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 can I customize Composr without modifying the core files?
Answer	Composr offers a robust override system. Instead of altering the original files, create a parallel structure within _custom directories. For example, to modify site/pages/modules/polls.php, place your customized version in site/pages/modules_custom/polls.php. The tutorials outline additional information on how to utilise overrides.

Question	What are the main components of the Composr framework?
Answer	Composr consists of: Modules: PHP files that provide related screens, forming the building blocks of addons. Comcode: Text files containing content written in a simplified markup language. HTML: Files containing standard HTML for web pages. Sources: PHP code files for the core API and functionality. Hooks: PHP files enabling addons to interact and extend each other's functionality. Blocks/Miniblocks: Reusable components for displaying dynamic content within pages. Themes: Folders containing images, CSS, and templates to define the look and feel. Language files: Files holding text strings for multilingual support.

Question	How can I embed third-party widgets into my Composr pages?
Answer	Composr supports embedding widgets from various websites, like Google Maps, Vimeo, and YouTube, by simply pasting the URL. For manually embedding widget code, you can paste it into the HTML source view of the WYSIWYG editor or within Comcode html tags if not using the WYSIWYG editor.

Question	What is the difference between blocks and boxes in Composr?
Answer	Boxes are visual elements that provide a container for content, while blocks are functional units that generate and display dynamic content. Although blocks often appear within boxes in the default templates, they are not inherently tied to any visual representation.

Question	Can I customize the appearance of blocks?
Answer	Yes, you can style blocks by editing the associated templates and CSS. Templates are typically named after the block they represent. For example, the main_news block uses the BLOCK_MAIN_NEWS.tpl template.

Question	How do I create custom filter forms for my content?
Answer	The main_content_filtering block can help you generate filter forms automatically. You can use it to create a default form and then customize the generated Filtercode string to refine the filtering options. Once satisfied, you can either continue using the block or extract the HTML and modify it further.

Question	Where can I use Filtercode and Selectcode in Composr?
Answer	Filtercode is supported in various blocks, such as main_multi_content, main_gallery_embed, and main_cc_embed. It's also actively used in modules like catalogues, downloads, galleries, members, and news. Selectcode is supported in blocks and Comcode tags that explicitly mention it, including the main_multi_content block and the if_in_group Comcode tag.

Question	What is the difference between Filtercode and Selectcode?
Answer	Filtercode is used for querying content based on properties and values, while Selectcode is used for directly specifying a list of IDs or categories to include or exclude. Filtercode offers more complex filtering options, while Selectcode is more straightforward for simple selections.

Question	How can I filter content in Composr?
Answer	Composr provides two filtering systems: Filtercode and Selectcode. Filtercode is used for selecting content based on defined filters, such as field values, ratings, or keywords. It utilizes a syntax of comparisons, separated by commas, where each comparison specifies a field and a matching condition. Selectcode is a simpler syntax for specifying a list of IDs or categories to include or exclude from the results. It uses a comma-separated list of match-specifier tokens, such as individual IDs, ranges, or wildcard characters.

Question	What are blocks in Composr and how can I use them?
Answer	Blocks are dynamic elements that can be inserted into Comcode pages to add interactive and data-bound functionality to your website. They are essentially reusable components that automatically generate content, such as recent forum posts or information about the logged-in user. You can add blocks to your pages using the block construction assistant, which allows you to select from a list of available blocks, set their parameters, preview them, and generate the necessary Comcode.

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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