parental contols....Mozilla firefox

[njcarita]

whats a good parental control program, add-on to use with Mozilla Firefox???

 

[piglet33]

I use OnlineFamily.Norton to monitor what my DD goes online and am very happy with it.

ETA - the best part is it's FREE.

 

[bonoriffic]

My kids aren't at that stage yet, but whats to stop them from using a different browser? Chat programs use a different protocol too. I would think you would need software that looks at everything going "out the door" as opposed to limiting use of a specific program. Or are you more concerned with just limiting use during homework time sort of thing, in which case the family controls on Windows 7 is pretty powerful.

 

[njcarita]

My kids aren't at that stage yet, but whats to stop them from using a different browser? Chat programs use a different protocol too. I would think you would need software that looks at everything going "out the door" as opposed to limiting use of a specific program. Or are you more concerned with just limiting use during homework time sort of thing, in which case the family controls on Windows 7 is pretty powerful.

no what I want control is over content.... I'm home so they ask to go on so I know when they are on... I just want some sort of filter to keep everything pg-13..... I mistyped something the other day and ended up on a website that the image is still burned in my eyes and I'm 45...... I have a 14 and 12 year old and theres a lot of thing on the web I don't want them stumbling on.....

 

[piglet33]

no what I want control is over content.... I'm home so they ask to go on so I know when they are on... I just want some sort of filter to keep everything pg-13..... I mistyped something the other day and ended up on a website that the image is still burned in my eyes and I'm 45...... I have a 14 and 12 year old and theres a lot of thing on the web I don't want them stumbling on.....

If this is what you want to do, then OnlineFamily.Norton does this. My DD can't access shopping websites, google images, or anything that has suicide, violence, sex, etc (you can specify what you want to block). You put their ages in and it uses that as a guideline. Plus it automatically emails the parent if they try to access someplace they're not not supposed to go while it displays a large "you're not allowed to go here" (or something to that affect) sign on their screen.

 

[dawson5]

I used to have something like this a while back, it was called blocksite. I remember it being somewhat involved. I could white list and black list sites. I think if you wanted to go to one that was blacklisted, it popped up a box that you had to input a password.

I know the first time I added it, I spent a lot of time reading on how to set it up and did so successfully. I had to reformat and went to do that again and had all kinds of issues.

Keep in mind that it only works if you use firefox.

Do you have a router? I know ours comes with something that I can set up, my kids are older and they know I search the history. They are usually pretty good and I can trust them (I know it's the other people out there I can't trust). They are usually only on a few sites.

I thought I read somewhere that there might be something integrated into Windows 7, possibly Vista also. It's been a while, so I am unsure if I am remembering correctly. This might (or the router if you have that option) might be a better route.

 

[piglet33]

Keep in mind that it only works if you use firefox.

The one I use isn't just for Firefox. You can also limit the amount of time that is spent online.

 

[dawson5]

The one I use isn't just for Firefox. You can also limit the amount of time that is spent online.

OP asked about firefox add-ons. I gave her my results with what I used and just wanted to remind her that there are ways around it. My oldest would figure that out in a heartbeat and just use another internet browser. I think it really depends on how savvy your kids are. This is why I suggested the router option. They shouldn't be able to disable it unless they know the password to the router.

[disclaimer: I assume (yes I know the old saying about assuming things) this with the router because it seems to be router/web-based and does not rely on a specific program, browser or add-on. ]

 

[njcarita]

OP asked about firefox add-ons. I gave her my results with what I used and just wanted to remind her that there are ways around it. My oldest would figure that out in a heartbeat and just use another internet browser. I think it really depends on how savvy your kids are. This is why I suggested the router option. They shouldn't be able to disable it unless they know the password to the router.

[disclaimer: I assume (yes I know the old saying about assuming things) this with the router because it seems to be router/web-based and does not rely on a specific program, browser or add-on. ]

thanks... that was easy... installed and set up the individual accounts for my kids in less than 10 minutes....
they are not that computer savy.... but I'll look into the router password ..just in case.....

 

[r&kmommy]

www.webwatcherkids.com

By FAR the best computer monitoring software and worth every penny.

 

[gshumaker]

not a blocker of sites but it will keep you and your family from some of the nasties out there...

siteadvisor -- it will mark all your searches using google/bing/etc with green(safe)/yellow(questionable)/red(stay away) many of which may not be obvious

it will not keep anyone off sites with stuff that you may not want your kids to see if they want to click on the links but we use it to to tell them that if the site is not green to stay away

Siteadvisor