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

View

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.

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 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.

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 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

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 can I contribute to translating Composr?
Answer You can contribute to Composr's internationalization by:
  • Joining the translation team on Transifex: Translate language strings collaboratively with other volunteers.
  • Becoming a language maintainer: Take responsibility for the translation and support of Composr in your native language.
  • Reporting translation issues: If you encounter unclear, incorrect, or duplicated language strings, file bug reports.
  • Providing feedback and suggestions: Share your thoughts on improving the translation process through feature suggestions.
Your contributions are valuable and help make Composr accessible to a wider audience.
Question What is Transifex, and how does it help with translation?
Answer Transifex is a collaborative online platform used by the Composr community for translation. Its benefits include:
  • Centralized translation efforts: Multiple translators can work on the same project.
  • Improved translation quality: The platform facilitates consistency and accuracy.
  • Simplified language pack creation: You can generate downloadable language pack addons directly from Transifex.
We encourage using Transifex for translation to foster collaboration and maintain high-quality translations.
Question Can I translate images with text on them?
Answer Yes, you can translate images containing text. In the themes/default/images/ directory, you'll find an EN folder containing images with English text.
  • Copy the EN folder: Create a new folder with the ISO code of your target language (e.g., FR for French).
  • Replace the images: Replace the English images with translated versions.
  • Ensure correct image paths: Update any references to these images in your templates or content to point to the translated versions.
Question How do I translate the content on my Composr website?
Answer Once you've installed a new language pack, you can translate existing content by:
  • Editing the content directly: Go to the specific content item (page, news post, etc.) and edit it in the new language.
  • Using the language editor: Access the language editor from Admin Zone > Style > Translate/rephrase Composr to modify language strings used on specific pages.
Note that some elements like forum names are not designed to be translated directly. Instead, you should create separate forums for each language.
Question How do I change the language of my Composr website?
Answer Composr comes with English as the default language. To change to a different language:
  • Download the language pack: You can download language packs from the Composr website.
  • Install the language pack: Upload the downloaded language pack addon through Admin Zone > Structure > Addons > Import non-bundled addon(s).
  • Change the default language: Go to http://yourbaseurl/config_editor.php and set the desired language.
  • Update your profile: If you had a previous language set in your profile, update it to the new language.

You can test a language without changing settings by appending &keep_lang=XX to the URL, where XX is the language code (e.g., FR for French).
Question What should I do after successfully importing data into Composr?
Answer After importing, if all files like avatars, photos, and attachments have been copied to Composr's directories, you can remove the imported product's directory. However, it's advisable to keep the directory, database, and import session for a few weeks in case any data was not correctly imported and needs further attention. Importing is a complex process, so keeping backups and sources for a while is a good practice.
Question Where can I get help with the import process?
Answer The Composr documentation provides extensive information. Additionally, you can seek assistance from experienced Composr developers, including the Composr team if your project allows for professional support.
Question Can I switch from a third-party forum to Conversr (Composr's built-in forum)?
Answer Yes, if an importer exists for your current forum software, you can switch to Conversr during the import process. Composr will handle the forum driver switch and remap user IDs, but it's recommended to double-check permissions afterward.
Question How does the HTML website importer work?
Answer The HTML website importer is an advanced tool for migrating static HTML websites to Composr. It analyzes the HTML structure to create zones, Comcode pages, and a basic template. It also attempts to fix links and file paths for Composr compatibility.
Question What is a Composr import session?
Answer Import sessions track the progress and ID remapping for each import, allowing you to merge multiple sites or resume interrupted imports. This is particularly useful when merging multiple Composr sites into one.

Top 10 Entries

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.
Question Can I filter my search results?
Answer Yes, you can filter your search results by:
  • Content type: Choose to search specific content types like news, forum posts, or Comcode pages.
  • Author/Submitter: Search for content submitted by a specific member.
  • Date: Limit your search to content submitted within a specific time frame.
  • Category (for certain content types): Narrow down your search to specific categories within a content type.
Question What is the difference between natural and boolean searching?
Answer Natural search is a more relaxed approach where you type in your search terms and Composr tries to find the most relevant results, even if they don't contain all the words. It's like a Google search.

Boolean search requires more precision and uses operators like "+", "-", and quotation marks to define exactly what you're looking for. For example, searching for "+car -maintenance" will only return results that contain the word "car" but not "maintenance".
Question How do I search my Composr website?
Answer There are a few ways to search your Composr website:
  • Using the search bar in the header: This is the simplest way to search. Just type your search term in the box and click the search button.
  • Using the 'Search' module: This module offers more detailed search options. You can access it via the 'site:search' page-link (usually under About > Search in the default menu).
  • From the Forum: Click the 'Search' button on the forum or use the contextual search box on the forum member bar. This will search within your current forum or topic.
Question How do I mark correct answers in a quiz?
Answer For questions with predefined answers, you can mark correct answers by adding [*] after the answer. If no answer is marked correct, the question will require manual marking. You can also use the [UNMARKED] tag after a question to exclude it from scoring.
Question What is the input syntax for quiz questions?
Answer Quiz questions are inputted in blocks, separated by blank lines. The first line is the question, followed by potential answers on subsequent lines. Different question types are indicated by tags after the question, such as [MULTIPLECHOICE], [MULTIMULTIPLE], [LONG], [SHORT], and [SHORT_STRICT].
Question Can I create complex, multi-screen quiz interfaces in Composr?
Answer While Composr's built-in quiz system is excellent for standard formats, creating intricate multi-screen quizzes might require custom development using Composr's decision tree framework or other programming tools. This allows for highly customized quiz structures and advanced branching logic.
Question How can I analyze quiz results effectively?
Answer Composr enables you to export quiz results to a spreadsheet file, facilitating in-depth data analysis. This is especially useful for manually marked questions, identifying competition winners, and processing data for marketing or research purposes.
Question What are Quiz Sets and how can I use them?
Answer Quiz Sets are a helpful organizational feature in Composr. By prefixing quiz names with "Example: ", you can group related quizzes together. This allows for combined scoring and percentage calculations, particularly beneficial for multi-part questionnaires or tests.