Plus (+) sign in file names for proposal attachments

[stephen_ashley]

Does anybody else have this problem? The proposal GUI repeatedly adds plus signs between every word in my attachment file names, completely wrecking the visual appearance of my letter.

For example, Blog Post Finance 101.pdf becomes Blog+Post+Finance+101.pdf

I've tried everything I can think of when it comes to saving the .pdfs initially, renaming them, whatever. Nothing works except omitting spaces entirely. If there's one there, the **bleep** system will slap a + in it.

How do I resolve this? It's bad enough we can't in-line linked samples, having the attachments turn into a visual disaster on top of that is just salt in the wound.

[mthornton-cpc]

Don't use spaces in your filenames. They cause issues for several reasons. Don't use them. Omit altogether. Underscore.Hypenate. Anything but spaces. Going from Mac to PC will sometimes cause compatibility issues with spaces in filenames. Different servers will sometimes display spaces in filenames differently to different OS. Simply steer clear. There's nothing unprofessional about BlogPostFinance101. 

[stephen_ashley]

It's 2018. Spaces in file names have been standard across many industries in many different applications for years. They're also supported by every major software package on both Windows and Apple systems. They're not a new fangled invention.

That's an unacceptable answer for a platform presenting itself as a professional tool. Especially in an application used exclusively to present a good first impression to clients.

[mthornton-cpc]

Unacceptable or not, I don't use spaces for precisely this reason. "It's 2018" doesn't seem to alleviate most of my gripes about the world of tech as one might think it would, so I adapt. 

ETA: Since posting my response you've edited yours, so it makes sense to add that this application is not used "exclusively to present a good first impression to clients." It's just not. 

[stephen_ashley]

This platform isn't an inanimate force of the universe that must be accepted as-is with resignation. It's a constantly updated piece of software worked on by human coders every single day, so if it needs to be updated in this matter it should be.

It's 2018 is really the only consideration where this is concerned. I would no more find it acceptable if every text box came without a toolbar and required manual markup for all formatting instead. Again, this is not a new development.

I can only assume it's a bug or quirk with my files that can be remedied with a solution, because the idea that it should be working "as intended" is clearly deficient by any contemporary technical standard.

[mthornton-cpc]

I remain convinced that this is a strange hill to die on. Between now and when Upwork spends resources on this issue (which they could spend on myriad issues more pertinent to a majority of users) you could omit spaces from your filenames if you think + somehow makes your proposals visually unpleasant. Pretty simple fix, regardless of industry standard or year. 

[stephen_ashley]

I'm here for a qualified answer to an easily remedied technical question on a professional platform, not arbitrary moral lessons about making due with software that doesn't conform to basic modern best practices, but thank you.

You maintain your own expectations for what that 20% cut buys, I'll maintain mine, I suppose.

[mthornton-cpc]

Cool. 

[aocumen]

Hi Stephen, 

I'm sorry to know that this has inconvenienced you in any way. I've looked into your account to send as examples to the team so that it can be reviewed. Our team will get back to you once we have more information. 

[stephen_ashley]

Thanks, appreciate it.

[stephen_ashley]

Hi Avery, any additional information on this front? I've managed to mostly avoid sending attachments for the last week, but just had another proposal sullied by terrible file names 😕

[kochubei_valeria]

Stephen and Glen,

We apologize for the inconvenience the attachments' names are causing you. Our engineers are aware of the issue and are planning to fix it as soon as they have the necessary resources. Unfortunately, we don't have a timeline for when the fix will be released at this time.

Thank you.

[glenh1575]

A few years ago (perhaps this was Elance not Upwork but I think it was both) spaces in filenames of attachments were replaced by underscores (_). Then that was fixed/changed and on Upwork for a long time spaces were preserved as spaces. Recently (sometime between 3/28 and 4/30/18), the system started adding a plus (+) sign in all the filename spaces.

Did something break recently? Or was this a change by design?

If by design, can Upwork please pick/announce a convention for handling spaces in filename attachments and stick to it? Every time it changes, I have to rename hundreds of work samples.

Thanks!

Glen