Hello everyone,

I am going to give you an update on the current status of Composr CMS and version 11 beta9. I wanted to write this since I have been a bit inactive since the start of the year.

To start off this update, I just want to affirm that Composr CMS is still under active development. It's a very slow process. However, 11 beta9 is the biggest update in the v11 branch to date. The list of fixes and updates is so long that I can't list a majority of them until it's released (when the automatic changelog generator puts everything together).

What is taking v11 beta9 so long?

There are three main reasons why this version is taking so long to be released:

Lack of developer power (also, AI disclosure)

I am the only active developer for Composr CMS. And Composr CMS is a massive project. It is impossible for me to maintain all of the software on my own in a timely manner. And since I do not have any development help, I've had to resort to AI in multiple instances as a "second eye". The AI that I've been using is PhpStorm's AI. I don't use it often. I only use it when I need that additional eye to look over something or figure something out. Periodically, I will also use it to speed up tedious tasks (e.g., refactoring something). However, everything is reviewed and thoroughly tested; I don't believe in vibe coding as that introduces numerous issues and security vulnerabilities.

If you or someone you know might be interested in becoming a contributor for Composr, then please send me a Private Topic (click my name at the top of this news entry, then on my profile, click Contact > Start Private Topic). Go to About > GitLab (or GitHub) to view the PHP repository. You can make merge/pull requests. I'd love to have you on the project!

Lack of finances 

I don't receive much for what I do on Composr CMS. This is not a job. The only funding I receive is through donations and through people contracting me to work on their websites. Therefore, Composr CMS does not get as high a priority as other things in my life (e.g., my "day job" right now is data entry for an appraisal company).

If you'd like to help out financially, then you can either contract me to help build or maintain your website (on the menu, Community > Partners), or you can donate to my Stripe (https://donate.stripe.com/6oU14n0n2cXMekTaEI8g000). Your contributions are greatly appreciated!

We had a contribution a couple of months ago. I would have liked to use that towards development. Unfortunately, it had to go towards the time that I spent fending off an influx of bots stalling my server.

Major bug in the statistics system 

I've been fighting a fundamental problem with the statistics system in Composr. The way that we previously stored and processed the data led to potential PHP memory errors. I've been trying to fix this issue (necessary because a client is paying me to do a site upgrade, and statistics are critical for them). However, it's a delicate balance between resolving the PHP memory errors, ensuring the database table doesn't get too large, and avoiding complex SQL queries that slow down the processing job.

What can I expect in 11 beta9?

Here are some of the updates/changes already implemented and will be released in version 11 beta9:

• InnoDB storage engine by default (MySQL)
  • Existing sites will need to manually switch from MyISAM to InnoDB; the upgrader has a tool to help. Until then, your current site will still use MyISAM. But new Composr installs will use InnoDB.
• A Health Check and a Cleanup Tool for data integrity
  • InnoDB foreign keys would require significant refactoring of the Composr code. We don't have the developer power for that right now. For now, we have "virtual foreign keys". They exist on Composr's end. While they don't stop data issues before they happen, the new tool can clean out orphaned data.
• The menu editor will now be in XML format
  • This is not a favorable change. But it is a necessary one. The previous editor (moving branches) was broken. And I tried everything that I could (even with AI assistance) to fix it. The plan is that the XML menu editor will be temporary until someone can either fund me to make a better editor or until another developer joins the project and can make it for us.
• The way that telemetry settings are rendered on the UI will be more concise
• By default, antispam heuristics will not block submissions or ban IP addresses anymore (it will only flag submissions for manual validation if the validation addon is installed).
  • This is only applicable for new installations. Existing sites will maintain their current settings.
• New or updated options will now be highlighted green or yellow (respectively). And the staff checklist will indicate that you have options to review.
  • This will help webmasters stay on top of new or changing options. There are a lot of them!
• Composr will not use the PHP IMAP extension anymore.
  • It is buggy and not properly maintained. On my server, it won't recognize my SSL certificates. Instead, Composr will bundle the Javanile IMAP2 library to handle all IMAP operations.

...and lots of other updates, bug fixes, and optimizations!

These are not implemented yet. But I have immediate plans for implementation in version 11 beta9:

• New steps in the Setup Wizard
  • I will add a new step to help you set up parental controls. You'll have a few choices from templates. That way, you won't always have to start with the default exhaustive list of countries and regions (or force certain profile fields to be filled in).
  • I had another step in mind. But right now, I forgot what it was.

What about version 10? 

There were several recent bugs reported for version 10. I appreciate that! Version 10 is getting lower priority than version 11 because version 10 is in the "long-term maintenance" status. However, I plan to spend some time on v10 once 11 beta9 is released. I won't spend much time on it. I'll only fix what is necessary to fix. The community is invited to make their own pull/merge requests to the v10 branch to help me keep it updated. Or, if you contract me to work on your v10 site, then I will fix whatever you want me to fix.

Conclusion 

Thank you for your patience and understanding in this process. Please continue to do the following:

• Report bugs and suggestions on the tracker 
• Interact with other Composr users on the forums
• Contribute what you can to the ecosystem