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	What is the Composr Member System?
Answer	The Composr Member System is the system used by the Conversr forum software to manage user accounts and information. This includes usernames, passwords, profile information, and usergroups. It also handles user registration, login, and account management. For websites not using Conversr, the member system of the third-party forum software would be used.

Question	Can I Use Composr Galleries to Publish Podcasts?
Answer	Yes, Composr supports creating podcasts from galleries. The podcast URL follows this format: `http://yourbaseurl/backend.php?mode=galleries&select=galleryname&type=rss&itunes=1`. Replace yourbaseurl and galleryname accordingly. This URL can be used to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes or other podcast applications.

Question	How Do Gallery Slide-shows Work?
Answer	When viewing an image or video in a gallery, visitors can initiate a slide-show that automatically cycles through subsequent entries. The slide-show can be paused with a click or keypress. The default slide-show speed can be adjusted by modifying the GALLERY_ENTRY_SCREEN.tpl template.

Question	What are Watermarks and How Do They Work?
Answer	Watermarks are semi-transparent images overlaid on gallery images to mark their origin or deter unauthorized use. When you add or edit a gallery, you can choose to apply watermarks to the corners of images. Watermarking applies permanently to the uploaded image. Composr uses a reverse tree structure for watermarks: if a sub-gallery doesn't have a watermark defined, it inherits the watermark from its parent gallery.

Question	Can Members Create Their Own Personal Galleries?
Answer	Yes, members with the "have personal galleries" permission can create their own galleries. These personal galleries are displayed under designated "Personal category container" galleries. They also show up in a tab on the member's profile. Members can only add content to their own galleries unless they have the "Submit to categories belonging to other members" permission.

Question	What are Rep-Images and How Do I Set Them?
Answer	Rep-images, short for "representative images," are thumbnails that represent a gallery when it's displayed within a list of galleries. They offer a visual preview of the gallery's contents. You can set a rep-image when adding or editing a gallery, or when adding an image to a gallery.

Question	How Do I Import Images in bulk into a Gallery?
Answer	You can import images in bulk using a CSV file. The file should be named descriptions.csv and placed in the uploads/galleries directory. The first column should contain filenames (without the path), and the second column should contain descriptions. The filenames should correspond to images also located in the uploads/galleries directory. Composr will automatically match the descriptions to the images during import.

Question	What Image and Video Formats are Supported?
Answer	Images: .jpg/.jpeg: Highly compressed, best for photos due to minimal noticeable quality loss. .png: Good compression with no quality loss, ideal if bandwidth isn't a concern. .gif: Limited to 256 colors and poor compression. Better alternatives are video or APNG. Note that Composr does not support SVG because hackers can leverage the XML-like structure of SVG files to compromise a website. Videos: .mp4 (h.264 aac encoding): The recommended format, widely supported. .mov (h.264 aac encoding): Identical to .mp4. .webm: Supported natively in most browsers, but requires plugins for Internet Explorer/Microsoft Edge and Safari. Other formats, while they may work, are generally discouraged due to compatibility issues and lack of consistent addon or browser support.

Question	What are Composr Galleries?
Answer	Composr Galleries are a system for storing, organizing, and displaying images and videos. They function like categories, allowing you to group related media together. Galleries can be structured hierarchically, with sub-galleries nested under parent galleries, similar to a folder system. Each gallery has settings that control its appearance and behavior.

Question	How are forums structured in Composr?
Answer	Composr forums are organized hierarchically: Forum Groupings: Broad categories that contain forums. Forums: Contain topics related to a specific subject. Sub-forums: Forums nested under other forums, providing further categorization. Topics: Threads of conversation containing a series of posts. Posts: Individual messages within a topic.

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