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 |
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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. |
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| Chris Warburton | developer for ocProducts |
Made some key contributions to ocPortal |
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H
| Name | Photograph | Title / Role | Contributions / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haydn Maidment | project manager for ocProducts |
None available |
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J
| Name | Photograph | Title / Role | Contributions / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Davidson | contributor |
written many tutorials via Arvixe |
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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. |
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| 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 |
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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 |
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S
| Name | Photograph | Title / Role | Contributions / Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steve Jarvis | project manager for ocProducts |
Wrote many tutorials via Arvixe |
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Newest 10 Entries
| Question | How does Composr handle color contrast for accessibility? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Composr is designed with high graphic standards that aim to avoid poor color contrast in the default theme and Theme Wizard. But it is not perfect, especially for dark mode themes. Webmasters are still responsible for ensuring sufficient contrast in their own content and in custom themes. |
| Question | How do I provide text equivalents for images and multimedia in Composr? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Composr's web standards checker ensures that alternative text (using the "alt" attribute) is provided for images. It will warn if any images do not contain alt text. For multimedia, webmasters are responsible for providing captions and auditory descriptions either in the multimedia itself, on the description of the media, or uploaded as a caption file. |
| Question | How can I make sure my Composr website is accessible? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Enable the web standards checker in Composr while editing templates. Also do the same when previewing edited or new Comcode pages. Use the provided accessibility options in the Admin Zone to customize the webmaster experience according to your accessibility needs. Follow the webmaster concerns outlined in the "Helping improve site accessibility for disabled users" tutorial. Regularly test your website using third-party accessibility validation tools such as the WAVE Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool or the AChecker. |
| Question | What accessibility features are built into Composr? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Composr has an inbuilt web standards checker that helps ensure compliance with accessibility guidelines. Composr provides automatic sitemap generation functionality, a default sitemap page, and an advanced menu editor to manage navigation. Composr supports ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications), which helps make dynamic content accessible. Composr includes options in the Admin Zone to fine-tune the webmaster experience for specific accessibility requirements. |
| Question | Does Composr comply with accessibility standards? |
|---|---|
| Answer | - Yes, Composr complies with the highest level of the WCAG (version 1.0 at the time of writing), level 3. - Composr also meets Section 508 guidelines, XHTML and CSS specifications, and the highest level of ATAG. - Composr conforms to these standards throughout, from user-facing screens to administrator interfaces. |
| Name | Patrick Schmalstig |
|---|---|
| Photograph | |
| 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. |
| Links |
| Name | Jim Davidson |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | contributor |
| Contributions / Notes | written many tutorials via Arvixe |
| Name | Chris Warburton |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | developer for ocProducts |
| Contributions / Notes | Made some key contributions to ocPortal |
| Name | Haydn Maidment |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | project manager for ocProducts |
| Contributions / Notes | None available |
| Name | Steve Jarvis |
|---|---|
| Title / Role | project manager for ocProducts |
| Contributions / Notes | Wrote many tutorials via Arvixe |
Top 10 Entries
| Question | What are gift points, and how do they work? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Gift points are a separate points balance that can only be sent to other members as gifts. They cannot be spent directly or used in escrow transactions. Gift points are earned daily based on usergroup membership and replenish independently of the regular points balance. When a member sends gift points, they become regular points for the recipient. |
| Question | Can members send points to each other? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Yes, members can send points to each other as a token of appreciation, reward for a service, or as part of an agreement using the Points Escrow system. |
| Question | How does content validation affect point earning? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Points are typically awarded immediately upon content submission to encourage participation. However, forum posts requiring validation only earn points after approval to deter spam. To further encourage high-quality content, consider using the "awards" addon to reward exceptional contributions. |
| Question | Can I reward members who use specific browsers or operating systems? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Yes, Composr allows you to configure bonus points based on browser/platform criteria. You can set bonus points for members using Open Source browsers, specific operating systems, or even those who have enabled privacy features like "Do Not Track" (DNT) or "Global Privacy Control" (GPC). |
| Question | What's the difference between points balance and rank points? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Points balance refers to the number of points a member currently has available to spend. This is the 'liquid' currency they can use for various actions. Rank points represent the total points a member has accumulated throughout their time on the website. These points determine the member's rank, which can grant access to additional privileges and act as a status symbol. |
| Question | How can members earn points on my Composr website? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Members can earn points in various ways, including:
Most earning methods can be customized in the Admin Zone > Setup > Configuration > Points options to fit your website's needs. |
| Question | What are cleanup tools in Composr and how do I use them? |
|---|---|
| Answer | Cleanup tools assist with website maintenance by deleting unnecessary data and optimizing database tables. They are divided into "De-cachers" and "Optimizers". You can access them through: Admin Zone > Tools > Cleanup tools. |
| Question | How can I access PHP-Info in Composr? |
|---|---|
| Answer | PHP-Info provides a comprehensive overview of your PHP configuration. You can access it within Composr by navigating to Admin Zone > Tools > PHP-Info / Server Checks. This page also provides additional useful server information. |
| Question | What is the purpose of the Health Check feature in Composr? |
|---|---|
| Answer | The Health Check feature in Composr proactively identifies potential issues that may affect your website's performance, security, and overall health. It performs various checks and alerts you to problems like:
The Health Check can be run manually or scheduled to run automatically and send e-mail notifications of results. |
| Question | How can I use Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) to enhance my website? |
|---|---|
| Answer | CDNs improve website performance by serving content from geographically distributed servers, reducing latency and server load. You can leverage CDNs for your Composr website by:
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