LISTEN UP!
Written by chickaywrites
At home, the family is usually complete during dinnertime. It is during this time that we talk about what happened during the day. It is also mostly set aside for the reminders about behavior, chores, and schoolwork. If we get notes from the teacher about certain concerns, we talk about that over dinner.
I certainly would like to have these moments with people I work with at Essays.PH. I know that we work online and we have a different kind of working environment but sometimes, there are things you can only implant if you’re face-to-face with a person.
There are a few VERY IMPORTANT things that we’d like to REMIND you about.
This is me imagining we’re all seated together eating dinner and here is my motherly talk with you, so listen up…
Incorrect Filenames
Most of the writers don’t bother to indicate the correct slot number in their filenames, e.g., Writer 1’s zipfile is writer5.topic.code.zip.
This is important because in bulk orders, the Purple Team needs to constantly double-check which writer took which slot. Instead of being able to unzip and organize articles in one pass, this takes up a LOT of time when it happens frequently. Even a single case that we miss will be time-consuming to rectify.
If you haven’t thought much about it yet, a writer who indicated the incorrect slot number could get penalties and revision requests intended for another writer. You see, using the correct filename format works both ways – no hassle for the editor and for the writer.
Assignment Threads are not chat rooms
It would be better if all threads only contained posts that have something to do with the actual operations (assignment claims, GC requests and status updates). This is primarily because some writers (especially those who don’t have a fast connection) don’t bother opening the threads and just look at the number of replies. If a 2-slot assignment has no attachment and three replies, the writer assumes that the thread is already full and moves on to other threads.
The Writer’s Cafeteria is there for chatting purposes. There are email inboxes that could also be used as a destination for any assignment-related inquiries or concerns.
Claim and not Ask
This is related to an assignment thread evolving into a chatroom. If you want to do a set in a particular thread, CLAIM IT. The standard post is, “I’ll be writer#_.”
Do not post, “Can I be Writer#2?” This confuses the next few writers who will pass through the thread. They’d think you’ve already covered that slot. This could delay the thread because no other writer will claim that slot and you are waiting for a confirmation that you can be that writer. This won’t happen because what you will get is a private message warning you about the post you made.
SOPs, Formats, MANUAL
We have always been reminding writers about READING THE MANUAL. EPH has SOPs and they should be followed. Zipfiles, file formats – all of these are not arbitrary rules. These help streamline and organize the output, so that it can be easy to judge which article was specifically made for EPH and which one is a reference doc that the writer accidentally submitted.
Your filename format matters a lot. In the manual you’d read: “Make sure the filename of each Word File is the keyword of your article.”
Every single SOP has already been stated clearly in the EPH manual, which all applicants have read before they got in.
DOUBLE-CHECK that dang ZIP!
Before uploading your zipped articles YOU HAVE TO double-check the contents of the compressed file. We have encountered too many cases of people regularly submitting their reference docs or corrupted zipfiles. Editors would get alibis upon alibis that make individual cases appear like they were unintentional or plain accidents.
One or two incorrect uploads can be chalked up to honest mistakes, but several cases in succession even after being notified gives us this conclusion: writer is sloppy/disorganized or outright cheating.
That’s it for now.
So… how do you find my baked chicken with oregano? Is it good? Tomorrow we’ll have your favorite pasta and then we’ll talk about your lovelife. *insert smiley here*
*bull’s eye*
like
Thanks for this! 
Yummy chicken Mommy! LOL
I hope a lot of our writers will take time to read this post.
Dinner was great. Can’t wait for tomorrow:)
Uh, can I eat now… mom? Lol!
Thanks for this post. I’m guilty of attaching a zip file with an incorrect format. Peace! I wouldn’t realize if it hadn’t been for Boysbe who corrected me politely. I like essays.ph because writers here look out for each other. Plus we have awesome editors who act as our mothers, eh-hem…
there is an easy way round all these problems. but the solution is server-side. and i don’t know if it’s feasible or even if it is, if it’s cost-effective. but i’m guessing it can be done. well, anything that can be imagined can be coded anyway.
sa wakas, matagal ko nang pinapangarap na matawag akong “mother”.
@jao
A fully-automated system for EPH is already available. Everything will be done without human intervention (the automated seeding done by Ezzy bot is already a small preview of this system), from cancellation of delayed slots to warning and suspending accounts that commit violations.
The trouble with this is that the management can’t find a means of implementing the system without shooting itself in the foot. Majority of the productive/active/skilled writers we have right now – including you – will not be writing for us today if the system is fully automated and penalizes/suspends writers on its own. You would have all been suspended a long time ago and wouldn’t have been able to come back without someone human on the other side thinking “hey, this person is very productive and submits high quality articles – it’s going to be our loss if we prevent him from working for us just because he [insert offense here]“.
We’re still trying to think of a way to implement the automated system, though. Since the benefits are substantial and will lighten the purple team’s load considerably.
One thing that people should get out of this is that we chose to keep the policies as prescriptive instead of oppressive. The rules are out there in the open and people are not being forced to comply because we expect that they are mature enough to do so on their own. If this choice ends up hurting the company, they may as well just go ahead with the fully automated system regardless of the consequences. One thing for sure is that a lot of writers will find it very unforgiving (judging from the kind of things writers complain about in the staff corner)