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

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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.

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Chris Warburton developer for ocProducts

Made some key contributions to ocPortal

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H

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Haydn Maidment project manager for ocProducts

None available

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J

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Jim Davidson contributor

written many tutorials via Arvixe

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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.

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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

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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

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S

Name Photograph Title / Role Contributions / Notes
Steve Jarvis project manager for ocProducts

Wrote many tutorials via Arvixe

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Newest 10 Entries

Question What is Tempcode, and how is it used in website themeing?
Answer Tempcode is a templating language used within Composr. It offers a powerful way to control the output of dynamic content and design elements on a website. It works by using:
  • Parameters: Placeholders for content passed to the template from Composr / PHP.
  • Symbols: Global functions that perform operations, calculations, or retrieve information.
  • Directives: Instructions that control the flow or logic of content, such as conditional statements and loops.
  • Language strings: References to pre-defined text stored in language files for easy translation.
  • Escaping: Ensures the content generated is properly escaped according to its use case.

Tempcode empowers theme designers to create highly customizable and dynamic websites, allowing for logic, conditional rendering, and manipulation of various website elements.

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Question What are some alternatives to Photoshop for web design?
Answer While Photoshop is a popular choice, there are other excellent options available, including:
  • GIMP/GIMPShop: These free, open-source image editors provide a robust set of features comparable to Photoshop.
  • Paint.NET: This free, Windows-only software offers a user-friendly interface and essential image editing tools.
  • Corel Paint Shop Pro: A more affordable alternative to Photoshop, Corel Paint Shop Pro delivers a good balance of features and ease of use.

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Question How can design elements like dominance and attention to detail improve a website?
Answer Dominance and attention to detail are key to a balanced and engaging website. Important elements can be emphasized using techniques like larger text, unique colors, and increased spacing. Conversely, less crucial elements should receive less emphasis. This interplay helps guide the visitor's eye and ensures a visually harmonious layout.

Attention to detail involves eliminating inconsistencies and distractions, such as typos, misaligned elements, and low-quality images, that can detract from the overall aesthetics and message of the website.

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Question What is the importance of color schemes in website design?
Answer Color schemes are crucial as they convey emotions and brand identity. Choosing colors that align with your website's purpose can evoke desired feelings in visitors. For example, a website selling chocolates might use shades of brown to subconsciously trigger associations with chocolate. However, an environmental website would be better suited using green, aligning with pre-existing perceptions of environmentalism.

It is also important to maintain consistency with your color scheme, limiting the number of colors used to avoid a conflicting and cluttered appearance.

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Question Can I use Comcode / resource IDs directly when working with the repository?
Answer Using Comcode / resource IDs directly is not recommended as they may not match between different sites. Use GUIDs instead, which Composr automatically substitutes for IDs before parsing Comcode. You can use Commandr commands like find_guid_via_id to find the GUID for specific resources.

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Question What precautions should I take when using the Composr Repository?
Answer Exercise caution when working with the repository:
  • Avoid using it as the sole backup method; rely on regular database backups.
  • Work primarily under the "var" meta-filesystem and copy specific folders/files rather than the entire repository.
  • Do not use tools like "rsync" or Git on the whole repository without careful consideration.

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Question What are the limitations of the Composr Repository?
Answer While powerful, the repository has limitations:
  • Automatic syndication is not performed for content added via the repository.
  • Multi-language content translations are not retained.
  • Transferring complex data schemas between staging sites may have limitations.
  • Merging separate websites into one is not supported through the repository. You should use Composr's import tool instead.

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Question How can I access the Composr Repository?
Answer You can access the repository using WebDAV (non-bundled addon), which allows you to view it as a folder on your computer. Composr uses the SabreDAV PHP library for WebDAV functionality. However, please be aware that SabreDAV is deprecated and may not function correctly on newer PHP versions.

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Question How is the Composr Repository structured?
Answer The repository is structured as a filesystem with various meta-filesystems mounted under a root directory. These meta-filesystems include:
  • bin: Stores Commandr scripts.
  • database: Provides access to the raw database.
  • etc: Allows access to Composr configuration options.
  • home or filedump: Provides access to the File/Media Library.
    • home contains the files in a special JSON format with metadata
    • filedump contains the raw files
  • members: Lists registered members with their settings and user groups.
  • raw or root: Provides access to the Composr installation directory.
    • raw contains the raw files without overrides, and modifying any file modifies them directly without automatic override handling
    • root contains the files with applicable overrides applied automatically, and Composr will automatically handle overrides and utilizing _custom directories when these files are modified
  • var: Contains structured website resources and content.

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Question What are the benefits of using the Composr Repository?
Answer The repository offers several benefits:
  • Opacity: Provides a clear view of Composr's content and resource data.
  • Tactility: Allows easy manipulation of data through drag-and-drop operations.
  • Data transfer: Simplifies transferring data between sites.
  • Desktop application integration: Enables using text editors and file-search tools for tasks like mass search and replace.
  • Configuration management: Tracks changes to options and facilitates transfer between sites.
  • Backups: Allows backing up portions of the repository.
  • Revision control: Supports built-in and advanced revision control.
  • Filesystem for Commandr: Acts as a file system for the Commandr command line.
  • Resource API: Offers an abstract resource API for programmers.
  • API for external apps: Provides an API for mobile apps and other external applications.

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Top 10 Entries

Question How do I set up the forum base URL correctly?
Answer 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.

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Question How do comment topics work?
Answer 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.

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Question Can I switch forums after installing Composr?
Answer 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.

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Question What is Conversr and why is it recommended?
Answer 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.

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Question What forum drivers does Composr support?
Answer 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.

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Question What are the web server requirements for running Composr?
Answer Composr is compatible with Apache and IIS servers.

For Apache:
  • Enable mod_rewrite for URL Schemes or URL Redirects.
  • Ensure AllowOverride All or at least AllowOverride Options FileInfo Limit is set in the server configuration.
  • Recommended modules for optimal performance include mod_headers, mod_setenvif, mod_env, mod_deflate, and mod_filter.

For IIS:
  • Don't disable default Feature Delegation for settings changed in the bundled web.config file.
  • Install the URL Rewrite module, essential for URL Schemes, URL Redirects, and basic security.
  • Configure IIS for additional mime-types if needed, as it doesn't serve unrecognized file types by default.

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Question 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.

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Question How do I uninstall Composr?
Answer 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.

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Question 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.

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Question Can I install Composr on a Windows desktop?
Answer 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.

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