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	What are URL Monikers and how do they benefit SEO?
Answer	URL Monikers replace generic numerical IDs in your URLs with descriptive keywords derived from your content titles. For example, instead of yoursite.com/page.php?id=123, you can have yoursite.com/about-us. This makes your URLs more user-friendly and helps search engines understand the topic of each page, improving your search ranking. You can set monikers in the "Metadata" section when adding / editing content.

Question	What is an XML Sitemap and why is it important?
Answer	An XML Sitemap is a file that lists all the pages on your website, helping search engines understand your site's structure and content. Composr automatically generates a comprehensive sitemap, including forum topics if you are using Conversr. Ensure your system scheduler is enabled for automatic sitemap submission to search engines. You can also manually generate and submit the sitemap if necessary.

Question	How can I improve my website's ranking in search engines?
Answer	Composr offers various features and best practices to enhance your SEO: Content Optimization: Write high-quality, keyword-rich content using clear headings, relevant links, and descriptive image alt text. URL Monikers: Enable this feature to create human-readable URLs that incorporate keywords instead of numerical IDs. XML Sitemaps: Composr automatically generates and submits XML Sitemaps to major search engines, aiding them in discovering and indexing your content. robots.txt: This file allows you to control which parts of your site search engines can access and index. Composr provides a default robots.txt that can be customized as needed.

Question	What are the primary metadata elements I should focus on?
Answer	While Composr provides extensive metadata options, the key elements to prioritize are: Title: The title tag appears in browser tabs, search results, and when your page is shared. It should be concise, descriptive, and include relevant keywords. Meta Description: This short summary entices users to click on your search result. It should be engaging, informative, and accurately reflect the page's content. Open Graph data: These protocols control how your content appears when shared on social media and other websites. They utilize elements like title, description, and images to create visually appealing previews. Favicon and Apple Web Clip image: These small icons represent your website in bookmarks, browser tabs, and on mobile home screens. They contribute to branding and visual recognition.

Question	What is metadata and why is it important for my website?
Answer	Metadata is information about your web pages that isn't directly visible to visitors, but is used by search engines and social media platforms to understand and categorize your content. Well-crafted metadata helps search engines properly index your site, making it more likely to appear in relevant search results. It also improves how your website appears when shared on social media, encouraging clicks and engagement.

Question	What should I do about offensive or off-topic discussions?
Answer	Decide on your moderation approach: balancing viewpoints, adhering to community standards, or focusing on topic relevance. Be prepared to face criticism regardless of your decisions. Establish clear rules and policies to guide user behavior.

Question	What resources are available to help me navigate these legal and social challenges?
Answer	Composr offers various resources, including tutorials on accessibility, staff management, and general website dos and don'ts. You can also consult external resources like the COPPA website and Wikipedia for more in-depth information on specific laws and regulations. Remember that seeking legal counsel may be necessary for complex situations.

Question	What are some social considerations for running a website with community features?
Answer	Managing a community involves addressing social issues like child protection, free speech, discrimination, and abuse. Establish clear policies on these matters, including content moderation guidelines and procedures for handling feedback. Consider the diverse personalities and potential vulnerabilities of your users.

Question	What are my legal responsibilities regarding illegal content posted by users?
Answer	While "safe harbor" laws offer some protection, you are still obligated to take down illegal content upon becoming aware of it. Implement measures like content checks, clear rules prohibiting illegal uploads, and liability disclaimers. The level of responsibility varies depending on the severity of the content, from copyright infringement to more serious criminal content.

Question	What steps should I take to make my website accessible?
Answer	Website accessibility is essential for inclusivity and may be legally required under anti-discrimination laws. Composr is designed to meet high accessibility standards, but you need to maintain this when creating content or modifying templates. Following WCAG guidelines is crucial, and you can find more information in the accessibility tutorial.

Top 10 Entries

Question	What is the purpose of "confirmed" and "non-confirmed" sessions?
Answer	Composr distinguishes between confirmed and non-confirmed sessions for added security: Confirmed: When you actively log in with your credentials. Non-confirmed: When you return to the site and are automatically logged in via cookies. You can configure zones to require confirmed sessions, preventing access from cookie-based logins alone. The Admin Zone uses this by default.

Question	How can I enhance the security of my Composr installation on shared hosting?
Answer	Shared hosting environments can be inherently less secure. Here are some tips: Choose a Secure Host: Opt for hosts that offer suEXEC and open_basedir for better account isolation. Test Security: Verify the host's security measures with the provided filesystem_browser.php script. Restrict _config.php: Remove world-writable permissions from _config.php after installation.

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.

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