Contributors: A-Z Index

A

Name	Photograph	Title / Role	Contributions / Notes
Allen Ellis		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	View

C

Name	Photograph	Title / Role	Contributions / Notes
Chris Graham		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.	View
Chris Warburton		developer for ocProducts	Made some key contributions to ocPortal	View

H

Name	Photograph	Title / Role	Contributions / Notes
Haydn Maidment		project manager for ocProducts	None available	View

J

Name	Photograph	Title / Role	Contributions / Notes
Jim Davidson		contributor	written many tutorials via Arvixe	View

P

Name	Photograph	Title / Role	Contributions / Notes
Patrick Schmalstig		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.	View
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	View

R

Name	Photograph	Title / Role	Contributions / Notes
Robert Goacher		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	View

S

Name	Photograph	Title / Role	Contributions / Notes
Steve Jarvis		project manager for ocProducts	Wrote many tutorials via Arvixe	View

Newest 10 Entries

Question	How do I report an emergency problem with my Composr site?
Answer	Emergency problems are events that have significantly and suddenly affected your website's functionality due to legitimate bugs or undocumented usability issues. To report these: Open a tracker issue explaining the problem and providing as much detail as possible (mark it as a major bug). Help the developers help you. Provide access to your site (see the software feedback tutorial for more information), describe the exact situation, and avoid protracted back-and-forth communication. Take backups before upgrading. This allows for easier recovery in case of problems. Remember that bug fixing is not a free service. While developers are committed to Composr's stability, maintaining backups and practicing restoration procedures is your responsibility.

Question	How can I get support for Composr?
Answer	The community forum is an excellent resource for support. Users can help each other out with various problems. However, please remember that there's no guarantee of free professional support. If you need immediate or guaranteed assistance, consider hiring a professional developer.

Question	I'm getting a lot of spam on my site. What can I do?
Answer	Composr offers various anti-spam measures. Refer to the Anti-spam settings tutorial for advice on configuring these settings. If you believe there's an issue with the anti-spam system itself, report it to the issue tracker. Do not report general spam incidents.

Question	My website is experiencing performance issues. What should I do?
Answer	If you are experiencing performance issues, first identify the specific problem with your web host's help. Composr provides tools to manage database size, bandwidth, and disk I/O. However, high request volume or CPU usage may require server upgrades like a VPS or dedicated server. If your web host complains about resource usage, gather detailed information from them, including specific URLs causing problems and resource usage metrics. If their limits are unreasonable, consider switching web hosts.

Question	How do I report a security problem?
Answer	Security problems must be reported privately. You can do this by marking the issue as 'Private' on the issue tracker (if you use the Report Issue Wizard, it will do that automatically when you select security-hole). Publicly disclosing security holes is irresponsible and may result in penalties. The core developer team will disclose the issue after a patch is released.

Question	How do I report a bug in Composr?
Answer	Every bug, no matter how small, should be reported. You can report bugs using the Report Issue Wizard or directly through the issue tracker. There is also a link to report bugs on your Admin Zone Dashboard where the version information is located. And when clicking that link, you can view open issues specific to your version of Composr. When reporting a bug, be sure to: Check for duplicates: Make sure the bug hasn't already been reported. Report bugs individually: Each issue should be reported separately for better tracking and resolution. Verify it's a Composr bug: Issues with third-party addons and code should be reported to their respective developers. Consult the FAQ and tutorials: Check for common problems and solutions, particularly server configuration issues. Provide comprehensive information: Include a clear and specific title, detailed steps to reproduce the problem, your browser version, Composr version, error messages, stack traces (if available), and any other relevant details. Use clear and concise language: Write in proper English, use correct terminology, and avoid vagueness. Be respectful and patient: Remember that developers are volunteers and may not respond immediately.

Question	What is the role of robots.txt in SEO?
Answer	The robots.txt file provides instructions to search engine crawlers about which parts of your website they should and should not access. You can customize the robots.txt file to prevent sensitive content from being indexed or to guide crawlers toward the most important areas of your site.

Question	What is SEO and why is it important for my Composr website?
Answer	SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). By improving your SEO, you increase the visibility of your website, driving more organic (non-paid) traffic to your content.

Question	How can I edit the metadata in Composr?
Answer	Composr provides several ways to customize your metadata: Site-wide Settings: You can configure default metadata for your entire site in the Admin Zone under Setup > Configuration > Site options. Content-Specific Settings: When adding or editing content like Comcode pages or news posts, Composr provides fields for customizing titles, descriptions, and keywords specific to that content under the "Metadata" section. Automatic Detection: Composr can automatically generate metadata by analyzing your content, but it's generally recommended to refine these suggestions manually for best results.

Question	Should I trust agencies that promise top search engine results?
Answer	No; be wary of agencies guaranteeing top rankings for any desired keyword. Achieving top results for competitive terms requires significant effort, expertise, and often, an ongoing strategy. Focus on agencies that prioritize ethical "white-hat" SEO techniques like creating valuable content, optimizing website structure, and building natural backlinks. Avoid those employing "black-hat" methods that can lead to penalties from search engines.

Top 10 Entries

Question	Can I use the calendar as a personal diary and keep my entries private?
Answer	Yes. When adding an event to the calendar, you can choose to make it public or private. Private events are generally used when someone wants to use the calendar system as a diary.

Question	How can I set up reminders for events?
Answer	When adding or editing an event, you can enable reminders for yourself and specific user groups. You can also choose how much notice you want for each reminder. Members can subscribe for reminders on an individual event screen. They can also personalize their reminder settings, including removing reminders or having multiple reminders at different times. Members can also subscribe for notifications to specific event types to be notified whenever events under those types are scheduled.

Question	How can I schedule Commandr commands to run automatically?
Answer	To schedule commands, create an event with the "System command" event type. This option needs to be enabled in the configuration first. In the event details, you can specify either a URL for Composr to call or a snippet of Commandr code to execute. Be sure to disable the WYSIWYG editor for this type of event. You'll also need to have the system scheduler configured for the commands to run automatically.

Question	Can I add external feeds to the calendar?
Answer	Yes, you can add RSS or Atom feeds to your calendar. This lets you view time-based information from external sources alongside your calendar events.

Question	What do I do if a recurring event needs to be changed or skipped?
Answer	Composr has a "fixing an event" feature to handle changes to recurring events. This is useful if an event needs to be cancelled or rescheduled. You edit the event as if it were a new, standalone event and choose the "Edit with fixing past recurrences" option. This separates the past occurrences from the modified event, ensuring future recurrences reflect the changes.

Question	What is the "recurrence pattern" and how does it work?
Answer	The recurrence pattern is a powerful tool that defines how often an event repeats. While it might seem complex at first, it provides a lot of flexibility. Think of it as a binary code where each digit represents a time period (like a day or week). A "1" indicates the event occurs, and a "0" means it doesn't. This lets you create complex schedules like "every weekday" (daily with pattern `1111100` if it starts on a Monday) or "every other Tuesday" (weekly on Tuesday with the pattern `10`).

Question	What are the different views available in the calendar?
Answer	The calendar has five views: Year view: Displays an overview of the entire year. Month view: Shows events within a specific month. Week view: Displays events for a selected week. Day view: Shows events scheduled for a specific day. Event view: Displays the details of a single event. You can easily navigate between these views to get different levels of detail and focus on specific periods or events.

Question	How do I add events to the calendar?
Answer	You can add events in several ways: Through the Admin Zone or Content Management Zone: Go to Admin Zone > Content > Calendar. Directly on the calendar: Click on a date box on the calendar view. Using the "Add Event" button on any calendar view. Deleting events can be done at the bottom of the event's edit form. You have options for recurring events, such as editing/deleting the specific occurrence, editing/deleting future ones, or all of them.

Question	How do I categorize events?
Answer	You categorize events using "Event types". Composr provides default types like "Anniversary", "Appointment", "Birthday", "General", "Public Holiday", "Task", "Vacation", and the special "System command" for executing Commandr commands. You can also add your own custom event types to suit your specific needs, such as "Appraisal Session" for a business website.

Question	What is an "event" in the Composr calendar system?
Answer	An event is any entry in the calendar. Importantly, an event isn't limited to a single point or range in time. Events can recur based on a schedule you define. This makes them very flexible – they can represent anything from one-time appointments to recurring birthdays or even weekly team practices.

Statistics

Forum statistics:	45 topics, 14 posts, 2 members Our newest member is test