Parental controls

From MozillaZine Knowledge Base
Revision as of 03:26, 13 May 2006 by Lethargy (talk | contribs) (Added "Greasemonkey scripts" section)
Jump to navigationJump to search

Firefox and the Mozilla Suite do not feature built-in parental controls, content filtering, pornography blocking, or website blocking features. However, due to the capability to install extensions, you can add these yourself. Additionally, web filtering software is available which will filter the internet for any program on your computer.

Extensions

The ProCon extension for Firefox provides a content blocking mechanism. It is suitable for blocking accidental visits to objectionable sites. It is not suitable for non-accidental visits because

  • The filter is blunt, leaving many objectionable sites accessible and blocking access to non-objectionable sites
  • It is very easily disabled
  • It only affects Firefox/Seamonkey and not other applications like MSN Messenger or Internet Explorer.

Greasemonkey scripts

There are several Greasemonkey scripts which can be used to filter out vulgar language. As with ProCon, this does not filter for other programs, and is easily disabled.

Web Filtering Software

Many ISPs provide free parental control mechanisms. Contact your ISP for more information.

While no software can completely block all objectionable contact, third-party software exists that can provide a very high filter level. Some examples:

There are also a few sites which review the effectiveness of such filters:

Other Solutions