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UrbanAlternatives Volunteers Page
Would you like to help keep the UrbanAlternatives website running? Or do you have ideas that could make it better? Or maybe you have some skills in arts, graphics or coding? We'd like to hear from you!. On this page we'll try to keep an up to date list of the jobs that need to be done around the website. Sometimes these will be a simple task - like designing a new banner. Other jobs are ongoing - like Moderating the forums to keep everyone safe and happy :) Don't worry if you haven't got any specific skills - there are always a variety of things that we need people to do - they don't all involve writing code or creating artwork. Also, if what you want to do is not on this list - get in touch - maybe it is something we want to do or even something we haven't thought of! You can post suggestions in the Website Volunteers Forum. Helping the website like this counts as Volunteering - if you are aged between 16-25, then you'll get a certificate from Vinvolved - the national volunteering organisation. We can also help you to include this volunteering on your UCAS form or your C.V. Having real volunteering experience does count for a lot! Most of all though - it should be fun! Sometimes it'll be challenging, but you'll never have to do anything that you just don't want to do. So that you get the proper credit for the work you put in we will always agree what you are going to do before you start. There'll be training available for some jobs, and we will pay any expenses for volunteering (like if you travel to training we'll pay your fare and maybe even buy you lunch). Also we'll run some events just for volunteers, and you'll get credited on the website. So check out the jobs below and see if any of them are for you!

UrbanAlternatives Volunteers Page

Would you like to help keep the UrbanAlternatives website running?
Or do you have ideas that could make it better?
Or maybe you have some skills in arts, graphics or coding?
We'd like to hear from you!.

On this page we'll try to keep an up to date list of the jobs that need to be done around the website. Sometimes these will be a simple task - like designing a new banner. Other jobs are ongoing - like Moderating the forums to keep everyone safe and happy :) Don't worry if you haven't got any specific skills - there are always a variety of things that we need people to do - they don't all involve writing code or creating artwork. Also, if what you want to do is not on this list - get in touch - maybe it is something we want to do or even something we haven't thought of! You can post suggestions in the Website Volunteers Forum.

Helping the website like this counts as Volunteering - if you are aged between 16-25, then you'll get a certificate from Vinvolved - the national volunteering organisation. We can also help you to include this volunteering on your UCAS form or your C.V. Having real volunteering experience does count for a lot! Most of all though - it should be fun! Sometimes it'll be challenging, but you'll never have to do anything that you just don't want to do.

So that you get the proper credit for the work you put in we will always agree what you are going to do before you start. There'll be training available for some jobs, and we will pay any expenses for volunteering (like if you travel to training we'll pay your fare and maybe even buy you lunch). Also we'll run some events just for volunteers, and you'll get credited on the website.

So check out the jobs below and see if any of them are for you!

Website Management Group
	The Website Management Group has been meeting on and off since the website started back in 2005. This Group has made most of the big decisions around the website - when we started we were just a couple of plain html pages - no forum, galleries, profiles or anything! We're now planning to make the Website Management Group meetings more regular and give the members particular responsibilities. Overall the Group will watch over the development of the website, making sure we stay relevant and interesting, checking that when we change it is for the better, and generally keeping an eye on things. This is for you if: You like discussing things and looking for a solution that works for everybody. You want to really get to know what the website is for and what UrbanAlternatives is all about. You have the patience to watch the website develop slowly!
Interested? register with this form

Website Management Group

The Website Management Group has been meeting on and off since the website started back in 2005. This Group has made most of the big decisions around the website - when we started we were just a couple of plain html pages - no forum, galleries, profiles or anything!

We're now planning to make the Website Management Group meetings more regular and give the members particular responsibilities. Overall the Group will watch over the development of the website, making sure we stay relevant and interesting, checking that when we change it is for the better, and generally keeping an eye on things.

This is for you if:
You like discussing things and looking for a solution that works for everybody.
You want to really get to know what the website is for and what UrbanAlternatives is all about.
You have the patience to watch the website develop slowly!

Interested? register with this form

Forum Moderator
Forum Moderators have the responsibility of keeping the forums within the "nice, happy and safe" guidelines that everybody agrees to when registering. As well as looking out for anything that just shouldn't be here, they also try to resolve misunderstandings. Forum Moderators have the power to remove posts from view (they're not actually deleted in case we need to look at them again). As the website is getting busier we need some new Moderators. Moderatoes need to complete a half day's training before they get their badge. This is split between the technical side of how to Moderate a thread, and the communications skills and style to be used. Moderators have a lot of power - so to be fair on forum members they also need to record what they do and let us knowwhat they have done and why. This is for you if: You are really calm and don't like to take sides. You want everyone to get along and you can see that a lot of disagreements are just misunderstandings. You spend a lot of time on the forums!
Interested? register with this form

Forum Moderator

Forum Moderators have the responsibility of keeping the forums within the "nice, happy and safe" guidelines that everybody agrees to when registering. As well as looking out for anything that just shouldn't be here, they also try to resolve misunderstandings. Forum Moderators have the power to remove posts from view (they're not actually deleted in case we need to look at them again).

As the website is getting busier we need some new Moderators. Moderatoes need to complete a half day's training before they get their badge. This is split between the technical side of how to Moderate a thread, and the communications skills and style to be used. Moderators have a lot of power - so to be fair on forum members they also need to record what they do and let us knowwhat they have done and why.

This is for you if:
You are really calm and don't like to take sides.
You want everyone to get along and you can see that a lot of disagreements are just misunderstandings.
You spend a lot of time on the forums!

Interested? register with this form

Graphic Design - Loyalty Badges
	This is a one-off volunteering task rather than an ongoing job. It involves designing a set of images to use across the different templates on the website. These need to be small and neat but also attractive :) On the old urbisunderground website members were given lovehearts depending on how many posts they had made, so there were badges for no posts, 5 posts, 20, 50, 100, 200, etc. There were also stars added for members who had made a special contribution. We'd like to have a new version of these badges - they don't have to be lovehearts, can be anything that suits the website. This is for you if: You have some skill with computer graphics. You can follow a brief - i.e. meet the requirements of a commission rather than just do your own thing. You want to see your work used all over the website but don't mind that not everyone will like it!
Interested? register with this form

Graphic Design - Loyalty Badges

This is a one-off volunteering task rather than an ongoing job. It involves designing a set of images to use across the different templates on the website. These need to be small and neat but also attractive :)

On the old urbisunderground website members were given lovehearts depending on how many posts they had made, so there were badges for no posts, 5 posts, 20, 50, 100, 200, etc. There were also stars added for members who had made a special contribution. We'd like to have a new version of these badges - they don't have to be lovehearts, can be anything that suits the website.

This is for you if:
You have some skill with computer graphics.
You can follow a brief - i.e. meet the requirements of a commission rather than just do your own thing.
You want to see your work used all over the website but don't mind that not everyone will like it!

Interested? register with this form

Graphic Design - Website Template
We currently have three different templates which users of the website can choose from - we'd love to have lots more! This is a very big job that would suit someone with good skills in graphic design and/or html coding, or a couple of people working together. Website templates have 3 different elements - you don't have to change them all for a dramatic new template. First are the images around the site, like in the menu at the top of every page, or buttons to make a post, etc. There are around 50 of these to change for a new template, most are small and simple. Next is the CSS, or cascading style sheet, This controls the look of the text, background, tables and boxes. By making a new one of these you can change the look of all the pages in the template. Last are the actual html pages - these control page layout, which things appear, etc. You can make a new template without changing these, but changing the portal page alone can have a big impact. This is for you if: You have some skill with computer graphics and/or html coding. You have a lot of patience and can take constructive feedback on your work. You want to see your work used all over the website but don't mind that not everyone will like it!
Interested? register with this form

Graphic Design - Website Template

We currently have three different templates which users of the website can choose from - we'd love to have lots more! This is a very big job that would suit someone with good skills in graphic design and/or html coding, or a couple of people working together.

Website templates have 3 different elements - you don't have to change them all for a dramatic new template.

First are the images around the site, like in the menu at the top of every page, or buttons to make a post, etc. There are around 50 of these to change for a new template, most are small and simple.

Next is the CSS, or cascading style sheet, This controls the look of the text, background, tables and boxes. By making a new one of these you can change the look of all the pages in the template.

Last are the actual html pages - these control page layout, which things appear, etc. You can make a new template without changing these, but changing the portal page alone can have a big impact.

This is for you if:
You have some skill with computer graphics and/or html coding.
You have a lot of patience and can take constructive feedback on your work.
You want to see your work used all over the website but don't mind that not everyone will like it!

Interested? register with this form

Graphic Design - Banners
	Banners are a great way to promote the website - but they need to look really good otherwise people won't want to put them on their MySpace, etc. Banners are used all over the internet in a number of standard shapes and sizes. They need to communicate something about the site they link to so that people understand what they are clicking on. It would be good to have a range of banners that people could choose from. This is for you if: You have some skill with computer graphics. You know what people like and can make an attractive image.
Interested? register with this form

Graphic Design - Banners

Banners are a great way to promote the website - but they need to look really good otherwise people won't want to put them on their MySpace, etc.

Banners are used all over the internet in a number of standard shapes and sizes. They need to communicate something about the site they link to so that people understand what they are clicking on. It would be good to have a range of banners that people could choose from.

This is for you if:
You have some skill with computer graphics.
You know what people like and can make an attractive image.

Interested? register with this form

Writing - Reviews
We currently run a competition where the best review each month wins a twenty pound Ticketmaster voucher. We'd like to get a team of regular reviewers so that this website could become the place to find out about gigs and new bands. If we can get that to happen then we should be able to ask venues to put our reviewers on their guest lists. We're just at the beginning of this idea, so we'll soon be asking our regular reviewers to get together and work out what a good review should include. Then we'll make some people official reviwers for the website. We could also look at partnering you with photographers, and doing interviews, etc. This is for you if: You enjoy music and like to find out about bands. You can write. You don't mind having an editor - you will need to keep within certain professional standards
Interested? Have a go at uploading a review and let us know if you're interested in doing it regularly. or register with this form

Writing - Reviews

We currently run a competition where the best review each month wins a twenty pound Ticketmaster voucher.

We'd like to get a team of regular reviewers so that this website could become the place to find out about gigs and new bands. If we can get that to happen then we should be able to ask venues to put our reviewers on their guest lists.

We're just at the beginning of this idea, so we'll soon be asking our regular reviewers to get together and work out what a good review should include. Then we'll make some people official reviwers for the website. We could also look at partnering you with photographers, and doing interviews, etc.

This is for you if:
You enjoy music and like to find out about bands.
You can write.
You don't mind having an editor - you will need to keep within certain professional standards

Interested? Have a go at uploading a review and let us know if you're interested in doing it regularly.
or register with this form

Photographer - Documentary
	All the projects and volunteering that we do needs to be recorded, and one of the best ways to do that is through photographs. After all, a picture saves you having to write a thousand words :) Documentary photographers would be called on to help us record events, whether it's workshops, gigs or just capturing that smiling face when we hand someone a prize. What is important is to record what happens - it's nice to have beautiful images, but these ones also need to tell a story. Your images would be used to promote UrbanAlternatives and explain what we do, to illustrate reports, to go in the website galleries and also to provide evidence for volunteers who are working on O.C.N. Qualifications (your pictures would show them running events, etc.) You don't need your own camera for this as you would be using one belonging to UrbanAlternatives. This is for you if: You enjoy photography. You can see what is important or news-worthy about an event. You don't mind being on the edge of the action rather than centre stage.
Interested? register with this form

Photographer - Documentary

All the projects and volunteering that we do needs to be recorded, and one of the best ways to do that is through photographs. After all, a picture saves you having to write a thousand words :)

Documentary photographers would be called on to help us record events, whether it's workshops, gigs or just capturing that smiling face when we hand someone a prize. What is important is to record what happens - it's nice to have beautiful images, but these ones also need to tell a story.

Your images would be used to promote UrbanAlternatives and explain what we do, to illustrate reports, to go in the website galleries and also to provide evidence for volunteers who are working on O.C.N. Qualifications (your pictures would show them running events, etc.)

You don't need your own camera for this as you would be using one belonging to UrbanAlternatives.

This is for you if:
You enjoy photography.
You can see what is important or news-worthy about an event.
You don't mind being on the edge of the action rather than centre stage.

Interested? register with this form

UrbanAlternatives - Other Volunteering
These are just the current volunteering opportunities on the website. As well as the website, UrbanAlternatives is currently running lots of other projects in Manchester and Birmingham, such as an under 18s night, Alternative magazine, Clothes Customisation Clinic, Support Group, etc. You'll find these being planned and discussed in the forums. We're always looking for people to help out with these so just let us know or post in the Newbies forum. Or you may have your own idea for what you'd like to do? We can help! So long as what you are planning is legal and will be good for the alternative scene around Manchester or Birmigham. Most of our projects have come from people like you saying "wouldn't it be a good idea if....". Well, it probably would! and we can help.
	We won't take over, but we can help you with things like money, planning, training, budgeting, health & safety, getting permission, etc. You probably won't need all those things, but we're here for you if you do. If you've got an idea then a good first step is to start a new thread in the forums and tell people about it. You'll normally get some useful feedback and a pretty good idea whether your plans will work or not! If you're not sure about this and want to talk it over you can send a Private Message to UrbanAlternatives or any of the Peer Youth Workers. We'd love to hear from you.

UrbanAlternatives - Other Volunteering

These are just the current volunteering opportunities on the website.

As well as the website, UrbanAlternatives is currently running lots of other projects in Manchester and Birmingham, such as an under 18s night, Alternative magazine, Clothes Customisation Clinic, Support Group, etc. You'll find these being planned and discussed in the forums. We're always looking for people to help out with these so just let us know or post in the Newbies forum.

Or you may have your own idea for what you'd like to do? We can help! So long as what you are planning is legal and will be good for the alternative scene around Manchester or Birmigham. Most of our projects have come from people like you saying "wouldn't it be a good idea if....". Well, it probably would! and we can help.

We won't take over, but we can help you with things like money, planning, training, budgeting, health & safety, getting permission, etc.

You probably won't need all those things, but we're here for you if you do.

If you've got an idea then a good first step is to start a new thread in the forums and tell people about it. You'll normally get some useful feedback and a pretty good idea whether your plans will work or not! If you're not sure about this and want to talk it over you can send a Private Message to UrbanAlternatives or any of the Peer Youth Workers. We'd love to hear from you.