then the problem lies
with specifying the proxy in your browser.
Assuming you have tried everything in the list above, the following diagnostic might help. While trying to load in a page, look at the WebMask icon on the tool tray.
If it is still grey then the problem lies
with specifying the proxy in your browser.
If it yellow 
then the browser is
connecting properly to WebMask, but WebMask can't get any data from the internet.
The problem might be your proxy setting on the General dialog
page within WebMask, or it might be your internet connection. Make sure you are
connected to the internet!
If it is green 
then the connection
is working properly, and the page is being downloaded. If it never finishes then
there is something wrong with the web site, or the connection is very slow - refresh
in the browser to try again, or try a different site.
http://www.flourish.org/webmask/advert ... gif
If there aren't many filters in the list, or this particular one is missing, then follow the instructions for updating filters to make sure you have the latest set.
Otherwise, go to the WebMask test page,
where you should find the garish banners are gone. If this works, then your setup is OK.
You might have found a site which filter
set you have doesn't cover - you can add it by following
these instructions. First you might want to check
you have the latest filters, by updating them.
There is nothing you can do about either of these problems in the current version of WebMask. Future
versions may allow you to filter the HTML source itself, removing the offending <img>
tag entirely.
My old proxy doesn't work
If you used a proxy for HTTP in your browser before, then you need to
tell WebMask about it. For more information on
proxies see the explanation about them.
WebMask error, Unknown proxy host
This means that the proxy you specified on the WebMask General
page cannot be found. First check that you have entered the proxy setting
correctly. If you have, then your internet connection can't find the proxy.
You might want to turn off the
Connect using proxy setting on the same page, to see if it works without the proxy.
Also, check your internet connection is up and working, and read the answer to the
problem just above.
WebMask doesn't work after I rebooted
You should check the following:
My browser can't get pages when WebMask isn't running
Since to use WebMask you had to set your browser to use WebMask as
a proxy, if WebMask isn't running then your browser won't work. To get
round this you can do one of the following:
A particular advert keeps appearing, when I don't think it should
First, check that WebMask is filtering that advert. To do this, find the URL of the
advert (not of the link that the advert goes to, but of the advert graphic itself).
How to do this is described here. Then check the
filters page of the WebMask properties dialog. Look for the same domain name in the
list of filters, and check that it matches one of them. Adjust the filter so that it does.
After changing the filter make sure you refresh the page on your browser, so that it
reloads it rather than getting it from its cache. If you still can't get it to work, see
the next question.
A particular advert really won't go away
A good trick to try is to enter the URL of the advert (the .gif, .jpg, .png or
other image file itself) into the browser. With WebMask disabled, this should
display just the advert in your browser window. Press refresh on the browser to be
sure it is not using its cache. Then try changing the filter, and refreshing the
browser, until you get a blank page. Then go back to the original page, and do one
final refresh.
The URL of the image of an advert keeps changing!
Some of them do do this. You'll want to try using the
partial match filter type, to match the part of the URL that is the same each time.
If this isn't powerful enough, you will have to wait for a later version of WebMask, which
includes regular expressions.
Secure HTML connections fail
If you're using Internet Explorer 3.02, then you may be victim of the secure
proxy bug. See the bottom of the
Internet Explorer 3 setup page.
There are large blank areas in the browser window...
WebMask replaces the advert with a 2x1 blank .gif file. However, if the
<img> tag in the HTML source file specifies a size for the image then the blank image
will be stretched to that size.
... sometimes with borders round them
This is the same problem as in the previous question. The <img> tag can also contain
instructions to put a border round the advert, and this will also put a border round the
blank image. Sometimes even round the 2x1 image, giving you tiny little rectangles on
the screen.
It keeps jumping to advert pages!
This happens to me all the time. I keep clicking in the blank areas of the browser where
the adverts used to be, thinking that it is a non-active piece of screen that I can use
to bring the window to the front. See the previous two questions for a possible future
solution.
WebMask icon changes colour, even when WebMask disabled
The WebMask icon changes between three colours
as connections are made and broken.
Even if WebMask is not enabled, this will still happen. This is because WebMask still acts as a proxy
and still forwards HTTP requests from the browser, even when it is disabled. The "disabled"
option just turns off the advert filtering, and anonymity options.
Sometimes whole HTML pages fail to load in
You have specified too broad a filter. If you filter www.microsoft.com with a partial
filter, with no beginning or end text, then you will not be able to access anything
on www.microsoft.com. Filtering HTML pages can be a feature - it allows you to block out whole pages.
For example, if one frame of a frameset is just adverts, you could block that whole page.
Web pages don't look the same as before
That's because the adverts have gone! Seriously, you can see the difference that WebMask
is making on a particular page. With WebMask enabled, load the page into a browser window,
then open a new browser window, and go to the same page. Now, disable WebMask (right click
on the task tray icon, and untick Enable) and refresh the second browser window. Compare
the two browser windows. This is useful to check
that WebMask isn't having any untoward effects - such as filtering images that you would
like to see.
Cryptic error messages about needing browser information
Some pages object if you turn on the privacy features of WebMask. Go to the Privacy
page of WebMask, and turn off some or all of the Hide browser information options. Then try and reload the
troublesome page.
You could instead temporarily turn off all filtering and
privacy features by right clicking on the WebMask icon in the tooltray, and unticking
Enable, and then reload the web page.
Web pages tell me I need a Javascript browser... but I have one!
This is possibly another case of the page objecting to the privacy features of WebMask.
Sometimes programs look at the version of the browser to decide if it uses Javascript, rather
than testing properly by trying to run some Javascript at the client side. Since WebMask
can hide the browser information, this could be the problem.
Try going to the Privacy
page of WebMask, and turn off some or all of the Hide browser information options.
Then try and reload the troublesome page. You could instead temporarily turn off all filtering and
privacy features by right clicking on the WebMask icon in the tooltray, and unticking
Enable, and then reload the web page.
Certain web counters live at a fixed URL, but count for several different pages
independently. When the counter graphic is retrieved, the server looks at the
Referer: header to find out the URL of the page the image is being used on. It
can then return a count for that page.
If you tell WebMask to hide the Referer: field,
then the counter will stop working, and often return 0 as its image.
Try going to the Privacy page of WebMask, and
making sure the Referer: header isn't being hidden.
Web pages tell me I need a Cookie supporting browser... but I have one!
This is possibly the same problem as in the question just above, about
web pages saying that you need a Javascript browser when you have one.
Web counters are sometimes counting zero