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 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.

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.

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.

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".

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.

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.

Question	What is the input syntax for quiz questions?
Answer	Quiz questions are inputted in blocks, separated by blank lines. The first line is the question, followed by potential answers on subsequent lines. Different question types are indicated by tags after the question, such as [MULTIPLECHOICE], [MULTIMULTIPLE], [LONG], [SHORT], and [SHORT_STRICT].

Question	Can I create complex, multi-screen quiz interfaces in Composr?
Answer	While Composr's built-in quiz system is excellent for standard formats, creating intricate multi-screen quizzes might require custom development using Composr's decision tree framework or other programming tools. This allows for highly customized quiz structures and advanced branching logic.

Question	How can I analyze quiz results effectively?
Answer	Composr enables you to export quiz results to a spreadsheet file, facilitating in-depth data analysis. This is especially useful for manually marked questions, identifying competition winners, and processing data for marketing or research purposes.

Question	What are Quiz Sets and how can I use them?
Answer	Quiz Sets are a helpful organizational feature in Composr. By prefixing quiz names with "Example: ", you can group related quizzes together. This allows for combined scoring and percentage calculations, particularly beneficial for multi-part questionnaires or tests.

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: Joining the website: A welcome bonus for new members. Daily visits: Encourage regular engagement. Content interactions: Liking, rating, and submitting various forms of content. Forum participation: Posting and having posts validated. Chatroom activity: Reward active participation in chatrooms. Quizzes and polls: Encourage learning and engagement. Website recommendations: Reward referrals. Receiving points from other members: Facilitate community appreciation. Selling downloads: Monetize content creation. Birthdays: Offer a special bonus on their birthdays. 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: Broken links and forms Security vulnerabilities Outdated software versions Server performance issues Email configuration problems 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: Configuring the CDN option in Composr with a comma-separated list of CDN domain names. Ensuring your files are mirrored on the CDN servers. Utilizing the CDN_FILTER directive and symbol to control what content is served via CDN.

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