How to Set Up Web URL Filter Rules
Web URL filters are an essential tool for protecting children from the dangers of the internet. They can also be used in business to ensure employees are not wasting time on websites that do nothing to further the company’s goals. This article will teach you how to set up Web URL filter rules so you can enjoy a safer and more enjoyable browsing experience online.
How do I add a filter for the URL?
To add a filter for website URL
- Click on the icon that looks like three horizontal lines in the upper left hand corner of your browser. then go to settings and then to security.
- Next, click “Filter Settings” and then select the option that says “Add Filter“.
- This will bring up a new box. In this box you can type in the website URL for which you want to block content from appearing on your screen. You should enter both domains (i.e., example.com) as well as sub-domains (i.e., example.com/subfolder) that you want to block from appearing in your search results.
- When finished, hit “Add“.
The filter will then be added and prevent the specified website from showing up on both search engines as well as within any other browser windows or tabs open across all of your devices.
Add a URL Filter Rule in windows firewall
In Windows Firewall with Advanced Security, select Action > New Rule. Type a name for your new rule. For example, to create an exception that will allow you to access all websites except social media sites, type “Social Media Sites” as the name of your rule. Then click OK.
On the General tab, leave Allow All Websites selected or change it if you want to block some sites. Leave Block All Requests for Selected Hostnames selected or change it if you only want to filter requests that include specific domain names. For example, choose to Allow Only If Request Contains Specific Domain Names instead of selecting the former option in order to allow access just to Google and Bing search engines but not Yahoo! Search engine.
Click the Exceptions tab. In the Hostname Pattern field, type a pattern to match all websites that you want to block or allow access to. For example, if you wish to deny access only to Facebook and Twitter social networking sites but provide access for every other site on the internet except those two social media services, enter *.facebook.*;*.twitter.* in the Hostname Pattern field. Then click OK.
Editing a URL Filter Rule
On the Navigation pane, click the configure Web Protection icon.
On the Users & Computers list, click your user account.
Open the URL Filter Rules tab on the Account Settings page.
Locate a rule you want to edit and then select Edit Rule from its menu bar or double-click it. The Create New Web Filtering Policy window appears.
Edit the rule’s Pattern value and Action setting to reflect the changes you want to be made, if any, then click OK when finished.
Click Save Settings to finish and then click Close in the next window that appears.
Deleting a URL Filter rule
On the Navigation pane, click the configure Web Protection icon.
On the Users & Computers list, click your user account.
Open the URL Filter Rules tab on the Account Settings page.
Locate a rule you want to delete and select Delete Rule from its menu bar or right-click it and then choose the Delete option in the popup menu that appears.
Click Yes in the Confirm Delete window to finish and then click Close in the next window that appears.
What is URL blocking configuration?
A ‘URL blocking configuration‘ is a list of the web addresses that Web Protection should block. The default setting for URL blocking configuration is to allow all websites other than those you specifically add to your blocked sites list.
To view or edit this setting, click the Configure icon on the Navigation pane and then select “Web filtering” from the drop-down menu.
On the Web filtering page that opens, select “URL blocking configuration” from the list on the left.
To block a website, type its URL into one of the text boxes and then click Add. The site will be added to your list of blocked sites.
You can also use wildcards (*) or partial URLs (e.g. “/funny-videos”) to block many different websites at once.
To unblock a site, click the icon next to its URL and then select “Remove” from the menu that appears.
How do I whitelist a URL?
To allow access to a specific domain name, but not its subdomains (e.g. Google but not googleusercontent.com), create a rule that specifies Allow Only If Request Contains Specific Domain Names.
When adding the site you want to unblock as an exception, type the complete address into the URL field and then click Add.
For example, to allow access just to Google and Bing search engines but not Yahoo! Search engine, type the following into the URL field then click Add :
Google: google.com
Bing: bing.com
Yahoo!: none. If you enter a value in this box it will be treated as an invalid entry.
How do I allow a specific URL in Windows Firewall?
If you need to allow a specific URL through your firewall, but cannot see it in the list of allowed websites, open Windows Firewall Settings from the Control Panel and then click Inbound Rules.
In the list on the right side of the window that appears, find any rules with domain names containing yoursite.com , select one and then choose Edit Rule from the menu bar.
In the next window that appears, click Customize and then select Allow The Connection. Click OK to finish and then click Apply in the following window.
Save changes by clicking Save Settings on your navigation pane or by choosing File > Save Firewall Settings, saving firewall settings with filename ‘YourFilename’ will overwrite the existing firewall settings file.
Conclusion
You have now set up Web Protection to filter web traffic using URL blocking configuration, multiple profiles, and whitelisting. You can use these rules to block specific websites or restrict your employees’ internet access in order to prevent them from visiting inappropriate sites.
