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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
The forum base URL should be a URL prefix to your forums without a script name. For example, http://forums.example.com is correct, while http://forums.example.com/index.php is incorrect. You can fix this using the config_editor.php script and then clear the Comcode page cache.
Most Composr resources with commenting enabled create comment topics in the configured comment forum. If the forum uses BBCode, Comcode features not supported by BBCode may not display correctly. Moderate comments from the forum as you would any other topic.
It's not easy to switch forums after installing Composr. The member and usergroup IDs referenced by Composr would lose their association. Check the "Importing data into Composr" tutorial for more information on this.
Conversr is Composr's built-in forum system. It offers seamless integration, allowing you to use Comcode for forum posts, a unified Admin Zone, shared themes and templates, and innovative features like Private Topics and in-post whispers. Using a third-party forum can be clunky and may lead to maintenance headaches.
Composr supports several forum drivers, including Invision Board, phpBB, myBB, vBulletin, Burning Board, and Simple Machine Forum. If your forum is not listed, professional developers can add support. Composr also provides converters for migrating from these forums to its own forum system, Conversr.
What are the PHP requirements for running Composr?
Answer
Composr requires PHP 7.2 or higher, but versions not officially supported by PHP developers are discouraged. The maximum tested version is PHP 8.3.
Required PHP extensions:
GD2 (gd) with PNG and JPEG support
MySQL extension (mysqli or pdo_mysql)
XML extension (xml)
Multibyte String (mbstring)
cURL extension (curl)
JSON support (usually available by default)
Sodium (libsodium)
ZIP extension (zip) if ZIP file support is needed
Additional recommendations:
posix extension for permission checks
zlib extension for faster upgrades, compressed backups, and page compression
ctype extension for slightly faster performance
IMAP extension (imap) for managing newsletter bounces
OpenSSL extension (openssl) for encrypted CPFs, DKIM, and SSL certificate expiry checks
Pspell (pspell) or Enchant (enchant) extensions for spell checking
Ensure the following PHP settings are configured:
File upload size limit of at least 5MB (or higher as needed)
Maximum execution time of at least 30 seconds
Memory limit of at least 128MB
The installer will warn you if any critical functions have been disabled via disable_functions or other PHP modifications. Avoid web hosts that heavily restrict standard PHP functionality.
To uninstall Composr, access the uninstall.php file in your web browser, enter your administrator password, and follow the prompts to remove the database data. Afterward, you can safely delete the Composr installation directory.
What are the recommended web hosting options for Composr?
Answer
Choosing a web host is crucial. Avoid the cheapest options and look for hosts with recent positive reviews and minimal credible complaints. Ensure they meet Composr's requirements, including adequate disk space, no restrictive file size limits, and support for required PHP extensions.
Composr is compatible with various hosting control panels like Plesk and cPanel, and works on Windows, Linux, or Mac OS servers.
Yes, you can install Composr on a Windows desktop using software packages like WampServer, XAMPP, EasyPHP, or ampps for simplified setup. Alternatively, you can manually install Apache, PHP, and MySQL, following the instructions provided in the respective documentation. Remember to configure file permissions appropriately and ensure the webserver isn't accessible from outside your network.
