Understanding “My Projects”
“My Projects” is a central location on Constant Content where you can quickly view and manage your requests. It’s broken into three main categories: Calendar, Requests, and Messages. The calendar displays project notes and deadlines. The requests section lists all current public requests, any writer pool requests that you are eligible to claim, and any private requests you may have. The messages section contains messages related to requests.
This article will help you with:
- Understanding what projects are
- Accessing a project
- The project calendar, shared files, project requests, and messages
- Recommendations for using “My Projects”
You can apply to projects by responding to casting calls; clients can add you to a project if they like your application.
The main view of projects shows all the activity on your account, and helps you manage all of your requests. Choosing a specific project will show you just the information and requests related to that project.
We break down how to use Writing Projects in the Constant Content Quick Start Guide.
Understanding what projects are
Projects are often created by our regular customers who need content on a regular, ongoing basis. The “My Projects” tool is a convenient way for customers to share their requirements, information, templates, files, requests and other details with groups of writers.
If a particular customer has two or more websites, they will often create a separate project for each one to make it easier to work with specific writers.
You can only be added to a project through a casting call. If you apply to a casting call and the customer thinks that you’re a good match for their needs, they may invite you to their project team. Once you’re invited, you can access the project details through the “My Projects” screen. When a customer issues a request for their project, that request is sent only to writers who are in the project team, and any of those writers can claim the request.
You can also be added to a project through your writer’s biography, so make sure it’s compelling.
The more projects you belong to, the more requests you’ll have a chance to work on.
Accessing a project
We’ll email you when you’ve been added to a project, and you’ll also be notified when a customer posts any requests to the project team. You can review project details by going to the “My projects” page and selecting the project from the dropdown box.
The project view changes to display details specific to the chosen project. You’ll find the project description, due dates, shared files, requests, and messages relevant to the project. Each project is broken into four main areas:
- Project calendar – Project notes and deadlines
- Shared files – Templates and other background information
- Project requests – Public and writer pool requests for the project
- Project messages – Correspondence between you and the customer
Project calendar
Each project has a calendar associated with it. You can easily see when deadlines and various other events are due by looking at the calendar. Please ensure that you meet any deadlines for articles that you’ve claimed.
Whether you’re working on a specific project or general requests, you can add notes to your project calendar. These notes are only visible to you. If you need to clarify something with the customer, contact them through the messaging system.
To add a note, click on the “Add note” button, select a date, and enter the text. Dates with notes have a blue triangle in them. To view a note, click on the date and a popup will appear.
To the right of the project calendar, you’ll see any shared files that the customer has uploaded and shared with the project team (not all projects have shared files.)
Shared files include things like article templates, guidelines, product descriptions, demographics, statistics, research, and other details relevant to the project. It’s vital that you review any details in the shared files section to ensure you’re producing articles that meet the customer’s needs.
To view a shared file, simply download it and open it on your computer.
You will be notified when a new shared file is added to a project. Please ensure you review any new shared files.
Project requests
You can find any custom requests associated with the project under the “Project requests” section. Requests will come and go throughout the life of a project, and you’ll receive a notification when new requests are posted.
You can sort and filter the request list by type, expiration date and title. You can submit content to project requests the same way that you would for any other type of custom content. Project requests will also show on your main “Requested content” page.
Project messages
You’ll see any communication between you and the customer, and between the customer and the project team under the messages section. Please don’t share any personal information or contact details in your communications with the customer.
We break down how to use Writing Projects in the Constant Content Quick Start Guide.
Recommendations
- Familiarize yourself with “My Projects” as soon as possible, so you can start working on projects once you’re accepted into one
- Always meet any deadlines that you’ve agreed to on project (and other) requests
- Apply to projects that you’re qualified for via casting calls; the more projects you belong to, the more requests you’ll be able to fulfill