If you aren't able to find the exact kind of solution you're looking for, I highly recommend Porteus Kiosk (https://porteus-kiosk.org/) as an alternative for this, it's free, open-source, and allows you to whitelist specific domains only so you avoid people using your OPAC stations as general purpose internet access computers while still giving you browser controls to navigate back on error pages. You can choose to have it use Firefox or Chrome as the browser, and there are a lot of configuration options to fine-tune things the way you'd like (I'm especially a fan of the automatic on-off schedules and being able to have each OPAC station reach out to a centralized config file on network storage). It's been a real set-and-forget solution for us!
Steven Hardina Systems Administrator Sioux City (Iowa) Public Library (712) 255-2933 x2242 www.siouxcitylibrary.org<http://www.siouxcitylibrary.org/> ________________________________ From: Code for Libraries <CODE4LIB@LISTS.CLIR.ORG> on behalf of Lolis, John <jlo...@whiteplainsny.gov> Sent: Thursday, February 8, 2024 2:58 PM To: CODE4LIB@LISTS.CLIR.ORG <CODE4LIB@LISTS.CLIR.ORG> Subject: [CODE4LIB] Custom Browser Message? CAUTION: This email originated from OUTSIDE of the organization. Please verify the sender and use caution if the message contains any attachments, links, or requests for information as this person may NOT be who they claim. If you are asked for your username and password, please call WCICC and DO NOT ENTER any data. Prithee, might one of you be able to point me in the right direction with regard to modifying a browser error message, specifically a DNS error/site not found message? Here's the rub... in an effort to prevent use of our OPACs as public access computers, I've modified their DNS settings so that they only look to themselves for DNS queries. In their hosts file, I only added entries for our catalog, our website and our museum pass reservation site. So this effectively prevents access to all other sites (unless of course someone happens to know the IP address of another site). The problem is that the browser returns the DNS error/site not found message, and there are no browser controls to go back since it's in kiosk mode. We have a label advising patrons to press ALT← to go back to the previous page, but what I'd like to do is use a hex editor to modify the default browser error to communicate the same thing. So my question is, does anyone know where I can find those messages so I can edit them? I've searched all sorts of Firefox files to no avail so far. I'm not completely averse to using a different browser, although my preference is to *not* use Chrome or Edge. I also realize that whatever string I replace the error message with, it must be the same length (this brings back memories of working at Prodigy and editing command.com in MS-DOS so that it would return Bad command, you idiot!!). hmmm... as I write this, now I'm thinking of utilizing a redirect page of some sort, one that displays advice to the patron, then returns to wherever. Thanks much! John Lolis Coordinator of Computer Systems 100 Martine Avenue White Plains, NY 10601 tel: 1.914.422.1497 fax: 1.914.422.1452 https://whiteplainslibrary.org/<https://whiteplainslibrary.org> *“I would rather have questions that can’t be answered than answers that can’t be questioned.”* — Richard Feynman <https://click.fourhourmail.com/5qure95xkf7hvvo93wh2/7qh7h8h05vr4zrtz/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvUmljaGFyZF9GZXlubWFu<https://click.fourhourmail.com/5qure95xkf7hvvo93wh2/7qh7h8h05vr4zrtz/aHR0cHM6Ly9lbi53aWtpcGVkaWEub3JnL3dpa2kvUmljaGFyZF9GZXlubWFu>>, theoretical physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1965
