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 manage refunds in Composr?
Answer	Monetary payments: Issue refunds through your payment gateway. Point payments: Manually refund points through the points system. Cancellations: Cancel purchases in the Admin Zone to allow repurchasing. Remember to manually undo any associated actions (e.g., removing name highlighting).

Question	What are the shipping options in Composr?
Answer	You can handle shipping costs in three ways: Flat rate per order: Configure a fixed shipping cost for all orders. Weight-based calculation: Define shipping costs based on the order's total weight. Shippo integration: Get real-time shipping quotes from various carriers based on weight, dimensions, and destination.

Question	How do I handle taxes in Composr?
Answer	Composr offers flexible tax handling: TaxJar integration: Supports international taxation for many countries. TaxCloud integration: Supports complex USA taxation, including destination-based rules. EU digital goods tax: Handles EU-specific regulations for digital products. Custom tax rates: Define your own percentage-based tax rates. Tax hooks: Developers can extend tax functionality and implement additional tax providers.

Question	What are the different types of products in Composr?
Answer	Composr offers various "products," which are broader than typical eCommerce products. They include: Usergroup subscriptions: Offer access to specific usergroups with recurring payments. Catalogue items: Physical or digital goods sold through the shopping cart and a special "products" catalogue. Orders: Collections of products purchased together. E-mail addresses: Sell personalized email addresses on your domain. Topic pinning: Allow users to pay to pin forum topics. Name highlighting: Offer highlighted usernames on the forum. Banners: Sell banner advertising space. Custom products: Define and sell any product or service you wish. Permission products: Sell access to specific permissions, such as download categories. Gambling: Allow users to wager points. Work: Represent invoiced services. Non-purchasable products: For accounting purposes (interest, tax, wages, other).

Question	How do I set up PayPal in Composr?
Answer	Sign up for a PayPal Business Account. Enable "Auto Return" in PayPal and set the return URL to `http://yourbaseurl/index.php?page=purchase` Enable "Payment data transfer" in PayPal and copy the data transfer identifier for Composr. In Composr, go to Admin Zone > Setup > Configuration > eCommerce options > Payment gateway (PayPal-specific). Paste the data transfer identifier and save.

Question	What payment gateways does Composr support?
Answer	Composr supports PayPal, CCBill, and Authorize.Net for processing payments. While Composr could be extended to support other gateways, doing so may require professional development and customization.

Question	What are the limitations for uploading large files?
Answer	32-bit PHP build: Files larger than 2GB are not supported. 64-bit PHP build: Files larger than 2GB are supported, but the file size will not be displayed. For very large files, it's recommended to upload them manually and provide the URL instead of directly uploading them through the web form.

Question	Can users search for specific downloads?
Answer	Yes, the unified Composr search system allows users to find downloads based on keywords. This includes searching within download titles and descriptions, as well as within the content of certain file types like PDFs, text files, and even some binary formats (providing they are not too large in size).

Question	Can I add images to my downloads?
Answer	Yes, Composr automatically creates a gallery for each download (if the galleries addon is enabled). You can easily add images directly after creating the download or through the download-view screen. The download gallery is displayed within the download-view screen itself.

Question	Are there security features to protect downloaded files?
Answer	Yes, Composr includes security measures to protect downloads. Protection from hackers: Uploaded files are stored with obscured filenames, preventing direct access and bypassing of the download system. Additionally, an anti-leech feature (when enabled) prevents direct download links from being shared on other websites (this is done by requiring a session ID which is validated against the person / device accessing it and only provided when Composr presents the download links to you on the site). Basic security: Composr will not let anyone upload dangerous scripts (such as PHP files) which can be executed. Rootkit detection: The rootkit detection tool under `yourbaseurl/rootkit_detection.php` can help scan files for shell scripts and backdoors. Composr's Health Check can also do this regularly. Note this only offers very basic detection and will not work for obfuscated backdoors (you should use antivirus to scan for those). It is the responsibility of webmasters to run antivirus on their site to regularly scan files uploaded to it. Composr does not include antivirus software or virus scanning.

Top 10 Entries

Question	How can I contribute to translating Composr?
Answer	You can contribute to Composr's internationalization by: Joining the translation team on Transifex: Translate language strings collaboratively with other volunteers. Becoming a language maintainer: Take responsibility for the translation and support of Composr in your native language. Reporting translation issues: If you encounter unclear, incorrect, or duplicated language strings, file bug reports. Providing feedback and suggestions: Share your thoughts on improving the translation process through feature suggestions. Your contributions are valuable and help make Composr accessible to a wider audience.

Question	What is Transifex, and how does it help with translation?
Answer	Transifex is a collaborative online platform used by the Composr community for translation. Its benefits include: Centralized translation efforts: Multiple translators can work on the same project. Improved translation quality: The platform facilitates consistency and accuracy. Simplified language pack creation: You can generate downloadable language pack addons directly from Transifex. We encourage using Transifex for translation to foster collaboration and maintain high-quality translations.

Question	Can I translate images with text on them?
Answer	Yes, you can translate images containing text. In the themes/default/images/ directory, you'll find an EN folder containing images with English text. Copy the EN folder: Create a new folder with the ISO code of your target language (e.g., FR for French). Replace the images: Replace the English images with translated versions. Ensure correct image paths: Update any references to these images in your templates or content to point to the translated versions.

Question	How do I translate the content on my Composr website?
Answer	Once you've installed a new language pack, you can translate existing content by: Editing the content directly: Go to the specific content item (page, news post, etc.) and edit it in the new language. Using the language editor: Access the language editor from Admin Zone > Style > Translate/rephrase Composr to modify language strings used on specific pages. Note that some elements like forum names are not designed to be translated directly. Instead, you should create separate forums for each language.

Question	How do I change the language of my Composr website?
Answer	Composr comes with English as the default language. To change to a different language: Download the language pack: You can download language packs from the Composr website. Install the language pack: Upload the downloaded language pack addon through Admin Zone > Structure > Addons > Import non-bundled addon(s). Change the default language: Go to `http://yourbaseurl/config_editor.php` and set the desired language. Update your profile: If you had a previous language set in your profile, update it to the new language. You can test a language without changing settings by appending &keep_lang=XX to the URL, where XX is the language code (e.g., FR for French).

Question	What should I do after successfully importing data into Composr?
Answer	After importing, if all files like avatars, photos, and attachments have been copied to Composr's directories, you can remove the imported product's directory. However, it's advisable to keep the directory, database, and import session for a few weeks in case any data was not correctly imported and needs further attention. Importing is a complex process, so keeping backups and sources for a while is a good practice.

Question	Where can I get help with the import process?
Answer	The Composr documentation provides extensive information. Additionally, you can seek assistance from experienced Composr developers, including the Composr team if your project allows for professional support.

Question	Can I switch from a third-party forum to Conversr (Composr's built-in forum)?
Answer	Yes, if an importer exists for your current forum software, you can switch to Conversr during the import process. Composr will handle the forum driver switch and remap user IDs, but it's recommended to double-check permissions afterward.

Question	How does the HTML website importer work?
Answer	The HTML website importer is an advanced tool for migrating static HTML websites to Composr. It analyzes the HTML structure to create zones, Comcode pages, and a basic template. It also attempts to fix links and file paths for Composr compatibility.

Question	What is a Composr import session?
Answer	Import sessions track the progress and ID remapping for each import, allowing you to merge multiple sites or resume interrupted imports. This is particularly useful when merging multiple Composr sites into one.

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