What's new in October 2025

New features

AI recommendations are live!
Recommendations for projects and experiences are now leveraging AI, significantly enhancing our ability to identify high quality match suggestions. While previously the recommendation engine compared projects and experiences based only on “tags”, we are now able to summarize and compare the text content of projects and experiences, enabling recommendations to take into account far more context. This makes recommendations more relevant to the user, and decreases reliance on tagging selections.

Non-employer facing milestones

A new visibility option has been added to milestone creation, allowing educators and learners to create milestones that are internal (not visible to employers). This helps teams track progress without notifying or showing irrelevant tasks to employers.

Improvements

• Employer team milestone creation: Employers can now create team milestones using the “+ Create milestone” button on the team page in order to help them manage team progress and set goals for learners.
• Pending learner application digest: Employers now receive a weekly digest email summarizing all pending learner applications across the projects they administer. This helps ensure no applications are overlooked. (Default frequency: weekly)
• Received and sent feedback on profiles: User profile pages now display Received and Sent feedback under the Feedback tab, making it easier for users to review feedback they’ve given and received.
• Team limit change requests: Employers and educators can now request changes to match team limits via the Match Settings > Features tab. Current limits are displayed with a “Request change” button.
• Customizable info notice on match request getting started page: The blue info notice on the first step of the match request process is now customizable by each experience.

• ‘Experience starting soon’ email includes work log status. Educators now see whether work logs are enabled or disabled in the “Your experience is starting soon” email. The email includes a “View settings” link that directs them to the Experience Settings > Features tab, allowing them to enable or disable work logs as needed.
• Join an existing company option: Employers on the ‘Create company’ page now see a notice informing them that they can join an existing company, with a link to browse companies. This helps prevent duplicate company creation and clearly communicates that the option is available.
• Educator access to match request conversations: Educators with match request permission now have view access to all existing conversations for the experience, even if they were added after the conversation started. They can opt to join conversations as needed.
• Conversation system messages: System messages are now excluded from conversation previews, timestamps, and ordering logic, keeping inboxes focused on user interactions.
• Invitation error handling: Educators or employers attempting to accept a learner invitation now see an error: “Invitation is for learner users only.”
• Match request sorting: Match requests are now sorted by most recent activity by default, making it easier to see the latest updates. Previously, they were sorted by the initial request date.
• Sign agreements improvement: If only one pending agreement exists, the “Sign agreements” button now takes users directly to that agreement instead of the agreements table, streamlining the process and reducing extra clicks.
• Portal experiences subtitle: Added a subtitle to the portal marketplace to give a brief description of the page, clarifying that it lists experiences available in the portal.
• On-page filter layout: Updated spacing and widths for all on-page filters for a cleaner and more consistent layout
• Match page metadata updates: Added more descriptive location and skill level metadata on the Match page, making it easier to understand learner requirements at a glance.
• Smoother portal pass pathway. Employers signing up on a portal now receive automatic portal passes when no application questions exist and automatic approval is enabled.
• Filter matched projects by application status. Learners can now filter matched projects by Open or Closed applications making it easier to find available opportunities.
• Match request wizard hours field update: The “Expected hours per learner” field in the match request wizard now pre-fills with the estimated hours field from the project itself, as long as that value is in range of what the experience accepts.
• Changes to sort order for matches on experience to randomize the order of matches shown to learners within the matches currently available to them.

• Team feedback wizard update. The “Private feedback” field has been removed from the employer view of the team feedback wizard to streamline the feedback process and ensure Teams receive feedback.
• Learner sorting in experience tab: The Experience > Learners tab now defaults to sorting by profile completeness, feedback score, and then random order to vary visibility of learners to employers.
• Recurring work log reminders: Team members now receive weekly reminders if no work entries are logged in the past 7 days.
• User type selector on app.riipen.com: Signed-out users on app.riipen.com can now easily switch between educator, employer, and learner using the user type selector, with the current page clearly highlighted.

• Portal banner on dashboards. Users who are not on app.riipen.com now see a banner indicating which portal they’re viewing. This reduces confusion and helps users easily switch or exit portals.
• Date change request button repositioned. The “Date change request” button is now at the top-right of the Timeline section for easier visibility and access.
• Updated ‘By Application’ team creation settings. The Experience Settings layout has been improved for clarity when “By Application” is selected - reorganized fields, clearer hierarchy, and updated text.
• Improved employer feedback guidance. Step 1 of the employer feedback wizard now features clearer text and examples to help employers provide stronger, more meaningful feedback.
• Portal achievements award counts: Portal achievements now show awarded counts only for achievements issued by that portal. Riipen achievements display “-” instead of global totals, ensuring clarity when viewing portal-specific accomplishments.
• Feedback email update: Updated email copy for drafted feedback notifications to improve clarity and engagement. New subject line: “You’ve received feedback—share yours to view it.”
• Match request template clarification: Labels in the match request flow have been updated to clarify template usage. Employers can now clearly distinguish between experience-specific approved templates and general (employer-owned or Riipen-provided) templates.
• Match request import instructions: Added explanatory text and template file link on the Experience > Imports > Experience match requests page, aligning with other import types to improve usability.
• Taxes and fees tooltips: Tooltips on match request, match, team (projects tab), and experience pages now include “Plus applicable taxes and fees,” providing more transparency to employers.
• Cancelled invoice work log behaviour: Updated logic so that work log entries from a cancelled invoice are disassociated only from that invoice, preserving associations with other invoices.
• Original project link on match and match request: Riipen admins can now see a tertiary button that leads to the original project from match and match request pages. This makes it easier to reference and cross-check project details directly from the match or request page, reducing navigation friction.
• Pending and expired application limits: Pending and expired application limits are now separate and configurable independently at both experience and match levels. Matches automatically reopen or close based on limits being reached and limit changes. This gives administrators more granular control over applications.
• Match & team page settings headers: Updated header styles on Match and Team page settings. The tab name now appears as a general title at the top. This helps users identify which settings tab they are viewing, especially on mobile where the sidebar is hidden. These updates will gradually be made to all settings.
• Highlighting first steps in dashboard: Added to employer dashboards and app.riipen.com for guest users, showing steps that help new users understand what actions are expected and guiding them through their user journey on the platform efficiently. Once the user has completed all four steps, the steps are no longer displayed.
• Match request system messages: System messages now appear 5 days before a match request expires, and expired match requests show updated, context-specific notices with links to continue the connection by sending a new request or contacting the other party. This ensures both parties are aware of expiring requests and guides them on next steps, reducing missed opportunities.
• Updated sidebars on Getting Started pages displayed before wizards: Numbered steps have been removed from the Experience, Project, and Match Request Getting Started pages and replaced with general step descriptions. This prevents confusion caused by step numbers resetting on subsequent pages and makes the overall flow clearer for users.
• Experience learners widget: Admins can now preview a list of learner members of their experience via an embeddable widget for external sites. This provides a shareable way to highlight learner participation in their experience.

Fixes:

• Notes permissions in match requests: Educators with experience-level permissions can now create and view notes in match requests, not just portal admins. This ensures consistent communication and transparency across educators.
• Grace period field visibility: The “Additional grace period” field for individual teams now correctly appears in Team settings for educators and Riipen admins when “Binding deadlines” are enabled.
• Match request redirect fix: Employers creating a project from a match request are now properly redirected back to the match request wizard after publishing, ensuring a seamless workflow.