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Newest 10 Entries
| Question | How do I restore my Composr website from a backup? |
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| Answer | Composr backups come as .tar or .tar.gz files. Extract the archive using an extraction program like 7-zip or your web hosting control panel. To restore a full backup:
To restore incremental backups:
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| Question | What alternative backup strategies are available? |
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| Answer | Many web hosting control panels include built-in backup features that operate at the system level, often offering higher reliability than web-based scripts. Ensure you back up both files and the database. For database backups, you can use tools like phpMyAdmin, which allows you to export your database as a .sql file. |
| Question | How do I create a backup of my Composr website? |
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| Answer | Composr offers a built-in backup addon accessible from Admin Zone > Tools > Backups. You can choose between full, incremental, and database-only backups.
The addon allows scheduled backups or manual backup generation. It is recommended to download backups to a location outside your web server for better security. Note: The Composr backup addon is limited by server-side PHP capabilities and might not always be reliable. Consider using alternative backup strategies offered by your web hosting control panel for increased reliability. |
| Question | Why are backups necessary for my Composr website? |
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| Answer | Disasters like hard disk failures, data corruption, and unexpected errors can happen at any time. A good backup strategy helps you recover your website and its data in case of such events. Backups can also help you roll back to a previous state if needed, such as after a failed upgrade or accidental changes. |
| Question | How can I control the privacy of member profile fields? |
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| Answer | You can control the privacy of member profile fields through the "Member privacy controls" configuration option. If you enable the "Extended privacy option control", you can fine-tune visibility settings for each field. Otherwise, you can set simple access levels (e.g., not at all, to members, to friends, to everyone) for each field. |
| Question | What is the difference between a Composr member and an author? |
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| Answer | A member is someone who has created an account on your Composr website and can log in. They have a unique member ID and username, and can interact with the site's features. An author is someone who creates content for the site. They may or may not be a member. For example, you might have an author who submits articles via email but never actually visits or joins the website. |
| Question | What advanced techniques are available for dealing with persistent spammers who repeatedly create new accounts? |
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| Answer | Composr's advanced banning features target sophisticated human spammers. Automatic bans can be configured to block users based on specific strings in their posts, while reasoned bans display customized messages to banned users, potentially deterring them. These measures, coupled with the ability to investigate users via IP address analysis, offer robust tools for managing persistent threats. You can configure advanced banning under Admin Zone > Security > Configure advanced banning. |
| Question | How does Composr handle user banning and what options are available? |
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| Answer | Composr offers various banning mechanisms. You can ban members by editing their accounts (ban member tick box), preventing logins while still allowing guest access. IP address banning blocks access from specific IP addresses or ranges (Admin Zone > Security > Members > Investigate user to see their IP addresses and flag certain ones for banning). You can also restrict member submissions, or you can effectively "suspend" users by assigning them to a usergroup with minimal privileges (e.g. probation). |
| Question | What is the "Warn Member" form and how can I use it to handle rule violations? |
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| Answer | The "Warn Member" form provides a centralized interface for addressing user misconduct. You can issue formal or off-the-book warnings, apply punitive actions like IP bans, usergroup changes, or probation, and even delete content or charge points. This form allows you to document reasons for actions, improving transparency and consistency in moderation. This tool can be accessed on a member's profile as staff, under Audit > Warn member. You can also review their warnings history on their "Standing" tab. |
| Question | How does Composr track user activity? |
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| Answer | Composr logs IP addresses for various actions like guest posting, page views, and content submissions. This data helps identify potential spammers and track user behavior. The "Investigate user" module provides tools to analyze IP addresses and gather additional information about suspicious activity. |
Top 10 Entries
| Question | How does Composr handle color contrast for accessibility? |
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| Answer | Composr is designed with high graphic standards that aim to avoid poor color contrast in the default theme and Theme Wizard. But it is not perfect, especially for dark mode themes. Webmasters are still responsible for ensuring sufficient contrast in their own content and in custom themes. |
| Question | How do I provide text equivalents for images and multimedia in Composr? |
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| Answer | Composr's web standards checker ensures that alternative text (using the "alt" attribute) is provided for images. It will warn if any images do not contain alt text. For multimedia, webmasters are responsible for providing captions and auditory descriptions either in the multimedia itself, on the description of the media, or uploaded as a caption file. |
| Question | How can I make sure my Composr website is accessible? |
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| Answer | Enable the web standards checker in Composr while editing templates. Also do the same when previewing edited or new Comcode pages. Use the provided accessibility options in the Admin Zone to customize the webmaster experience according to your accessibility needs. Follow the webmaster concerns outlined in the "Helping improve site accessibility for disabled users" tutorial. Regularly test your website using third-party accessibility validation tools such as the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool or the AChecker. |
| Question | What accessibility features are built into Composr? |
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| Answer | Composr has an inbuilt web standards checker that helps ensure compliance with accessibility guidelines. Composr provides automatic sitemap generation functionality, a default sitemap page, and an advanced menu editor to manage navigation. Composr supports ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications), which helps make dynamic content accessible. Composr includes options in the Admin Zone to fine-tune the webmaster experience for specific accessibility requirements. |
| Question | Does Composr comply with accessibility standards? |
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| Answer | - Yes, Composr complies with the highest level of the WCAG (version 1.0 at the time of writing), level 3. - Composr also meets Section 508 guidelines, XHTML and CSS specifications, and the highest level of ATAG. - Composr conforms to these standards throughout, from user-facing screens to administrator interfaces. |
| Name | Patrick Schmalstig |
|---|---|
| Photograph |  |
| Title / Role | Lead Developer |
| Contributions / Notes | 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. |
| Links |
| Name | Jim Davidson |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | contributor |
| Contributions / Notes | written many tutorials via Arvixe |
| Name | Chris Warburton |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | developer for ocProducts |
| Contributions / Notes | Made some key contributions to ocPortal |
| Name | Haydn Maidment |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | project manager for ocProducts |
| Contributions / Notes | None available |
| Name | Steve Jarvis |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | project manager for ocProducts |
| Contributions / Notes | Wrote many tutorials via Arvixe |