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	What are the different media types supported for banners?
Answer	The Composr banner system supports various media types: Images: Uploaded directly or via an image URL. Text: Textual banners, including support for "hot text" that dynamically displays banners based on keyword matches within the content. Frames: Banners embedded within frames using an iframe URL. Direct Code: Raw HTML or PHP code can be used to integrate banners from third-party banner networks or create custom banner implementations.

Question	What is a banner wave, and how is it different from a banner rotation?
Answer	A banner wave displays all banners within a specific type as a single advertising block, similar to a list of sponsors. In contrast, a banner rotation randomly displays banners from a set based on factors like display likelihood. You can add a banner wave using the main_banner_wave block and configure it to show a specific number of banners or all banners within a type.

Question	What is a banner network, and how can I create one?
Answer	A banner network is a system for exchanging banners between websites. You can create a banner network in Composr by associating banners with specific websites. When a site joins your banner network, you provide them with an iframe code to display banners from your rotation. Composr uses a "hit balancing" system where sites in the network receive banner impressions based on the clicks they generate for other sites in the network.

Question	Can I restrict who can see specific banners?
Answer	Yes, by enabling the "Permissions" configuration option in the Admin Zone (Admin Zone > Setup > Configuration > Feature options > Banners), you can control which usergroups can see individual banners. This feature allows for banner targeting and prevents inappropriate banners from being shown to specific audiences, such as adult banners to minors.

Question	What are the different types of banner deployment agreements?
Answer	There are three types of banner deployment agreements: Permanent: These banners are always displayed as long as there is available space. Campaign: These banners have a limited number of impressions or clicks before they stop displaying. They can be associated with specific campaigns and can have their hits increased if needed. Default: These banners are displayed only when there are no permanent or campaign banners available to show. The system displays permanent and campaign banners with a 50:50 split.

Question	What should I do if URL Schemes are not working properly?
Answer	If URL Schemes, which rely on web server rewrites, are not functioning correctly, you can disable them using the `http://yourbaseurl/config_editor.php` script. Enable the option "Whether to block the URL Scheme (mod_rewrite)" to override the main configuration setting.

Question	What should I do if an addon causes problems on my Composr website?
Answer	Composr's Safe Mode can help isolate addon-related problems. Enable Safe Mode: Use the safe mode link or the config editor (http://yourbaseurl/config_editor.php) to enable Safe Mode. Uninstall the problematic addon: Once in Safe Mode, navigate to the addon management section and uninstall the addon causing the issue. Disable Safe Mode: After resolving the problem, disable Safe Mode through the config editor.

Question	How can I manually edit my Composr database?
Answer	phpMyAdmin is a widely used web-based tool for managing MySQL databases. It allows you to: Browse tables: View and edit individual rows within database tables. Run SQL queries: Execute SQL commands directly for specific tasks. Repair corrupted tables: Access table repair functions. Refer to the "Manually editing your database with phpMyAdmin" tutorial for more detailed instructions.

Question	How can I reset a forgotten account password in Composr?
Answer	If you have access to phpMyAdmin: Access the f_members table. Find the row corresponding to the user whose password needs to be reset. Edit the row, setting m_pass_hash_salted to the new password using MD5 encryption, clearing m_pass_salt, and setting m_password_compat_scheme to 'md5'. If you have FTP access: Obtain your IP address. Edit your _config.php file, setting $SITE_INFO['backdoor_ip'] to your IP address. This enables a temporary backdoor login for your IP address, bypassing security restrictions. Remove the backdoor entry after logging in and resetting the password through standard means. Caution: Using the backdoor method is a security risk and should be done with extreme caution.

Question	My Composr installation seems corrupted. How can I repair it?
Answer	Composr offers several tools and methods for repairing corrupted installations: Integrity checker: The upgrader tool, accessible via `http://yourbaseurl/upgrader.php`, includes an integrity checker that identifies outdated or corrupted files. MySQL table repair: The Admin Zone > Tools > Cleanup tools provides access to MySQL table repair functionalities. Alternatively, use phpMyAdmin or your web host's database management tools for more direct control. Safe Mode: Access safe mode via the bookmarked link from the setup wizard or by adding &keep_safe_mode=1 to any website URL. This disables custom themes and caching, helping isolate problems caused by themes or custom code.

Top 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.

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