I'll think of a good title later

This morning I have been trying out Opera's URL filter to block ads & so far it has been working really well. I am using 7.5p2, apparently 7.23 had a problem with javascripot making some sites hang.

To set up URL filtering add this line to your Opera6.ini file, (this will be located in your profile directory):

URL Filter File=filter.ini

EDIT: This line needs to be inserted after the section header [Adv User Prefs] - see comments.

Then open up your text editor of choice & copy & paste the following:

; filter.ini
; This file is part of the Opera browser.

[prefs]
prioritize excludelist=1

[include]
*

[exclude]
http://ad.*
http://ads.*
http://adserv*
http://*/adserver/*
http://banner*
http://count*
http://*.doubleclick.net/*
http://*.hitbox.net/*
http://*.ivwbox.de/*
http://*.tradedoubler.*
http://*/ads/*
http://*/Ads/*
http://*/banners/*

; my additions

http://rd.yahoo.com/*
http://*.yimg.com/*
http://*.speedera.net/*
http://www.theregister.co.uk/media/*
http://a.as-eu.falkag.net/*
http://*.tribalfusion.com/*
http://rcm.amazon.com/*
http://*/phpadsnew/*


Save the file as 'filter.ini' in the same directory as your opera.exe. Restart Opera & have a look around the web. You should notice that things have speeded up a bit!

The sites listed after the '; my additions' line block ads on Yahoo! Groups sites & <www.theregister.co.uk>. I haven't really put a great deal of effort into seeking & destroying ads but as time goes by I will be adding new filters as & when I come across an advert. I will probably post an enhanced filter.ini again after a few months.

Please note that the line 'http://*.yimg.com/*' removes almost all images from Yahoo! sites which may not be what you want...