What's New
A new version of oDesk Team for Linux and FreeBSD has been released. You can download it here.
Changes since version 1.3.0:
- After launch, oDesk Team now waits for explicit user confirmation before logging time and screenshots
- oDesk Team icon now shows balloon with status information when you point mouse on it
- Improvements in Minicam (web camera window): more image tuning options
- Balloon notifications now display international characters correctly (using Pango)
- Time management (NTP): changing local time on computer does not affect correct time logging
- In screensnap drawing, font face, size and last entered text are remembered
- Window decorations are included when active window is snapped
- In “Recent screensnaps” mode, thumbnails are scaled correctly now
- Fixed crash during snap of window placed partially outside of the screen
- Web camera was not always released after taking snap – fixed
We’ve made some major enhancements to the oDesk client applications for Windows. We’ve taken previously separate client applications like oDesk Team and oDesk Share and bundled those and more into a single downloadable client application – oDesk Pack for Windows.
Check out the new video tutorials.
New features include:
1. A single install package for several oDesk Applications, including oDesk Team, Share, ScreenSnap, MiniCam and oDesk Extras.
2. oDesk Preferences, which you can access by right-clicking on either the oDesk Team or oDesk Share icons in your system tray (the icons are new, too! oDesk Share and oDesk Team). Using oDesk Preferences, you can select when different applications launch and control the settings for each application. You can also install oDesk Extras.
3. oDesk Extras, including:
* Short URL, which allows you to create permanent short URLs for emails, etc.
* Plain Text, which allows you to paste HTML text without tags into other documents
* Windows Manipulation, which allows you to use hotkeys to change the size and position of windows
4. MiniCam, which allows you to see a tiny camera icon in your System Tray.
5. Local ScreenSnaps. Use our ScreenSnap tool to create JPEG, PNG and BMP images that you can save locally.
We’re impressed!
The oDesk provider network has now collectively passed over 63,000 online certification tests as a result of the efforts of over 21,000 providers.
The certification tests have always been a way for oDesk providers to demonstrate their skills and abilities to potential buyers.
Now you can tell the world about your oDesk certifications too, we’ve put together an oDesk Certified logo for each provider that has passed a test. You can get the embed code from the My Tests section and post it anywhere you like. The logo will link back to your oDesk profile by default.
Here’s one of the certifications I was lucky enough to pass:
We believe that the future of oDesk lies with its ecosystem of entrepreneurs, “power users” who can deliver results for buyers, provide meaningful and lucrative work for providers, and strengthen the quality of the entire network.
We have seen some of our most successful providers create and grow their own Companies on oDesk. We have seen buyers leverage oDesk to a whole new way of working with remote resources. And we have seen some users, often IT services companies themselves, work both as a Buyer and a Provider on oDesk.
The “Teams” initiative is our first release aimed at empowering more of this behavior. There are two goals of the initiative:
- Help buyers build larger remote teams through oDesk
- Enable providers and services companies build out teams of providers to better serve buyers’ needs
We have released the first phase of the initiative. Included features:
- Act as a buyer and a provider under one account
- Manage team permissions of your team members in the new “Team Admin” screen
- Unify multiple accounts into one User ID
“My name is J. Breinlinger.”
“No, no, wait, that’s too obvious – it’s Josh B.”
“D’oh. Well, my name is Josh Breinlinger”
We’ve enabled a new option for Providers to display their full first and last name in their oDesk profile and search results if they prefer that to the traditional first name and last initial format. While it’s just an option, we believe that like a good portrait or profile title – it will help talented Providers stand out from the crowd. We’ve also surpassed 50,000 Providers in the network, so there are quite a few John S.’s and Dmitry K.’s in the network now.
If you’d like to show your full name in your profile, go to the Profile and Settings tab and change your preference in the profile editor.
What is it?
We’ve added PayPal as a Payment Method for withdrawing money.
How do I get to it?
In the “My oDesk” tab, select “Billing and Payment” and “Payment Methods”.
How do I use it?
After making sure PayPal works in your country of residence, create a PayPal account and register your oDesk.com email address. Once you have done this, you will be able to withdraw your oDesk earnings into to your PayPal account. Find out more about this new feature in the oDesk Guide to PayPal.
Love it? Have suggestions or problems? Tell us what you think in the community forums.
We’re excited to bring you the “oConomy”, a detailed look inside the oDesk network and what is making it tick. As of today, the oConomy data covers more than 1,600,000 hours of work completed by over 47,000 providers from over 90 countries. We analyzed all the data we had and compiled a list of statistics, maps, charts, and rankings. We hope this helps all users get more out of oDesk. Here’s a short preview of what you’ll see when you click over to the oConomy.
Hourly Rates by Week 
Providers Rate Distribution 
Feedback by Years of Experience 
oDesk Growth Trends 
More than anything else – we need your input!
This data is for you. What else do you want to see? What would help you be more successful on oDesk? What insights can you make out of the data? Leave a comment on the oConomy pages, and let us know.
What is it?
We’ve released an update to our oDesk Team application called oDesk Pack and we’re looking for beta testers!
The new oDesk Pack comes in a single install package and also has a suite of new features, including:
- Local ScreenSnap — Save your ScreenSnaps to your desktop
- oDesk Preferences — Manage when applications launch and control the settings
- oDesk Extras — Try Short URL for sending URLs over IM or email, CleanText if you’re copying any HTML to another document and Windows Manipulation hotkeys if you’re looking for faster ways to work
- MiniCam — Use a webcam? Check whether your face is on the screen with MiniCam
If you are a Windows Vista user or have had problems with oDesk Team restarting, we recommend that you try this version of the oDesk Team application.
Where can I try it?
Download the new oDesk Pack and run odesksetup.exe. This should upgrade your oDesk Team client.
Love it? Have suggestions or problems? Tell us what you think in the community forums.
Learn more about the oDesk Pack and the new features!
We have made it easier for buyers to view the job facts for a provider’s past work on oDesk. Clicking on a job listed in the provider profile used to take you to another page; now, the job facts will popup in the same screen.
This will make navigating through profiles even easier.
How does it work?
When viewing a provider’s profile in the Profiles Beta view, select either the “Overview” tab (for recent jobs) “Work History & Feedback” tab (for all jobs): 
Click on any job title that is a link and a summary will pop up with the information about the job and the buyer, as shown below:
What is it?
The merit-based job application quota limits the number of jobs providers can apply to on a weekly basis.
Why did we do this?
We believe that quality is critical to everyone and we want to reward quality providers. While we know that new providers on the oDesk network may have a difficult time getting their first jobs, we believe it is in their best interest to take online skill tests and thoughtfully apply to jobs.
Some buyers have been flooded with interview requests and cut-and-paste cover letters when they post a new job. Our current job quota is 20 jobs per week; this feature will change that.
We think that by instituting a merit-based job application quota, providers will more carefully select which jobs they will apply to.
How does it work?
The job application quota is based on the providerâs feedback score and the number of tests taken.
Providers who have not received any feedback can increase their job application quota by taking more online skill tests.
Providers who have received a low Feedback Score can raise their quota by accruing higher feedback numbers and raising their provider Feedback Score.
To calculate your job application quota, refer to the number of online skill tests you have taken and your total feedback score (if you have feedback). 
Learn more about the job application quota.
How can I take online tests?
We have partnered with a vendor to provider over 100 different skill tests in a wide range of skills. To take tests, sign into my.odesk.com and select the Provider Console. Look for the My Tests link on the left-hand side:
You can then select one of the dozens of tests we have available.
Learn more about online testing on oDesk.