This article outlines why a website or URL may be blocked and how to grant access if needed.
If you believe something is blocked incorrectly, let us know through our Blocklist Feedback Form. We will either update our blocklists or advise you to remove the block.
Tip
Web Filter Policies named ‘allow’ may not allow access to the content. Check that the Action of the Web Filter Policy has been set to Allow, not just the name.
When using On-Premise Appliance to filter
The block page
You can see the reason a URL is blocked on the default Block page unless you have removed this when customising the Block page. You can also see the site’s category, the User Group the user is part of, and the user’s IP address.
Image 1: Example default Block page when using filtering from On-Premise Appliance.
Issues with Certificates (On-Premise Appliance only)
Many possible reasons mention ‘certificates’. In most cases, you should not remove this block. If you are sure you have access, you can bypass the HTTPS inspection or import the certificate authority.
Blocked users or locations (On-Premise Appliance only)
These reasons appear when you’ve used one of these features:
- Content blocked for members of Banned Users: You can remove the ban.
- Content blocked at (Location name): You can change the setting for this location to Allow.
Search Term filtering
This reason appears when a user searches for a phrase that is part of a blocklist:
- If it is blocked as part of our default search term blocklist, add the search term to the Search term filtering section of a Category, then use the Custom Category in an Allow Web Filter Policy.
- If it is blocked as part of a block list you have created using a Custom Category, edit your Custom Category to remove the search term.
Content of type (Category name)
- Domain/URL filtering: This reason is shown when access to a URL or domain is blocked because of our blocklists or the Web Filter Policies you have set up.
- Content filtering: This reason is shown when we have automatically blocked access based on the content on the site, for example when the comments in an online forum become abusive.
- URL Patterns: This reason is shown when a pattern in the URL has triggered the block. For example, if the URL includes “/banneradvert/”.
The best way to remove these blocks depends on your existing setup.
Important
If something should be accessible, it shouldn’t be blocked, so it is always better to remove the block than to add an Allow policy. If you add an Allow policy, you have two policies to manage (A Block and an Allow) where none might be needed.
- If you have an existing Block Web Filter Policy, edit it or remove it.
- Add the URL to the Domain/URL filtering section of a Custom Category, and use the Custom Category in an Allow Web Filter Policy.
- Add an Allow Web Filter Policy for the whole Custom Category of content.
Order your Allow policies above any Web Filter Policies that may Block access. For example, the Online games category is blocked by default, but this can also block games that are used for educational purposes. You would add an Allow Web Filter Policy for the Education and reference category and place it above the Block Web Filter Policy for Online games.
Testing tools
If the block page doesn’t display the reason or isn’t shown at all, but the site remains inaccessible, you can find more information using the Smoothwall tools and logs.
- The Smoothwall Category Test Tool lets you check whether websites are allowed or blocked for different blocklist categories without manually checking your policies.
- Use the Web Filter Logs in Reports > Realtime or Logs > Web filter. This will tell you what sites are blocked and is useful in scenarios where content is partially displayed or flash is blocked.
- Check the order of your Web Filter Policies. If a URL is included in both a Block and an Allow Policy, you may have unexpected blocking. Use the Policy Tester to tell you what Web Filter Policies apply to a specific URL.
- Check whether a URL is included in an existing Category, so you can identify which policies may need amending.
When using Cloud Filter
The block page
What shows on the Block page depends on your Block page settings, but you can’t see a specific reason like when using filtering from On-Premise Appliance.
- The basic Block page doesn’t show a list of categories. Use the testing tools instead.
- If you use the detailed Block page, select Copy to Clipboard and paste it into a document to see a full list of Categories.
The best way to remove these blocks depends on your existing setup.
Important
If something should be accessible, it shouldn’t be blocked, so it is always better to remove the block than to add an Allow policy. If you add an Allow policy, you have two policies to manage (A Block and an Allow) where none might be needed.
- If you have an existing Block Web Filter Policy, edit it or remove it.
- Add the URL to the Domain/URL filtering section of a Custom Category, and use the Custom Category in an Allow Web Filter Policy.
- Add an Allow Web Filter Policy for the whole Custom Category of content.
Order your Allow policies above any Web Filter Policies that may Block access. For example, the Online games category is blocked by default, but this can also block games that are used for educational purposes. You would add an Allow Web Filter Policy for the Education and reference category and place it above the Block Web Filter Policy for Online games.
Testing tools
If the block page doesn’t display the reason or isn’t shown at all, but the site remains inaccessible, you can find more information using the Smoothwall tools and logs.
- The Smoothwall Category Test Tool lets you check whether websites are allowed or blocked for different blocklist categories without manually checking your policies for Smoothwall Cloud Filter or On-Premise Appliance.
- Use the Real Time Filtering Log Viewer to see a list of URLs and whether they are blocked or allowed to be accessed.