisely defined. :=)

Paul

[Adblock Plus Fan]

@p2u
I forgot to stress out this part:

while the second one will respect other additional blocking filters you may have made.

In fact you will need additional filters to keep out thirdparty and whatnot.
It's a good idea to use a filterlist if you use this method.

I guess combining method 1 with the traditional method is the one with the least hassles:

Code: Select all

@@example1.org$domain=example1.org
@@example2.org$domain=example2.org
@@example3.org$domain=example3.org
@@example4.org$domain=example4.org
@@example5.org$domain=example5.org
@@example6.org$domain=example6.org
(notice how I leave out http:// part and www. part on purpose)

Meh, this is what I should have just suggested in the first place
This is the better method until you can do something like @@||example.org in the future.


And this way, you don't have to go into preferences and edit stuff. You can fix everything you need to from the blockable items list and generate the rule in the filter composer.

[p2u]

Thanks once again for the excellent comments - they're better than on most forums for paid products. :=)

What I've been doing until now is the following:
With my default block filter '*', all blocked items on a page become red in the list of blockable items. It's pretty easy to create 1 or 2 simple but effective filters per site I want to semi-white-list permanently. As I said already, the style-sheet rule (I changed it to @@*$stylesheet) is good enough for me to quickly find out what an unknown site is all about.

For example for this forum and for my purposes, it's enough to create 2 rules

Code: Select all

@@|http://adblockplus.org/forum/images/*

and

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@@|http://adblockplus.org/forum/templates/subSilver/images/*

for the forum to look as it was probably intended.

As soon as the exception rule works, all the items allowed by that rule become green. Since all the rules are organized alphabetically by filter rule, it all looks very, very neat.

P.S.: I'm not very much at home yet with the workings of the special signs and expressions, but I promise I will make the necessary effort to learn that part really quickly. Thanks once again!

Paul

[Adblock Plus Fan]

For example for this forum and for my purposes, it's enough to create 2 rules

Code: Select all

@@|http://adblockplus.org/forum/images/*

and

Code: Select all

@@|http://adblockplus.org/forum/templates/subSilver/images/*

Right, making the filter precise enough so it deviates from the site's address can also solve the initial problem you had.

Anyway, to address your initial problem for certain:

when I set 'Disable on example.org', not only example.org is allowed to display content, but all third parties as well.

You just need to add this extra text:
$~document
to all your whitelists and you're guaranteed to never have ABP completely disabled on those sites.

@@|http://example.org/$~document

[p2u]

OK! Thanks for that one!

Before you think I'm really paranoid: notwithstanding the warnings not to do this, I use Adblock Plus as an extra security layer and I must say I'm not in the least disappointed by its features in this respect. I work on several security forums and help people remove malware. Even those resources get hit sometimes by hackers and script-kiddies, who plug in their frames as soon as they get root.

That's why I decided once and for all: no complete white-listing of ANY resources and no endless black-listing anymore. No scripts anywhere unless absolutely required, no uncontrollable third-party stuff whatsoever anywhere.

P.S.: I'm very happy the forum works without scripts... :=)

Paul

[Adblock Plus Fan]

Even those resources get hit sometimes by hackers and script-kiddies, who plug in their frames as soon as they get root.

If you worry about these things, then you should definitely learn the advanced filter options ASAP:
http://adblockplus.org/en/filters#options
These things can give you incredible fine tuning capabilities.

A filter like this:
@@|http://example.org/$background,image
Will whitelist only background images and images.
Everything else that are potentially more dangerous on that list like frames or objects will not be whitelisted. It's incredibly convenient when you don't have to rely on url patterns to block/exempt certain types of files/items.

[p2u]

I've changed all my white-listed sites already to that pattern: $background,image
P.S.: Is there any other way to show my gratitude than saying 'Thank you'? :=)

Paul