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

lenaellis · ‎04-19-2017

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.

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.

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.

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

vicnaum · ‎05-16-2017

Milestones are very good, thanks. But...

99% of job offers I receive don't have any clue about what the job is about, how hard it is, etc. It's just "we need an animator" or "we need animation". Clients don't bother to describe the job even initially.

To my opinion, what Upwork still lacks - is "Don't know yet" budget - both, for clients, and for freelancers.

We need an ability to talk with the client about the job first, before trying to estimate something we have zero info about.

And AFTER that - yes, we should make our proposal on price and turn-around time.

Same with client - very hard to understand if 5$ is really the client's budget, or just a temporary placeholder meaning "I don't know a price yet".

Very eager and waiting for this functionality to arrive.

AveryO · ‎05-16-2017

Hi Victor,

You and your client should be able to negotiate the contract price and terms during the interview phase. Remember that you can always bid higher or lower than the price set by the client, and you could explain on your proposal and the interview why you set the contract price as such.

Once you are able to agree on the price, the client can edit the contract price on his end.

vicnaum · ‎05-16-2017

That's exactly what I'm talking about.

But instead of that, the project that consists only of words:

"We need a 3D animation."

And to start a discussion I should put something in price and time-line. Which confuses me and the client too - I need to deliberately explain that the price and time in my interview form is just a placeholder which doesn't mean anything until I get more details about the project. It's not a user-friendly experience.

versailles · ‎05-18-2017

Is it possible that Upwork either gets rid of this or makes it optional while answering to an invite?

I mean, it is mandatory to fill a milestone wile responding to an invite and yet it is almost never possible to estimate anything at the invite stage.

It's annoying and it serves no purpose.

What is needed is the possibility for freelancers to suggest milestones during the course of the project. Not this.

allergywriter · ‎05-18-2017

I think what we have here is a failure to communicate.

Every since we crossed the magical bridge from Elance, freelancers have been asking for the ability to set milestones. I was one of those asking for the change. The problem is we didn't clarify that we wanted to do it for existing jobs!

Upwork falsely assumed we wanted to do it at the proposal stage because the designers have never worked as freelancers on this platform. They don't understand UI from the actual U's point of view. So, they said you want milestones...we'll give you milestones.

versailles · ‎05-18-2017

@Cheryl K wrote:
I think what we have here is a failure to communicate.

Communication, or the lack of thereof, It's one of the major issues with Upwork. Almost every feature they release is a near miss because they don't want to communicate with their community.

Not saying that everything that emanates from the community is worth considering, far from it, but the most experienced top rated freelancers have some good ideas about how to make things better.

Of course, Upwork doesn't need their input. Upwork team knows better.

kochubei_valeria · ‎05-18-2017

Hi Rene,

We've stated on this thread before that a feature that will allow freelancers to suggest milestones on active contracts is currently in development and we are planning to introduce it in the future.

jcullinan · ‎05-18-2017

@Avery O wrote:
Hi Victor,

You and your client should be able to negotiate the contract price and terms during the interview phase. Remember that you can always bid higher or lower than the price set by the client, and you could explain on your proposal and the interview why you set the contract price as such.

Once you are able to agree on the price, the client can edit the contract price on his end.

One has to get to the interview stage in order to have this conversation, but one has to develop a proposal WITH A BUDGET in order to get to the interview stage, but one needs to have this conversation in order to propose a rational budget number.

Do you understand the problem?

Clients need a LOT more guidance on how to post sufficient descriptions of their jobs, and Upwork could give Freelancers better tools to help clients out during the proposal stage. 95% of the fixed-price jobs posted on the site right now do not contain enough information for a freelancer to effectively propose even a single milestone, much less an accurate estimate for the whole project.

wendy_writes · ‎05-20-2017

The fact that Upwork is developing a "feature that will allow freelancers to suggest milestones on active contracts is currently in development" fails to address the crux of the issue.

Upwork implemented a feature that does not function as management has hoped. Unless, of course, management intended to lose money.

As has been noted numerous times by successful freelancers, requiring milestones - even if they are changeable after the fact - fails to give the buyer a scintilla of information on what their job might cost.

Will Upwork ever learn to listen, hear, and act on what those of us who help pay the bills for your salaries say?

timur2010 · ‎09-13-2017

Hello!

how will I know if client rehired me by rehire button or not?

What I am concerned about is - after I complete job offered with this "Rehire" feature, will the job post and feedback and everything look as usual at my profile?