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Network Protection

Web Access Control best practices when setting up exclusions

This article will guide you on setting up exclusions in the Web Access Control section to block or allow certain web addresses as efficiently and accurately as possible, without accidentally missing any pages.

Prerequisites

To create Content Control exclusions, you first need to access the settings of the policy you want to edit, specifically the Network Protection > Content Control section. Turn Web Access Control on and go to the Settings > Exclusions tab. Learn more.

Best practices

To define Content Control exclusions as optimally as possible, consider the following key guidelines:

  • When excluding a URL, ensure that you also check for any additional URLs present on the page to include those that may be hidden.

    Example:

    If you create an exclusion for en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_9000, it will load the URL, but not all the elements present on the ISO_9000 page, such as https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/Ambox_important.svg/40px-Ambox_important.svg.png, which will not load at all. This applies to any URL that is different from the exclusion unless the exclusion contains wildcards.

    Important

    To easily view all the URLs contained in a web page, we recommend following these steps:

    • Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge:

        • In Google Chrome: Click the Photoshop_Image_1.png Customize and control Google Chrome button in the upper-right corner of the browser.

        • In Microsoft Edge: Click the Screenshot__125_.png Settings and more button in the upper-right corner of the browser.

      2. Go to More tools > Developer tools.

      3. Go to the Network tab.

      4. Refresh the current page.

      5. Hover the cursor over each item in the Name column to see the entire URL of the item.

    • Mozilla Firefox:

      1. Click the Screenshot__127_.png Open application menu button in the upper-right corner of the browser.

      2. Go to More tools > Web Developer Tools.

      3. Go to the Network tab.

      4. Refresh the current page.

      5. Hover the cursor over each item in the File column to see the entire URL of the item.

  • Verify the accuracy of the URL name carefully. URLs on the exclusion list are case-sensitive, making it crucial whether they are entered in lowercase or uppercase.

  • Use wildcards to effectively exclude an entire domain, not just its homepage.

    Example:

    • *.wikipedia.org includes any URL ending in .wikipedia.org. This means wikipedia.org is an invalid exclusion, but en.wikipedia.org is part of the exclusions list.

    • *.wikipedia.* includes any URL that contains .wikipedia..

    Caution

    Even when using wildcards, it is extremely important to take the first guideline into account, as any page may contain elements whose URL has a different domain and may be inadvertently omitted.

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