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Feature Releases: Freelancer Initiated Milestones, Notepad in Messages and Client Rehire Button

lenaellis
Community Member

Hi everyone,

We have several new features that will be release in the next two weeks that we hope you will find useful. Let us know your feedback. 

 

Freelancer Initiated Milestones:

This week, freelancers and agencies will be able to propose milestones when submitting proposals for fixed-price projects over $100. This functionality can be found in the “Describe your terms” section of the proposal.
Freelancers will see an option to divide the work into milestones, providing each with a description, amount, and optional due date. Clients will have the option to edit milestones as part of the offer process, giving freelancers the ability to accept or decline.

 

This has been a request from our Community for a long time and we are glad to finally share this update with you all. We hope that by having freelancers initiate the milestones, they can better explain their bid amount and demonstrate their approach to the work.

We will be expanding this functionality into contracts, allowing freelancers to add milestones on active contracts in the coming months. To learn more check out our blog post here.


FL Milestones.png

FL Milestones 2.png

 

Private Notepad in Messages:
In Messages, freelancers and clients will soon see a notepad feature giving you the ability to take private notes directly next to your conversations. This can be useful for compiling short to-do lists or to jot down your thoughts during interviews.

To access your personal notepad, click inside any Messages conversation. You’ll see a "notes" icon on the top right of your screen. By clicking the icon, you’ll open or close the notepad. Simply type within the provided field, and your notes will automatically save for you to access at any time. Your notes are only visible to you, and are specific to the Messages room you took them in.

personal notepad.png


Client Rehire Freelancer Button:

Clients will soon see a “Rehire a Freelancer” button on their My Jobs page. When clicking on the “Rehire a Freelancer” button in the upper right corner, clients can then select the freelancer they would like to rehire and send them an offer. By utilizing the rehire button, we hope to make the experience easier and quicker for clients to find and work with a past freelancer, again.

 

rehire button.png

 

 

 

rehirefl.png

 

 

Let us know if you have any questions on these features!

34 Comments
versailles
Community Member

Great upgrades. I hope the IT infrastructure holds and that we don't see downtimes any more. If we don't see outages, I'm happy with those upgrades.

 

Edit: OK, forget what I wrote before. The outages are already back. Of course.

creativedigit
Community Member

Yayyya yaya yaaa! That's amazing! 

 

Thanks a lot, Lena!

 

My workaround is a bit different than what Lena recommended. Here's mine:

 

- Star messages that require future actions, which will be your Todo list of actionable items as written by either you or your client.

 

- Copy the credentials provided by the client into the Notepad section.

 

- When you are ready to begin working, filter the room by starred messages, and click the Notepad icon to show the credentials at all times for quick access.

 

- As you finish your Todos, unstar messages for each completed Todo. 

 

- Enjoy life :")

 

Best regards, 

Wassim

allergywriter
Community Member

will the freelancer be able to initiate milestones on open jobs or are you just adding a feature that allows you to break a proposal into milestones?

 

If it is the former, that's what freelancers have been asking to do since we crossed the glorious bridge from E-Lance, if it is the latter, no real biggie

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Cheryl,

 

This feature will allow freelancers to outline milestone in their proposals. In the future the team is considering adding a similar feature for active contracts.

wendy_writes
Community Member

Valeria, do you really mean "will allow freelancers to outline milestone in their proposals" as opposed to within conversations w/ prospective clients?  

 

Most of us would be more than hard pressed to glean enough info from RFPs to even venture estimating work scope and time lines based merely on RFPs.

 

Cheryl, thanks for getting greater clarity on this.  

 

Ah well, I should have known my celebratory dance and thank you was premature.

 

 

iaabraham
Community Member

@Wendy C wrote:

Valeria, do you really mean "will allow freelancers to outline milestone in their proposals" as opposed to within conversations w/ prospective clients?  

 

Most of us would be more than hard pressed to glean enough info from RFPs to even venture estimating work scope and time lines based merely on RFPs.

 

Cheryl, thanks for getting greater clarity on this.  

 

Ah well, I should have known my celebratory dance and thank you was premature.

 

 


This is exactly why this feature doesn't mean much to me. I remember a similar feature on Elance and/or Guru, and it's of no help to the kinds of jobs I apply to (especially something like, for example, a short proofreading job).

 

I get how this would be useful for long-term projects that have a whole process behind them.

kochubei_valeria
Community Member

Wendy,

 

We understand that some jobs don't have enough details to finalize milestones. What's why freelancer will be able to edit milestones they suggest by proposing different terms once they get more information during the interview.

wendy_writes
Community Member

Or continue doing as we do now. Mention the use of milestones and then fill in the 'blanks' after a coversation w/ the buyer.  

 

Thanks, Valeria,

fa426b0b
Community Member

I used the new Notepad feature to record some notes for discussion with my Freelancer, and now the Notes feature seems to have disappeared.  Not sure I will be trying any new features from Upwork again until there is a little more certainty that they won't just disappear the next day... 😞

 

KK

melaniemaghanoy
Community Member

Hi Kevin, we'll reach out to your directly for further assistance.