Hi all,
 

We’re in the final stages of preparing for a major upgrade to the forum software. After running v4 for nearly a decade, it’s time to move things forward - and as part of that process, we’ve set up a prototype test site running Invision v5:
 

https://test.canalworld.net
 

This test site is based on a snapshot of the live forum taken on 19th September, so any posts or updates made after that date won’t appear there. It’s purely for testing and preview purposes.
 

We understand that change can feel disruptive, especially when things already work well. But this upgrade isn’t about reinventing the forum — it’s about future‑proofing it.
 

By moving to the latest version, we’re ensuring:
 

• Compatibility with modern devices and browsers

• Easier maintenance and long‑term support from our vendor

• Stronger protection against future security risks
   

In short, it’s a necessary step to keep things running smoothly, reliably, and securely both now and in the years ahead.

🛠️ What’s still in progress

• VNC & Search configuration - not up to date or fully functional on the test site

• Microsoft/Google login integration

• Topic navigation - adjusting to default to the latest post

• Intermittent slow page loading - ongoing work to address this
   

Most of the improvements focus on usability, especially for mobile users and larger screens. There will also be an app version available for iOS, but is optional.
 

We intended to upgrade to v5 some time ago, but chose to wait so we could refine the theme and style updates first.

Feel free to explore and let us know what you think. Your feedback will help shape the final experience wherever possible.
 

Thanks,

Rich

Just had a look.  Seems OK.  Had to sign in again, but perhaps to be expected.  VNC (inc Political) came up OK, but didn't seem to be be an option for without political.  Didn't quite get me back to last post viewed, but very nearly.  All in all a small price to pay for future proofing.  Thanks Rich.

Site seems fine at a quick look.

One small comment, could the 'View New Content' button be moved to the top of the page rather being at the bottom?

Regular visitors might find it a bit of a nuisance having to scroll right to the bottom of the page every time they visit.

The condensed view seems to have a lot more white space around posts, reading on my phone VNC has only 4 posts on screen at one time where as the current site has 6 or 7 posts.

Maybe this would be a good time to review the naming of "Achievement Ratings"

I find being referred to as a Collaborator quite offensive, as in my mind the word primarily means "a person who works with an enemy"   rather than an associate or team-mate.  🙉🫣

1 hour ago, Wiltshire Moonraker said:

Maybe this would be a good time to review the naming of "Achievement Ratings"

I find being referred to as a Collaborator quite offensive, as in my mind the word primarily means "a person who works with an enemy"   rather than an associate or team-mate.  🙉🫣

 

I very much agree. There seems very little point in these "Achievements" especially given they happen by chance and we have no say in them. 

Apart from some of them seeming somewhat inappropriate, and in the case of collaborator, plain weird. 

 

 

15 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I very much agree. There seems very little point in these "Achievements" especially given they happen by chance and we have no say in them. 

Apart from some of them seeming somewhat inappropriate, and in the case of collaborator, plain weird. 

 

 

 

Achievements don’t really have anything to do with v5 itself. They’re designed to encourage engagement and they aren’t unique to Canal World. We can amend of even turn them off if there’s a consensus to do so, but that would need a separate topic along with a poll so people can vote properly.
 

Let’s keep this thread focused on the v5 upgrade please.

 

Just now, rmo said:

Let’s keep this thread focused on the v5 upgrade please.

 

 

Its difficult to comment on a test iteration of a new version except in the most shallow ways. 

 

On another thread I've just run into that irritation where posting twice in a thread gets the posts merged. Deeply irritating. Has that been fixed or the need for it solved in V.5?

 

If this is also not the sort of comment you seek, I'm not sure what you are inviting comments about! 

 

 

 

These are the types of things that matter to the users and we hope to get addressed in new versions! 

 

 

Any chance we could have post numbers back please? I really miss those.

38 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Its difficult to comment on a test iteration of a new version except in the most shallow ways. 

 

On another thread I've just run into that irritation where posting twice in a thread gets the posts merged. Deeply irritating. Has that been fixed or the need for it solved in V.5?

 

If this is also not the sort of comment you seek, I'm not sure what you are inviting comments about! 

 

 

 

These are the types of things that matter to the users and we hope to get addressed in new versions! 

 

 

We’re looking for general feedback on v5. The aim right now isn’t to reinvent the site, but to get the upgrade in place and then look at further non‑v5 specific improvements afterwards.
 

The sort of feedback that’s most useful at this stage is whether v5 behaves correctly on your device - for example, display issues, error messages and where they occur, font sizing, layout problems, or anything that looks different from v4 in a way that seriously affects usability.
 

The post‑merging behaviour is intentional and not a bug. It’s part of the core platform and prevents consecutive posts being used to bypass anti‑spam checks, which has caused real issues for Canal World in the past. It’s not a Canal World rule, and v5 keeps the same behaviour.

 

6 minutes ago, Ange said:

Any chance we could have post numbers back please? I really miss those.

I will have a look but I don't think this feature exists in v5 and was deprecated in v4. I found a way to add it back using a third party-plugin, but it caused compatibility issues so had to be removed.

5 minutes ago, rmo said:

The post‑merging behaviour is intentional and not a bug. It’s part of the core platform and prevents consecutive posts being used to bypass anti‑spam checks, which has caused real issues for Canal World in the past. It’s not a Canal World rule, and v5 keeps the same behaviour.

 

I find this hard to swallow as I use several forums routinely and many over the years, and this forum is the only one that does it.

 

 

But getting back on topic, yes there is loads of wasted white space in the new version. Also it crashed on first opening and the tab auto-closed for me. Apple 12" laptop running Ventura and Chrome. 

 

And back off topic again, post numbers as Ange requests! I miss them too. It seems perverse to deny us the functionality.

 

 

 

 

 

And back on topic again, there appears to be no VNC. How do I get it back please? 

 

 

 

I definitely get the impression the authors think we are all viewing the forum on 26" monitors. 

 

 

 

10 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

I find this hard to swallow as I use several forums routinely and many over the years, and this forum is the only one that does it.

 

 

But getting back on topic, yes there is loads of wasted white space in the new version. Also it crashed on first opening and the tab auto-closed for me. Apple 12" laptop running Ventura and Chrome. 

 

And back off topic again, post numbers as Ange requests! I miss them too. It seems perverse to deny us the functionality.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks - if you’re seeing a crash on first load or layout issues like excessive white space, that’s exactly the sort of v5 feedback we need. A screenshot would be helpful so I can see precisely which area you’re referring to.
 

One thing to flag: macOS Ventura is no longer supported by Apple, so it may not behave consistently with newer browser and platform updates. Upgrading macOS would give you a more stable experience overall. I've tested it on macOS Tahoe but have no way to test it on Ventura as it's deprecated.
 

On the post‑merging point: that behaviour is intentional. Other forums may use different anti‑spam controls, but this is one of the effective measures available within IPS, and I’m not turning it off. The last time we had a major spam fallout coupled with a DDoS attack I was away, so we rely on automated controls like this to keep the site safeguarded alongside our Moderator team.
 

And regarding older features: some things people remember from Invision 3 simply don’t exist in modern IPS versions anymore. Post numbers inside topics were removed years ago and aren’t part of v4.5+ or v5, so they’re not something I can easily switch back on. I will check to see if there's any third-party plugins for v5 that offer this capability.

 

 

13 minutes ago, rmo said:

Thanks - if you’re seeing a crash on first load or layout issues like excessive white space, that’s exactly the sort of v5 feedback we need. A screenshot would be helpful so I can see precisely which area you’re referring to.

 

Only did it the once on the Ventura machine. Yes its old but works fine but Ventura is the newest OS that will install on it! 

 

This machine now is also a 12" Mac but running Monterey, and no problems so far. Just the extravagant use of screen space. Home screen here:

 

 

That's my whole screen used up! 

 

 

The test site invites me to "View in the App" however, no 3 dot menu is available.

What Android app does it refer to please?

 

 

And here is my VNC page, now I've found it!

 

39 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

Only did it the once on the Ventura machine. Yes its old but works fine but Ventura is the newest OS that will install on it! 

 

This machine now is also a 12" Mac but running Monterey, and no problems so far. Just the extravagant use of screen space. Home screen here:

 

 

That's my whole screen used up! 

 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback so far. I want to acknowledge something clearly because it affects several of the comments in this thread.
 

My background is in IT security. My day job is about keeping enterprise systems operational/stable, secure and up to date while securing the networks against external threats. (hackers) While I will do what I can, visual layout issues, spacing quirks and browser differences are not my area of expertise, and they are often caused by factors outside the forum software itself. That includes older operating systems, older browsers and older hardware. macOS Ventura and Monterey are both out of support, so layout differences are likely on machines running those versions. (Developers including Invision simply don't use them or test their software on them.)
 

I welcome constructive feedback, but some of the issues being raised are linked to circa ten‑year‑old laptops and unsupported OS versions. I can look into specific cases, but there will be limits to what can be fixed on systems that no longer receive updates from Apple or other vendors. 
 

If you can share your screen resolution, that will help me work out whether what you are seeing is mainly due to the OS or mainly due to the display size.|
 

Let’s keep feedback coming, but please bear in mind that some behaviour will be outside our control.
 

For comparison, this is how it looks on a current and supported version of macOS Tahoe 14" @ 3024x1964. It isn’t perfect unless I move it to a larger display, but the spacing is noticeably less than what you’re reporting on the unsupported Ventura.

 

 

 

 

6 minutes ago, MtB said:

 

 

And here is my VNC page, now I've found it!

 

I am also getting the top of the screen filled with this verbose text using Android browsers (Chrome or Vivaldi)

1 minute ago, Wiltshire Moonraker said:

I am also getting the top of the screen filled with this verbose text using Android browsers (Chrome or Vivaldi)

This I will fix for live version, I did state VNC is not fully functional.

To my mind the black areas around the white message box is just a waste of space (Firefox on Linux). I find it interesting that the Android phone version does not have this. (Opera on Android).

1 minute ago, Tony Brooks said:

To my mind the black areas around the white message box is just a waste of space (Firefox on Linux). I find it interesting that the Android phone version does not have this. (Opera on Android).

 

Hi Tony, please may I have a screenshot and confirm screen resolution? Also, if you could confirm which distribution/version of Linux in use as well please.
 

44 minutes ago, rmo said:

If you can share your screen resolution, that will help me work out whether what you are seeing is mainly due to the OS or mainly due to the display size.|

 

 

1280 x 800.

 

 

Here is a screenshot of VNC on the same machine for comparison, but the current live version of CWF.

 

 

 

Still too much wasted space, but seems less than with v5.

 

 

Menu bar should be at the top of the screen, not the bottom. I seem to think this is a user option in the current version.

VNC heading does not need a list of all the forums and subforums - a complete waste of screen space.

VNC topic list is too spaced out. Compare the current version, once you have scrolled past the headings, with the new version. Old shows 6 topics on my screen, the test version less than 4.

This is viewed on a Samsung Galaxy A16 using the Samsung Browser v 30.0.0.67

 

M

41 minutes ago, rmo said:

 

Hi Tony, please may I have a screenshot and confirm screen resolution? Also, if you could confirm which distribution/version of Linux in use as well please.
 

 

This is how it initially opened until I used ctrl + + a few times to enlarge the text to be easily readable, Then the lack areas get smaller. The Ctrl + + setting seems to be persistent on future openings.

 

 

Linux Mint 22.3, Cinnamon 64 bit.  Resolution 1440 x 810. Lenove 15" screen

 

I doubt that you can do anything about it, but it is annoying that the phone version does not seem to have the black borders while the laptop version does AND on the laptop the font is so small to start with. 

 

 

 

Problem I have is it signs me in under an old name I don’t use?  

23 minutes ago, Quatre_Bougies said:

Problem I have is it signs me in under an old name I don’t use?  

Can't you then logout and login under your current name?