As parents, we need to make sure we know what websites are children are visiting, who they are talking to, what games they are playing. We need to make sure they are unable to get to websites that open them to a world of sin. One of the best and most needed ways to make sure we protect our children and ourselves is to install an internet filter. Usually easy to install and setup, they can block all unwanted content that tries to attack your family and tear you down spiritually.
There are two main types of filters that can be installed:
- A Browser-based Filter
- A System-wide Filter
Today, we will be looking at setting up a Browser-based Filter that will be specific to the internet browser you are using. We will be covering Internet Explorer, today, and looking at Firefox in the near future. While Chrome is a fast and very capable browser and has recently add extensions, there is currently no web filtering extension and thus, I would not recommend using Chrome if you desire to use a browser-based web filter (I’ll be writing a post, soon, about how to setup a System-wide filter via a proxy that will work great if you want to use Chrome with a web filter).
Internet Explorer
Bundled with Windows, Internet Explorer is the most common internet browser on computers today. While there are many shortcomings to it because it is the most common browser, there are several options for web filters. I have chosen to look at the Parental Control Bar.
This is an add-on that integrates nicely into both Internet Explorer and Firefox. To download, visit the website and click on the Download Now! button.
Once downloaded, locate the file and install it. It’s a pretty standard install but there are a few options that you need to make sure you enter – when you are prompted, enter a password to secure the setup.
It is with this password that you will be able to switch the filter on and off so make sure it is one that other people cannot guess.
The next screen allows us to enter an e-mail address that the program will send you a copy of your password if you forget it. Again, make sure you use an e-mail address that only you can get access, otherwise, anyone can click on the “I forgot my password” link and have they password sent to them and be able to switch the filter off. If you only have one e-mail account for your family you can always set up a gmail account for free for just the person in charge of the filter.
When it is done installing, it will bring you to a screen like the one above. There are a couple of items to notice here
-There is a drop-down box of commands under the words “Parental Control Bar” on the far left (notice the small down arrow)
-We are currently in “Parent-Mode”. This mode allows us to make changes to the filter, block list & safelist (more on those two in a minute), and the rest of the settings for the toolbar.
-Two buttons to quickly add the current site to the safe list or the block list
While the Parental Control Bar is setup very nicely right from the start, there may be some fine tuning required to have it meet your specific needs. Fortunately, this is very easily accomplished. Start by clicking on the “Change Parental Settings” button on the toolbar.
The filter is fine tuned by working with two specific lists: the Allowed Site List (a.k.a. White List) and the Blocked Site List (a.k.a. Black List).
The Allowed Site List does just what it it’s name implies – it allows parents to set specific sites that are otherwise blocked for whatever reason to the allowed. One example might be a news site, like wset.com, where, due to the nature of the material covered on a daily basis, it would be blocked. By setting the news site on the Allowed Site List, the site will be cleared from the filter and allowed pass, regardless of the content. As you can imagine, this is a very powerful list and should be used sparingly and on a site by site basis.
The Blocked Site List works just the same as the Allowed Site List but instead of allowing site through the filter, it blocks them. This is handy for sites that you don’t want people to visit even through the content may not be bad. One example of this would be if you did not want your children on sites like Facebook or MySpace. By adding these sites to the Blocked Site List, regardless of the content on the site, it will be blocked. Again, this is a powerful tool and should be used on a site by site basis. Since it is possible to edit these two lists at any time, so long as we are logged in under Parent-Mode, we are able to continue to refine the filter the more it is used.
The Basic Site Filters tab allows you to adjust what items will be filtered. To change a setting, all you have to do is click on either Block or Allow and click Ok.
Once you have your lists setup to where you want them for the time being, click Ok to go back to your mail browser window. Now that we have everything setup just the way we want it, click on the “Parent-Mode” button to change to “Child-Mode” and begin filtering websites.
When you want to change back to Parent-Mode for filter-free surfing or to adjust the settings of the filter, simply click the “Child-Mode” button. You will be prompted for your password before you can continue. This is a nice feature to verify that only those with the password are able to deactivate the filter or change it’s settings. It is also the reason you need to use a strong password. The password can be changed under the settings, if need be.
And with that, we are done setting up our internet filter in Internet Explorer! Now that we have our filter installed and configured just the way we want it, we need to make sure that it is actually filtering out material that we don’t want. While you can just go to google and search for material that should be blocked, the problem with this method is if the filter is not work correctly for some reason, the material will actually show up. This can be a major problem! Fortunately, there is a nice solution – kudos to Brian Hutchinson for showing me this one! If you visit the website http://www.biblebasedwebsites.com/resources/content-filters/ and scroll to the bottom of the page, there are several links to pages that host nothing more than text of keywords that are filtered for each category listed. This is very nice because in the off case the filter is not working, all you see is text, granted, it may be explicit text, but text is better than pictures in my opinion.
If you have any questions or thoughts, please leave a comment below!
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