Featured Sites: A-Z Index

H


Newest 10 Entries

Question What is post history and why is it important?
Answer Post history tracks changes made to forum posts, including edits and deletions. This feature helps monitor for inappropriate edits or attempts to cover up spam or rule violations. Staff can review the history, restore deleted content, or even permanently erase it.
Question Can I moderate content in Composr forums?
Answer Yes, Composr provides various moderation tools for managing forum content. Moderators can edit or delete posts and topics, move topics between forums, close or open discussions, and validate content submitted by users who require approval. These are done in an actions dropdown on a topic, or through buttons on individual posts.
Question What is the "black hole" technique and how does it work?
Answer The "black hole" technique involves adding hidden fields to forms. While invisible to human users, bots often detect and fill these fields, revealing their nature. Composr uses this information to flag and block suspected spam submissions.
Question How can I report spam in Composr?
Answer You can report spam using the "report this" link or "report" (forum post button) feature. This alerts staff to the issue, allowing them to investigate and take appropriate action, such as deleting the spam, warning the user, or banning them. It also creates a Support Ticket between the reporter and staff in case the staff need further information.
Question What are Remote Block Lists (RBLs)?
Answer RBLs are third-party lists that track IP addresses associated with spamming activity. Composr can be configured to consult these lists and block or flag requests from suspicious IPs. However, relying solely on RBLs may lead to false positives, as some lists are overly broad.
Question What are CAPTCHAs and how do they work?
Answer CAPTCHAs are tests designed to differentiate between human users and bots. Composr's unique CAPTCHA method uses CSS and JavaScript to generate images or audio challenges that are difficult for bots to solve. While effective, some spammers use human workers to bypass CAPTCHAs, leading to the need for additional anti-spam measures.
Question How does Composr prevent spam?
Answer Composr offers several tools and techniques to combat spam, including:
  • CAPTCHA: A visual or audio test that humans can easily pass but bots struggle with. This helps prevent automated spam submissions.
  • Heuristics: If Composr thinks an action is spam based off of configurable criteria, it can either flag the content for validation, block the attempt, or ban the IP address outright.
  • Public block lists: Composr can utilize the Stop Forum Spam system or other block list systems to identify and block known spammers based on IP addresses, usernames, and email addresses.
  • Link posting restrictions: Disallowing links in member profiles for users with no posts and adding "nofollow" attributes to links discourages spammers seeking backlinks.
  • Black hole fields: Hidden form fields that should remain empty. Bots often fill these in, allowing Composr to identify them.
  • Project Honey Pot integration: A system that places hidden links on pages, attracting and identifying spam bots.
  • Content/post reporting: Users can report spam, enabling staff to take action.
  • Guest posting limitations: Restricting guest permissions raises the bar for spammers.
  • Advanced techniques: Developer addons like "antispam_question" or probation systems provide additional layers of protection.
Question What is the "Sitemap" in Composr, and how is it used?
Answer The Sitemap is a hierarchical representation of your website's content, including zones, pages, categories, and entries. Composr generates the Sitemap dynamically and uses it for various purposes:
  • Generating menus.
  • Creating the user-facing sitemap page.
  • Generating the XML Sitemap for search engines.
  • Providing a visual representation of your website structure in the Sitemap editor and Permissions tree editor.

You can edit the sitemap under Admin Zone > Structure > Sitemap editor.
Question Can I change the URL scheme after my website is already live?
Answer Yes, you can enable or change a URL scheme on an existing website. Old URLs will redirect to the new format, ensuring that your SEO isn't negatively impacted. The canonical URL will also be specified in your website's HTML, further protecting your search rankings.
Question How do URL schemes work, and what are the benefits of using them?
Answer URL schemes allow you to control the structure of your website's URLs. Composr offers several schemes that create shorter, more user-friendly URLs:
  • /pg/ (e.g., /pg/home)
  • .htm (e.g., /home.htm)
  • Simple unadorned URLs (e.g., /home)

Benefits of using URL schemes include:
  • Improved user experience with more readable URLs.
  • Potential SEO benefits, as some believe search engines favor cleaner URLs.
  • Easier sharing on social media and other platforms.

Top 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.