In this article
This article explains what a Block Page is and how to add a Block Page in the DNSFilter app.
A Block Page is what users see when they attempt to visit a domain that is not allowed by the policy assigned to their network or Roaming Client.
From the DNSFilter dashboard you can customize a Block Page’s appearance, behavior, and notifications.
See the Block Page administrator guide for troubleshooting and email notification details.
There are two types of Block Pages: hosted and external.
Hosted Block Pages are customizable and present the user a page with organizational information and options to notify the administrator via embedded form.
Hosted Block Pages can be displayed in several languages, depending on the browser language of the end-user device. We currently support English, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, Ukrainian, Italian, Russian, French, Czech, German, and Hebrew.
External Block Pages send the user a 302 redirect to a set location. This allows you to completely customize the Block Page appearance. The External Block Page URL contains the IP address, blocked domain, filtering policy, and categories as an identifier.
This can be a local-only resource–e.g. http://office.local/block.html –or a public resource–e.g. http://validdomain.com/block.html
MSP Global Block Page
Both Hosted and External Block Pages can be set as a Global Block Page to share across sub-organizations. During setup, toggle the Enable this Block Page as Global Block Page switch on to set the global page.
Assign this Block Page to Sites or Users across any sub-organization by selecting it during setup.
Add a Block Page
To make sure this feature works with websites over HTTPS, install our SSL Certificate (which is automatic with Roaming Client deployments). If the SSL Certificate is not installed, HTTPS sites will return error pages but will still be blocked by the Filtering Policy.
Assigning a Block Page
Don't forget to assign the Block Page to the appropriate Site or User after it's saved. Until those settings are updated the default DNSFilter Block Page will appear.
Customized Hosted Block Page
Follow these steps to customize a Hosted Block Page.
- From the DNSFilter dashboard, navigate to Policies and select Block Pages
- Select Add Block Page
- Enter the following details:
- Block Page Name: The internal name you assigned the Filtering Policy to your Site
- Organization Name: The display name of the organization responsible for blocking access to the domain
-
Notice Email: The email address to receive user notifications. Typically this is a request via embedded form to unblock or review the domain
Note: Leave the field blank to disable user feedback -
Custom Logo: Display a Block Page logo
Note: Leave this field blank to show no logo
- Select Save
The Block Page is now available to add to a Site via the Assigned Block Page drop down menu.
External Block Page
Follow these steps to add an External Block Page.
- From the DNSFilter dashboard, navigate to Policies and select Block Pages
- Select Add Block Page
- Select External Block Page
- Enter the External Block Page URL
- Select Save
The Block Page is now available to add to a Site via the Assigned Block Page drop down menu.
Test a Block Page
After applying a Filtering Policy and Block Page to your Site you can test the Block Page in two ways:
- Use our test domains
- Attempt to browse to a blocked category or domain added to the Block List
Related resources
- Troubleshoot issues with Block Pages not loading in the Chrome browser
- Adjust Ad and Tracker settings to prevent NODATA responses
- Learn about block page admin settings and potential block notification errors
Comments
4 comments
Minetta Gould I am trying to use an external block page and while it goes to the correct page I am not seeing the parameters that should be passed of IP, domain, categories and policy. I have read where it is automatically passed but I do not see this data even used wireshark and burp suite to see if I could see it. Do you have any other guidance I could look at regarding this topic. It looks very straightforward and minimal information.
Thanks
Hi Jennifer Kendall , thanks for reaching out! It sounds like your external block page is redirecting correctly, but the expected parameters (IP, domain, categories, and policy) aren’t being passed. We’ve tested this setup in different configurations—both with a Roaming Client and a direct DNS/site configuration—and in both cases, the parameters were passed as expected.
A few things to check: Some security applications or browser settings might be blocking the URL redirect, flagging it as a potential security risk (e.g., cross-site scripting or phishing protection).
Though this article is framed around blocked DNS traffic, the same security applications could be blocking this info from passing through with your external block page, so it could be a helpful reference point. It’s also worth reviewing your block page configuration to ensure the external URL is set correctly and hasn’t been reverted.
If everything looks right on your end and the issue persists, we recommend reaching out to our support team for a deeper technical review. Hope this helps, and feel free to reach out anytime!
Hi Minetta Gould, thank you for the response. Yes, I figured based on your docs it should just show up. Maybe we are not creating the page correctly so the information has a place to land so to speak. I will see what I can do to test again since this is on an page created in Tines automation which is acting as the block page.
Anyway thanks for your response.
Of course! Sorry there wasn't a more clear answer on our end. I hope the tests are successful!
Please sign in to leave a comment.