How to block only bad sites

Overview

This page describes some ways to block bad sites.

One frequently requested feature is to block bad sites but allow images on ordinary sites. A little thought will reveal that such a simple request is actually fairly difficult to do without blocking some “good” sites or allowing some “bad” sites. If mostly is fine with you, then read on.

Those who want to allow images in general should read how to allow images by default.

Option 1: Use a DNS filtering provider and lock DNS settings

See how to enforce a dns filtering service for details.

Option 2a: Use flee words and/or flee hosts.

For example, to block all pages that contain the word “pizza”:

pluck + flee word pizza

See flee for more information.

You can also try using a large flee host list.

Option 2b: Use blot words

Requires Plucky 1.12.10 and is still experimental, but blot allows you to specify which pages should have their visual content removed if Plucky detects the mention of a keyword.

pluck + blot word pizza

The key difference between this rule and the flee rule in Option 2a can be seen in execution. Your local pizzeria’s website will be completely blocked if using a flee rule, but if using a blot rule, you will still be able to view the site in a text-only form.

Flee and blot each have their pros and cons, and should be discerned depending on the use case.

Option 3: Use one of Plucky’s safe features

For example:

pluck + safe
pluck + nofirefox

These do not work on Android. See safe for more information.

Mix and match

You can use all of the options above at once if you like.