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 Can I use the calendar as a personal diary and keep my entries private?
Answer Yes. When adding an event to the calendar, you can choose to make it public or private. Private events are generally used when someone wants to use the calendar system as a diary.
Question How can I set up reminders for events?
Answer When adding or editing an event, you can enable reminders for yourself and specific user groups. You can also choose how much notice you want for each reminder.

Members can subscribe for reminders on an individual event screen. They can also personalize their reminder settings, including removing reminders or having multiple reminders at different times.

Members can also subscribe for notifications to specific event types to be notified whenever events under those types are scheduled.
Question How can I schedule Commandr commands to run automatically?
Answer To schedule commands, create an event with the "System command" event type. This option needs to be enabled in the configuration first. In the event details, you can specify either a URL for Composr to call or a snippet of Commandr code to execute. Be sure to disable the WYSIWYG editor for this type of event. You'll also need to have the system scheduler configured for the commands to run automatically.
Question Can I add external feeds to the calendar?
Answer Yes, you can add RSS or Atom feeds to your calendar. This lets you view time-based information from external sources alongside your calendar events.
Question What do I do if a recurring event needs to be changed or skipped?
Answer Composr has a "fixing an event" feature to handle changes to recurring events. This is useful if an event needs to be cancelled or rescheduled. You edit the event as if it were a new, standalone event and choose the "Edit with fixing past recurrences" option. This separates the past occurrences from the modified event, ensuring future recurrences reflect the changes.
Question What is the "recurrence pattern" and how does it work?
Answer The recurrence pattern is a powerful tool that defines how often an event repeats. While it might seem complex at first, it provides a lot of flexibility. Think of it as a binary code where each digit represents a time period (like a day or week). A "1" indicates the event occurs, and a "0" means it doesn't. This lets you create complex schedules like "every weekday" (daily with pattern 1111100 if it starts on a Monday) or "every other Tuesday" (weekly on Tuesday with the pattern 10).
Question What are the different views available in the calendar?
Answer The calendar has five views:
  • Year view: Displays an overview of the entire year.
  • Month view: Shows events within a specific month.
  • Week view: Displays events for a selected week.
  • Day view: Shows events scheduled for a specific day.
  • Event view: Displays the details of a single event.

You can easily navigate between these views to get different levels of detail and focus on specific periods or events.
Question How do I add events to the calendar?
Answer You can add events in several ways:
  • Through the Admin Zone or Content Management Zone: Go to Admin Zone > Content > Calendar.
  • Directly on the calendar: Click on a date box on the calendar view.
  • Using the "Add Event" button on any calendar view.

Deleting events can be done at the bottom of the event's edit form. You have options for recurring events, such as editing/deleting the specific occurrence, editing/deleting future ones, or all of them.
Question How do I categorize events?
Answer You categorize events using "Event types". Composr provides default types like "Anniversary", "Appointment", "Birthday", "General", "Public Holiday", "Task", "Vacation", and the special "System command" for executing Commandr commands. You can also add your own custom event types to suit your specific needs, such as "Appraisal Session" for a business website.
Question What is an "event" in the Composr calendar system?
Answer An event is any entry in the calendar. Importantly, an event isn't limited to a single point or range in time. Events can recur based on a schedule you define. This makes them very flexible – they can represent anything from one-time appointments to recurring birthdays or even weekly team practices.

Top 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.