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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
| Title | Installation |
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| Description | Quick installer: Our self-extractor allows faster uploads and will automatically set permissions. Wizard-based installation Auto-scans for compatibility problems: Be informed of problems before installing Get your site up and running in just a few minutes Keep your site closed to regular visitors until you're happy to open it Configures server: Automatically generates an htaccess file for you (for Apache). Auto-detection of forum settings for easy integration Install test content |
| Title | Web Pages |
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| Description | Add virtually unlimited pages to your site WYSIWYG editor (powered by CKEditor) Convenient edit links: Staff see “edit this” links at the bottom of every page. PHP support: Upload your PHP scripts and run them inside Composr (may require adjustments to the script code). Hierarchical page structure: Supports parent and child pages Periodic content reviews: Helping you ensure ongoing accuracy of your content. Add Comcode pages (the default) or static HTML pages Supports revisions and revision control systems (such as git); add new pages as files, and Composr will automatically register them in its system. |
| Title | Downloads |
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| Description | Clear organisation: Uses a tree structure for unlimited categorisation. Anti-leech protection: download links contain a session ID Community-centred: Allow users to comment upon and rate downloads Many ways to add new files: Upload files. Link-to existing files. Copy existing files using a live URL. Batch import links from existing file stores. Author support: Assign your downloads to authors, so users can find other downloads by the same author. Set licences: Make users agree to a licence before downloading. Images: Show images along with your downloads (e.g. screen-shots) (this implicitly uses galleries). Basic file versioning support Control monthly bandwidth use site-wide |
| Title | Wiki+ |
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| Description | Think “structured wikis”. Create an encyclopaedic database for your website Use a tree-structure or traditional cross-linking Supports revisions: Track changes Display the tree structure of your entire Wiki+ Allow users to jump in at random pages Make your pages either wiki-style or topic-style Allow members to contribute to Wiki+ pages by adding Wiki+ posts |
| Title | Quizzes and Surveys |
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| Description | Run a competition: Choose winners randomly from those who passed the quiz. Surveys: Gather data and find trends. Tests: Test members' knowledge on a variety of topics. Cheat prevention: Settings to prevent cheating, such as time limits, question / answer shuffling, and re-testing rules. Integration with points: Charge points to enter a competition, or award points for winning. |
| Title | News and Blogs |
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| Description | Member blogs: Allow members to have their own blogs on their profile RSS and Atom support: Export and import feeds. Trackback support: Send and receive trackbacks. Scheduled publishing Ping support and RSS Cloud support Multiple news categories and filtering Multiple ways to integrate news into your website Import from RSS feeds Supports geotargeting Members can rate and comment on news articles and blog posts Send out a news article as a newsletter |
| Title | Calendar |
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| Description | Day/week/month/year views Advanced “recurring event” settings Event subscriptions: Receive reminders and notifications by event or event type Warnings about conflicting events Microformats support Integrate a calendar month view, or an upcoming events view, onto your design Supports categories: Have multiple event types Multiple time zones: Have different events in different time zones with configurable conversion settings. Priority flagging: Choose between 5 priorities Programmers can even use the calendar to schedule custom tasks (Commandr) to be run RSS and Atom support: Export support, but also support for overlaying news feeds onto the calendar. Supports geotargeting Feedback: Allow members to comment and rate events. Segregate feedback on recurring events by date. |
| Title | Galleries |
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| Description | Multimedia: Supports images, videos, audio, and more. Personal galleries: Allow your members to create their own galleries which show up on their profile. Support for embedding YouTube videos: Save on bandwidth. Auto-detection of video length and resolution (most file formats) Full tree-structure support: Have galleries within galleries within galleries. Multiple display modes View entries as a slideshow Automatic thumbnail generation Mass import: Also supports importing metadata Optional watermarking: To guard against thieving swines
Geotargeting Adjustments: Automatic size and orientation adjustments according to metadata. |
.| Title | Catalogues |
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| Description | Think “databases on my website”. Flexible data control: Set up multiple catalogues, each with its own set of fields. There are many types of fields, such as short text fields, upload fields, and date fields. Multiple display modes: Display the contents of categories using tables, boxes, or lists. Powerful structure: Each catalogue contains categories which contain entries. Catalogues can have a tree structure of categories and/or work from an index. Configurable searching: Choose which fields are shown on categories, and which can be used to perform searches (template searches). Compliance with data protection legislation: Specify which fields may contain sensitive data. These fields will be anonymised as appropriate when members download or purge their data. Entirely customisable: Full support for customising catalogues, categories, and entries, exactly as you want them- field by field. You can even make custom page templates per-catalogue. Classified ads: Entries can automatically expire and get archived. You can also send out view reports. Community interaction: You can allow users to comment upon and rate entries. Import data from CSV files Periodic content reviews: Helping you ensure ongoing accuracy of your data. |
| Name | Patrick Schmalstig |
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| 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. |
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