Volunteer Web Designer Vacancy

[rmo]

Volunteer Web Designer Vacancy

We’re looking for a volunteer who enjoys web and visual design to help shape the future look of Canal World - the largest inland waterways community forum of its kind.

This is a relaxed, community driven forum admin role. No deadlines, no pressure, no pay - just contributing your skills to something thousands of boaters and waterways enthusiasts enjoy.

What we’re hoping someone can help with

You don’t need to tick every box. These are examples of the kinds of things that would be helpful. We are looking for someone with a genuine eye for design, not quick Paint sketches or unedited AI outputs.

• Theme updates - colours, layout tweaks, styling
• Help the team prepare for the move to IPB v5 - adapting themes and graphics for the new version
• Creating visual content - banners, icons, logo refresh, UI elements
• Seasonal and themed graphics - keeping the forum fresh and visually engaging
• Merchandise design - stickers, mugs and similar items
• Liaising with third party vendors - ensuring artwork meets production requirements
• General layout improvements - readability and accessibility
• Optional: Server administration (Ubuntu Linux, MariaDB, Apache, Nginx, Elasticsearch stack)
• Getting involved elsewhere - social media graphics, events or other creative bits

Skills that would be useful

Nobody is expected to have all of these, especially in a volunteer role. They simply give a flavour of what would help.

• Web design basics - layout, typography, colour sense
• Modern design tools - Photoshop, GIMP, Affinity, Figma or AI assisted tools with proper refinement
• HTML, PHP and CSS - enough to tweak templates
• IPB familiarity or similar COTS community software - helpful but not essential
• UX awareness - readability, spacing, accessibility
• Good organisation and basic version tracking
• Vendor communication - for merchandise production
• Friendly, clear communication with the admin team and community

Community fit

• Understanding Canal World’s tone - friendly boating and outdoors vibe, not corporate
• Interest in the waterways
• Lightweight design - many users browse on patchy connections

If you’re interested

Please share:

• A few examples of past design work or mockups. AI assisted work is fine, but it must show real design judgement and ideally be coupled with other design skills (for example HTML and CSS)
• A short note about your experience or interests
• Any relevant skills you have (web, visual, UX, Linux, IPB, merchandise and similar)

What you get out of it

• Experience contributing to the largest dedicated inland waterways forum of its kind within the UK
• A friendly, informal environment with no deadlines
• The chance to help shape Canal World into the future

For more information

Contact Richard (RMO) using our contact form here.

Thank you.

[MtB]

2 hours ago, rmo said:

Seasonal and themed graphics -

 

Please NOOOO!!!!!

 

Lots of posters here appreciate (I suspect) the staid and unchanging design of the forum in general and the user interface in particular.

 

Remember the furore when "Streams" were introduced a few years ago, with no advanced warning or instructions on how to use them?

 

One of the nicest-to-use forums I know of has use has had the exact same, unchanging format for approaching 20 years now. 

 

Periodic and entirely unnecessary fiddling with the appearance and changes in the way a forum works are just an irritation in my experience. I think others here might agree with me on this. 

 

 

 

 

[David Mack]

Some updates as the technology moves on are inevitable, but I agree with MtB on the "seasonal and themed graphics". We just don't need them. I seem to recall quite a lot of objections when a snow effect was added to posts during winter a few years ago.

[rmo]

15 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Please NOOOO!!!!!

 

Lots of posters here appreciate (I suspect) the staid and unchanging design of the forum in general and the user interface in particular.

 

Remember the furore when "Streams" were introduced a few years ago, with no advanced warning or instructions on how to use them?

 

One of the nicest-to-use forums I know of has use has had the exact same, unchanging format for approaching 20 years now. 

 

Periodic and entirely unnecessary fiddling with the appearance and changes in the way a forum works are just an irritation in my experience. I think others here might agree with me on this. 

 

 

 

 

 

My background in my professional career is in Cybersecurity and historically in systems engineering, not web-design per se. The purpose of this role is not to impose a new design philosophy. It is to customise, adapt and shape the fit of the upgraded platform so it meets the needs of the users.
 

Ref your comment (good memory btw as it dates back nearly a decade ago) - We created a custom stream labelled ‘VNC’ and made it prominent so the old behaviour stayed intact. It did take a couple of weeks after launch to implement this, based on user feedback, but the end result is the same workflow people were used to. That is the kind of practical adaptation this role is meant to continue.
 

The bigger picture is unavoidable: the current forum software reaches end of life at the end of the year. After that point it will receive no bug fixes and no security fixes, which makes an upgrade mandatory. This isn’t a design preference, it’s a security requirement.
 

On top of that, the current version has started to show its age with modern browsers. Some pages don’t always load smoothly, certain menus or buttons behave differently depending on the browser, and the text editor can be temperamental on newer versions of Chrome, Firefox and Safari. None of this is dramatic, but it’s the kind of slow creep you get when software isn’t keeping pace with modern standards. These small issues add up over time and they’re another sign that staying on an old version isn’t realistic.
 

If there’s a forum out there that has genuinely been unchanged for 20 years, I can say with confidence it’s likely riddled with security flaws and compatibility issues. Security comes first, ahead of design and even ahead of UX. Stability without security isn’t a viable position.
 

The shift theme will be applied to retain much of the familiar look and feel, but the role exists to customise and refine that fit so the upgraded platform still feels like home to the community. One of the goals behind this vacancy is to preserve as much continuity and relevance as possible during the transition. The aim isn’t to reinvent the forum, it’s to keep it recognisable and easy to use while ensuring it remains secure and supportable.
 

We’ve acknowledged the preference to maintain the same look and feel for nearly a decade and we’ve honoured that wherever possible. But at some point, change in technology becomes inevitable, especially when security and long‑term support are on the line.

 

[cuthound]

17 hours ago, MtB said:

 

Please NOOOO!!!!!

 

Lots of posters here appreciate (I suspect) the staid and unchanging design of the forum in general and the user interface in particular.

 

Remember the furore when "Streams" were introduced a few years ago, with no advanced warning or instructions on how to use them?

 

One of the nicest-to-use forums I know of has use has had the exact same, unchanging format for approaching 20 years now. 

 

Periodic and entirely unnecessary fiddling with the appearance and changes in the way a forum works are just an irritation in my experience. I think others here might agree with me on this. 

 

 

 

 

 

Fiddle, fiddle, change, change it is what web and designers do to justify their existence.

[Llamedos]

Whilst I understand the reluctance to embrace this, if there's an impending security issue with the current software ie 'end of life - no support' then it needs to be updated and the sooner the better.

 

If there are holes in its security we could all end up infecting our own machines with malware if someone clever with dubious intentions joins the forum and gets to work.

 

I'm sure no one sensible would fail to update the software on their own computer or mobile devices in this day and age. It's much the same.

[Tony Brooks]

54 minutes ago, Llamedos said:

Whilst I understand the reluctance to embrace this, if there's an impending security issue with the current software ie 'end of life - no support' then it needs to be updated and the sooner the better.

 

If there are holes in its security we could all end up infecting our own machines with malware if someone clever with dubious intentions joins the forum and gets to work.

 

I'm sure no one sensible would fail to update the software on their own computer or mobile devices in this day and age. It's much the same.

 

I don't get the impression that this is what caused the kickback posts. I think that is very well recognised. It was, in my view, the talk of graphic designer and seasonal and themed graphics.

 

It is back to the "if it works well for the majority why try to fix thing", and Rich seems to have addresses that in a later post, but we will see. 

 

It also has to be recognised that nowadays new and younger viewers seem to like flashy presentation that adds little, and even may detract from the usability, and anything that supposedly helps a minimal attention span. As long as the older members have the ability to select a presentation that is simmilar to the present one, i don't see a problem with offering a more "modern" presentation.

[MtB]

The thing is, and I acknowledge our admin have no control over it, I really don't accept that Invision fixing security holes means the look and feel of the user GUI has to change. They are using the security updates as a Trojan Horse to foist unrequested GUI changes onto us with no option other than to accept. 

 

I know there is little or nothing to be done about it, but I'm gonna voice my opinions about unnecessary changes to the user GUI Invision seem to be softening us up for, regardless!

 

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

As long as the older members have the ability to select a presentation that is simmilar to the present one, i don't see a problem with offering a more "modern" presentation.

 

Agreed, but I bet it will have a myriad little changes that just make it more difficult to use for people who have learned the existing interface. Many of which we will still be discovering years later. We had this before at the last big GUI update ten years ago. That too was presented to us as essential for security reasons. 

 

I'll shut up about it now  

[Tony Brooks]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

That too was presented to us as essential for security reasons. 

 

Which may well be true.

 

I see a major problem is that most operating systems update themselves without permission for the users, although in some cases that can be turned off. This means the average user has no idea about the sheer volume of security updates that are issued. This includes the phone operating systems. There seems to come a time when just patching the security holes is no longer sensible so re-coding is required and at the same time making it more efficient or to make use of advances in hardware. 

[rmo]

21 hours ago, MtB said:

The thing is, and I acknowledge our admin have no control over it, I really don't accept that Invision fixing security holes means the look and feel of the user GUI has to change. They are using the security updates as a Trojan Horse to foist unrequested GUI changes onto us with no option other than to accept. 

 

I know there is little or nothing to be done about it, but I'm gonna voice my opinions about unnecessary changes to the user GUI Invision seem to be softening us up for, regardless!

 

 

Agreed, but I bet it will have a myriad little changes that just make it more difficult to use for people who have learned the existing interface. Many of which we will still be discovering years later. We had this before at the last big GUI update ten years ago. That too was presented to us as essential for security reasons. 

 

I'll shut up about it now  

 

The thing is Invision bundle security updates with feature and design updates. They do try to soften the impact by supporting the old version for a defined period. In our case they’ve supported version 4 for at least a couple of years after the launch of version 5. But in any software development lifecycle there comes a point where they decide they need to stop supporting the old version so they can focus their efforts on future plans. It’s normal, every software company does this.

 

It can be annoying, but honestly the best approach in my opinion as someone who works in this industry is to embrace it... I say this because technology will always change, there’s no stopping it.

 

[Tony Brooks]

17 minutes ago, rmo said:

 

The thing is Invision bundle security updates with feature and design updates. They do try to soften the impact by supporting the old version for a defined period. In our case they’ve supported version 4 for at least a couple of years after the launch of version 5. But in any software development lifecycle there comes a point where they decide they need to stop supporting the old version so they can focus their efforts on future plans. It’s normal, every software company does this.

 

It can be annoying, but honestly the best approach in my opinion as someone who works in this industry is to embrace it... I say this because technology will always change, there’s no stopping it.

 

 

Absolutely, imagine the eventual outcry if there was no optimised for smartphone option. Think how many that would in effect shut out of the forum because the PC version is too crowded and awkward to navigate/read.

[alias]

12 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Absolutely, imagine the eventual outcry if there was no optimised for smartphone option. Think how many that would in effect shut out of the forum because the PC version is too crowded and awkward to navigate/read.

 

I believe there is just one version - what is displayed depends on the size/shape of the screen being used.  If you make the canalworld window on a PC narrow enough it switches to the "mobile" display.

[1st ade]

1 hour ago, alias said:

If you make the canalworld window on a PC narrow enough it switches to the "mobile" display.

It does...

[Tony Brooks]

3 hours ago, alias said:

 

I believe there is just one version - what is displayed depends on the size/shape of the screen being used.  If you make the canalworld window on a PC narrow enough it switches to the "mobile" display.

 

There are other differences when seen on a mobile, as an example the "view new content" "button" changes form text to some kind of pictogram and into a different place on the screen. Basically you are saying that the developers decided it needed method to alter the display layout to suit and implemented it. If that had not been done at an update or version change mobile phone users would have a more difficult time access the forum. I am wondering what changes wearable tech will bring about. My point is that the forum action and display can't stay still without disadvantaging users of new tech. That is fine by me as long as it does not make the forum more difficult to use for older users on older tech.

[alias]

1 hour ago, Tony Brooks said:

There are other differences when seen on a mobile, as an example the "view new content" "button" changes form text to some kind of pictogram and into a different place on the screen.

 

I see those same differences in a narrow window on a PC screen.  

[Chris Lowe]

I've run several websites in the past, but I'm now way to far behind in technology to do it anymore.

[Llamedos]

Given the older demographic of the group but taken alongside the absolute need to maintain security I think the new designer's mantra must be to maximise security whilst minimising the impact to the site itself.

 

Perhaps that should be made clear to them from the outset as their key objective ie no unnecessary frills and clever stuff just keep it as safe as you can. 

[rmo]

9 hours ago, Llamedos said:

Given the older demographic of the group but taken alongside the absolute need to maintain security I think the new designer's mantra must be to maximise security whilst minimising the impact to the site itself.

 

Perhaps that should be made clear to them from the outset as their key objective ie no unnecessary frills and clever stuff just keep it as safe as you can. 

 

The forum upgrade will take care of most things from a security perspective. The role is to focus on the user experience by enhancing the design and where possible replicating the elements that work well today, keeping things familiar. 

[StephenA]

On 08/08/2026 at 19:26, MtB said:

The thing is, and I acknowledge our admin have no control over it, I really don't accept that Invision fixing security holes means the look and feel of the user GUI has to change. They are using the security updates as a Trojan Horse to foist unrequested GUI changes onto us with no option other than to accept. 

 

I know there is little or nothing to be done about it, but I'm gonna voice my opinions about unnecessary changes to the user GUI Invision seem to be softening us up for, regardless!

 

 

Agreed, but I bet it will have a myriad little changes that just make it more difficult to use for people who have learned the existing interface. Many of which we will still be discovering years later. We had this before at the last big GUI update ten years ago. That too was presented to us as essential for security reasons. 

 

I'll shut up about it now  

 

It happens all the time. The developers of MantisBT changed core functionality of their app which broke lots of sites that had integrated it into their pages. They wanted a cleaner , leaner, more compatible application and so they did it.

 

People running the software have to accept it and adapt or move on.  

[MtB]

1 minute ago, StephenA said:

 

It happens all the time. The developers of MantisBT changed core functionality of their app which broke lots of sites that had integrated it into their pages. They wanted a cleaner , leaner, more compatible application and so they did it.

 

People running the software have to accept it and adapt or move on.  

 

As I accepted in my second paragraph which you quoted! 

 

But having to accept it does not prevent me having a good lo' moan about it.  

 

 

 

 

[StephenA]

32 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

As I accepted in my second paragraph which you quoted! 

 

But having to accept it does not prevent me having a good lo' moan about it.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Indeed and people actually running sites moan about it too ...