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.
What other methods exist for featuring content in Composr?
Answer
Random Quotes: The quotes feature allows you to display a rotating selection of quotes on your site.
Community Billboard (Requires Addon): The Community Billboard addon provides a dedicated space for displaying important announcements or community messages.
Can I display forum content in a prominent way on my Composr site?
Answer
Absolutely! Composr provides several blocks designed for featuring forum content:
News-Style Blocks: side_forum_news, main_forum_news, and bottom_forum_news display forum topics in a news format, ideal for forums used for news posting.
Topic-Focused Block: main_forum_topics showcases recent topics from specific forums, allowing you to highlight active discussions or important announcements.
What is the difference between using the main_awards block and directly selecting content with the main_content block?
Answer
Both blocks can feature content, but they offer different approaches:
main_awards: Provides a structured system for managing featured content through award assignment, archives, and optional point rewards. Requires active management to update award holders.
main_content: Offers direct control over specific content or allows random selection from chosen categories. May require manual updates or adjustments.
How do I feature specific content items on my Composr site?
Answer
You can feature content using various methods:
Blocks: The main_content block allows you to display specific items by content type and ID or randomize content from selected categories.
Awards: Create awards for different content types and assign them to specific items. You can then use the main_awards block to display current award holders. Awards also integrate with points to credit points to award holders. And you can be reminded on the staff checklist to assign a new award every configurable amount of time.
Advanced Embedding: For greater control, use the main_include_module block to embed entire module screens within other content.
Composr includes a bounce filter tool that helps you remove bounced email addresses from your subscriber list. To use this tool, you'll need:
The PHP IMAP extension enabled on your server.
A dedicated folder on your email server to collect bounced emails.
The bounce filter tool scans the specified folder for bounce messages and lets you remove the corresponding addresses from your newsletter list. Composr will also halt attempts sending e-mails to those addresses to help prevent you from getting listed on spam blocklists.
How can I ensure my newsletters comply with data privacy regulations?
Answer
Composr provides built-in mechanisms for compliance:
Unsubscribe links: Newsletters include an unsubscribe link, allowing recipients to opt out of the newsletters.
Global unsubscribe: All Composr emails include a link to a global unsubscribe page (data/unsubscribe.php), letting users unsubscribe from all site emails.
How does authentication work with the server-side API?
Answer
Authentication is handled automatically using cookies, similar to regular website requests. If cookies are not feasible, the response parameters device_auth_member_id_cn/device_auth_pass_hashed_cn/device_auth_member_id_vl/device_auth_pass_hashed_vl from the login endpoint can be resent as POST parameters in subsequent requests.
How do I access the server-side API for my mobile app?
Answer
The server-side API can be accessed via HTTP calls to http://yourbaseurl/data/endpoint.php. Results are returned in JSON format. The API utilizes endpoints with a 'hook' name and a 'hook type' categorization. Both REST-style and GET-parameter style requests are supported, with the latter recommended for simplicity.
What is the purpose of the Composr Mobile SDK Toolkit?
Answer
The Toolkit, part of the composr_mobile_sdk addon, aids in mirroring Composr website resources into a mobile app. It includes tools for generating iOS/Android string resources from language files and exporting theme images in a directory structure suitable for iOS/Android app image assets.
To connect to a Composr site, you will need to install the composr_mobile_sdk addon, which is not bundled. This addon provides scripting to generate app assets from the Composr site.
Composr Mobile SDK (CMS SDK) is a toolkit designed for experienced iOS and Android developers to build mobile apps that integrate with a Composr-powered website. It offers both Composr-specific integrations and a collection of standalone utilities for building apps, providing a common base between iOS and Android akin to the PHP and Composr APIs, enabling easier code porting while maintaining a native experience.
Composr follows a rolling release model. This means:
New major/minor versions are released as they are ready.
Patch releases, primarily containing bug fixes, are only released for the latest supported major/minor version branch.
Users are responsible for staying updated to the latest release or applying necessary hotfixes.
This policy allows developers to focus resources on the latest versions and encourages users to leverage the ongoing improvements. You can find the release status on the Composr maintenance status page.
Constructive design feedback is valuable. To provide effective feedback:
Be specific and detailed. Identify particular issues and provide clear examples.
Offer solutions. Suggest improvements or provide mockups demonstrating your ideas.
Avoid vague statements. General comments like "it looks dated" are unhelpful.
Understand design constraints. Consider factors like modularity, generality, feature density, compatibility, performance, and the subjective nature of design.
Directly reporting specific design bugs to the tracker or redesigning Composr interfaces yourself are excellent ways to contribute.
Be comprehensive and self-contained. Provide all necessary information and context for the developers to understand your suggestion.
Focus on widely beneficial features. Esoteric suggestions are less likely to be implemented.
Understand developer constraints. Feature development depends on factors like developer availability, funding, and project strategy.
Consider sponsoring features. Financial contributions can prioritize the development of desired features as it affords developers the time to implement it.
