**Message Center

Articles in this section

Why are you releasing this Messages Lite?

Thanks for your question. By offering a “lite” version of our full “Messages” experience, you can access, write and receive messages faster in our mobile app. You can also:

Review your list of contacts
Receive files without previews
Attach files to send

How will I know when I’m using Messages Lite?

Thanks for your question. After clicking on “Messages” inside of your Upwork app, you will see a prompt informing you that you are using the new Messages Lite.

Is it possible to search for contacts or messages inside Messages Lite?

Thanks for your question. No, Messages Lite has a limited set of features. You will be able to:

Review your list of contacts
Send and receive messages
Receive forwarded messages
Receive files without previews
Attach files to send

AGENT INFO: These features exist in classic Messages but will be not available in Messages Lite at this time:

Quoting a message
Making a call/Receiving a call
Searching contacts
Searching messages
Changing settings in Messages
Adding an “out of office” notification
Creating a new room
Configuring integrations
Using personal notepad
Files & links (tab with all room files and links)
Reviewing members of the room
Adding people to the room
Leaving room
Archiving room
Removing a message
Marking a message as unread
Reporting a message
Editing room name/topic
Adding a room to favorites
Muting room notifications
Broadcasting message
Filtering contacts by recent, favorites, category
Viewing all people and rooms list

Are you getting rid of the old Messages and replacing it with Messages Lite?

Thanks for reaching out. There are no plans to replace “Messages” with Messages Lite. The “lite” version just allows for a streamlined, faster experience when using the mobile app.

User Limits

For job post limits and for number of messaged rooms, Scam Ops will lift the limitation for everyone with spend.
For job invites limits there is nothing much we can do as the limitations are in-product and OBO exemption cannot override them
For number of users per room this is again set up firmly in-product so it turns out from the users' responses that we can't change it on our end whatever we apply

Re-assign tickets to Spam_Scam_Dash_Limits

Use Slack channel: ask-scam-spam for urgent requests

Don’t share maximum #’s with users as these are confidential T&S numbers that are subject to change.

Maximum # of Users per Room

We limit each room to 5 users or to the combined number of teammates (address book contacts not attached to contracts) and unique users on active contracts – whichever count is higher. When a user attempts to exceed the user limit in a room, the following error message will appear with an option to contact CS for an exception:

Maximum # of Messaged Rooms

Users are only able to message up to 75 rooms in a 24-hour UTC period. When a user messages more than 75 different rooms, the following error message will appear in which they can also see an option to contact CS for an exception:

Once a user requests an exception, we will manually review to ensure that the user is using Messages as intended. If the exception is approved, the user will be added to the whitelist and unblocked within 3 hours.

Please do not share specific maximums as these are confidential Trust & Safety numbers that may be subject to change.

How will this affect my job invites as a client?

Job invites won’t count against your maximum message limit. However, if a freelancer responds to your invitation to interview, that response will be considered a new message, and will count toward your daily messaging limit. Once you’ve reached this limit, you will not be able to send any more messages until 0:00 UTC, but we will not prevent the freelancer from replying.

As a client, do my responses to freelancer applications count toward these messaging limits?

Yes. Once you respond to a freelancer application, the response is counted toward the daily messaging limit.

What is the maximum number of users I can add to a room / the maximum number of users I can message in a day?

In order to help ensure the safety of all of those on the platform, we are refraining from sharing limit numbers. We apologize for the inconvenience and assure you that we institute these maximums based on past user behavior.

Personal Notepad

There is a personal notepad option within Upwork Messages so users can take private notes directly next to their conversations. Users can access more information here: Use Messages

Users will see different prompts on their notepads depending on whether the user is a client or a freelancer, or whether the conversation is happening in an interview or contract context.

To access: click on the notepad icon in the ellipsis menu on the top right of the Messages screen when inside a conversation. Once the user starts typing in the note field, notes will be saved automatically. Clicking the notepad icon again will minimize

Are my notes saved automatically?

Yes, your notes have been saved automatically when you see “All changes saved” on the top right of your personal notepad. If you hover your mouse over the text, you’ll be able to see when your notes were last saved.

Can I access my notes in the mobile app?

Currently, this is not possible. We are looking to expand this to mobile in the future.

Hire in Messages

Clients are able to hire freelancers directly from the Message Center! Whether they're corresponding with a new applicant or a freelancer they've previously worked with, they will see a “Hire Freelancer” button inside the messages page.

Once clicked, it will lead the client to the contract creation page.

Out-of-Office Responder

When switched on, this feature will send automatic replies to incoming messages when the user is not available for immediate response. Note that once the out-of-office responder is switched on, the user will appear as Out of Office across all of his or her companies on Upwork.

Here’s how to access the new functionality in your browser:

Click the gear icon on the top left of your Upwork Messages screen and select “Out-of-Office Responder” in the drop-down menu
Once on the “Out-of-Office Responder” page, toggle the responder on, and set your away message and the start/end dates

Users will also be able to set their out-of-office responder messages through Messages on their desktop app. See screenshot below:

Mark Messages as Unread and Save as Draft

Unread

Users can now mark messages as unread in Upwork Messages. To mark a message as unread, click the gear icon to the right of a sent message and select “Mark as Unread.”

The “New Messages” line will then be dropped above this message and the user will be defaulted to the last Messages room visited.

Save as Draft

As of April 13, 2022, Upwork Messages is now saving content added to the composer field until it’s sent or removed. So even if the user closed the browser, refreshed the page, or opened the room on a different device, the message will stay in the composer field. It will work the same as in Slack.

Video and Voice Messaging

We’ve launched Upworks own Video/Voice functionality for Messages. It can be accessed through the icon in the top right hand nav of Messages.

You can view the user help page here.

How to Giphy

Slash commands from Giphy, a GIF search engine, is integrated into Upwork Messages (internally known as Dash). Users (including you!) will be able to insert GIFs into messages – whether it’s to better express a sentiment or idea, or for visual analogy.

Type /giphy on a new line followed by a space, then a keyword or phrase
Hit enter on the keyboard to see a GIF chooser pop up where you can click “Shuffle” until you’re happy with the GIF displayed, then click “Send” to send it to the recipient

Are all Giphy GIFs safe for work?

Giphy follows the same structure as the MPAA rating system. By default, only GIFs that are rated PG (parental guidance suggested) and G (for general audiences) will be displayed on Upwork Messages.

FAQs

How do I screenshare?

Please click the "screenshare" icon once on a video call. It is located in the bottom-center of the screen.

How do I provide feedback on this new feature?

Please click on “leave feedback” in the top left of the video screen.

Can I invite users that are not in a room with me to my video call?

No. For now the link is only accessible to users in the chat room. First, you need to begin a chat room with the user you’d like to do the call with and then you can initiate the call from that room.

How many users can join one video call?

There's no limit.

Can I join via mobile?

No. The feature is not mobile compatible.

Are there any DASH Integration Guidelines?

At the moment we do not have any documentation on the integration yet. However, users are welcome to try and see how it works.

Is Google Apps supported as collaboration on Dropbox (Same question about Atlassian Confluence)?

You can only upload files from Dropbox as there are no collaborations at this point. Same for Google Drive file/links.

How do I invite non-Upwork colleagues, friends and family to use Messages?

For your account and team (as admin/owner), you can invite people via an email from the Staff & Permissions page under Settings in Upwork. You can also invite them to a group room by clicking on “Invite users.”

How do I update my notifications?

You can update your settings by clicking on the settings gear (top right corner) in Messages and clicking on “notifications.”

Are all of the messages I send on Messages saved?

Yes, all your messages will be saved in the “room” where that conversation occurred. “Rooms” are defined as conversations you have with at least 1 other person.

Can archived rooms be unarchived?

No, archived rooms cannot be unarchived.

Can rooms be archived?

Users with admin or owner rights can archive group workrooms that aren't tied to an active contract by selecting, "Archive." The "Archive" button is not available for an interview or contract room, however. In that case, the room's owner must block the other party in order to archive the room. If a contract is closed, there should be little need to continue communicating. If a new contract is created we will create a new room.

Note: We do not automatically archive rooms once a contract ends.

Why are old messages showing in the Old MC but not in Dash?

Some messages do not appear because they're older than May 2014 and have not been synced. You can get them synced running an API.

Can we disable the browser warning about desktop alerts not being enabled?

Closing it using the "X" in the corner should prevent/disable browser warning from showing up again. However, if user clears browser cookies, the browser warning will show up again.

Issues

Message Loading Error

Here's a macro for when users encounter the "message loading error". It’s added to Zendesk under the title -- Technical Support Escalations::Message Loading Error. Check it out:

Hi {{ticket.requester.first_name} },

We’re sorry to hear that you’re having trouble loading messages.

If you haven’t already, take a look at our Troubleshooting Messages article. The article will walk you through the most common issues and how to fix them.

If you have already followed those steps but are still seeing the error, we can help. First, though, we need some detailed information from you:

A screenshot of the error message (on a browser, do this in incognito mode).
Where you saw the error:

On your web browser (on a desktop or laptop computer)
In our Time Tracker app
In our mobile app
In a Contract workroom
In another message room (please provide the specific room)

A screenshot of a Messages diagnostic test. To run a diagnostic in Windows, hit Ctrl+Alt+D. To run a diagnostic in macOS, hit option+command+D.
A screenshot of a WebSocket Connectivity Test
A screenshot of the browser Console tab. To access, right click and select “Inspect” from the dropdown menu while you are on the Upwork site. In the pane that opens, click the “Console” tab.
A screenshot of the browser Network tab. To access, right click and select “Inspect” from the dropdown menu while you are on the Upwork site. In the pane that opens, click the “Network” tab.

Thanks in advance for providing all these details so we can help resolve the issue. We look forward to hearing back from you.

Best,

Possible Malware Interference

Users in the community may contact support and report issues affecting their Dash messages. Users are prompted with an error notification that may be caused by Malware.

When this occurs, we should follow these steps:

Ask the user to open Network tab in his Developer Tools
Look for suspicious JS files (this means, not originating from upwork.com domain)
Investigate those items that do not come from Upwork, Google them

Anything not coming from upwork.com is suspicious and must be looked at.

Exporting Messages

If users are asking for a copy of their Dash messages, agents can export these messages via sudo. This option is not available for external users. These message files should be sent via ticket only.

Meeting Scheduler in Messages

Help Center article

Customer Problem We’re Solving

As a talent/hiring manager, it’s time-consuming to schedule an interview using Upwork after a proposal/invite was accepted. I sometimes even lose the client/freelancer’s attention in this manual process.
As a talent/client, it’s a time-consuming and manual process to schedule a meeting with the hired freelancer or a user that is part of my organization using Upwork.
What makes the above processes more challenging is that the recent ToS changes forbid users from communicating outside of Upwork and sharing their private data, making it a potential violation to schedule a meeting using a 3rd party tool.

High-Level Approach

To address these problems, we added a “schedule interview” option to Messages. Any Upwork user with access to messages will be able to offer meeting times, optionally in sync with their live Google or Microsoft calendar. Then other room participants can book, reschedule or cancel a meeting with a few clicks.

Goals

Our hypothesis is that enabling meeting scheduling within Upwork will increase ease of use and satisfaction, resulting in more filled contracts and increased client spend.

Dates:

06/29/21 - Release to 10% of CLs to QA;
07/07/21 - Release to 50% of CLs to see the impact on the metrics;
07/22/21 - Release the MVP to 100% of users

FAQs:

If I disconnect my calendar after accepting meeting invitations, will they disappear from my calendar?

No, they will still appear in your calendar. You cannot remove or edit them on the Upwork platform, but you will be able to from your calendar.

Can I invite people who are not in the message room?

No, only people in the message room can be invited to a meeting created for that room.

Do I have to link my calendar?

You are not required to link your calendar but certain functionality, such as calendar alerts, will be unavailable if you do not.

What calendars do you support?
We currently support Google or Microsoft calendars.

Do you support Apple iCal?
Not currently, though we are working on it and hope to soon.

Screenshots

Deleted Messages

Although CS can see deleted messages to help determine if it should be escalated to Content and Engagement (CE) or another team, we should never send the FL/CL the deleted messages.

Here’s how to see deleted messages via sudo:

Loom

Resources:

Basics

We integrated the Loom service that allows users to record their screen and share with others to Upwork Messages.

Benefits from the integration

Sometimes it’s easier to communicate a message verbally, especially when dealing with complex projects, but we don’t always have the bandwidth or ability across time zones to meet. With Loom’s screen-recording video capability users can capture a screen recording and include a voice-over, making it easier to communicate a message about the work you’re doing. And you can do it directly in Upwork Messages - so freelancers and clients can more seamlessly collaborate on projects! It's free to use for all users in any membership plan.

Audience

All registered Upwork users with access to Messages.

Allocation Schedule

User Experience

Record with Loom option will be displayed on the top of the room in Messages.

To start recording, users should simply click on the “Record with Loom” link at the top of the room.

There will be a legal disclaimer that users need to see and agree to on the first open before they use Loom.

Once accepted, the native Loom’s popup will appear where it’s possible to:

select whether the user wants to record screen and camera, screen only or camera only;
select camera and microphone;
turn on/off the cutdown;
sign in

On clicking “Start recording,” Loom asks for access to record screen.

Once the recording starts, there’s a timer and pause/delete options available on the down left.

To save the recording, the user should click on stop.
Once clicked, the recording uploads to the cloud, and it’s possible to remove it, copy the link and insert the recording to the message composer.

By clicking “Insert recording,” we insert a link to the recording to the message composer, and it’s possible to send it in the room.
Once sent, users can watch the video directly in the room or by clicking on the link and opening it in a separate window.

No sign in is required to use this feature.
However, only signed in users are able to edit their recordings.

FAQs

What is Loom?

Loom is a software that allows you to record your screen and share the recording. It is unique in that you can simultaneously record your screen, your webcam, and your microphone — this makes it great for creating quick instructional or step-by-step videos.

Do I have to use it?

Of course not! We partnered with Loom to make it available for anyone who might find it useful, but there is no requirement to use it. If it doesn’t suit your work or collaboration style, simply continue using Messages as you always have.

Are Loom videos kept safe? I don’t want my face or information on the internet.

Loom goes to great lengths to keep their users’ videos, and by extension their users, safe. To learn more, read their article on security.

Can Upwork or Loom access videos I record?

No, you are the only person that can access your video — until you explicitly share it with someone else via Messages. Neither Upwork, Loom, nor anybody who works at either company will ever be able to view your video.

Can I send an existing Loom recording as a file, instead of re-recording it in Messages?

Of course, as long as the recording does not exceed the file size limit of 1GB. (tentative launch date November 23, 2021)

What if somebody sends me a Loom recording with inappropriate content or a TOS violation?

We’re sorry this happened. You can flag the message with the Loom recording in it, just like you would flag any other inappropriate message.

Do I need to have a Loom account, or be signed into it, to use this feature in Messages?

No, a Loom account is not required to create or share Loom recordings in Messages. A Loom account is required, however, in order to edit Loom recordings.

REACTIVE RESPONSE: Internal only, customize response accordingly:
About Loom Membership:
We don't have a membership provided for the user. They can use a guest account, with a 5min limit and without edit access to the videos after. We'd advise them to sign up or login through the Loom modal/popup on Upwork to access the additional functionality that Loom provides.

I want to record a Loom on my mobile phone and send it via the Upwork Mobile app but don’t see the option.

Loom does not currently support use on mobile devices at this time.

I want to record a Loom from my browser but I don’t see the option.

At this time, Loom integration in Messages is only available when using Chrome or Edge as your browser. We hope to be able to host it on Firefox and Safari in the future.

New Messages FAQs

My message rooms look different — what happened?

We did a lot of work to upgrade and modernize messages, particularly in regards to loading speed. At the same time, we modernized the look of messages. Most of the features can be found exactly where they used to be, and there are new features, like text formatting options (coming in mid-December), to explore.

I don’t like the message bubbles.

We’re sorry to hear that. We are shifting toward this look to modernize our messages experience. During the transition phase, you can elect to continue using the old version.

My Personal Notepad is gone, all of my notes were in there! How can I access them?

You have the option to revert back to the previous message experience. You will find your personal notepad and all of your notes there.

How do I switch to the old experience?

If you’re in the new version of messages, you’ll see a notification at the top of your screen, immediately underneath the main navigation bar, which reads “You’re using new & improved messages. Go back.” Select the “Go back” link.

You may switch between the new and old versions as often as you like, until the close of the transition period.

What else changed in messages?

Aside from the updated look and increased speed, the only other major update to messages is that it now supports file attachments of up to 1GB in size, as opposed to only 95MB previously.