{"id":7099,"date":"2009-04-14T21:53:51","date_gmt":"2009-04-14T16:23:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=7099"},"modified":"2026-10-15T15:02:00","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T09:32:00","slug":"disable-block-remove-diggbar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/","title":{"rendered":"DiggBar: How to Disable or Block It (and Stop Framing Today)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>diggbar<\/strong> was a toolbar Digg added in April 2009 that wrapped other people&#8217;s websites in a frame on Digg. Many bloggers wanted it gone. This guide covers how users turned it off and how site owners blocked it back then, plus the modern way to stop any site from framing your pages.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-67376\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/remove-diggbar-2026-1024x538.webp\" alt=\"DiggBar and how to stop sites framing your pages\" width=\"1024\" height=\"538\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/remove-diggbar-2026-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/remove-diggbar-2026-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/remove-diggbar-2026-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/remove-diggbar-2026-768x403.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/remove-diggbar-2026.webp 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> The DiggBar no longer exists, so there is nothing left to block. In 2009, users could switch it off in Digg&#8217;s settings, and site owners broke out of it with JavaScript frame-busting code, PHP referrer checks or WordPress plugins. Today, the reliable way to stop other sites from framing your pages is the Content-Security-Policy frame-ancestors header.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad77d9725395\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad77d9725395\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#What_was_the_diggbar\" >What was the diggbar?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#How_users_disabled_the_DiggBar_in_2009\" >How users disabled the DiggBar in 2009<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#How_site_owners_blocked_the_DiggBar\" >How site owners blocked the DiggBar<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#1_JavaScript_frame-busting\" >1. JavaScript frame-busting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#2_PHP_referrer_check\" >2. PHP referrer check<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#3_WordPress_plugins\" >3. WordPress plugins<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#How_to_stop_sites_framing_your_pages_today\" >How to stop sites framing your pages today<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#Does_the_DiggBar_still_exist\" >Does the DiggBar still exist?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#Why_did_bloggers_block_the_DiggBar\" >Why did bloggers block the DiggBar?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#What_is_the_best_way_to_stop_my_site_being_framed\" >What is the best way to stop my site being framed?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2009\/04\/disable-block-remove-diggbar\/#Can_I_set_frame-ancestors_in_a_meta_tag\" >Can I set frame-ancestors in a meta tag?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_was_the_diggbar\"><\/span>What was the diggbar?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The DiggBar let you Digg a story, read comments, find related content and share pages from anywhere on the web. But it did this by framing websites and blogs: the page you clicked loaded inside a frame under a Digg toolbar, with a Digg short URL in the address bar.<\/p>\n<p>Why did so many people block it? TechCrunch reported concerns that the DiggBar was <a href=\"https:\/\/techcrunch.com\/2009\/04\/02\/diggbar-keeps-all-digg-homepage-traffic-on-digg\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">keeping all Digg homepage traffic on Digg<\/a> instead of sending it to the sites that were dugg. Digg said it had fixed the SEO issues and webmaster concerns, but some concerns remained. Digg itself has since changed owners and been relaunched more than once, and the DiggBar is long gone. For the full background, read our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/07\/digg-story\/\">Digg story from 2005 to 2012<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_users_disabled_the_DiggBar_in_2009\"><\/span>How users disabled the DiggBar in 2009<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Digg settings:<\/strong> if you were a Digg user, you could turn the DiggBar off in your Digg viewing preferences.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Greasemonkey:<\/strong> Firefox users could install <a href=\"https:\/\/addons.mozilla.org\/firefox\/addon\/greasemonkey\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Greasemonkey<\/a> and a &#8220;Remove Digg bar&#8221; userscript to stop the toolbar appearing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/diggbar-settings.gif\" alt=\"DiggBar setting in Digg viewing preferences\" width=\"403\" height=\"60\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_site_owners_blocked_the_DiggBar\"><\/span>How site owners blocked the DiggBar<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_JavaScript_frame-busting\"><\/span>1. JavaScript frame-busting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>BloggingTips explained how a small frame-breaker script in your page&#8217;s &lt;head&gt; would work. The visitor still saw the Digg toolbar for a second before it was removed, and they had to click Back twice to return to Digg. It did not work in browsers with JavaScript turned off.<\/p>\n<pre><code>&lt;script type=\"text\/javascript\"&gt;\nif (top !== self) top.location.href = self.location.href;\n&lt;\/script&gt;<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>Farukat.es shared a version that only broke out of Digg frames and used <code>location.replace<\/code> so the Back button kept working. Wikipedia&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Framekiller\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">framekiller<\/a> article showed another variant that told visitors why they were being redirected with an alert box.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_PHP_referrer_check\"><\/span>2. PHP referrer check<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Daring Fireball explained <a href=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/2009\/04\/how_to_block_the_diggbar\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">how to block the DiggBar<\/a> with a few lines of PHP. The code checked whether the HTTP referrer looked like a DiggBar URL; if so, it printed a special message for Digg users and stopped the rest of the page from loading. It did not block all visitors from Digg, only those coming through the DiggBar.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_WordPress_plugins\"><\/span>3. WordPress plugins<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.org\/plugins\/no-frames\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">No Frames<\/a> plugin detected frames and broke your site free so visitors saw the full page. It has not been updated in many years, so use the header method below instead.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_stop_sites_framing_your_pages_today\"><\/span>How to stop sites framing your pages today<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>JavaScript frame-busting is easy to get around. Modern browsers support a better method: send a response header from your server.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Block all framing:<\/strong> <code>Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'none';<\/code><\/li>\n<li><strong>Allow only your own site:<\/strong> <code>Content-Security-Policy: frame-ancestors 'self';<\/code><\/li>\n<li><strong>Older browsers:<\/strong> <code>X-Frame-Options: DENY<\/code> or <code>SAMEORIGIN<\/code> does a similar job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.mozilla.org\/en-US\/docs\/Web\/HTTP\/Reference\/Headers\/Content-Security-Policy\/frame-ancestors\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">MDN&#8217;s frame-ancestors reference<\/a>, this directive does not work in a &lt;meta&gt; tag, so set it in your server config, CDN or a security plugin. Test that your own embeds, previews and page builders still work afterwards. It fits well with the other steps in our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2015\/02\/essential-server-security-software\/\">server security guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_the_DiggBar_still_exist\"><\/span>Does the DiggBar still exist?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. The DiggBar was removed long ago, so you don&#8217;t need any code to block it.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Why_did_bloggers_block_the_DiggBar\"><\/span>Why did bloggers block the DiggBar?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>It framed their pages under Digg&#8217;s toolbar and short URLs, and critics worried it kept traffic on Digg instead of sending it to the original sites.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_is_the_best_way_to_stop_my_site_being_framed\"><\/span>What is the best way to stop my site being framed?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Send the Content-Security-Policy header with frame-ancestors &#8216;none&#8217; or &#8216;self&#8217; from your server.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_set_frame-ancestors_in_a_meta_tag\"><\/span>Can I set frame-ancestors in a meta tag?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Browsers ignore frame-ancestors in a meta tag; it must be sent as an HTTP header.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The diggbar was a toolbar Digg added in April 2009 that wrapped other people&#8217;s websites in a frame on Digg&#8230;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":67376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogging","category-search-engine-optimization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":67381,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7099\/revisions\/67381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}