Blocking a URL

[janrif]

I assume Settings > Privacy > Exceptions > new_url.com will block "new_url" if I Blocking set to none. If this is correct, either I'm doing something wrong or it's not working. Anyone had experience with this? TIA

[Pathduck]

@janrif If Blocking is set to None for example.com then the adblocker will be disabled on that domain and no blocking will be done.

Is that your intent?
If so what's not working?

Note also the difference between a URL and a domain.
The domain is vivaldi.net
The subdomain/host is forum.vivaldi.net
The URL is https://forum.vivaldi.net/topic/98053/blocking-a-url/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL

[TbGbe]

@janrif said in Blocking a URL:

Settings > Privacy > Exceptions > new_url.com will block "new_url"

To clarify, this applies only to Vivaldi's "Ad/Tracker Blocking"; it does NOT mean that all access to "new_url" is prevented (as it would be by a firewall).

[janrif]

@Pathduck @TbGbe Thanks for responding. Currently, my setting is "No Blockers" & Exceptions = domain xyz. My intent was to block domain.xyz

But starting at the beginning, is there an optimum blocking setting? At various times, I've experimented with all three.

"Block Trackers and Ads" is obviously the most severe & seems to gets in the way of a lot of browsing possibilities. Practically speaking, I'm not sure what "Block Trackers" does and I assume no "No Blocker" opens me up to the world.

I don't understand how this one domain appears every morning unless it has a tracker or an ad. It's definitely an intrusion on my privacy and I want to get rid of it. I've never had this happen to me before so, bottom line, I want to block it (and potentially others like it) from intruding on my privacy. TIA

[Pathduck]

@janrif Not sure you understand how blocking works, or how the adblocking exceptions work.

The exceptions are per-domain so if you wanted the adblocker to work on example.com you would add it and set it to "Block Trackers & Ads". The general use case is to enable the Ad+Tracker blocker, and then make exceptions to disable it on sites where the blocker breaks site functionality or cause other issues.

BUT - adding a domain does NOT mean it will be blocked from loading. Like @TbGbe mentions the only thing the exceptions list does is enable/disable the blocker on some domains.

Having your default blocker set to "No Blocking" and adding domains you don't like is NOT how to use this feature, it would be a Sisyphean exercise in futility to try to block all nasty domains out there, even if you could.

Even if you add nastyhackers.ru to the block list, it will NOT stop the domain from loading in a tab. That's just not how adblockers work.

I suspect your problem is something else entirely.

I don't understand how this one domain appears every morning unless it has a tracker or an ad.

What do you mean by "appears every morning"? Does it open a new tab every time?

Please inform what site this is, and make a screenshot of how it looks.

[TbGbe]

@janrif said in Blocking a URL:

this one domain appears every morning

If by "every morning" you mean every start of Vivaldi, then I would suspect either a "bad extension" or a "service worker".

To check for bad extension(s) add
--disable-extensions
to the command to start Vivaldi.

For service workers check:
vivaldi://serviceworker-internals
(note: some will be related to extensions) but you can "Unregister" them and then just restart Vivaldi.

[janrif]

@TbGbe said in Blocking a URL:

If by "every morning" you mean every start of Vivaldi, then I would suspect either a "bad extension" or a "service worker"

@TbGbe @Pathduck It does appear on every start of Vivaldi but it also appears periodically during the "work" day or on waking if machine was napping.

@Pathduck It opens a tab each time. This is the site

This is what it looks like.

[janrif]

@TbGbe said in Blocking a URL:

To clarify, this applies only to Vivaldi's "Ad/Tracker Blocking"; it does NOT mean that all access to "new_url" is prevented (as it would be by a firewall).

@TbGbe OK, I get the distinction but this begs the question: what's the practical application for Vivaldi's "Ad/Tracker Blocking"? I'm still not sure what it's supposed to be doing.

[Pathduck]

@janrif One of your malicious/misbehaving extensions is doing this.
You need to disable all of them.
Them enable one by one followed by a browser restart and waiting until it triggers.
Or using some logic, you might be able to discern what extension might be causing it - what's the most recent/most shady extension you've installed?
Something relating to crypto perhaps? Or investments?

Did you actually try what was suggested above - launching Vivaldi with --disable-extensions ?

what's the practical application for Vivaldi's "Ad/Tracker Blocking"? I'm still not sure what it's supposed to be doing.

It's supposed to block ads and trackers and does a reasonably good job of it. It is not meant to and cannot block malicious extensions you've installed from opening new tabs when it feels like it.

[janrif]

@Pathduck said in Blocking a URL:

Or using some logic, you might be able to discern what extension might be causing it - what's the most recent/most shady extension you've installed?
Something relating to crypto perhaps? Or investments?

@Pathduck I use 5 extensions, and have for a while, w/o issue however, I've disabled the most recent one which relates to sticky notes & I'm going to wait to see if that has any effect. I have no extensions that deal w crypto or investments even though logic would point one in that direction.

[Pathduck]

@janrif Well, let us know what you figure out