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.
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".
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.
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.
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].
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.
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.
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.
How can I ensure my website complies with email marketing laws?
Answer
Email marketing laws like CAN-SPAM protect recipients' rights to unsubscribe. Your website must include a clear 'List-Unsubscribe' header in every email, offer an easy unsubscribe process, and respect unsubscribe requests promptly. Composr provides built-in mechanisms, including an unsubscribe endpoint and support for the List-Unsubscribe header, to facilitate compliance.
What are my responsibilities regarding user privacy?
Answer
You must have a comprehensive privacy policy that details the personal data you collect, its usage, and if it's shared with third parties. Laws like GDPR have strict requirements, including logging data access, data purging, and security measures. California law mandates specific elements in your policy, like handling "Do Not Track" requests and a clear process for communicating changes.
Composr has an automatic Privacy Policy generator block to help you get started. This is used by default.
A well-defined rules page is crucial for setting expectations for user behavior and outlining consequences for violations. It should cover a range of offenses with appropriate punishments, reference relevant laws, and assign legal responsibility to users. Composr provides default rules pages that can be customized, and this page is displayed to users upon joining the site.
What are the key legal considerations for running a website?
Answer
Several legal aspects need careful attention when operating a website, especially for large or corporate sites. These include establishing clear rules and terms of service, adhering to privacy laws like GDPR and California's regulations, managing personal data responsibly, complying with email marketing regulations like CAN-SPAM, ensuring website accessibility, addressing eCommerce regulations, and understanding liability for content and user actions.
How do data-tpl and data-view behaviors work in Composr's JavaScript?
Answer
Composr uses data-tpl and data-view behaviors for associating HTML templates and JavaScript views, respectively. This facilitates clean separation of presentation and logic:
data-tpl: Used with the $cms.behaviors.initializeTemplates function and PARAMS_JSON tempcode directive to bind JavaScript logic to HTML templates.
data-view: Used with the $cms.behaviors.initializeViews function to associate JavaScript view classes (inheriting from $cms.View) with specific HTML elements.
How does Composr implement the Model-View-Controller (MVC) pattern?
Answer
Model/API: The sources directory primarily houses scripts forming the Model/API, handling data logic and business rules.
View: Templates in themes/default/templates represent the View, responsible for presenting data to the user. Comcode pages can also be considered part of the View.
Controller: Entry scripts like index.php and site/dload.php act as front controllers, directing requests. Modules and blocks, residing in */pages/modules and sources/[mini]blocks, respectively, serve as controllers, managing user interactions and determining which View to render.
Can I translate my content into multiple languages?
Answer
Yes, Composr supports multi-language content. You can enable this feature by:
Installing multiple language packs: Make sure you have at least two language packs installed.
Enabling the Conversr multi-language option: Go to Admin Zone > Setup > Configuration > Site options > Internationalisation.
Running a Commandr command: Execute the necessary command to set up the database structure for multi-language content (unless you already enabled Support content translations when installing).
Once enabled, you can translate your content into different languages and allow visitors to choose their preferred language.
My language uses gendered descriptors. How can I handle this in Composr?
Answer
Composr offers solutions for languages with gendered descriptors:
Template editing: You can modify templates to use different language strings based on user gender. This involves adding Tempcode logic to dynamically select the appropriate string.
Custom Profile Fields: Create a Custom Profile Field for "Gender" and use it to conditionally display gendered language strings in templates.
These methods allow for flexible handling of gendered language variations.
Language strings are phrases or pieces of text used throughout Composr. They're identified by unique codenames, like WELCOME_MESSAGE. These strings are stored in .ini language files and used to display text in the user interface.
By translating language strings, you change the text displayed on your website without modifying the underlying code.
