Contributors: A-Z Index

A

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Allen Ellis Image Founder

Original designer for ocPortal

Also conceived and coded the Theme Wizard and Point Store

Son of one of the early inventors of Internet protocols (Usenet, aka Internet newsgroups)

Token non-brit

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C

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Chris Graham Image Founder

Original developer of ocPortal, former lead developer of Composr CMS

Masters degree in Computer Science from The University Of Sheffield

Undertaken work for over 15 FTSE-100 companies, as well as many small and mid-sized organisations. Includes a number of banks and major brands.

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Chris Warburton developer for ocProducts

Made some key contributions to ocPortal

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H

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Haydn Maidment project manager for ocProducts

None available

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J

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Jim Davidson contributor

written many tutorials via Arvixe

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P

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Patrick Schmalstig Image Lead Developer

Joined Chris Graham behind the scenes in the development of Composr CMS in 2016.

Took on the lead developer role in 2023 when Chris Graham stepped back to attend to his new lifestyle changes.

Spearheaded the development of Composr CMS v11 and the new website, Composr.app.

Formed the company PDStig, LLC to take on professional support and development for Composr CMS users especially after the discontinuation of ocProducts, Ltd.

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Philip Withnall Early Developer

Coded the chatroom, blogging support, the analytics system, and OcCLE (now Commandr)

Masters Degree in Computer Science degree from The University Of Cambridge

Other work has included helping out with Firefox, and ongoing work on GNOME

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R

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Robert Goacher Image Founder

Ran some of the early websites where ocPortal came from

Technically the original developer of ocPortal, in that he wrote the first few lines of code

Heavily involved in the feature design process

Hosted some of our early meet-ups

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S

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Steve Jarvis project manager for ocProducts

Wrote many tutorials via Arvixe

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Newest 10 Entries

Question Can I move a Wiki+ page?
Answer Technically, Wiki+ pages cannot be moved because they don't have a fixed location within the network structure. Creating child links forms a path, not a strict hierarchy. However, you can manipulate the breadcrumbs by ensuring only one path leads to a page.
Question Can I track changes made to Wiki+ pages?
Answer Yes, Wiki+ includes a revision history feature accessible through the page edit screen. This feature allows you to view a log of edits, see changes highlighted in tooltips, and revert to previous versions of a page as needed.
Question How can I view the complete tree structure of my Wiki+?
Answer You can access a view of the complete Wiki+ tree structure through the designated option in the admin panel. However, it's important to note that this view will reflect guest access permissions. Some pages may be hidden if they are restricted to specific user groups.
Question What moderation tools are available in Wiki+?
Answer Wiki+ offers several features to help you moderate user contributions and maintain the quality of information:
  • Email Notifications: When a new post is submitted, an email notification is sent to the designated staff address, alerting you to new contributions.
  • Permissions Control: You can configure permissions to determine whether regular users can create new pages or only contribute through posts.
  • Page History: The revision history feature allows you to track edits made to pages and revert to previous versions if necessary.
  • Composr Moderation Tools: Wiki+ integrates with Composr's site-wide moderation features, providing additional tools for monitoring and managing user contributions.
Question Can users contribute content to Wiki+?
Answer Yes, users can contribute content to Wiki+ through posts. When the "Show posts" option is enabled for a page, users can add their insights and information as posts below the main page content.
Question What are orphaned pages and how should I handle them?
Answer Orphaned pages are pages that exist within the Wiki+ database but are not linked to the main tree structure. These pages are not accessible through the tree navigation but can still be reached through direct links or cross-linking.

Orphaned pages are not necessarily problematic. They can be intentional if you prefer to link pages using the wiki-style syntax instead of a rigid tree hierarchy. You have the flexibility to choose the linking method that best suits your content organization.
Question How can I create and organize pages in Wiki+?
Answer Pages in Wiki+ can be created in several ways:
  • Referencing them in the child-list of an existing page.
  • Using the special Comcode syntax [[pagename]] to create inline links, which automatically generates new pages when accessed.
  • Utilizing the "Edit tree" button visible on Wiki+ pages to add child pages directly.
The tree structure can be easily manipulated through the same interface, allowing you to arrange pages in a hierarchy that suits your needs.
Question How does Wiki+ differ from a regular wiki?
Answer While Wiki+ shares similarities with traditional wikis, it provides two key distinctions:
  • Optional Post Contributions: Wiki+ allows users to contribute short snippets of information (posts) directly on pages, enriching the content without formally editing the page itself. This feature is optional and can be enabled or disabled as needed.
  • Optional Tree Structure: Unlike standard wikis that rely solely on cross-linking, Composr's Wiki+ offers the flexibility of organizing pages within a hierarchical tree structure. This structure can be used in conjunction with or as an alternative to cross-linking.
Question What is Wiki+?
Answer Wiki+ is a feature in Composr that allows you to create a collaborative, tree-structured database of information. It functions similarly to a traditional wiki but offers enhanced features such as post contributions, a hierarchical structure, and moderation capabilities.
Question Are there other Composr features helpful for support?
Answer Yes, features like:
  • Staff-only replies in the Support Ticket system enable private communication among support staff.
  • Notifications for new tickets, replies, or feedback ensure timely responses.
  • Blocks like main_contact_us provide a simplified front-end for ticket creation.
  • Forum moderation tools help manage support discussions effectively.

Top 10 Entries

Question How does Composr protect against Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks?
Answer Composr utilizes multiple layers of defense against XSS attacks:
  • HTML Filtering: Configurable levels of filtering prevent malicious script injection.
  • Content Security Policy (CSP): Restricts the sources from which scripts and other resources can be loaded.
  • Input Sanitization: Data is sanitized before being processed to prevent malicious code execution.
  • Output Encoding: Data displayed to users is properly encoded to prevent interpretation as active code.
Question What are the different types of security alerts in Composr?
Answer Composr has a variety of hack-attack codenames that trigger security alerts and logging. Some common examples include:
  • DODGY_GET_HACK: Suspicious URLs with potentially harmful characters.
  • EVIL_POSTED_FORM_HACK: Possible CSRF attempts via malicious form submissions.
  • SCRIPT_UPLOAD_HACK: Attempts to upload PHP scripts, potentially malicious.
  • DOWNLOAD_PRIVATE_URL_HACK/TRY_TO_DOWNLOAD_SCRIPT: Attempts to download sensitive files.
  • BRUTEFORCE_LOGIN_HACK: Repeated failed login attempts.
  • SQL_INJECTION_HACK: Attempts to exploit SQL queries for data extraction.

You can customize alert handling for each type in data_custom/xml_config/advanced_banning.xml (Admin Zone > Security > Configure advanced banning).
Question What are some tips for secure website maintenance?
Answer
  • Avoid FTP: Use secure alternatives like SFTP or SSH for file transfer.
  • Secure Email: Enable SSL for IMAP and POP3 email protocols.
  • Strong Passwords: Use unique and complex passwords for different services.
  • Secure Computers: Keep your own devices patched and secure.
  • Maintenance Password: Remove the maintenance password from _config.php when not in use.
Question What are the main security features of Composr?
Answer Composr has a robust set of security features to protect your website, including:

Passwords:
  • Visual representation of password quality and enforcement of complexity rules.
  • Password expiry and prevention of re-use.
  • Secure password hashing, even if the database is compromised.
  • Temporary passwords for staff setup.

Login Restrictions:
  • Two-factor authentication via IP address approval.
  • IP address banning, including wildcard banning.
  • Session locking to IP addresses.
  • Configurable session expiry times.
  • Ability to prevent privileged actions from auto-logged in sessions.
  • Optional member approval process.

Auditing Systems:
  • Comprehensive audit logging of administrative actions.
  • Logging of user actions and IP address history.
  • Tools to analyze audit logs.
  • Failed login logging.
  • Hack attack detection, logging, and banning.
  • Email notifications for changes to user credentials.

Framework Security:
  • Protection against CSRF attacks.
  • Click-jacking prevention via CSP implementation.
  • Secure coding standards and scanning techniques.
  • Configurable HTML filtering to prevent XSS attacks.
  • Secure code modularization standards.

Other features:
  • Granular privileges and access permissions.
  • Content submission validation process.
  • Rootkit detection system.
  • Spam prevention systems.
  • Web application firewall rules.
  • Moderation systems.
Question Why are my searches slow, and how can I improve search speed?
Answer Slow searches can occur when dealing with large amounts of content. Here are some workarounds and solutions:
  • MySQL timeout setting: For MySQL 5.7+, set a query timeout to prevent searches from locking up your database. Composr automatically sets this, but you can configure it manually if needed.
  • Use InnoDB tables: Switching to InnoDB tables in MySQL can prevent slow queries from affecting other users on your website. Note that InnoDB is not officially supported by Composr yet.
  • Enable the fast custom index: As mentioned earlier, the fast custom index is optimized for handling large datasets and filtered searches, potentially leading to significant speed improvements.
Question How does the search engine handle different languages?
Answer Composr's fast custom index supports multiple languages. Content is indexed based on its translated version, ensuring that you get relevant results even when searching in a different language.
Question What are quoted phrases and how do they work?
Answer Quoted phrases allow you to search for an exact sequence of words. For example, searching for "red apple" will only return results containing that exact phrase. Keep in mind that enabling quoted phrases can increase disk space usage.
Question How do stop words affect search results?
Answer Stop words are common words (like "the", "a", "is") that are ignored by the search engine because they add noise and don't contribute to the meaning of the search query. You can customize the list of stop words for the fast custom index. See the search tutorial for more information.
Question How can I improve my search results?
Answer Here are some tips for improving search results:
  • Use specific keywords: The more specific your keywords, the better your results.
  • Use boolean operators: Use "+", "-", and quotation marks to refine your search.
  • Optimize content titles and meta keywords: These fields are given priority during search, so make sure they accurately reflect your content.
  • Consider enabling the fast custom index: Especially beneficial for large websites or frequent filtered searches.
Question What is the fast custom index and why should I use it?
Answer The fast custom index is Composr's own search engine, designed to be faster and more efficient than MySQL full-text search, especially for large websites and filtered searches.

Benefits of the fast custom index:
  • Faster filtered searches: Significantly improves search speed when you add filters like category or author.
  • Configurable stop words: Control which common words are ignored during search.
  • Better stemming: More accurately recognizes variations of words (e.g., "like" and "liking").
  • Multilingual support: Indexes content based on different language translations.

Downsides of the fast custom index:
  • Slight lag in indexing new content: New content takes a short time to be indexed.
  • Less accurate ranking: Ranking is based on the most obscure keyword, not a blend of all keywords.
  • Cannot perform blank searches: You must enter at least one keyword.