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	How do I debug email integration issues?
Answer	Email Tracking: Composr marks emails as read when processing posts. Marking an email unread will trigger re-processing. Log File: Create an empty file named data_custom/mail_integration.log to capture detailed log data for troubleshooting.

Question	How can I control who can post in my forums?
Answer	You can manage posting permissions using Composr's usergroup system. Forum View Access: Determine which usergroups can view each forum. Privilege Overrides: Grant or deny specific privileges (e.g., posting) to usergroups within a forum. Bypass Validation: Allow trusted members to post without moderation (or vice versa, require validation for certain usergroups).

Question	What special features does Composr's Conversr offer compared to other forum software?
Answer	Advanced Polls: Blind polls, forcing or setting of default options, and point-weighting. Private Topics: More sophisticated than traditional private messages. Forum Introduction Questions: A flexible way to control access and encourage engagement (e.g. forum-specific rules or forum passwords). Cascading Topics: Pinned topics that appear in multiple forums. Integrated Moderation: Streamlined moderation tools within the forum interface.

Question	How do topic polls work?
Answer	Topic polls are a powerful tool for gauging opinion within discussions. You can: Control Result Visibility: Choose whether results are visible before voting. Require Topic Reply: Force users to reply to the topic before voting. Show Voter Identities: Optionally display which members voted for each option. Allow Vote Revocation: Let voters change their vote while the poll is open. Set Voting Close Time: Define a specific date or time for the poll to close. Restrict Selections: Limit the number of options voters can choose. Allow Guest Voting: Enable voting for unregistered users. Weight Votes by Points: Give more influential members greater voting power (requires the points addon).

Question	What are the different types of posts in Composr forums?
Answer	Regular Posts: Standard posts made by members within a topic. Quick Replies: Shorter replies made directly from the topic view. Anonymous Posts: Members can choose to post anonymously, appearing as a guest. Staff can track the actual user if needed. Emphasised posts: Posts made by staff (or marked by staff) which are highlighted to draw attention as they are important. Whispers: Private messages embedded within public topics, allowing for side conversations. Private Topic Posts: Private messages sent between specific members (e.g. an on-site "inbox").

Question	Can I integrate email with my forums (mailing list)?
Answer	Yes, you can enable email integration for each forum individually. This allows members to post and receive updates via email. Requirements: PHP IMAP extension installed System scheduler (Cron) running IMAP-compatible mail server Recommended: Mail server enforces SPF and DKIM for email validation Mail server limits email size to prevent abuse System scheduler runs frequently (e.g., every minute) so members get prompt updates

Question	How do I organize my forums effectively?
Answer	Structure: Composr's forums follow a hierarchical structure. You can create forum groupings, forums, and sub-forums (and sub-sub-forums etc) in that order of hierarchy. Strategies: Avoid creating too many forums, which can dilute activity. Start with a few well-defined forums and expand as needed. Permissions: Use Composr's permission system to control access to forums and features. For example, you can create private staff forums.

Question	How can I keep track of activity in busy forums?
Answer	Composr provides several tools to help you stay up-to-date with forum activity: Virtual Forums: Special forums like "Posts since last visit" and "Topics with unread posts" provide filtered views of recent activity. Read Status: Topics with unread posts are displayed in bold with a jump-to-first-unread link. You can manually mark topics or entire forums as read or unread. Notifications: You can enable email notifications for specific topics or forums, either manually or automatically based on your activity.

Question	What security measures should I consider for local payments?
Answer	While Composr supports local payments (Authorize.Net), it requires high PCI compliance. Ensure you adhere to the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) guidelines, including secure coding practices, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, regular security audits, and staff screening.

Question	How can I audit my eCommerce activity in Composr?
Answer	Composr provides tools for monitoring your eCommerce activities: Sales list management: Cancel purchases, view sales history, and manage refunds (Admin Zone > Audit > eCommerce > Sales list management). Charts: Generate profit/loss accounts and cash flow diagrams for specific periods (Admin Zone > Audit > eCommerce, and Admin Zone > Audit > Site statistics). Manual transactions: Record transactions outside of Composr for accurate accounting (Admin Zone > Audit > eCommerce > Manual transaction).

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.

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