How to Filter Web Pages

Filtering Web pages will prevent others from using your computer to access undesirable content.

Having the technical ability to filter Web pages on your home computer or network will give you the power to protect your resources from websites containing malicious viruses, pornography and other undesirable content. If you have children, you may want to filter Web pages containing sexually explicit, violent or other objectionable content. Fortunately, this is something you can accomplish swiftly by editing the Internet Options on your Web browser.

Instructions

Filter Web Pages With Internet Explorer

1. Launch Internet Explorer. Once the browser window opens, click the "Tools" option on the browser toolbar.

2. Click "Internet Options" on the drop-down menu and then click the "Security" tab.

3. Locate and click on the "Restricted Sites" security setting option which is displayed with a red icon. Click on the "Sites" tabs and a pop-up window labeled "Restricted Sites" will open.

4. Type the URL or address of the Web page that you would like to filter in the text field just below "Add this website to the zone." Click the "Add" tab to confirm this URL. You can filter as many Web pages as you wish by adding the URLs in this section. When you are finished, click on the "Close" tab to save the changes and close the window.

Filter Web Pages With Mozilla Firefox

1. Launch Firefox and go to the Mozilla Firefox support page. Once there, you will have access to a wide variety of add-ons that can be used to filter content and block undesirable Web pages from displaying on your computer.

2. Explore the various add-ons available for Mozilla Firefox and select the one you want to use to filter Web pages. The list will include add-ons that are free as well as others which require payment of a small fee. One free and efficient content filtering add-on you should consider is the widely used FoxFilter. Alternately, as of September 2010, for a $3 fee you can install the ProCon Latte add-on, and for a $5 contribution you can download a popular filter called BlockSite.

3. Click the add-on you wish to download. When prompted to "Continue to Download" or "Add to Firefox" (depending on which add-on you selected), click affirmatively to continue. To begin the installation, click the tab "Accept and Install" tab. When the installation window pops up, click "Install Now."

4. Close and then restart your Firefox browser to complete the installation of the content filtering add-on. Once Firefox reopens, the filter will be enabled and you will be able to block unsuitable Web pages.

References

• Microsoft Support: How to Use Security Zones in Internet Explorer
• Mozilla Firefox Support: Parental Controls

Resources

• Mozilla Firefox Support: Parental Control Add-ons for Firefox