To take advantage of the newer v03 PICS ICRA labelling system using Microsoft Internet Explorer, follow the key steps below.
Please note: There are 2 ICRA PICS labelling systems currently in use, and to get the most from your filtering, you will want to set up both of these systems in Content Advisor. This page shows how to set up filtering to read the newer v03 labels (2006 onwards), as seen in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7. To set up Content Advisor with the older vocabulary, please see the link at the bottom of the page.
Step 1: checking which version you have
From the Internet Explorer tool bar (top of screen) select [Tools] > [Internet Options]
Select the [Content] tab
In the Content Advisor section at the top, there are two buttons, [Enable] and [Settings]. If you have used Content Advisor before, please skip the next bit by clicking here. If you have not used Content Advisor before, the [Settings] button is not available. See below:
Click [Enable] to bring up the settings screen. Depending on which version of I.E. you are using, you may already have the new ICRA3 rating system, shown below, pre-installed in your Content Advisor, in which case you may proceed to Step 4. You may also have already imported and set up the older v02 version of the ICRA labelling system, and even the RSACi rating system that ICRA replaced in 2000, in which case you may see those listed also.
(If you have not done so, but would like to add the older ICRA filtering system as well, please follow the link at the bottom of the page when you have completed setting up this newer version.)
If you have a system other than that shown above, then ignore this for the time being, just click [OK] at the bottom. You will be prompted to enter a password. Be sure to choose one that:
- You can remember
- Your children won’t be able to guess
Both ICRA and Microsoft receive many e-mails from people who have forgotten their password. ICRA is unable to help in this situation and Microsoft is VERY wary about giving out information on how to remove any passwords – mainly because it is impossible to determine whether or not it is the parent who has forgotten, or the child who is trying to find out…
Once you have entered your new password (twice, the second time to confirm you got it right first time!), click [OK]. In IE6 onwards you are also asked to enter a password hint – just in case you do forget your password
Step 2: download
If your Content Advisor box does not show the ICRA3 sliders as above, then you will need to download them. (If the ICRA3 sliders are already there in the Content Advisor, you can skip this step and proceed to Step 4 below.) The ICRA PICS labelling system is encoded in a small file known as a ‘rat’ file (short for ratings). The first thing you need to do is to download this. When you click the link below you’ll see a dialogue box similar to that shown below:
Select Save this file to disk and click [OK]. On Windows 95, 98 and ME, save it to your C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM folder. On Windows NT/2000/XP, save it to C:\WINDOWS\System32.
Click here to download the icrav03.rat file (23kb).
Step 3: installing the file
Click the [Settings] button.
Select the [General] tab.
Near the bottom, click [Rating Systems] which will bring you to the following screen:
Note: you may not have set up previous versions of ICRA so may not see the other versions listed here.
Click [Add] and you should be presented with a view of the C:\WINDOWS\system or C:\WINDOWS\system32 folder (depending on which version of Windows you’re using). This will include your new icrav03.rat file. Select that file and click [Open]
‘ICRA3’ should now appear in the Rating Systems menu…
Click [OK] to close down the settings options and return to the Content Advisor dialogue box. You have now installed the upgraded system and can now proceed to the next step to set it up.
Step 4: configuration
If you don’t already have the Content Advisor dialogue box open, from the Internet Explorer tool bar (top of screen) select [Tools] > [Internet Options] and select the [Content] tab.
In the Content Advisor section at the top, click the [Settings] button.
Enter your password and click OK.
Select the ‘Ratings’ tab where you should see the installed ICRA3 labelling descriptors – Nudity, Language etc.
Select the first descriptor and read the description below it to see what happens when you move the slider bar underneath the list towards the right. Typically the slider kept to the left position on the slider bar blocks the content listed. If you wish to allow access to that particular material, or allow it only in the contexts listed, then move the bar progressively to the right. The description at the bottom of the box will explain what you are allowing by moving the bar.
In the example shown below, the slider is set to the left, to block the description of alcohol use in all contexts.
The next example shows the setting when the slider is moved to the next position: Alcohol use is depicted only when the label declares the context to be artistic, medical, educational, sports or news.
The last example shows the setting when the slider is moved all the way to the right: Alcohol use is depicted in all contexts. In other words, you are allowing that subject to be shown. (Note: Some of the descriptors have 4 settings. It is important to read the description of the setting shown at the bottom of the set-up box.)
Move down the list of descriptors one by one and set each descriptor to your preference. Take careful note of the text written under “Description.”
A full description of the settings can be found here.
When you reach the end, click [OK].
Step 5: customize
Content Advisor depends on sites carrying an appropriate ICRA label. As this is a voluntary action on the part of the web author, not all sites carry our labels (although a growing number do!)
Content Advisor allows you to customize your settings to your own particular preferences, and there are two key areas to consider:
- Whether or not to allow access to sites which do not carry an ICRA label (“sites that have no rating”);
- Whether you wish to allow or disallow access to specified sites irrespective of whether or not they are carrying an ICRA label.
If you don’t already have the Content Advisor dialogue box open, from the Internet Explorer tool bar (top of screen) select [Tools] > [Internet Options] and select the [Content] tab.
In the Content Advisor section at the top, click the [Settings] button.
Enter your password and click OK.
Now click the [General] tab and you will see the dialogue box below:
If you decide not to allow access to sites that have no rating AND that you don’t want to allow the option of entering a supervisor password, this is likely to lead to very severe restrictions on internet access. Therefore most users will want to check both of the options at the top of this dialogue box… and then go on to the next step.
Now we’re going to add in some specific sites that we do or do not want to allow access to. If you have decided to allow access to sites that have no rating, then you will probably want to block access to specific sites. Alternatively, if you chose not to allow access to sites that have no rating, then it is likely that you will want make a list of sites to which you DO want to allow access to. Either way, click the [Approved Sites] tab to bring up the dialogue box below:
To add a site of which you approve, first type its url (its web address) into the box at the top:
Notice that two buttons are now available: [Always] and [Never]. Click [Always] to allow access, [Never] to block it, both irrespective of any ICRA label they may or may not have. If you click [Always], the URL will appear in the lower box with a green tick (check). If you chose [Never], a red “no entry” icon appears.
These options provide for a fine level of control over the filtering applied to your computer. You can change your settings, and add or delete URLs from the Approved Sites list at any time by returning to these dialogue boxes – all of which are under password control.
Step 6: enable
If you have not already done so, you can now click the “Enable” button. This sometimes causes some confusion. If the button says [Enable], Content Advisor is currently Disabled. Conversely, if the button says [Disable], then Content Advisor is Enabled. In other words, the button shows you which action you can take, rather than showing you the current status.
Step 7: test
With Content Advisor enabled, all filter settings set to ‘Do not allow’ and access to sites which have no rating (see section above) not allowed, try to access the following web sites:
Troubleshooting
If the test failed then there are 3 possibilities:
- You’ve missed something – the most likely of which is that Content Advisor is not enabled. See above here.
- If you have visited a web page recently with Content Advisor disabled, a copy will be stored on your computer and you will be granted access to that copy. So you need to delete your Temporary Internet Files. Click [Tools] > [Internet Options] and bring up the dialogue box below:
- If you are running Windows 95, 98, ME or NT, you might be suffering from a bug in Internet Explorer. Please see 3.3 for the solution.