Developer Needed to Implement Custom Figma Design into OJS (Open Journal Systems)

We are looking for a developer to implement a fully designed academic journal website into Open Journal Systems (OJS) — version 3+.

The design is complete and approved in Figma, and includes:

A custom homepage with featured articles and calls to action

Custom article and issue layouts

Sticky sidebar for navigation

Submission guidelines section with tabbed navigation

Fully responsive breakpoints for mobile, tablet, and desktop

Clean UX, high accessibility, and modern frontend structure

We value clean, maintainable code that respects OJS’s theming standards, with flexibility for future updates and functionality.

⚙️ Required Skills

PHP

Smarty (template engine used in OJS)

HTML / CSS / JavaScript

Ability to follow a Figma design with precision

Experience with responsive web development

🌟 Nice to Have

Prior experience working with OJS (Open Journal Systems)

Understanding of academic publishing platforms or editorial workflows

Familiarity with accessibility (WCAG) or UX for content-heavy sites

Git / version control workflows

📦 Deliverables

Custom OJS theme implemented from the Figma design

Responsive templates for all key views (home, article, issue, submission)

Sidebar, tabs, hover states, and layout animations implemented where applicable

Theme delivered in a way that is compatible with OJS updates

Optional: short handoff documentation or overview of the theme

Qualifications

• Clean UX, high accessibility, and modern frontend structure
• PHP
• Smarty (template engine used in OJS)
• HTML / CSS / JavaScript
• Ability to follow a Figma design with precision
• Experience with responsive web development
• Prior experience working with OJS (Open Journal Systems)
• Understanding of academic publishing platforms or editorial workflows
• Familiarity with accessibility (WCAG) or UX for content-heavy sites
• Git / version control workflows
• Sidebar, tabs, hover states, and layout animations implemented where applicable

Responsibilities

• A custom homepage with featured articles and calls to action
• Custom article and issue layouts
• Sticky sidebar for navigation
• Submission guidelines section with tabbed navigation
• Fully responsive breakpoints for mobile, tablet, and desktop
• We value clean, maintainable code that respects OJS’s theming standards, with flexibility for future updates and functionality
• Responsive templates for all key views (home, article, issue, submission)