Hello everyone,

Allow me to briefly introduce myself. I'm Patrick Schmalstig, a lead developer of Composr CMS. Since 2016, I have collaborated closely with Chris Graham and other Composr contributors. I've been working mostly behind the scenes up until recently.

In this article, I'm going to explain what has been happening behind the scenes and why Composr development has been quiet for a long time. I'll also explain what is to come for the near-term and the future.

Declining Development Activity Since March 2023

Composr's development pace has slowed considerably since March 2023. Chris had some major changes happen in his life, which demanded a lot more of his time, energy, and attention. In light of these changes and the evolving tech landscape, Chris decided to wind down ocProducts, Ltd. He passed on several of his clients to me via my company, PDStig, LLC, so he could attend to his new opportunities. But this only meant that I, too, lost a lot of available time I could spend on Composr development.

Near-Term Development Plans and YouTube Live Streams

Development has largely been quiet, with no new releases of v10 in over a year and only periodic commits to the v11 GitLab branch for v11-alpha and the master branch for v10. However, I am now making a strong effort to be more proactive in the community and to ramp up development from my end on Composr. As such, you will likely begin to see more commits to the v11 branch as I once again put some focus on v11 development. As for v10/master, consider this version in the "final" stage, meaning we will only be making releases for significant bug fixes.

Meanwhile, to help encourage more activity and to showcase what is going on behind the scenes, I've started doing frequent YouTube live streams (about 3 times per week for 2-4 hours each). You can find out more information in the forum, and you can leave feedback or suggestions on how to improve the streams. You can watch me as I develop new features and fix bugs in Composr, both version 10 and version 11. Please note that the streams are very informal.

Upcoming Composr v10 Patch Release (10.0.44)

I plan to push a new patch release for Composr v10, hopefully in a few weeks (10.0.44). A long time ago, Chris fixed a major bug with the IP banning system. This fix, along with other bug fixes, will be included in the upcoming patch release of v10. Please keep an eye out for it; upgrading to 10.0.44 will be strongly advised for all v10 websites due to this bug fix with the IP banning system. If you want the fix right now, you can instead download and apply the hotfix for it (see Activities).

The Future of Composr and Its Community

As mentioned, ocProducts, Ltd. is winding down, which means Composr CMS will no longer be under the umbrella of ocProducts, Ltd. Actually, it won't be under the umbrella of any company or individual anymore. Instead, the intention is to shift the development and community model of Composr away from sponsorships and more towards the open-source community (Bazaar: no one company or individual is central to Composr CMS). The goal is for individuals to have more say in the development and direction of Composr CMS. We want to open our arms up more to community developers who want to contribute instead of having an atmosphere where the expectation is that ocProducts, Ltd., or Chris / myself, is responsible for all the major development.

For example, is there a new feature you want to see implemented? Do you want something that has not been maintained to be maintained again? There will be more options under the new model. Instead of sponsoring features with ocProducts, you can either develop and/or maintain the features yourself, or you can hire or sponsor a Composr partner to develop and/or maintain them (I invite you to add yourself or your business to the partner directory if you have Composr services to offer). Furthermore, our goal is to institute a new voting system where members have say in what features are included in Composr CMS based on "voting power" (e.g., more seasoned members who make more contributions will have more voting power). This contrasts with the current system, where decisions are largely up to Chris. And when a feature is sponsored or funded, it is more likely to be maintained and included.

This new model of the Composr community is planned for when v11 is officially released.

Discontinuation of Support Credits and Tickets

You may have noticed that the Support Credits and Support Tickets systems on compo.sr were disabled a while ago. This is due to the winding down of ocProducts, Ltd. and the transition of Composr CMS to a Bazaar model.
Those wanting professional or paid support are encouraged to check out the Composr partners directory, and those who can offer Composr services are encouraged to add themselves or their company to the directory.
Free support options are still available, including documentation, the FAQ, the issue tracker, and the forum.

When Will We Get Version 11?

I know some of you are excited for version 11. And we've had multiple requests asking when v11 will be ready or when I can help others upgrade to v11. While v11 is getting closer to beta (testing) status and can technically be installed under some conditions, it is not ready yet. There is still more work to do for it to meet the exceptional standards we have for a solid CMS. And unfortunately, given Chris' and my state of flux in our lives, we cannot make any predictions as to when it will be ready for release.

However, you can help us get there faster in a number of ways:

• Give v11-alpha a test run on your server by cloning or downloading the GitLab repository (use the v11 branch) (though I would highly recommend not using it for live sites; you can if you wish [I admittedly do], but you do so at your own risk).
• Report any and all bugs you find or suggestions you have for improving v11 on the tracker (under the Composr Alpha Testing project).
• If you have coding skills, consider requesting to take on some of the issues on the tracker for v11 (under Composr and Composr Alpha Testing projects). Just leave a comment on the issue.
• Or even just leave some additional feedback on each issue, such as "yeah, I have this bug too... and I'm running such and such operating system and version, server version, PHP version, etc".

I have also opened up a v11 development forum where discussions can take place regarding the development and testing of v11.

The Status of Chris Graham, And What to do For Support

I wanted to address this matter because some may naturally think that Chris left the Composr community / development since he has been largely inactive. However, that is not the case. He has a lot on his agenda at this time and probably will for several more months at least. Therefore, he will generally not be available. We hope he can return to a greater capacity sometime in 2024. But he cannot make any promises.

Meanwhile, if you need any help or support with Composr CMS or any sites running Composr, here are some resources:

• Bugs and feature requests should be reported on the tracker. Chris and I view these regularly.
• If you want general help and support from the community or wish to engage in general discussion, you can utilize the forums.
• For professional support (such as hiring someone to perform maintenance or development on your site), please take a look at the Composr partners.
• If you would like to learn how to use Composr or code with it yourself, please check out the documentation or API guide.

I would not recommend contacting a staff member such as myself directly unless you are reporting an issue with compo.sr or a member on it (e.g., spam). If you utilize the forums or the issue tracker instead, more eyes will see it, therefore you will get more helpful feedback.

Summary and Outlook

Composr has been slow in development over the last several months due to our changing life circumstances. However, hopefully very soon, I will be able to pick up the pace a bit on Composr development. Once Composr starts transitioning to version 11, we will also begin transitioning the community to more of a bazaar model, where it will be easier for others to contribute and have a vote in the future of Composr.

Furthermore, I will be making efforts to be more active on the Composr website for anyone who would like assistance. Please note that I can only do so much for free, and the same applies to other community members. If you're looking for someone such as myself to do something on your site for you or to maintain it, feel free to browse the Composr partners directory and hire or contract someone.

Here's to a bright and shiny future for Composr CMS!

If you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please feel free to leave a comment.