The complete
Switch manual

Getting started

SiskoAI Switch is one product with four jobs to do — and you can pick up any one of them whenever you want. There is no separate signup for sellers vs buyers vs recruiters vs creators vs pollsters. One account. One wallet. One sandwich. Four fillings.

1. Sign in with a magic link

   Visit /login.php. Enter your email — we send a one-tap link. New users can claim a username at the same time. There are no passwords to remember and no password to lose.

2. Land on your home base

   Sellers head to Store Manager. Recruiters head to Recruiting Manager. Quiz creators head to Quiz Manager. Pollsters head to Polls Manager. Buyers, players, and respondents usually arrive via a button or link someone shared with them.

3. Top up if you plan to spend

   If you'll be hiring contractors or buying anything, top up your wallet first at /pricing.php. Selling and being hired don't require any balance — money flows into your wallet automatically.

Your wallet, explained

Switch runs on a single internal balance — what we call your compute balance funds, sometimes shortened to Bread. Every dollar in your wallet behaves the same way regardless of how it got there:

Switching between roles

The top navigation bar in every Switch page exposes the entry points: Manager (your store), Recruiting, Quiz, Polls, plus My Purchases, My Jobs, My Plays, and My Responses on the consumer side. Click any one to switch context — your session stays alive, and your wallet balance shows the same number on every screen.

You don't need to "activate" anything. Posting a job for the first time auto-creates your recruiter context. Publishing a quiz wakes up the creator surface. Receiving your first hire automatically prompts you to fill in a public talent profile. Every layer wakes up only when you actually use it.

Store · Seller

Your store on Switch is whatever you make it: a landing page for digital downloads, a catalog of services, a single payment button on a friend's blog. There's no "open store" button — your store exists the moment you list something.

1. Open the Store Manager

   Go to Store Manager and start on the Profile tab. Set your store name, tagline, and brand color — these appear on your checkout pages and in payment receipts.

2. Switch to the Items tab

   Click + New Item. You'll be asked for a name, type, price, and a few type-specific fields.

3. Pick the right item type

   Switch supports four kinds. The right pick affects what fields appear and how delivery works:

   Type	What it's for	Delivery
   Digital	Downloads, ebooks, software, templates, samples	Auto-sent on payment via the order page.
   Physical	Anything you ship	You collect address & mark shipped manually. Optional shipping fee.
   Service	Coaching, design work, freelance gigs	You fulfill out-of-band and mark complete. Optional booking fee.
   Free	Lead magnets, samples, free downloads	No payment, but still creates an order & captures the buyer's email.

4. Set stock and visibility

   Stock can be a finite number or unlimited. Visibility toggles whether the item is published. You can save a draft and come back later.

Listing detail tips

• Pricing — set your gross price; the buyer sees this. SiskoAI's 30% fee comes out of it on payout, not on top of it.
• Tax — if you charge tax, enter it as a percentage. Tax passes through to you in full; the platform fee never touches it.
• Shipping — physical and service items can optionally show a shipping fee field at checkout.
• Description — supports plain text. Include refund policy, license terms, or whatever you'd want a buyer to see before paying.

Generating payment buttons

Listing an item is half the job. The other half is putting a button somewhere a buyer can click. Switch generates two flavors:

• Embed button — an HTML snippet you paste into any website. Renders as a styled "Buy" button in your brand color.
• Share link — a URL like siskoai.com/switch/pages/checkout.php?t=<token> you can paste into social posts, DMs, or email signatures.

1. Go to the Buttons tab

   Click + New Payment Button. Pick the item, choose button or link as the asset type, and customize the button text (default: "Buy now").

2. Copy your asset

   You'll see the share URL, the embed HTML, and a live preview. Click Copy next to whichever you need.

3. Track clicks

   Each button records click counts. Use this to see which channels (your site, an email, a tweet) actually drive checkouts.

Fulfilling orders

The Orders tab in Store Manager is your fulfillment desk. Every paid checkout shows up here with the buyer's contact info, item, totals, and current status.

• Digital orders — already fulfilled. The buyer can re-download from their My Purchases page anytime.
• Physical orders — appear with shipping address. Mark shipped when you've actually shipped; the buyer is notified.
• Service orders — work happens off-platform; mark complete when delivered.
• Refunds — admin-only at the moment. Email support with the order ID.

Store · Buyer

You don't need to be a Switch user to buy something — anyone with the link can check out. But signing in unlocks receipts, instant downloads, and a real order history.

1. Click a payment button or link

   You land on the seller's checkout page with the item, price, and any tax or shipping. If you're not signed in, you'll be prompted to (which is just an email tap-to-confirm).

2. Confirm and pay

   Pay from your wallet balance. If you don't have enough, you'll be sent to top up. Free items skip the payment step entirely.

3. Get your receipt

   An email with the order details lands in your inbox. Digital downloads include a re-download link. Physical orders include the seller's tracking note when shipped.

Receipts and downloads

My Purchases is your single source of truth for everything you've bought on Switch — across all sellers. You can:

• Re-download any digital item you've paid for.
• See order status (paid → shipped → delivered) for physical items.
• Find email receipts grouped by store.

Recruit · Recruiter

Recruiting on Switch sits on top of the same wallet as your store. Posting a job is free; you only spend money the moment you click Hire — and that money is held in escrow, not paid out, until the work is done.

1. Open Recruiting Manager

   Visit /switch/pages/recruiting_manager.php and click on the Jobs tab.

2. Click + New Job

   Fill in: title, category, description, requirements (optional), pay-per-contractor (USD), and max hires.

3. Set max hires thoughtfully

   Max hires is the cap. If you set 3, you can hire up to 3 contractors for this same job — each one independently, each one with their own escrow. The job auto-closes once the cap is reached.

4. Publish

   Save and the job is immediately listed at /switch/pages/jobs.php. You can pause, edit, or close it any time.

5. (Optional) Generate Apply buttons

   Just like store payment buttons. The Apply Buttons & Links tab lets you create branded apply links to drop into LinkedIn, Twitter, or your own site.

Reviewing applicants

The Applications tab shows every applicant across every job, with a per-job filter. Each application shows:

• Applicant's username, talent headline, and average star rating.
• Their pitch (the answer to "Why should we choose you?").
• A "View profile" link to their public talent page (past jobs, portfolio, reviews).

The hiring flow, end-to-end

1. Click Hire on an applicant

   You'll be asked to confirm. The pay-per-contractor amount is debited from your wallet into escrow. The contractor is notified by email.

2. Wait for deliverables

   The contractor submits their work via their My Jobs page. You get an email; the hire moves to awaiting review. A 7-day auto-release timer starts.

3. Approve or request a revision

   Approve in one click — funds release immediately. Or request one round of revisions with feedback. The contractor resubmits, and a new 7-day timer starts on resubmission.

4. Rate the hire

   Once funds release, leave a 1–5 star rating. Both parties rate each other — see Ratings for the blind-window rules.

Revisions and auto-release

Switch's escrow system is intentionally biased toward closure rather than disputes. Two rules govern the endgame:

• One revision per hire. If you request a revision, the contractor must resubmit. After that resubmission, you can approve or let the timer run out. You cannot request a second revision.
• 7-day auto-release. If you take no action within 7 days of a deliverable submission, funds release to the contractor automatically. This protects contractors from unresponsive recruiters.

What if the work is genuinely bad?

Use your one revision to clearly describe what needs to change. If the resubmission still doesn't meet your bar and you're inside the new 7-day window, contact support immediately — admin-driven refunds exist for genuine non-delivery, but they're rare and they're a manual review.

Recruit · Contractor

Your talent profile is the equivalent of a freelancer's portfolio page. Anyone browsing the talent directory or reviewing applications can see it. A complete profile dramatically improves your chance of being hired.

1. Open Edit Profile

   Visit /switch/pages/profile_edit.php. Fill in headline, bio, hourly rate (optional), location, profile image URL, and portfolio link.

2. Pick categories

   Choose any number of categories — Design, Writing, Code, Audio/Video, Marketing, Admin/VA, Consulting, Other. Recruiters filter the directory by category.

3. Toggle Accepting Work

   If you're booked, switch this off. You'll still appear in the directory but with a Currently busy badge. Honesty here protects your rating.

4. Make sure "List me publicly" is on

   Off means your profile 404s and you don't appear in the directory. On means recruiters can find you organically.

Applying to jobs

1. Browse the job board

   Visit /switch/pages/jobs.php. Filter by category. Click any job for the full description.

2. Click Apply

   You'll be asked for a pitch — a short text answer to "Why should we choose you?". Minimum 20 characters; a few thoughtful sentences works much better than 20 characters of fluff.

3. Track your applications

   Visit /switch/pages/my_jobs.php. See every application's status: pending, accepted, rejected, or withdrawn. Withdraw a pending application any time.

Submitting deliverables and getting paid

Once a recruiter clicks Hire, you'll receive an email and the job moves to your Active Hires tab. Funds are already locked in escrow.

1. Do the work

   Per the job description and recruiter instructions. There's no platform-mediated chat — communication channels are between you and the recruiter (email, Slack, wherever).

2. Submit deliverables

   From the hire detail panel, click Submit Deliverables. Provide a description and an optional URL (a Drive folder, a GitHub repo, a Figma file).

3. Wait — but not for long

   The recruiter has 7 days. They approve, request a revision, or do nothing (which auto-releases payment to you).

4. Receive payment

   Net of the 30% platform fee, the rest of the escrow is credited to your wallet immediately on release.

If you receive a revision request

You'll get an email with the recruiter's feedback. Read it carefully. Revise, then resubmit deliverables — the same UI, the same flow. After resubmission, a new 7-day timer starts and no further revisions can be requested.

Ratings & reputation

After every released hire, both parties can leave a 1–5 star rating with optional comment. To prevent retaliatory ratings, Switch uses a blind window:

• Ratings are hidden from the public profile until either both sides have rated, or 7 days have passed.
• Once visible, they appear on the contractor's public profile (and on the recruiter's, if their profile is public).

The cached avg_rating shown on profile pages and in search updates as soon as a rating is submitted, but the comment text waits for the blind window before going public.

Quiz · Creator

Quiz lets you charge people a small fee — usually a few cents — to play a trivia game you built. Each play is an independent transaction. There's no escrow, no waiting, no approval cycle. Player taps Play, you get paid, the round runs.

1. Open the Quiz Manager

   Go to Quiz Manager and click + New Game. Title, description, category, cover image — the basics live in one modal. Set the price per play (default is $0.10) and how many questions a single round serves (default is 10).

2. Build the question pool

   Click Questions on your draft game. You can write questions by hand, or use the AI generator: type a topic ("90s music", "Roman emperors"), pick a difficulty, hit Generate. The AI returns 10–20 multiple-choice questions you can review and edit before saving.

3. Publish

   You need at least 5 questions in the pool to publish. Once published, the game shows up at /switch/pages/quizzes.php and is playable by anyone.

4. Share play links

   The Play Buttons & Links tab lets you create embeddable buttons or share-friendly links. Drop them anywhere — your blog, social media, a Discord server.

Question bank & AI

Each question has four choices, exactly one is_correct, and an optional one-sentence explanation that shows after a player picks their answer. Difficulty is metadata — it doesn't affect scoring, just helps the AI generate the right kind of question.

The pool can be much larger than the round size. If you set questions per round = 10 and your pool has 30 questions, each player gets a randomized 10 from the 30 — same game, different feel each time.

Publishing & sharing

Published quizzes are public. Anyone signed in to SiskoAI can play. The browse page (/switch/pages/quizzes.php) sorts by total plays and category. To pause a quiz without losing its plays, use the Pause action from the Games tab — it stays in your dashboard but disappears from public browse.

Each play button gets its own short URL. Click counts are tracked, so you can A/B-test different button copy or share locations.

How payouts work

A play has three states: in_progress, completed, and abandoned. The first two trigger payout in identical ways:

• On completion: when the player answers their last question, the play finalizes immediately.70% credits to your wallet, 15% to platform compute, 15% to platform revenue.
• On abandonment: if a player starts a play and walks away, after 60 minutes the abandon-sweep finalizes the play. You still get paid. The compute was already burned.
• You cannot play your own quiz. Switch blocks self-plays at the API layer.

Quiz · Player

You don't need to do anything special to play. Click any play link, sign in if you aren't, hit Play. Your wallet is debited the play fee once; you get a randomized round; you see your final score on completion.

1. Find a quiz

   Browse /switch/pages/quizzes.php, or click a play link someone shared. Free games (price $0.00) are common — creators sometimes use them to grow audience.

2. Pay once, play once

   Click Play. The fee debits, the questions appear. There's no time limit per question — go at your own pace.

3. See your score

   On the last answer, you get a final score and the option to share or play again. Each replay is a new transaction; the question pool re-randomizes.

Your play history lives at /switch/pages/my_quizzes.php. It shows every play, your score, and what you paid.

Polls · Pollster

Polls inverts the Quiz money flow: instead of charging people to participate, you pay them. Funds lock in escrow at publish; each completed response releases payment immediately to the respondent. Unused budget refunds to your wallet when the poll closes.

1. Open the Polls Manager

   Go to Polls Manager and click + New Poll. Title, description, category, pay-per-response, max responses. The budget preview shows you the total escrow amount before you commit.

2. Set your quality guards

   Three knobs: min seconds per question (catches speed-runners), required questions (can't be skipped), and min characters on free-text questions (forces meaningful answers). Defaults are sane; tighten as needed.

3. Build the question bank

   Use + Single-select / Multi-select / Free text / 1–5 rating to add questions, or hit Generate to have AI propose 5 questions on a topic you describe. AI questions land in your editing buffer — review and tweak before saving.

4. Publish & lock the budget

   Click Publish. The full escrow amount (pay × max responses) debits from your wallet immediately. The poll becomes visible at /switch/pages/polls.php.

5. Watch responses come in

   The Responses tab shows each completed response and any quality flags. Use the Results button on a poll to see aggregated charts per question.

Question types & quality guards

Four question types in V1, each with their own validation rules:

• Single-select — radio buttons, one choice. The most common type.
• Multi-select — checkboxes, any number of choices. Good for "select all that apply."
• Free text — open-ended response with optional minimum character count. The 30-character default keeps answers from being one-word throwaways.
• 1–5 rating — five-star scale. No additional config — respondents click 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5.

Flagged responses still get paid. If a respondent triggers a quality guard (answered too fast, missed required questions, fell below min-chars), their response is recorded as flagged instead of completed. They still receive the payout — flagging exists to give you a filtering signal, not to claw back money. Avoiding payment disputes is the V1 priority.

Budget, escrow, & close

A poll's escrow is pay_per_response × max_responses. For example: $0.50 pay × 100 responses = $50 locked at publish.

Three ways a poll closes:

• Cap reached — the Nth respondent triggers an automatic close. Any unused escrow (from rounding or refunds) returns.
• Manual close — click Close from the poll list. Unused escrow refunds immediately.
• Expiry — if you set Expires at, a cron job closes the poll at that time. Unused escrow refunds.

You cannot delete a published poll. You can close it, which is final. Drafts can be deleted.

Reading the results

The Results modal in the Polls tab visualizes aggregated answers per question:

• Single-select & multi-select render as horizontal bars showing percentage and count per choice.
• Rating shows distribution (1–5 with bar widths) plus the average.
• Free text shows individual responses, capped at the most recent 20.

The Responses tab is the raw audit view: each row is one respondent, with their flags visible.

Polls · Respondent

Respondents earn for thoughtful answers to other people's surveys. The money lands in your wallet the moment you submit — there's no waiting for someone to approve you, no batch payouts, no minimum threshold.

1. Browse open polls

   Go to /switch/pages/polls.php. Each card shows what you'll earn (the respondent's 70% net of fee), how many slots are open, and the category. Sort by category if you only want certain topics.

2. Take the poll

   Click View, then Take. You go through the questions one screen — click your answer for select types, type your answer for free text, click stars for ratings. Required questions are marked.

3. Submit and get paid

   Hit Submit. If you missed required questions or fell below min-chars, you'll see an error and a chance to fix it. Once accepted, the payout is credited instantly. You're done.

Your response history lives at /switch/pages/my_responses.php. Status of each response, payout, and date.

Fees & the 30/15/15 split

Switch charges a flat 30% platform fee on every transaction that moves money — store sales, job releases, quiz plays, and poll responses alike. The fee is split evenly:

• 15% to the platform compute fund — earmarked to subsidize free-tier compute on SiskoAI for everyone.
• 15% to platform revenue — keeps the lights on, builds new features, pays staff.

Withdrawals

Anything in your wallet can be withdrawn to a real bank account. Each withdrawal request currently carries a $1.99 flat fee to cover banking costs.

Request a withdrawal from the Wallet tab in either Store Manager or Recruiting Manager. Withdrawals are reviewed by an admin (manual at the moment — automation is on the roadmap) and typically processed within 1–3 business days.

Frequently asked questions