Glitch in UpWork's "Add a To-Do" feature

[elizabeth_samit]

My new client utilized UpWork's new "Add a To-Do" feature to provide work instructions to me. Since none of my clients had ever used this feature, I was puzzled when this client emailed that the instructions were provided. There was no email or attachment in our WorkRoom that instructions were provided via the "Add a To-Do" feature (which no other client of mine had ever used & I had no idea even existed). After checking under the drop-down menu for "My Jobs" & then clicking on the "Time Sheet", I was able to view the "Add a To-Do" content & acquire my client's instructions. Since I commenced working on this platform in 2012 as Elance (predecessor to UpWork) & have been performing ghostwriting and editing consistently via UpWork since that time, I was surprised to discover this new feature inadvertently from a mix-up with a new client. When was this UpWork feature added? I am assuming it is very recent since UpWork placed the word "new" (in a blue oval) next to it in the "My Jobs" menu options. There really is a glitch in that nothing at all appears in the WorkRoom to notify the Freelancer that the Client has inserted a "To-Do". This problem really needs to be corrected, as the only way I can know if this client (or any other client) has used this feature is to check daily under "Time Sheet" to see if something new appears in "Add a To-Do". I usually only view my Messages (which transmit to my SmartPhone) each day to know if my clients are trying to contact me with a request, question, or anything else, but now have to perform another daily step to ensure that I understand if clients are trying to request something from me. What a nuisance!

[ArjayM]

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you for reaching out.

We want to help your project succeed, that's why we’ve created a new organizational tool, to-do lists. Everyone in the contract can manage the to-do list. This includes adding, editing, deleting, reordering, and marking to-dos as complete. Upwork sends notifications when to-dos are added, edited, deleted, or marked as complete. These notifications are delivered to everyone in the contract and are accessible in Messages and notifications.

We highly suggest you check this help article for you to be more acquainted with how to best manage your To-Do List.

[elizabeth_samit]

Per your response that "UpWork sends notifications when to-do are added...", I received no notification at all when the client inserted tasks in UpWork's "to-do list". The client included as the first task "test to see if to-do list is working" or similar, & I responded by replying "Done". My client did not receive that notification either so contacted UpWork to resolve this glitch. Again, neither of us received notifications that apparently were supposed to occur.  Since I used to be fairly tech-savvy, I subsequently noticed a button on the "to-do list" page that specified "off" underneath it - so I turned it "on". However, the lack of a simple written direction (aimed at client ease of use) on the "to-do list" to turn the list "on" could have prevented the resultant mix-up that occurred. While I will read the "help article" you suggested, I doubt the vast majority of clients will bother to read the "help article" before using the new "To-Do List" feature. As the Freelancer, my understanding of how to add (or delete) a task within an existent hourly job is less critical than that the Client knows how to do it. I do hope that UpWork will at least add a sentence on the "To-Do List" page that tells the Client to turn on the Feature in order for auto-generated notification of the Freelancer to occur. In the past, any other client of mine wishing me to know a list of tasks has either emailed it, used a GoogleDocs spreadsheet, or used external contact management software to accomplish this. Yesterday (December 14, 2022) was the first time any client of mine has ever used Upwork's "To-Do List" feature (albeit without turning it "on") that I did not even know existed much less used myself. I value my working relationships with my clients (even as much as my longstanding "Top-Rated" badge), and this could have resulted in extremely negative consequences for me if I had not emailed the client to remind her that I still had not received her project instructions. Therefore, I do feel the confusing end-user experience needs to be rectified by UpWorks technology-related staff rather than expecting clients/freelancers (but especially clients) to avoid the same problem as I just experienced. If this simple problem is not addressed by UpWork, I have no doubt it will happen to many other freelancers who have no idea that a new client is using the "To-Do List" feature, unless these freelancers manually-check every client to see if that person used their "To-Do List" and/or emailing each client to find out. Please, please, please have someone at Upwork fix this issue! Thank you in advance.