Self-Assignment
In some workflows, you may want labelers to pick up work on their own instead of being assigned in advance. With self-assignment, labelers can assign documents to themselves from a pool of available projects. This helps ensure unassigned documents are quickly handled and gives labelers more control over their workload.
Self-assignment is not enabled by default in projects created before version 6.90.
Enable self-assignment
Admins can enable self-assignment in workspace settings:
Go to the Workspace settings page from the left sidebar.
Open the Assignment tab.
Enable Allow self-assignment for labelers.
Click Save changes.
Once enabled, there are changes in the Projects page depending on the role:
Admins and supervisors can see projects with incomplete assignments marked with an Incomplete assignment chip in the Status column.
Labelers will see a new Unassigned projects tab, where they can view projects they are not assigned to and self-assign documents.
Prepare projects for self-assignment
To make a project available for self-assignment, create the project as usual. In step 4 of project creation, assign only reviewers and leave labeler assignments empty.
Self-assign
Once enabled, labelers can self-assign documents from three places: the Unassigned projects tab, the Assigned projects tab, or within a project.
Unassigned projects tab
Labelers can assign themselves to a project they have not worked on from the Unassigned projects tab.
Go to the Projects page.
Open the Unassigned projects tab.
Click Assign myself for the desired project.
Enter the number of documents and click Assign to me.
The project will open automatically after a successful assignment.
Assigned projects
Labelers can also assign themselves additional documents in projects they are already working on from the Assigned projects tab.
Go to the Projects page.
Open the Assigned projects tab.
In the desired project, click the three-dot menu and select Assign myself to more documents.
Enter the number of documents to assign and click Assign to me.
The project will open automatically after a successful assignment.
Within the project
After marking all assigned documents as complete, labelers may be prompted to self-assign more documents if the project still has incomplete assignments. They can choose to assign more documents or mark the project as done.
If multiple labelers self-assign at the same time, some documents may already be taken. For example, if 5 documents are requested but some are assigned by others first, only 3 may be allocated.
Self-assignment for Admins and Supervisors
Admins and supervisors can self-assign to documents as labelers.
Go to the Projects page.
In the desired project, click the three-dot menu and select Assign myself to this project.
Enter the number of documents to assign and click Assign to me.
The project will open automatically after a successful assignment.
Additional configuration
You can configure the document limit and time limit for self-assignment. You can configure them in two places:
In step 5 of project creation.
In a project via File > Settings > Administrator. Changes to time limits only apply to new assignments. Existing assignments keep the original time limit at the time of assignment.
These settings are project-level and must be configured for each new project.
Document limit
The document limit controls how many documents a labeler can self-assign in a project. This helps prevent overloading and ensures fair task distribution. The minimum document limit is 1 document, and the maximum is 1000 documents.
Since this setting applies only to self-assignment, admins and supervisors can still assign documents to labelers beyond the limit.
Example
If a document limit is set to 3:
A labeler can self-assign up to 3 documents.
Admins can assign more than 3 documents to a labeler.
If labelers already have 2 assigned by an admin, they can only self-assign 1 more.
Time limit
The time limit defines how long a labeler has to complete a document once it has been assigned, either through self-assignment or by an admin. It helps ensure timely completion and keeps projects on track.
The minimum time limit is 1 minute, and the maximum is 480 hours and 59 minutes. Details about the countdown:
Countdown starts immediately after assignment. The remaining time is displayed at the top and in the List of files extension.
The countdown stops when the document is marked as complete. Once completed, the document's status cannot be reverted to In progress.
If time expires, the document is unassigned and returned to the available pool.
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