Helium's CUPS editorial workflow tool
Welcome to the CUPS online tutorial! This page will inform you about working within Helium's Custom Project System (CUPS).
In order to log into CUPS, you will need to be logged onto Helium first. Then open a new tab in your browser and type in the following URL in your web browser: http://cups.helium.com. (Don't forget to bookmark this URL!)
CUPS is designed to be a seamless editorial workflow. However, it is a new tool, and you might come across bugs, issues or anomalies as you work in the tool. If that happens, please feel free to send the article to a Project Manager with any notes.
Legal Agreements
Different publishers may have different legal editorial agreements with Helium and CUPS users. If applicable, participants for each assignment will be sent a Marketplace Writers or Editorial Agreement that reflects the nature of the assignment. Every time you log in and use CUPS in any capacity, you agree to the terms of that agreement.
- CUPS for Writers
- CUPS for Fact Checkers
- CUPS for Editors
- CUPS for Approvers and Reviewers
- Tracking Payments
CUPS for Writers
If you are an assigned writer or in a group of assigned writers for a CUPS project, you'll receive an email stating that writing assignments are ready for you. Click the link (http://cups.helium.com), and it will bring you to your "My Assignments" page in CUPS. This is your home page where you will see all potential and current assignments specifically for you.
To access any open assignments, click the 'Show Tasks' link next to the project name. This will cascade a list of available assignments, your previously selected assignments or assignments that have been assigned to you.
In the project task list on your My Assignments page, you will see one of three things:
- Any of the tasks or titles that are live links are available for you to work on immediately.
- Tasks with the “View Assignments” link on the far right are available to you and other users, and one of you must click this link to accept it. First come, first serve. But be fair, and please accept a small number at a time so others can also have an opportunity to earn. Once an assignment is chosen by a writer, it will not be available to other writers.
- If the project's task list is blank, there are no assignments for you to work on or choose from. Someone has obviously beaten you to the punch.
Once a task is ready for you to work on, you will receive a second email from CUPS telling you it's ready. This should take 1-15 minutes. The title will also become a blue link. Click on the linked title on the project's task list of your My Assignments page, and CUPS will bring you to the "Task Detail" page for that assignment.
When working on your assignment, please follow these important steps:
STEP 1A: On your "Task Detail" page, you'll see some basic information about the assignment at the top of the page, followed by the guidelines. Below the guidelines, you'll see one or more fields labeled with the type of content needed, such as "Title," "Article Body" or "Abstract." This is where you paste in your article and other requirements depending on the assignment.
Fill in your article and other requested content. We also recommend that you write and save your work locally (on your computer). As with many Web applications, your Internet connection could 'time out,' and you'd conceivably lose any work you were doing online. Once your piece is complete, submit and format it in CUPS.
- Please reformat your article after you've submitted it to CUPS. Use the formatting toolbar for subheads [Heading 2, Heading 3, etc.], rather than bolding them. Also use the formatting toolbar for bullet lists, etc. This will ensure that your article is delivered to the client in the correct format. (If you don't, we may sling the article back to you to reformat.) CUPS will also track your word count in the lower left of the Article Body field.
- CUPS now has spell-check and a Spell Check as You Type function that you can toggle on and off. If you use the standard spell-check, which uses a pop-up window, you must click "Finish Checking" in order for any change made by the spell check to show up in the "Article Body" field. You can also preview your article by clicking on the icon that looks like a magnifying glass. All writers are required to do a thorough spelling and grammar check, and you should preview your article before you hit the "Save" button, followed by the "Task Finished" button.
- CUPS now has a Paste from Word feature. (You'll see a clipboard with a "W" on it.) Copy the content from your original document, click the Paste from Word icon, and then use CTRL+V on your keyboard to paste the text into the pop-up window. Then click the "OK" button, and your article will be automatically placed into the "Article Body" field. If you are using a different word processing program, such as Google Docs, please follow the same procedure using the Paste as Plain Text icon. (You'll see a clipboard with a blue eraser on it.) Remember, CUPS will strip out any non-standard formatting. For more information about what is allowed on Helium, please refer to the How to publish an article on Helium page in our Help guide.
- CUPS now has an HTML edit button, which appears on the far right of the tool bar and is labeled "Source." Writers and editors can use this to ensure that no extraneous HTML is embedded within an article or other piece of required content. After making any changes, be sure to preview your article and hit "Save" before you hit the "Task Finished" button.
STEP 1B: Click "SAVE."
STEP 2: Leave a Note. You can leave a note for the fact-checker or editors here. If you don't have a note to leave, you must at least leave your name and date (11/21/09 is fine).
STEP 3: Here you have two buttons to choose from as the writer:
- Task Finished: Proceed To Next Step: This moves your article to the next step in the process, typically the fact-checker, and it is the button writers will use the most. Once you hit "Task Finished," the article moves to the next step in the workflow, and you will not be able to access it.
- Assign to PM: This moves the article to the Project Manager in case you have a problem.
And you're done! Now you can move on to your next assignment.
Just to reiterate:
- Submit your article and other required content required by the guidelines.
- Click "SAVE."
- Leave a note
- Click "Task Finished..." if you are finished or "Assign to PM" if there's a problem.
CUPS for Fact Checkers
If you are an assigned fact checker or in a group of assigned fact checkers for a CUPS project, you'll receive an email stating that fact-checking assignments are assigned to you or ready for you to accept. Click the link (http://cups.helium.com), and it will bring you to your "My Assignments" page in CUPS. Remember, you need to be logged into Helium to access CUPS.
To access any open assignments, click the 'Show Tasks' link next to the project name. This will cascade a list of available assignments, your previously selected assignments or assignments that have been assigned to you.
In the project task list on your My Assignments page, you will see one of three things:
- Any of the tasks or titles that are live links are available for you to work on immediately.
- Tasks with the “View Assignments” link on the far right are available to you and other fact checkers to accept, and one of you must click this link to accept it. First come, first serve. But be fair, and please accept a small number at a time so others can also have an opportunity to earn. Once an assignment is chosen by a fact checker, it will not be available to other fact checkers.
- If the project's task list is blank, there are no assignments for you to work on or choose from. Someone has obviously beaten you to the punch.
Once you have accepted a task, the title will not be a live link until it is ready for you to work on. For writers, this will happen within 15 minutes. For fact checkers or editors, the title and task will need to go through any preceding parts of the editorial workflow before it is ready for you to work on. (Please note that a task with "Fact Checker" in the 'My Role' column on the 'My Assignments' page denotes that you have claimed the assignment, and it will be yours to work on when ready.)
Once a task is ready for you to work on, you will receive a second email from CUPS telling you it's ready. The title will also become a blue link. Click on the linked title in the project's task list of your My Assignments page, and CUPS will bring you to the "Task Detail" page for that assignment.
On your "Task Detail" page, you'll see the title and the guidelines. Below that, you'll see a text field labeled "Article Body." This is where you will read and fact-check the article and possibly other fields that will need to be checked, depending on the assignment.
When working on your assignment, please follow these important steps:
STEP 1A: On your "Task Detail" page, you'll see some basic information about the assignment at the top of the page, followed by the guidelines. Below the guidelines, you'll see one or more fields labeled with the type of content needed, such as "Title," "Article Body" or "Abstract." This is where you'll be doing your fact-checking as required by the assignment's guidelines.
Fact-check the assignment, and remember to keep any fact-checking notes locally on your computer. You'll need these down the road.
STEP 1B: Click "SAVE."
STEP 2: Leave a Note. You can leave a note for the writer or editors here. Be sure to specify if an article is "FC Pass" or "FC Fail" along with your notes. Please be friendly, detailed and constructive with your comments. (Fact checkers who are consistently not constructive or helpful can be removed from the CUPS fact-checking team.)
As a fact checker, remember that you're not working on the Helium site, so the usual interface for fact-checking notes is not here. HOWEVER, you can and should add any notes into the "View Notes" section. As on Helium, if you have an article with many major fact-check problems, please email us immediately or leave a note and push this piece to the project manager.
STEP 3: Here you actually have four buttons to choose from:
- Task Finished. Proceed To Next Step: This moves your article to the next step in the process, typically the editor, and it is the button you'll use the most.
- Push Task Back To Previous Step: Only use this if you need the writer to make factual changes within the article.
- Assign to PM: This moves the article to the Project Manager in case you have a problem, such as major factual problems, and need the Project Manager to contact the writer to fix.
- Push Task Back to Writer: You can use this button to send the assignment directly back to the writer also. Please leave a note to assist the writer.
And you're done! Now you can move on to your next fact-checking assignment.
Just to reiterate:
- Fact-check your article and other required content required by the guidelines.
- Click "SAVE."
- Leave a note
- Click "Task Finished..." if you are finished, send back to the writer if revisions are needed or "Assign to PM" if there's a problem.
CUPS for Editors
If you are an assigned editor or in a group of assigned editors for a CUPS project, you'll receive an email stating that editing assignments are assigned or ready for you to accept. Click the link (http://cups.helium.com), and it will bring you to your "My Assignments" page in CUPS. Remember, you need to be logged into Helium to access CUPS.
To access any open assignments, click the 'Show Tasks' link next to the project name. This will cascade a list of available assignments, your previously selected assignments or assignments that have been assigned to you.
In the project task list on your My Assignments page, you will see one of three things:
- Any of the tasks or titles that are live links are available for you to work on immediately.
- Tasks with the “View Assignments” link on the far right are available to you and other editors, and one of you must click this link to accept it. First come, first serve. But be fair, and please accept a small number at a time so others can also have an opportunity to earn. Once an assignment is chosen by an editor, it will not be available to other editors.
- If the project's task list is blank, there are no assignments for you to work on or choose from. Someone has obviously beaten you to the punch.
Once you have accepted a task, the title will not be a live link until it is ready for you to work on. For writers, this will happen within 15 minutes. For editors and fact checkers, the title and task will need to go through any preceding parts of the editorial workflow before it is ready for you to work on. (Please note that a task with "Editor" in the 'My Role' column on the 'My Assignments' page denotes that you have claimed the assignment, and it will be yours to work on when ready. When it is, you will see "Editor" in both columns.)
Once a task is ready for you to work on, you will receive a second email from CUPS telling you that the assignment is ready to work on. Click the linked title in the project's task list on your "My Assignments" page, and CUPS will bring you to the "Task Detail" page.
On the "Task Detail" page, you'll see the title and the guidelines. Below that, you'll see a text field labeled "Article Body." This is where you will read and edit the article and possibly other fields that will need to be edited, depending on the assignment.
When working on your assignment, please follow these important steps:
STEP 1A: Make your edits. (CUPS will also track the word count in the lower left of the "Article Body" field.)
- IMPORTANT: CUPS now has spell-check and a Spell Check as You Type function that you can toggle on and off. If you use the standard spell-check, which uses a pop-up window, you must click "Finish Checking" in order for any change made by spell-check to show up in the "Article Body" field. Use one of these spell-check tools! However, you might still need to copy the article manually into a writing application such as MS Word, Open Office or Google Docs and use the grammar check tool there. Then copy the article back in using the Paste from Word or Paste as Plain Text feature (See third bullet).
- IMPORTANT: When you edit, please make the article and accompanying project elements as polished as you can. Edit for readability, grammar, punctuation, spelling, etc. These pieces will be purchased by reputable publishers who expect top-quality work. You will also need to check for correct formatting. Use the formatting toolbar for subheads [Heading 2], rather than bolding them. Also use the formatting toolbar for bullet lists, etc. This will ensure that the article is delivered to the client in the correct format.
- CUPS now has the Paste from Word feature. (You'll see a clipboard with a "W" on it.) If you copied the article and did any editing in MS Word or other writing application, copy the content from your edited document, click the Paste from Word icon, and then use CTRL+V on your keyboard to paste the text into the pop-up window. Then click the "OK" button, and the article will be automatically placed into the "Article Body" field. Please do a thorough spelling and grammar check, and preview the article before you hit "Save" and then hit the "Task Finished" button.
- CUPS now has the HTML edit button, which appears on the far right of the tool bar and is labeled "Source." Writers and editors can use this to ensure that no extraneous HTML is embedded within an article or other piece of required content. After making any changes, be sure to preview your article and hit "Save" before you hit the "Task Finished" button.
- If you start editing but want to start over, just hit CTRL+F5 to refresh.
- If you want to go back to an earlier version, scroll up under the Guidelines text box to "View Versions." Be sure to save your current version first.
STEP 1B: Click "SAVE."
STEP 2: Leave a Note. You can leave a note for the writer or fact checker here. If you don't have a note to leave and the piece just needed minor edits, you must at least leave the date (11/21/09 is fine). Please be friendly and constructive with your comments.
STEP 3: Here you have four buttons to choose from:
- Task Finished. Proceed To Next Step: This moves your article to the next step in the process, and it is the button you'll use the most.
- Push Task Back To Previous Step: Only use this if you need special attention from the fact checker. For example, if you’re the editor and you know without a doubt that there are some factual errors, you would use this button. Leave a note with any helpful information.
- Assign to PM: This moves the article to the Project Manager in case you have a problem, such as a massive number of errors.
- Push Task Back to Writer: Use this button if the article still has a lot of typos and needs to be revised to make it ready for professional consumption. Leave a note with any helpful information.
And you're done! Now you can move on to your next editing assignment.
Just to reiterate:
- Edit your article and other content required by the guidelines.
- Click "SAVE."
- Leave a note
- Click "Task Finished..." if you are finished, "Assign to PM" if there's a problem that needs a Helium staffer or push it to the writer or fact checker if needed.
CUPS for Approvers and Reviewers
Publishing partners are often provided the role of Approver or Final Reviewer as part of the editorial process to ensure that the article they will receive meets expectations. If you are an assigned Approver or a Final Reviewer, you'll receive an email stating that a task or title has been assigned to you when one or many are posted to CUPS. Click the link (http://cups.helium.com), and it will bring you to your "My Assignments" page in CUPS where you'll see all the titles you'll eventually approve or review for a particular project. (Remember, you need to be logged into Helium to access CUPS.)
Once the writers have submitted their articles and the pieces have moved their way through the editorial process, you'll receive a second email notifying you that the article or articles are ready for your review. Follow the link to your "My Assignments" page, and you can choose specific assignments within each project that need your attention as an Approver or Final Reviewer.
To access any open assignments, click the 'Show Tasks' link next to the project name. This will cascade a list of available assignments, your previously selected assignments or assignments that have been assigned to you.
In the project task list on your My Assignments page, you will see one of two things:
- Any of the tasks or titles that are live blue links are available for you to work on and approve immediately. The "My Role" and "Current Task State" columns will match. If you're an Approver, they will be say "Approver", and if you're a Final Reviewer, they will both say "Final Reviewer."
- If no tasks are live links and the "My Role" and "Current Task State" columns don't match for any titles, nothing is ready for you to review.
Once a task is ready for you to work on, click on the linked title, and CUPS will bring you to the "Task Detail" page.
When reviewing your assignments, please follow these vital steps.
STEP 1A: On the "Task Detail" page, you'll see information about the title and the guidelines. Below that are the content fields labeled "Title," "Article Body" and so on. This is where you review the content that has been filled in depending on the assignment. Read the article(s) and make any edits you'd like. (CUPS will also track the word count in the lower left of the "Article Body" field.) Below that, you'll see a link for "View Notes," which will provide insight into any edits and feedback exchanged between writers, fact checkers and editors.
- CUPS has a spell-check tool that you can toggle on and off. Writers and Editors (if editing services are purchased) are required to use it.
- CUPS now has the Paste from Word feature. (You'll see a clipboard with a "W" on it.) If you copied the article and did any editing in MS Word or other writing application, copy the content from your edited document, click the Paste from Word icon, and then use CTRL+V on your keyboard to paste the text into the pop-up window. Then click the "OK" button, and the article will be automatically placed into the "Article Body" field. Please preview the article and hit save before you hit the "Task Finished" button.
- CUPS now has the HTML edit button, which appears on the far right of the tool bar and is labeled "Source." Participants can use this to ensure that no extraneous HTML is embedded within an article or other piece of required content. After making any changes, be sure to preview your article and hit save before you hit the "Task Finished" button.
STEP 1B: Click "SAVE." If you do not need the writer to make changes and revisions, proceed to Step 3.
STEP 2 : If you need revisions, leave a Note. You can provided important feedback and revision requests for the writers here. This let's the writers know what you specifically need them to do. Please be constructive with your comments.
STEP 3: Here you have four buttons to choose from:
- Task Finished. Proceed To Next Step: This moves your article to the next step in the process, and it is the button you'll use the most. In most cases, this is when you decide you're going to purchase the final version of this article, and you'll trigger article delivery from CUPS.
- Push Task Back To Previous Step: Only use this if you need special attention from the editor. For example, if you find lots of typos and don't have time to clean the article. (If you have not purchased editing services, you can send the piece back to the writer or make any edits yourself.) Leave a note with any helpful information.
- Assign to PM: This moves the article to the Project Manager in case you have a problem, such as major style issues or if the assignment was not completed correctly.
- Push Task Back to Writer: Use this button if the article still has a lot of typos and needs to be revised to make it ready for professional consumption. Leave a note with any helpful information.
And you're done! Now you can move on to your next approver or reviewer assignment.
Just to reiterate:
- Review your article and other content required by the guidelines.
- Click "SAVE."
- Leave a note only if you want a revision
- Click "Task Finished" if you are finished and are ready to purchase your article, "Assign to PM" if there's a problem that needs a Helium staffer or push it to the writer if you need changes.
Tracking Payments
Making credits and payments is done through an automated process once a week.
In general, we credit CUPS participants when a project is complete. That means that all the assignments have moved completely through the editorial workflow and show as ‘Delivered’ on your My Assignments page.
Once all of a project's articles are delivered, an automated process credits participants of that project at the end of each week. If five projects get completed during the week, then credits are made to everyone who participated in those five completed projects.
When you see that the tasks in a project show as ‘Delivered’ during the week, then it’s a good bet that you’ll be credited for the work you did on that project at the end of the week.
When you see a project disappear from your My Assignments page in CUPS, then you should be able to see the money you earned for that project in the "Other Earnings" page of your Earnings & Payments page.