I asked Google for examples of Composr CMS websites and the attachments below show the disappointing results. Is it really that difficult to find, current and updated examples of what Composr users are creating with Composr?

Unfortunately, yes, for a couple of reasons:

• The use of Composr CMS is on the decline; this has been going on ever since Chris left the scene, and I have not been able to keep up with the bugs that need to be fixed due to my own financial situation.
• The name "Composr CMS" is not unique; it matches other software and companies because of the word "Composer". I have a tracker issue where I want to rename the software again in the future to something that can be marketed:

#6144 - Re-brand Composr CMS and several of its sub-systems

Re-brand Composr CMS and several of its sub-systems

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You can view v11 sites that opted in to being featured here, but there are only a few:

Community Site Showcase

Community Site Showcase. These are some of the sites who have elected to be featured on composr.app . If you would like your site to be featured, select the ap…

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There are no v10 lists except the community-maintained one here (but no one can submit new v10 sites anymore because compo.sr is read-only due to the UK's Online Safety Act):

Community Site Showcase

Open Source CMS with advanced social, interactive and dynamic features. Fully flexible, themeable and extendible: suitable for building powerful websites.

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I have just been using composr for my current website and floating along. I haven't spent so much time on the forum in recent years as I used to and wasn't aware that Chris had left. Are you in charge now?

Hello,

My wording was probably bad. Chris didn't leave necessarily, but he is not developing for Composr anymore at this time due to having a family and a very demanding job.

Currently, I am the only active developer for Composr. However, I am also struggling to maintain the software because my financial situation is critical. I recently put a lot of development on hold because I need to do something to pay my bills; Composr doesn't pay my bills, especially since Chris does not fund me anymore for development.

Well this catches me at a time when I was (in my head) preparing to see whether version 11 would provide more expansion/refinement of Composr CMS. I had purposely built my current website (a few years back) to conform, without much customization of templates or even CSS, to the current (at that time) "stock" program in order to avoid having to 'start over' should v.11 be too dramatically different than v.10.

So now I feel a crossroad is approaching me. For any new digital creations using the Composr CMS platform I ask, "Do I invest my time and energy using Composr (I became an OC Portal user in 2009) to further expand my website(s) or should I move on to try to find some other CMS?" I am 73 now, and coping with change or learning new techniques is not as easy as it used to be, so I am be cautious.

My main website is probably no big problem at present, it can coast on a legacy version of Composr til something catastrophic happens and I have to start over again anyway… or on the brighter side, (my hopes would be to) stay with Composr while it finds a way to move through the current challenges it faces. I guess I asking for insider information… Is Composr coming to an end with no white horse reinforcements on the way to rescue it? …I guess then, otherwise is there hope for a future here?

I'm guessing, no one wants to answer that question, as much as we (is there anybody here? (echo, echo, echo)) would like to get the answer. I'm sure the pressure on you (as sole survivor, or last man out? …or even no way out?) is tremendous!

I'm sorry for you and how things have become loaded on you, but I'm also glad to hear a voice helping me understand what is happening so I can begin to plan out what it means to me and what I should be doing.

I had purposely built my current website (a few years back) to conform, without much customization of templates or even CSS, to the current (at that time) "stock" program in order to avoid having to 'start over' should v.11 be too dramatically different than v.10.

Wise. Granted, v11 is not as different from v10 as v10 was from v9. v9 -> v10 required a special upgrader to work. But v10 -> v11 can be upgraded by standard methods (I wouldn't recommend doing it right now, though). The big issue is themes. You won't be able to upgrade v10 themes to v11 and will need to re-create them from the new default theme in v11. This is largely because v11 uses a new JavaScript framework.

I guess I asking for insider information… Is Composr coming to an end with no white horse reinforcements on the way to rescue it? …I guess then, otherwise is there hope for a future here?

I wish I had an answer, but I don't. This largely depends on whether anyone can fund me to continue maintaining Composr, or if more developers can join the project. Unfortunately, the chance of either happening is pretty slim. Therefore, Composr will probably stay in a stalled state until and unless I can get a job decent enough to afford me time to work on it again (this isn't looking promising either; I've been on the job hunt for 5 months, and 400+ applications, with no offers).

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What would I suggest? Start planning for the possibility of using another CMS. I'd say that you don't have to migrate over to another CMS right away, but be ready for the chance that you will need to should Composr come to an end. One person switched to Drupal, and another to WordPress.

As much as I really want to keep this project alive, and for people to keep using it, I must be realistic and say that Composr's future, right now, isn't looking promising. It's not dead, but v11 probably won't ever get finished (e.g., reach stability) unless I receive help on it.

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EDIT: Should you have the financial capability, if you were to hire me to maintain your websites (I could even perform a careful, manual upgrade to v11 for you, like I've been planning for another client, if you wanted), then that funding could help immensely and put me back on track for working on Composr again.

I'm hoping to eventually get beta9 out. When it comes out largely depends on how quickly I can sort out my critical financial situation. But for the time being, that's as far as I can go development-wise. After beta9, there won't be any more versions without funding or additional help (unless by some miracle I get hired somewhere).

My website is running v10 @ https://mediafeeder.net/ and it's pretty much still vanilla looks-wise, but lots of changes and tweaks behind the scenes. It's far from perfect due to the number of issues that still reside within v10, but what is working is working well.

I have some upcoming part-time employment. Hopefully, that will get me off my feet and afford me at least a little time each week to continue working on Composr CMS. Hope isn't lost. But I won't be able to maintain everything Composr has on my own. I may have to start cutting out some unused features from the software to reduce the maintenance burden.

,

Like you I've been around since the old ocPortal 4 days. I proposed changing the name to the generic Composr specially because search engines will already pick up the composer framework before Composr cms. You have to be very specific with it in search terms.

Like you are getting right now, I too felt a large degree of uncertainty with the project. As much as I respect PDStig, I know all too well what he's picking up here and how hard it would be keep it running.

There is no easy answers here. I decided to go to the closest thing I could find, drupal, thinking that this is going to die. After a lot of work I made my sure work and work decently well with that cms, despite the fact that I couldn't get their preferred means of updating to work for me. So I did it the old fashion way. Long story short I recently updated and my site broke. I didn't lose any data thanks to backups, but I can't log into it anymore…

So what do I do? There really isn't anything close. Even Drupal can't fully match Composr for me. I still kept a backup of composr running and updated to the latest 10 series, so I just decided to start migrating all my page changes from drupal to that. Unlike drupal, composr 10.52 is still running strong.

I also tried the latest beta, 8. I got it installed but could never log in. Kept going back to the log in screen. Fun times.

I am hoping Composr will continue to live and grow. It's the only real solution for me. So if I can I will hire PDStig to help me update the sure. Not because I 100% need it, but because I want the project to live.

I appreciate that!

Composr 10 should, in theory, still run strong, so long as you're not using PHP 8.5 (you might get deprecation errors). And it sounds like it is.

v11 is beta, so it is not anywhere near as stable as v10 yet. And I anticipate it will be like that for the indefinite future. There are so many parts to Composr that need to be stabilized, and I am but just one developer.

In the future, probably soon, I am going to start conducting polls for features to remove that are listed on the maintenance status page. If I cut out some features of Composr CMS that are not used by the general public anymore, then I can stabilize v11 faster (and it will also help ensure v11 stays stable, even if the developer power is very low).

As much as it would be nice to keep all of these features, it is not practical for a one-developer CMS.

https://composr.app/maintenance-status.htm

P.S. The login bug might be resolved in beta9; but that version has not yet been released. I'm repeatedly being set back by issues that have to be fixed.

As much as I hate to, I can agree with removing some parts of the cms from the main trunk. I would say turn them into plugins or extensions and let the community maintain them if they want to. This program is far too large for one main developer to try to handle. I am sure you have a good idea of what parts to trim of of as default. I would suggest forums to be one of those. It would seem that forums are not as popular anymore as they used to be. The current fittings could be an extension for future installs, and sometime could pick up maintaining it it writing their own version of forums if they do wanted them. Plus composr already works well with existing forums so it seems like a logical choice to me.

The apps I would fight for is the wiki and the catalogues. That is like 99.8% of my site and what really makes composr shine.

As I've started before I've been moving all the data from my broken Drupal install to my still running after all these years v10 composr install. That stability alone is a huge selling point as is the ease of upgrading. But doing all this I've come to really appreciate another unique tool within composr, importing csv files. I simply copy the data from my drupal views tables onto libre office calc, as a column for tags, fill that out, and save as csv. Then I go to import in composr, select the right catalogue, tell it which column hold meta data, and poof. A simple cache emptying later and everything is there in my composr catalogues and in the right place.

It isn't perfect mind you. While I can put in multiple tags and composr can read them, it won't show them in their tagged catalogue until I import the same with just the trash for that catalogue, and then I have 2 off the same entries. But that is nothing. I can do cleanup and duplicate removals quickly enough. This always saved me so much time.

It is just another reason why composr must live. It is another great selling point of composr, but sadly so few know of the app who would benefit from it greatly. It's name doesn't help with discovery as you already know. It is why I strongly suggested changing it now before v11 is released. It's not out yet, best time to change it. If you wait, who knows if there will be a v12.

If I was better at coding I'd help. My skills are rudimentary at best. All I can do is give my thoughts, suggestions, and test, but the later is harder given my crazy schedule right now. However I can always throw money at you to fix something for me with the real reason being to keep you working on this app. I can also be a patreon supporter if you have that.

I've always loved this program, and while I can't pick on you about boots and trunks like I did with Chris, I think you are doing amazing work. I hope you won't give up. I hope we can get more people on board to help program even small things. I hope to see this program live fir another 50+ years.

As much as I hate to, I can agree with removing some parts of the cms from the main trunk. I would say turn them into plugins or extensions and let the community maintain them if they want to.

I could do that. However, even non-bundled extensions are maintained to the degree of ensuring they do not break the rest of Composr. This is done by including them in the main repository. Therefore, while it would reduce some burden, it wouldn't delegate it all to the community completely.

I am sure you have a good idea of what parts to trim of of as default. I would suggest forums to be one of those. It would seem that forums are not as popular anymore as they used to be.

While I see what you're saying, I can't do that. Forums are tightly integrated with the core Composr system.

Plus composr already works well with existing forums so it seems like a logical choice to me.

Actually, this is one of the features that I would pull out from the core code. We don't officially support any other forum engine. The drivers for other forum engines are likely broken and need to be fixed (I don't have the capacity to test all of them because I would have to install every type of forum that can be used and manually test). Therefore, this would likely be one of the features I turn into a non-bundled extension.

The apps I would fight for is the wiki and the catalogues. That is like 99.8% of my site and what really makes composr shine.

Those would likely stay. They are officially supported. And catalogues are also tightly integrated into Composr.

But doing all this I've come to really appreciate another unique tool within composr, importing csv files.

That's good to know. I can mark that as a feature considered useful to keep maintaining.

It is why I strongly suggested changing it now before v11 is released. It's not out yet, best time to change it. If you wait, who knows if there will be a v12.

Right… I don't know if there will be a v12. Chris even mentioned that should he return in the distant future (we're talking years from now if he does), he probably would not continue maintaining Composr. Instead, he would build a new system.

I'm leaning towards doing the same thing. If Composr is still around after v11, and if I have the capacity to continue maintaining it, then I would probably rebuild it. The framework and API are very dated. PHP has evolved, and Composr did not catch up. I've had multiple people say that they are not interested in contributing to Composr code because the code is not written in modern PHP syntax. It is also a lot less secure than people think; bundling sensitive Composr data (e.g., uploads) in the same folder as the install, where it can be publicly accessed by the web, is a huge problem. The common practice, now, is to isolate sensitive data and scripts into a folder on the server that cannot be accessed by the web; leave only the public API in the web root folder.

…However I can always throw money at you to fix something for me with the real reason being to keep you working on this app. I can also be a patreon supporter if you have that.

I appreciate that. Any type of contribution helps. I don't have a Patreon. However, I'll set up a way that you and others can contribute. Right now, I'm trying to get rid of PayPal due to the Honey scandal. I'm switching to Stripe. Once that process is finished, I'll update you. I should be almost done, so it shouldn't take much longer.

I've always loved this program, and while I can't pick on you about boots and trunks like I did with Chris, I think you are doing amazing work. I hope you won't give up. I hope we can get more people on board to help program even small things.

I will maintain it as long as I can. It is contingent on the help of the community and on my own schedule. Unfortunately, I'm still in an unstable position. Any small financial disaster will knock me out of being able to work on Composr temporarily. That's one reason why beta9 has taken 5 months so far. Slowly, I am chugging along on it.

I'm not gonna lie, your response scares me. I thought v11 was supposed to be a rewrite. So I'm a bit confused there. Also it sounds like you are basically saying that this is a sinking ship. I can't even imagine what would compare with this cms….

Do you see v10 or possibly v11 as the end of the road with this cms? To what degree do you think there is a future here?

A lot has changed in v11. However, on the same note, many things from v10 remain the same (or largely the same) in v11. Therefore, I wouldn't call v11 a complete rewrite.

What I am suggesting here is that after v11, should Composr continue (and that depends on my/our ability to continue the project), it will likely be a complete rewrite, or an almost complete rewrite, of v11. I am not entirely sure what that will mean. It is something that is very far in the future. My vision for v12 would be that Composr is rewritten in accordance with modern PHP and web standards. The core functionality of Composr, and its vision, will probably remain the same (or similar). I want to "future-proof" v12 so that it is more appealing to developers and webmasters (and thus more likely to attract more contributors to the project, increasing the "life expectancy" of the project).

This is, of course, a big vision. Unfortunately, in my current state, that vision will not come to fruition. My finances will need to improve significantly so I can afford more time to Composr to make that happen.

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Let me answer what you asked. Is v11 going to be the last version of Composr? Not likely; Composr is open source, and if I cannot carry on its legacy, someone else could always jump in. However, my financial state is trash. And in this economy, I don't see that improving to the point that I would need it to anytime soon (if ever) to afford making regular and significant contributions to Composr. Therefore, even if v11 might not be the last version of Composr, it will probably be the last version *from me*. I don't even know if I'll be able to get v11 to a stable state by myself. I think about and fear v11 being in an endless cycle of beta releases until more developers can help me out.

I see. I can completely understand a complete rewrite. Code gets old. It becomes a tangled mess that a team of developers would have trouble with. I don't envy you for the task you've taken on. I wonder where are the other devs that used to work on ocPortal….

I wish I could help more. I hate how things are right now. I honestly am afraid for the future of composr. I know you say it won't go due basically because it's open source, but that's only a good safety net if others in the community are interested enough and skilled enough to take it and run with it. I don't see that here.

I hope we can find a way to keep things going, take some of the burden from you, and safeguard the future of this ap.

I wonder where are the other devs that used to work on ocPortal…

I'm not sure. I would imagine that they moved on to bigger and better things. Open source software usually does not pay your bills. I know that Chris is gone due to his job and raising a family. Two other former Composr CMS developers are also gone. I know that one was contracted by Chris (similar to how he arranged contract work for me until April of last year), but from what I heard, Chris got scammed (I'm not 100% sure if that's accurate). And I have no idea what happened to the third one.

I honestly am afraid for the future of composr. I know you say it won't go due basically because it's open source, but that's only a good safety net if others in the community are interested enough and skilled enough to take it and run with it.

Right. It's not going to "shut down" like proprietary software does when the company does not maintain it anymore. But that doesn't mean that development won't cease at some point if I am not able to continue (and that almost happened multiple times).