Features: A-Z Index

A

Administration Zone

Administration Zone

B

Banners

Banners

C

Calendar

Calendar

Catalogues

Catalogues

Chatrooms and IM

Chatrooms and IM

Community features

Community features

Content Sharing

Content Sharing

Conversr Forums

Conversr Forums

Conversr Topic Polls

Conversr Topic Polls

D

Design without barriers

Design without barriers

Downloads

Downloads

E

Ease of Use

Ease of Use

eCommerce and Subscriptions

eCommerce and Subscriptions

Extendable

Extendable

F

Featured Content

Featured Content

G

Galleries

Galleries

I

Installation

Installation

Integration

Integration

L

Localisation

Localisation

M

Membership

Membership

N

News and Blogs

News and Blogs

Newsletters

Newsletters

P

Parental Controls

Parental Controls

Performance

Performance

Points

Points

Privacy Tools

Privacy Tools

Q

Quizzes and Surveys

Quizzes and Surveys

R

Rich Media

Rich Media

S

Search Engine Optimisation

Search Engine Optimisation

Searching

Searching

Security

Security

Spam Protection

Spam Protection

Stay on Top

Stay on Top

Structure / Navigation

Structure / Navigation

Support Tickets

Support Tickets

T

Template Programming Language

Template Programming Language

Testing tools

Testing tools

Themeing tools

Themeing tools

Third party integration

Third party integration

W

Warnings / Moderation

Warnings / Moderation

Web Pages

Web Pages

Web standards

Web standards

Website Polls

Website Polls

White-labeling (Debranding)

White-labeling (Debranding)

Wiki+

Wiki+

Newest 10 Entries

Question How Do I Import Images in bulk into a Gallery?
Answer You can import images in bulk using a CSV file. The file should be named descriptions.csv and placed in the uploads/galleries directory. The first column should contain filenames (without the path), and the second column should contain descriptions. The filenames should correspond to images also located in the uploads/galleries directory. Composr will automatically match the descriptions to the images during import.

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Question What Image and Video Formats are Supported?
Answer Images:
  • .jpg/.jpeg: Highly compressed, best for photos due to minimal noticeable quality loss.
  • .png: Good compression with no quality loss, ideal if bandwidth isn't a concern.
  • .gif: Limited to 256 colors and poor compression. Better alternatives are video or APNG.
Note that Composr does not support SVG because hackers can leverage the XML-like structure of SVG files to compromise a website.

Videos:
  • .mp4 (h.264 aac encoding): The recommended format, widely supported.
  • .mov (h.264 aac encoding): Identical to .mp4.
  • .webm: Supported natively in most browsers, but requires plugins for Internet Explorer/Microsoft Edge and Safari.

Other formats, while they may work, are generally discouraged due to compatibility issues and lack of consistent addon or browser support.

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Question What are Composr Galleries?
Answer Composr Galleries are a system for storing, organizing, and displaying images and videos. They function like categories, allowing you to group related media together. Galleries can be structured hierarchically, with sub-galleries nested under parent galleries, similar to a folder system. Each gallery has settings that control its appearance and behavior.

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Question How are forums structured in Composr?
Answer Composr forums are organized hierarchically:
  • Forum Groupings: Broad categories that contain forums.
  • Forums: Contain topics related to a specific subject.
  • Sub-forums: Forums nested under other forums, providing further categorization.
  • Topics: Threads of conversation containing a series of posts.
  • Posts: Individual messages within a topic.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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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).

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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").

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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

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Top 10 Entries

Question Why are my searches slow, and how can I improve search speed?
Answer Slow searches can occur when dealing with large amounts of content. Here are some workarounds and solutions:
  • MySQL timeout setting: For MySQL 5.7+, set a query timeout to prevent searches from locking up your database. Composr automatically sets this, but you can configure it manually if needed.
  • Use InnoDB tables: Switching to InnoDB tables in MySQL can prevent slow queries from affecting other users on your website. Note that InnoDB is not officially supported by Composr yet.
  • Enable the fast custom index: As mentioned earlier, the fast custom index is optimized for handling large datasets and filtered searches, potentially leading to significant speed improvements.

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Question How does the search engine handle different languages?
Answer Composr's fast custom index supports multiple languages. Content is indexed based on its translated version, ensuring that you get relevant results even when searching in a different language.

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Question What are quoted phrases and how do they work?
Answer Quoted phrases allow you to search for an exact sequence of words. For example, searching for "red apple" will only return results containing that exact phrase. Keep in mind that enabling quoted phrases can increase disk space usage.

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Question How do stop words affect search results?
Answer Stop words are common words (like "the", "a", "is") that are ignored by the search engine because they add noise and don't contribute to the meaning of the search query. You can customize the list of stop words for the fast custom index. See the search tutorial for more information.

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Question How can I improve my search results?
Answer Here are some tips for improving search results:
  • Use specific keywords: The more specific your keywords, the better your results.
  • Use boolean operators: Use "+", "-", and quotation marks to refine your search.
  • Optimize content titles and meta keywords: These fields are given priority during search, so make sure they accurately reflect your content.
  • Consider enabling the fast custom index: Especially beneficial for large websites or frequent filtered searches.

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Question What is the fast custom index and why should I use it?
Answer The fast custom index is Composr's own search engine, designed to be faster and more efficient than MySQL full-text search, especially for large websites and filtered searches.

Benefits of the fast custom index:
  • Faster filtered searches: Significantly improves search speed when you add filters like category or author.
  • Configurable stop words: Control which common words are ignored during search.
  • Better stemming: More accurately recognizes variations of words (e.g., "like" and "liking").
  • Multilingual support: Indexes content based on different language translations.

Downsides of the fast custom index:
  • Slight lag in indexing new content: New content takes a short time to be indexed.
  • Less accurate ranking: Ranking is based on the most obscure keyword, not a blend of all keywords.
  • Cannot perform blank searches: You must enter at least one keyword.

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Question Can I filter my search results?
Answer Yes, you can filter your search results by:
  • Content type: Choose to search specific content types like news, forum posts, or Comcode pages.
  • Author/Submitter: Search for content submitted by a specific member.
  • Date: Limit your search to content submitted within a specific time frame.
  • Category (for certain content types): Narrow down your search to specific categories within a content type.

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Question What is the difference between natural and boolean searching?
Answer Natural search is a more relaxed approach where you type in your search terms and Composr tries to find the most relevant results, even if they don't contain all the words. It's like a Google search.

Boolean search requires more precision and uses operators like "+", "-", and quotation marks to define exactly what you're looking for. For example, searching for "+car -maintenance" will only return results that contain the word "car" but not "maintenance".

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Question How do I search my Composr website?
Answer There are a few ways to search your Composr website:
  • Using the search bar in the header: This is the simplest way to search. Just type your search term in the box and click the search button.
  • Using the 'Search' module: This module offers more detailed search options. You can access it via the 'site:search' page-link (usually under About > Search in the default menu).
  • From the Forum: Click the 'Search' button on the forum or use the contextual search box on the forum member bar. This will search within your current forum or topic.

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Question How do I mark correct answers in a quiz?
Answer For questions with predefined answers, you can mark correct answers by adding [*] after the answer. If no answer is marked correct, the question will require manual marking. You can also use the [UNMARKED] tag after a question to exclude it from scoring.

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