Synopsis: This article describes how the Filter Bypass module fits into the rest of the policy selection/parsing mechanism.

When a user attempts to visit a URL the following events take place.

1. The system checks to see if the URL has been entered into the Filter Bypass Module. If it has then the page is served to the user's browser immediately, without any filtering taking place at all.

If the URL has not been entered into the Filter Bypass module then...

2. If they have not already been authenticated, the user is requested to authenticate now. In the case of NTLM authentication this will be transparent to the user, everyone else will receive a login box if they have not already seen one.

3. The system will choose a policy based upon the workstation in use and the user's credentials, as described in "How do I know which policy is in use?".

4. The chosen policy will be parsed according to the rules defined in "Can you explain how any particular policy is parsed?".

5. Either the page will be displayed, or a block message will be shown, depending upon the results from the policy engine.