When you log in to Helium.com, the first page you will see is your My Helium page – which is where you will find the assignment system, your virtual dashboard. On this page you will find important announcements, My Assignments and Available Assignments.

My Assignments

Your My Assignments section will be empty until you’ve claimed assignments. Once you’ve done that, the Accepted Titles area of the My Assignments section will hold the titles that you have accepted, ready for you to write to. In addition to the titles, you will find the payment amount and time left until the assignment is due. The icons to the left of the titles show whether the title originated from Helium.com (H), Helium Content Source (CS) or was suggested by a member and/or is revenue share only (pencil).

If your My Assignments area is empty, click the “claim them now!” link to claim assignments. This will direct you to the Available Assignments section.

Available Assignments

Your Available Assignments section offers writing assignments that are Open, Restricted and Personal.

• Open assignments are available to you and all members of the Helium community.

• Restricted assignments are available to you and other members of the writing groups you belong to.
• Personal assignments are available exclusively to you.

Click on any of the three tabs – Open, Restricted or Personal – to view assignments. Each tab will have a number on it, indicating how many assignments are in that category. Next to each assignment title are the number of submissions, (1/5 means that one article has been received out of a maximum of five, at which time the assignment will be closed), payment, date the assignment was posted on and countdown to when the assignment will close. Learn more about each assignment by clicking the “show details” link next to the title. The details will provide you with the Assignment Guidelines, keywords and publisher name.

Accept an assignment

To accept up to 5 assignments, click on the check boxes to the left of the assignment titles, then click the “Accept” button. A notification box will indicate that your  assignments have been accepted. Then, your Accepted Titles area will show your accepted assignment in it.

You may accept up to 5 assignments at a time. If you have already accepted 5 assignments, you must either write to an assignment or withdraw from an assignment before you can accept any additional assignments. You will receive an error message if you try to accept more than 5 assignments.

Withdraw from an assignment

Should you decide to withdraw from an assignment, check the the box to the left of the assignment title in your My Assignments section, and click "Withdraw." You may withdraw from multiple assignments at a time by checking multiple boxes and clicking "Withdraw" once.

When you have withdrawn from an assignment, a box will appear with a notification confirming which assignment(s) you have withdrawn from.

Once you have withdrawn from an assignment, you may not reclaim it. It becomes available to other members of the group or community who have not already claimed and withdrawn from the assignment.

Complete an assignment

To complete an assignment, click on the assignment title in your Accepted Titles section. You will then be redirected to the Write Article page.

When completing an assignment, you must keep in mind the submission deadline – there is no wiggle room. Each assignment in the dashboard shows when the assignment is due. If the assignment is due in more than one day, the due date is reflected in days. If the assignment is due in less than one day, the deadline is reflected in hours. Finally, if it’s getting down to the wire and the assignment deadline is less than one hour away, the deadline is reflected in minutes. Remember that assignments are due at the end of the day before the deadline date given. All times are set to GMT.

The article must be submitted before the deadline or it will not be accepted.

Suggest a title

Helium members are encouraged to suggest titles. To do so, visit the Suggest a Title page and follow the steps outlined for you. Step five asks you to decide whether you will write to this title.

Write to this title: If you would like to write to the title you are suggesting, check the box that states “I want to write to this title” and click “Submit.”  You will be redirected to the Title Submitted page, which is confirmation that your title has been submitted to Helium and is now in a pending status. If your title is accepted, you will be able to find the title in your Personal Assignments on your My Helium page. If your title is not accepted, you will receive instructions about how to improve the title, or a link to a similar existing title.

Submit suggestion without writing to this title: If you do not intend to write to the title you are suggesting, do not check the box that states “I want to write to this title” and click “Submit.” The title will be in a pending status, and if it is accepted, it will appear in the Open Assignments section of My Helium pages.