It would be nice to be able to schedule WHEN blocking occurs. For example, Myspace would be blocked on Monday - Friday, but it would be allowed Saturday and Sunday.
Being a programmer myself, I have an idea of how the user interface for this feature would look.
Create a new tab on our dashboard called "Schedules". Within this tab, you create schedules that you want to use, such as Mon-Fri from 8:00am - 5:00pm, or Mon - Fri all day. That is the whole function of that tab, just to create schedules.
Now, on each of the domains you add, and each of the categories you can choose from, add a dropdown menu. From that dropdown menu, you can choose what schedule to apply to each domain block or category block.
88 Comments
Being a programmer myself, I have an idea of how the user interface for this feature would look.
Create a new tab on our dashboard called "Schedules". Within this tab, you create schedules that you want to use, such as Mon-Fri from 8:00am - 5:00pm, or Mon - Fri all day. That is the whole function of that tab, just to create schedules.
Now, on each of the domains you add, and each of the categories you can choose from, add a dropdown menu. From that dropdown menu, you can choose what schedule to apply to each domain block or category block.
88 Comments
Who voted for this idea
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Comments
Timezones would have to be implemented first, right?
written by pschneider 637 days ago
Rating: 8
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This could definitely be useful for some businesses (and homes as well). But I can definitely see some logistics. You'd have to add support for daylight savings (which don't always fall under the simple timezone category, obviously).
Would love to have this feature! Would pretty much eliminate the need for me to purchase and install PC time blocker software or having to manually block/unblock everyday.
written by genius2999 331 days ago
Rating: 0
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Why not invest none of your hard earned pennies in K9 (assumung your a home user) from http://www.k9webprotection.com/
A thought I had on this: This may not be nearly as effective as you would like. PC and/or browsers cache DNS resolution data, so that they don't have to continually do lookups. This could result in data being accessible or inaccessible at incorrect times.
written by dejongenterprises 154 days ago
Rating: 0
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If you add a website to the blacklist or whitelist, it takes a certain amount of minutes before it takes effect. Based on this it could calculate when to turn the blocking on or off.
That's a good point... once a domain name is cached, a "time-based" blocking wouldn't work anyway.
What if OpenDNS, since they are already (or would be) looking at Time-base info on each request. Would reply to the DNS, with a TTL (adjusted) not to go past the beginning of the time-based restriction. This would be overriding the authoritative TTL. Then the client would be required to submit another DNS request when TTL expires, thus being within the time restriction and then will be blocked.
This will add a lot processing but it is small in comparison to getting info to even do a time-restriction.
The question I have on this would be does it break any RFC's in the process. Kind out of my area?
I hadn't thought about changing the expiration on the DNS lookup... I have another idea, though, that would work on your firewall.
Say your internal clients/forwarders user 4.2.2.2 then 208.67.222.222. Use a firewall rule to block 4.2.2.2 during certain parts of the day, then allow it for the rest.
Great idea! I could really use blocking on a schedule for my teenagers who abuse the social networks and IM when they should be doing homework.
written by doctorisham 619 days ago
Rating: 5
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Love it. High on my list, with Timezones being #1.
Wonderful idea. Hope it gets implemented soon.
Even WITHOUT timezones, or daylight saving and even with the CACHE issue would LOVE to have this implemented. As network admin for a home network with 5 teenagers would be willing to do the time calculations myself as a small price to pay for at least SOME degree of control. Our school is encouraging collaboration using the networking and IM clients but have to be able to turn them off SOMETIME!!!!!!
no doubt that parents will use it to control the teen.. I give my vote!
written by rdominelli 608 days ago
Rating: 6
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Mine too. OpenDNS would be a great way to do parental control. It would also be useful for schools where sites might be blocked during the school day but needed for after school activities.
A local OpenDNS agent would help with the DNS cache-ing problem.
http://ideabank.opendns.com/story.php?title=Local_OpenDNS_Server
very nice idea. that would make my work a lot easier.
This would be brilliant. Since blocking facebook/myspace at my workplace the staff have asked for access only between lunch hours, i would really like to be able to grant this!
Great Idea! Why has it not been added to the "Hall of Fame" uptil Now?
This feature would help us a lot as we don't want users playing games during work hours but we would like to allow them to do so at break time.
This feature would double the value of this tool in my opinion - I would love to see it!
great idea. just joined opendns a few minutes ago. i think i'll be enjoying this place.
written by informatico 584 days ago
Rating: 0
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great ides! A range of time would be very usefull.
Ex:
I want block access from 8AM to 6PM, out of range the access to internet is allowed.
written by binaryspiral 583 days ago
Rating: 0
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Fantastic idea, I threw my vote on the list. What say you, OpenDNS?
This would be a great parental control! Block adult content 24/7 but block IM, chat, p2p, message forums, etc categories after the 7pm "get off the computer!" curfew.
Our company NEEDS this, when is it going to happen?
Great idea, but I wonder if OpenDNS is working on this... no word yet...
This is a great idea. Right now we are working on the stats system. Once we have tackled that issue it will be a lot easier for us to implement ideas such as this one. We thank you for your patience.
Just a thought...
In a Windows LAN environment, could a script be written that would update the necessary registry locations to change the DNS settings?
Have 2 settings, one with the OpenDNS IP's with the blocked sites for restricted access during the business day, another utilizing your ISP's DNS IP's for unblocked internet access for after hours use. Then set this up so it runs as a scheduled task.
The negative to this is that a tech savvy employee could circumvent this unless they had restricted permissions.
Any thoughts, suggestions or additions to this idea that could allow for the implementation scheduled DNS changes?
Thanks in advance...
@dgifford, any idea "when" this domain blocking at certain times could be implemented??? weeks?month?
This feature and being able to assign a user a username and password to overrise the settings (i.e. this person is exempt from a policy) is the only thing stopping me from implimenting this on our company network.
written by John Wright 524 days ago
Rating: 0
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great idea, just started using this as i was doing a seach on the timed controlled DNS setting, i came across this site, it seems really good and looking forward to the upgraded timed version.
thanks
this would be a great feature for home/parents.
i would like to be able to have opendns stop working around 8 or 9pm.
right now, the only way to get around this is to login to the router and get rid of the opendns ip address, then remember to set them again before the kids get on the PCs in the morning.
Great Idea! I use it all the time with the iBoss hardware device.
http://www.myiboss.com/iBossHomePC-hardware-4.html
The Instant One-Touch Internet Wake-up/Sleep Control is also great as it lets you completely put the internet to sleep and wake it up during certain times of the day.
Would be nice to have the time and sleep control features with OpenDNS.
written by freewaregear 507 days ago
Rating: 0
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This is a must! Block Schedule... a very bright idea...
Alright, it's in the Hall of Fame, so... you're working on it?
This idea was submitted 157 days ago, and I really want to see it, this is really the only tool that's missing from OpenDNS to make it perfect.
This is the one feature that would make OpenDNS 10x more valuable to us - we have to block myspace, facebook, etc, during the day because the women in the office simply cannot stay off those sites. But since this is a home office, I have to un-block them every night. I'd also like to allow access during lunch hour just 'cause I'm such a nice guy. :-)
In my case I have second and third shift employees that seem to abuse the internet a lot more as the supervision is laxed or non-existent. I would like to totally lock down internet access during these times as internet usage is not needed to weld steel. +1
Superb idea! love to see this idea implemented soon. major problem in my network is the bandwidth is to small compared to the crowded who use it.
I think by blocking some domains which is bandwidth consuming and not related to group related business (education in my case) during peek time will save us a lots of headache.
This feature is definitely needed! I want to curb my own time-wasting activities. Blocking at this level would stop me from trying to circumvent it!
adding my vote to this as a home / parental control feature!!!
this is cool feature. at the moment, im using a feature of isa server to block sites by schedule. it would be a cooool feature of opendns to have a schedule of site filtering....
more power.
I really think this is a 'must have'. The program developers should realize that this is almost essential for most users who want to limit access for certain parts of the day.
Do it............
written by martinmann 324 days ago
Rating: 0
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This would be a great option - In the office I use 'URLFilter' just to restrict youtube / ebay access outside of lunchtimes. It would be so much better to manage this within opendns.
This option is available in Websence and all other major filtering tools. I beleive openDNS should consider this.
This is an ESSENTIAL function to consider OpenDNS suitable for corporate uses.
Ie. during lunch time one can allow access to sites like social networking and webmail, in order to not result too much draconian towards users ( and resulting too restrictive is unproductive as resulting too liberal ).
Of course OpenDNS servers must be in sync with NTP sources, and the user must associate the time zone with the network registered.
thanks
There have been several references to K9, which is an excellent parental control application .... if you are using a 32-bit operating system that is not Mac or Linux. See the bottom of the link for K9 compatibility.
http://forums.bluecoat.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=5340
Having a scheduler in OpenDNS answers the mail for all.
No, another one of those manage-the-children features :)
Now go outside and play.
written by stevestaves 248 days ago
Rating: 1
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Any ideas on getting this implemented yet? Are we all just hoping for miracles or will you be adding this feature - A firm YES or NO would be appreciated.
written by vizualgraphix 234 days ago
Rating: 2
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I have been following this request since 2007 and yet have seen OpenDNS comment on whether or not it will be implemented, and if so, when. I would like this feature for both home and business use. At home, specifically to allow or block certain sites (like YouTube and MySpace) during the day and allowing it in the evenings and weekends. Say 6-10pm Mon-Fri, 6pm-Midnight on Saturday, and 2pm-10pm on Sundays.
I see it as having a check mark for each day, and a separate start/stop blocking time for each. Maybe even, two time schedules per day.
Please let us know if and when this will be added to our OpenDNS Dashboard. I could really use it.
We just started using opendns this past week and I was curious about this because I've had a user voice concerns about being able to access web sites while on lunch, etc.
I see where this could be hard to do though w\ cache and time zone issues. I want to keep my options open though because as an administrator, I think blocking traffic on the entire network is a pain... I don't like having to goto settings and allow a site category and then wait a couple minutes before I'm able to view a web page I want to view.
written by mramsey1971 213 days ago
Rating: 0
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I have failed to see where this would work without playing with cache or DNS settings. Most corporate networks should be running through a firewall that allows scheduled access, and it can typically be based on MAC as well, an even better way to filter. Are not you all using hardware capable of this?
I think my school would start using OpenDNS if it had the option to disable blocking of certain categories / websites only for break times and after / before school.
Another school user environment that would greatly appreciate this ability. We have switched over to using opendns for a trial period as well, and I would like to echo that this ability would greatly improve its usability for our specific case.
But still no word from anyone on the dev team...
I love this idea and it's something I would REALLY like to see come to life.
OpenDNS, please consider this!
I am recent openDNS. I try to restrict access at a school. This time based blocking would be supremely helpful. Any word yet?
For me: only allow access to gaming sites between dinner and bed time during weekdays and + day time on weekends/holidays.
Yes, Yes, Yes!
Implement it in UTC. Let the client deal with local time changes (DST) and so on.
Total count of votes for this idea is not 1038, but 1903, counting also the same issues at:
http://ideabank.opendns.com/story.php?title=Timed_Blocking,
http://ideabank.opendns.com/story.php?title=Scheduled_blocking.
It makes this the most requested feature..
written by poundsford 107 days ago
Rating: 0
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This is a very important feature. It would be great to actually control access through a time control function. If you don't have the time function you get a lot of grief as an admin or Dad.\Crack on with it...
Another Vote for this feature. I want to only allow apps.facebook.com during lunches and breaks.
This would be great feature, but also with the ability to continue to block certain sites even while "lunch" mode is on. My compnay would like to alllowing streaming sites (e.g. msn, you tube, etc...) to be available during lunch hours while still blocking porn sites.
I just bought Deluxe version, assuming it would have this built in, somewhat suprised it doesnt..
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Another one of those corporate features... ;)