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Blocker add on: Custom filter rules

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The Blocker Custom Rules feature gives you full control over your browsing experience, allowing you to decide exactly what content Shift hides or allows. In addition to Shift’s built-in protections against ads, trackers, and pop-ups, you can now manage advanced filtering rules and third-party lists to tailor your privacy and performance.

With these tools, you can manage specific websites, page elements, or content types directly within the Shift interface.

Key Features

You can manage your rules and lists from the Blocker settings page. Shift uses these instructions to tell the blocking engine exactly how to handle the sites you visit.

  • Custom Filter Rules: Manually add, remove, and edit specific "Filter Rules" within your Custom Filters list for granular control.
  • Custom Filter Lists: Add, remove, and edit entire external filter lists by URL (EasyList-formatted).
  • Recommended & Popular Lists: Access a dedicated sub-page featuring a scrollable list of Popular Filter Lists. You can easily select and activate recommended options from this list without needing to find URLs manually.
  • Bulk Actions: Use the Bulk Select tool to manage multiple Filter Lists and Filter Rules simultaneously, making it easy to organize your protections.

Shift will automatically fetch the list you provide and apply its rules to its blocking engine.

How to Manage Filters

Adding Filter Rules and Lists

  1. Open Shift Settings.
  2. Navigate to Blocker > Custom Rules.
  3. To add a specific rule: Go to the Your Custom Filters section to add, remove, or edit individual lines of code.
  4. To add a full list: Click Add List. You can enter a custom URL or browse the Popular Filter Lists scrollable menu to select from recommended options.
  5. Click Save. Shift will automatically fetch the rules and apply them.

Editing and Bulk Management

  • Editing: Click Edit next to any existing rule or list to update its parameters.
  • Bulk Select: Use the checkboxes next to your entries to select multiple items at once. This allows for fast, bulk removal or toggling of your custom rules and lists.

Safety & Performance Guidelines

To ensure Shift remains fast and secure, the following safeguards are in place:

  • Minimum Protection: To ensure you are never browsing completely unprotected, Shift will prevent you from turning off your last remaining active Filter List.

Performance Warning: Enabling an excessive number of filter lists can slow page load times. If you have 5 or more Blocker lists enabled, Shift will display a warning. For the best balance of privacy and speed, we recommend only keeping your most essential lists active.

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