Featured Sites: A-Z Index

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Newest 10 Entries

Name Robert Goacher
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Title / Role Founder
Contributions / Notes

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

Name Chris Graham
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Title / Role Founder
Contributions / Notes

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.

Links

gameRevolt (@[email protected]) - LinuxRocks.Online

Website Earth & Sky
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Short Description Earth & Sky is a Composr v11 gallery website showcasing natural photography by Mark Brunner.
Website Saving Wallden
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Short Description This is an informational website for a Visual Pinball X game in development called "Saving Wallden". The site features the planned game rules, development news, and a download of the game as it is so far.
Website PDStig, LLC
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Short Description This is an informational site / portfolio for PDStig, LLC, the company run by one of Composr's lead developers, Patrick Schmalstig.
Website Composr CMS: Content management meets social media
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Short Description This is the main website for Composr CMS version 11. It runs the latest build of v11. Currently it is just a placeholder but will soon replace compo.sr when v11 becomes stable.
Question Should I use the bleeding edge releases or the git repository?
Answer

That depends on several factors. Here are some pros and cons of each:

Bleeding edge releases Git repository (v11 branch)
Easier to set up and use, and does not require knowledge of git Harder to set up and use unless you are familiar with git; must routinely run the file integrity check, database upgrade tool, and check database schema tools in the upgrader after pulling
More stable, but less frequent updates Less stable, but more frequent updates (almost daily!)
Only contains core code and addons unless you manually install non-bundled addons; non-bundled addons must be manually updated Contains all core code and non-bundled addons; non-bundled addons are updated with pulls (though you will need to check file/database integrity often and check blocks/modules for available upgrades)
Ability to test the upgrader / upgrading between new v11 versions Not able to effectively test the upgrader because git pull might load in and update new code early before the release is available
Always contains the latest files.bin and db_meta.bin because these are compiled with every release Does not always contain the latest files.bin and db_meta.bin. Therefore, file and database integrity may report false-positives.
Intended for general user testing Intended for developers / developer testing:
* special run-time checks are enabled for extra debugging (if the .git directory exists in the install)
* contains the automated test suite for running tests

Click here to access the git repository.
Question Can I switch a v11 install from git over to using the releases from composr.app?
Answer

It is not recommended you do this because you may run into issues. For example, some changes were made in crypto_master.php and data/upgrader2.php prior to the first v11 alpha. These changes will result in a broken upgrade unless you already pulled these changes from git. Similar situations could happen in the future as well.

It is recommended you either discard the git install and use a fresh install from the Downloads, or to maintain a git install and a bleeding-edge release install separately. Do not combine the two.

Question Should I update my non-bundled addons after updating to a newer release of version 11?
Answer

Absolutely! Frequent changes may be made to both bundled and non-bundled addons. Bundled addons will be updated via the upgrader. For non-bundled addons, you will have to update them through the addons management screen (Admin Zone > Structure > Addons). You will be informed which ones need updated.

Once version 11 reaches release candidate, we do not expect frequent updates to non-bundled addons anymore. But it is still good practice to check after every update.

Question Can I upgrade a version 10 site to version 11?
Answer

Yes, for basic non-custom v10 sites. However, expect some issues to arise in the process. And please report those issues to the tracker.

For v10 sites with non-bundled addons or customisations, upgrading to v11 will likely break the site until you update the non-bundled addons or temporarily remove the customisations.

We aim to have the upgrader fully functional for a large majority of types of sites and for sites using non-bundled addons by the time version 11 reaches release candidate stage.

We do not recommend upgrading production v10 sites at this time until v11 reaches stable.

Top 10 Entries

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
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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

PDStig, LLC

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

Name Philip Withnall
Title / Role Early Developer
Contributions / Notes

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

Name Allen Ellis
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Title / Role Founder
Contributions / Notes

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