Important alert: Jan 27, 2012 1:22:08 PM EDT.

We have rolled out another round of enhancements and bug fixes, including: changes to the posting policy, enhancements for on-the-job trials (crowdsouring/trialsourcing) and to the project pages, updates to Skrill payment information and the browse/search worker pages, and various other bug fixes. View the Site Improvements Blog for the complete list of changes.
UPDATE January 20th on phishing scam: We've received new reports of a second phishing email (claiming to be a prize from vWorker and Julia Robertson). Click here for full information.
We have published another story in our case study series, provided by employer Marco-Hans Van Der Willik (Zoe-X). Click here to read about his story.

Instant Messaging (IM)

Instant messaging (IM) lets you communicate back and forth in real-time with the other party. It allows a much faster "back and forth" communication than posting a normal message on the private message, which can make it great for interviewing (or being interviewed), working out questions/issues and asking for (or giving) quick status updates. Unlike a chat room, IM doesn't require both parties to formally coordinate a time to meet, and allows for impromptu conversation which is more rapid, natural and effective. Below are answers to common questions about IM.

How is instant messaging useful to me?
- Employers: You can use instant messaging to quickly interview potential workers before you accept them. Once you've chosen your worker, you can use it to more effectively communicate with them on your project.
- Workers: You can use instant messaging to impress an employer during the interview process and/or clarify the project requirements. Once you've been chosen as the bid winner, you can use it to more effectively communicate with them on your project.
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How do I send an instant message?
- Instant messaging requires no special downloads or additional software to work. Just go to the private message thread (click here for details). You will see a small box fade into the lower right hand corner of your screen (if you don't see it, click here to understand why it isn't available):
- Click on the box and the instant messaging window will popup. Then just begin typing. The other person will see your message popup if they are online (have any page open on the site). They can then reply in the same way, and two of you can instantly communicate back and forth:
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Where do I go to send an instant message?

You can send an instant message to the other party from the private message thread. There are two main ways to get to this page.
- If the other party has written to you already, you received an email notification and a to-do list item. You can click on the link to the reply from either place to get to the private message thread.
  
  OR
- Go to the project page and look at the messages section (If you're not sure where it is, you can also go to the 'shortcuts' menu on the project page and click on 'messages summary'). Then click on "view messages" next to the person's name to get to the private message thread.
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Who can I send an instant message to?

To protect all users from receiving unsolicited IM spam, there are limits on who can send IM's during the bidding process. Once the employer selects a worker, the limits are removed and the two can IM back and forth at any time.

During bidding:
- Employers can initiate an IM to any worker who has posted a bid/comment on one of their projects. (However it must be a legitimate bid/comment. Simply inviting the worker to bid/comment, is not sufficient. This protects a worker from an employer who sends out mass-invites to workers, with an intention of IM spamming them.)
- Workers can initiate IM's with an employer once an employer has IMed them at least once on the project. This protects an employer from a worker who mass auto-bids to IM spam employers, as well as from receiving IM's from workers with whom they are not interested in doing business with.
After bidding:
- Both the employer and the selected worker can IM at any time.
Additional note: The other party will not receive your IM if they are offline, set their status as "busy", have blocked you or disabled IM. These additional features are described below in this FAQ.

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What do the Instant Messaging statuses mean?

	Online: This user can send and receive IMs.
	Busy (do not disturb): Other users cannot initiate an IM conversation with this user (although they may still choose to initiate one).
	Offline: This user is not online.
	Disabled: This user has disabled IMs.

	Loading...: The status is being loaded.

	Your IM is disabled: You cannot see your own (or other people's) status, because you have disabled IM in your settings. (Note: this also will appear if you are not logged in, because the site doesn't know who you are).

	System unavailable: The IM service is being rebooted or is under temporary maintenance.

How do I change my IM status?

If you do nothing, the site will automatically update your status as "online" whenever you are viewing any page of the site. If you keep a page open for a long time, you do *not* have to remember to hit "refresh" periodacally to keep your IM status updated (the site does this for you automatically).

You can change your status (and other IM settings) from the "my alerts" page. To get to this page:
1. Go to your menu: "my account", "my registration settings", "my alerts / info". Then scroll down to the "Instant messaging" section.
  
  OR
2. Use the shortcut link to this page from your profile page (which only you can see). Click on your employer or worker profile link in the upper right hand corner of the page, go to the "Instant messaging status" section and click on "change my status".
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How do I view other peoples' IM status?

Their IM status is shown with an icon that you can see:
1. On their profile page. (There's a large icon at the very top left hand corner and a smaller one lower down in the 'instant messaging status' section.)
2. Anywhere their name is displayed on the project page.
3. Anywhere their name is displayed on the private message thread.
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How can I prevent people from IMing me?

There are a number of different ways:
- Block particular user:
  This prevents a particular user from sending and receiving IMs to/from you. To do this, click on "block" in the upper left hand corner of the user's IM Window. Or another way to do this is to go to 'My account' and then 'My IM block list'. (Note: you can still see when they are online/offline and vice versa, but no IM communication will be sent in either direction....unless you decide to un-block them).
- Set your status to "Busy (please do not disturb)":
  This prevents all people from initiating IM conversations with you. However you can still initiate IM's whenever you want (doing so will switch you automatically to "online"). To set your status to "busy" , go to the "my alerts" page (go to "my account", "my registration settings", "my alerts / info"), then change the dropdown that says "When online, show my status as".
- Disable IM:
  This completely turns off the instant messaging feature, so you can neither receive nor send to any other users. To do this, go to the 'my alerts' page (go to "my account", "my registration settings", "my alerts / info"), then uncheck "Enable instant messaging".
- Go offline (automatic):
  When you close all browsers pointing to the site (and the AccuTimeCard™ program if applicable), the site will automatically change your status to offline after ten minutes of inactivity. While offline, people cannot send you messages.
Click here to see an explanation of the different IM statuses.

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Where can I receive IM messages?

As long as you have any page from the site open in a browser, you can receive IM messages. This makes it much more flexible than a chat room, because you don't have to coordinate a time with the other party.

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I'm a worker. How can I make myself most available for potential clients and interviews via IM?

Just keep a browser open on your desktop with any page from vWorker.com, and the site will keep your IM status updated as "online" and you will see any incoming messages on that page.

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How can I change (or disable) the sound for IMs?

You can change your sound (and other IM settings) from the 'my alerts' page. Go to "my account", "my registration settings", "my alerts / info", then scroll down to the 'Instant messaging' section.

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Where can I see the log of my IM conversation?

You can view the log from the private message section of the project:

If you want to hide the IM messages from displaying, you can check the 'Hide IM (instant message) Details' checkbox at the bottom of that page.

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Can IM logs be used in arbitration? (applies to pay-for-deliverables only)

Instant forms of communication can lead to ambiguous and inaccurate logs (example). For this reason, it's possible that an IM log will be ruled as ambiguous/unusable and not be considered in arbitration. To protect yourself 100% in case of a dispute (on pay-for-deliverables projects), we highly recommend that you post a summary in the private message thread after the IM session is complete (and get the other party to verify on-site, that it is accurate).

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The other party IM-ed me and asked me to pay them/receive payment from them directly over IM (rather than escrow funds through vWorker.com. Should I do it?

Please report them. Bypassing us and dealing directly, is a way to rob us of our fee, potentially victimize you and is a violation of their contract. If you work with someone like this, you are completely at-risk and lose all the protections that the site offers you. You also unnecessarily risk losing your own account, since we do randomly monitor all site communication and doing so is a violation of your contract as well.

Project risks caused by paying the other party directly (rather than through vWorker.com) include:
1. To employers: The worker is able to deliver incomplete deliverables (or nothing at all) and still take your money. You will have absolutely no recourse at all.
2. To workers: The employer is able to make you work for free and never pay you. You will again have absolutely no recourse at all.
There are unfortunately real-life examples of unscrupulous employers and workers who have managed to scam people out of tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars. So if someone solicits you offsite, we ask that you keep the site safe by reporting them.

If you are thinking of soliciting someone offsite, remember that in addition to relying on people to report abusers, we also randomly monitor all communications. When caught, your account will be closed, and all funds forfeited as well (per your contract).

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Can I send HTML in IMs?

Yes, although tags are limited to protect site users against hackers and phishers. Click here for a full list of allowed HTML tags.

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