diff --git a/src/components/CreateCellDialog.tsx b/src/components/CreateCellDialog.tsx
index ca4f0c7..9ccecda 100644
--- a/src/components/CreateCellDialog.tsx
+++ b/src/components/CreateCellDialog.tsx
@@ -23,16 +23,24 @@ import {
   DialogTitle,
   DialogTrigger,
 } from "@/components/ui/dialog";
+import { useToast } from "@/hooks/use-toast";
+import { urlLoads } from "@/lib/utils/urlLoads";
 
 const formSchema = z.object({
   title: z.string().min(3, "Title must be at least 3 characters").max(50, "Title must be less than 50 characters"),
   description: z.string().min(10, "Description must be at least 10 characters").max(200, "Description must be less than 200 characters"),
-  icon: z.string().url("Please enter a valid URL for the icon"),
+  icon: z
+    .string()
+    .optional()
+    .refine((val) => !val || val.length === 0 || URL.canParse(val), {
+      message: "Must be a valid URL"
+    }),
 });
 
 export function CreateCellDialog() {
   const { createCell, isPostingCell } = useForum();
   const { isAuthenticated } = useAuth();
+  const { toast } = useToast();
   const [open, setOpen] = React.useState(false);
   
   const form = useForm<z.infer<typeof formSchema>>({
@@ -40,12 +48,25 @@ export function CreateCellDialog() {
     defaultValues: {
       title: "",
       description: "",
-      icon: "",
+      icon: undefined,
     },
   });
 
   const onSubmit = async (values: z.infer<typeof formSchema>) => {
-    const cell = await createCell(values.title, values.description, values.icon);
+    // Validate icon URL if provided
+    if (values.icon && values.icon.trim()) {
+      const ok = await urlLoads(values.icon, 5000);
+      if (!ok) {
+        toast({
+          title: "Icon URL Error",
+          description: "Icon URL could not be loaded. Please check the URL and try again.",
+          variant: "destructive",
+        });
+        return;
+      }
+    }
+
+    const cell = await createCell(values.title, values.description, values.icon || undefined);
     if (cell) {
       setOpen(false);
       form.reset();
@@ -100,12 +121,13 @@ export function CreateCellDialog() {
               name="icon"
               render={({ field }) => (
                 <FormItem>
-                  <FormLabel>Icon URL</FormLabel>
+                  <FormLabel>Icon URL (optional)</FormLabel>
                   <FormControl>
                     <Input 
-                      placeholder="Enter icon URL"
+                      placeholder="Enter icon URL (optional)"
                       type="url"
                       {...field}
+                      value={field.value || ""}
                       disabled={isPostingCell}
                     />
                   </FormControl>
diff --git a/src/components/ui/CypherImage.tsx b/src/components/ui/CypherImage.tsx
index 31104b6..33f75f9 100644
--- a/src/components/ui/CypherImage.tsx
+++ b/src/components/ui/CypherImage.tsx
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import React, { useState } from 'react';
 import { cn } from '@/lib/utils';
 
 type CypherImageProps = {
-  src: string;
+  src?: string;
   alt: string;
   className?: string;
   fallbackClassName?: string;
@@ -25,14 +25,14 @@ export function CypherImage({
   
   // Generate a seed based on the alt text or src to create consistent fallbacks for the same resource
   const seed = generateUniqueFallback ? 
-    (alt || src).split('').reduce((acc, char) => acc + char.charCodeAt(0), 0) : 0;
+    (alt || src || 'fallback').split('').reduce((acc, char) => acc + char.charCodeAt(0), 0) : 0;
   
   // Handle image load error
   const handleError = () => {
     setImageError(true);
   };
 
-  if (imageError) {
+  if (imageError || !src || src.trim() === '') {
     // Generate some values based on the seed for variety
     const hue = (seed % 60) + 140; // Cyan-ish colors (140-200)
     const gridSize = (seed % 8) + 8; // 8-16px
diff --git a/src/contexts/ForumContext.tsx b/src/contexts/ForumContext.tsx
index 909ef7b..30e46c4 100644
--- a/src/contexts/ForumContext.tsx
+++ b/src/contexts/ForumContext.tsx
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ interface ForumContextType {
   createComment: (postId: string, content: string) => Promise<Comment | null>;
   votePost: (postId: string, isUpvote: boolean) => Promise<boolean>;
   voteComment: (commentId: string, isUpvote: boolean) => Promise<boolean>;
-  createCell: (name: string, description: string, icon: string) => Promise<Cell | null>;
+  createCell: (name: string, description: string, icon?: string) => Promise<Cell | null>;
   refreshData: () => Promise<void>;
   moderatePost: (
     cellId: string,
@@ -223,7 +223,7 @@ export function ForumProvider({ children }: { children: React.ReactNode }) {
     return result;
   };
 
-  const handleCreateCell = async (name: string, description: string, icon: string): Promise<Cell | null> => {
+  const handleCreateCell = async (name: string, description: string, icon?: string): Promise<Cell | null> => {
     setIsPostingCell(true);
     const result = await createCell(
       name, 
diff --git a/src/contexts/forum/actions.ts b/src/contexts/forum/actions.ts
index 65ab831..a9ce5b6 100644
--- a/src/contexts/forum/actions.ts
+++ b/src/contexts/forum/actions.ts
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ export const createComment = async (
 export const createCell = async (
   name: string,
   description: string,
-  icon: string, 
+  icon: string | undefined, 
   currentUser: User | null, 
   isAuthenticated: boolean,
   toast: ToastFunction,
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ export const createCell = async (
       id: cellId,
       name,
       description,
-      icon,
+      ...(icon && { icon }),
       timestamp: Date.now(),
       author: currentUser.address
     };
diff --git a/src/contexts/forum/transformers.ts b/src/contexts/forum/transformers.ts
index dbc20d7..9e9c0e9 100644
--- a/src/contexts/forum/transformers.ts
+++ b/src/contexts/forum/transformers.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ export const transformCell = (
     id: cellMessage.id,
     name: cellMessage.name,
     description: cellMessage.description,
-    icon: cellMessage.icon,
+    icon: cellMessage.icon || '',
     signature: cellMessage.signature,
     browserPubKey: cellMessage.browserPubKey
   };
diff --git a/src/contexts/forum/types.ts b/src/contexts/forum/types.ts
index 3a9edd0..1e6651c 100644
--- a/src/contexts/forum/types.ts
+++ b/src/contexts/forum/types.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@ export interface ForumContextType {
   createComment: (postId: string, content: string) => Promise<Comment | null>;
   votePost: (postId: string, isUpvote: boolean) => Promise<boolean>;
   voteComment: (commentId: string, isUpvote: boolean) => Promise<boolean>;
-  createCell: (name: string, description: string, icon: string) => Promise<Cell | null>;
+  createCell: (name: string, description: string, icon?: string) => Promise<Cell | null>;
   refreshData: () => Promise<void>;
 } 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/utils/urlLoads.ts b/src/lib/utils/urlLoads.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4ff70ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/lib/utils/urlLoads.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+/**
+ * Utility to check if a URL loads successfully within a timeout
+ */
+export async function urlLoads(url: string, timeoutMs: number = 5000): Promise<boolean> {
+  try {
+    const controller = new AbortController();
+    const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), timeoutMs);
+    
+    const response = await fetch(url, {
+      method: 'HEAD',
+      signal: controller.signal,
+      cache: 'no-cache'
+    });
+    
+    clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+    return response.ok;
+  } catch (error) {
+    return false;
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/lib/waku/messages_parser.ts b/src/lib/waku/messages_parser.ts
index 97c506a..368777e 100644
--- a/src/lib/waku/messages_parser.ts
+++ b/src/lib/waku/messages_parser.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export function cellToMessage(cell: Cell, sender: string): CellMessage {
     id: cell.id,
     name: cell.name,
     description: cell.description,
-    icon: cell.icon
+    ...(cell.icon && { icon: cell.icon })
   };
 }
 
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ export function messageToCell(message: CellMessage): Cell {
     id: message.id,
     name: message.name,
     description: message.description,
-    icon: message.icon
+    icon: message.icon || ''
   };
 }