I mentioned before that the name "Composr CMS" does not easily show up in search engines. The name closely matches other software (e.g., Composer from PHP) and companies.

I want to rename the software.

Originally, the plan was to consider a new name for v12. However, given my grim state of affairs, I don't know if I will still be around working on this software for v12. Furthermore, even if I am around, v12 would be several years away unless more developers join this project.

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I am thinking about renaming the software before v11 stable is released. An idea was given to me to host a competition for the best name. I also already have a tracker issue for it: (sorry, I can't find it right now).

This is a vote to see when you think we should consider renaming the software. This is not official (opposed to a measure); this is to get opinions. And votes are not weighted by voting power on this poll.

Your thoughts would be appreciated!

While I strongly support a rename in general, I don't have a strong opinion about whether it should wait until v12 or be done before the v11 stable release.

I might lean towards waiting until v12 if it's going to be an entirely new name, but be more okay with it for v11 if it was simply going back to ocPortal (which I'd personally prefer). The ocPortal name's already known by a lot of Composr users, so it wouldn't have as high a chance of confusing anyone if done closer to release. A brand new name, on the other hand, might make more sense to introduce closer to the start of a development cycle so people have time to hear about it while following development. But again, those aren't strong opinions, more just thoughts on it.

I do think v11.1 wouldn't make sense. It should either be done before the v11 release, or be applied to the v12 release. If it's considered a minor enough thing to be done with a point release, then might as well do it now during pre-release development.

I was spitballing some possible names for a potential v10 fork last year, but they might not make as much sense for the mainline branch (e.g. "ogPortal" referring to the OG/original codebase of the software).

I agree; v11.1 wouldn't make much sense because a change of name is a major change.

The original plan is to wait until v12. However, the more that I think about it, the more uncertain I am about Composr's future and if/when there will be a v12.

I mean, v11 has been in development for 10 years and counting. If things continue as they are (with me being the only active developer), then v12 will also take many years.

For those reasons, and since it was suggested to me, I am considering whether we should do it before v11 stable comes out.

As much as I want to make "ocPortal" an option, it wouldn't be easy. I don't own ocportal.com; Chris does. I could ask him if he would be willing to pass control to me if the community decides to use it. Alternatively, we could do something like "ocportal.app".

I don't think Chris is actively using the domain, it just redirects to compo.sr. Definitely worth asking him. The copyright is still his and if we are reverting to ocPortal then yeah…

I agree with Adam's sentiment in full. The ocPortal domain is still tied to Composr and isn't being used for anything else, and I doubt it will be used for anything else, so if a potential rename is a serious consideration, then it'd be worth asking Chris about (at least as a feeler) instead of assuming he wouldn't want that name to be used anymore.

If Chris explicitly doesn't want to allow usage of the domain– like if he thought he might come back and do something else with the project that's not where you're taking it, or if he just doesn't want what you're doing to be associated with that name anymore– then (and only then) we'd better rule ocPortal out altogether. Side-stepping contact or going against his wishes with an alternative domain for the same name wouldn't be nice or smart.

That's fair.

I already spoke to Chris a while ago about renaming Composr. He wasn't a fan of the idea, if I recall (but my memory may be bad because this was several months ago). However, I don't think I specifically asked about going back to ocPortal.

Should you all wish, I'll check up with him again on this, especially since we are now seriously considering a rename.

If I were to guess, his response would be on the lines of disassociating himself from the project (given his circumstances), and allowing us to do what we think is in the best interest of Composr.

I can understand his hesitancy to rename the project at this stage. While I understand your reasoning for wanting to do it, it's also a classic thing to do when projects or companies are dying– in an attempt to drum up a spark of interest, it can instead end up sapping the last bit of brand recognition and stability away at the time it'd be needed most. Also, it's one of the least important things that time and energy could be spent on, product-wise.

Just knowing whether or not he'd be open to allowing the use of the name ocPortal again if the community were to decide that's the best course of action would be helpful to know how to continue this whole train of thought. If he says the project isn't allowed to use ocPortal again, then I might tip more towards thinking a rename (if it happens) should wait until v12, like I mentioned earlier. You've described wanting to do a major refactoring or rewrite utilizing a framework instead of raw PHP, and while I can't say I was a fan of that idea either, that would seem like a good time to go to a brand new name.

CoOpSite would be an interesting idea for a name… Co=community Op=Operational Site=Complete Works

Just throwing out an idea here…