Draft

What can I beemind with Draft?

The Draft integration tracks your words edited each day. This includes words written as well as words deleted.

I want to use Draft, but I can't seem to create an account.

Unfortunately, it looks like Draft is shutting down. For now, existing users are able to log in to Draft, use it, and create new Beeminder goals which can fetch data. Since it still works for existing users, we aren't removing the integration for now, but we're keeping an eye on the situation!

If you're not able to sign up with Draft, beeminding a Google Doc or Dropbox file may work for you, via our URLminder goals.

I've written words in Draft, but Beeminder isn't picking them up.

Usually this happens when you've copied and pasted text from another application directly into Draft. Those words normally don't get counted as part of your writing for the day.

There is a workaround, however! If you open the document, start typing a few words, and then paste your text, it will count normally, and Beeminder should pick it up.

My Draft writing is showing up on the wrong day in Beeminder.

You can check the timezone setting of your Draft account. If it doesn't match the timezone you've chosen for Beeminder, data may get assigned to the wrong day. We'll still pull it in, but it may be assigned a day earlier or a day later than your current day.

I edited my datapoint in Beeminder, but it was changed back!

When Beeminder checks for data, we'll look at the last 7 days of Draft data and update any datapoints that are out of sync with Draft. Because of the 7-day lookback, any deleted or edited datapoints will be replaced with Draft's value for the day. If this data is incorrect for any reason, you'll need to contact Beeminder support for a workaround.

Draft sample goal setup

  1. Head to create a new goal.
  2. Click the Draft icon to start a new goal using Draft data.
    Screenshot of the draft icon, a white pencil against a dark background
  3. You need enter the amount that you want to commit to using the two fields below - this goal will be 500 words per day.

    If you want to delay your goal's start a few days (maybe you're traveling this weekend), be sure to tick the Start this goal with extra leeway box. Enter the number of days you want to delay.

    A screenshot from the create a goal page, showing the Beeminder and Draft icons at the top. Below it says "I pledge to edit" and then there's a stepper box allowing to set how many words you pledge to edit per day. There's a note that "Editing counts as words added + words deleted", and finally a tickbox option to "Start this goal with extra leeway (safety buffer)"
  4. If you've never set up a Draft-linked goal before, you'll need to connect with Draft now, to allow us to access the information. Click the "Connect to Draft button to proceed and get that set up! You should automatically arrive back at Beeminder at the next step.
  5. Give your goal a brief name. If you want, you can also write a short description with more information.

    Example screenshot of the goal-naming step of goal creation. The title says "Give your goal a name", and below "getwordy" has been entered as the goalname, and "500 words a day of freewriting" for the description. In addition, the text shows the URL "beeminder.com/shanaqui/getwordy", and says "Point anyone to that URL to see your goal. You can make a goal private any time."
  6. Finally, choose your initial pledge. This is the amount you will pay the first time you derail on the goal. After derailing, the pledge will increase by default — use the dropdown below to control how high it goes. In the example below, I have chosen to start at a $5 pledge, which will increase each time I derail, until it reaches $270 — the pledge cap. (To read more about pledges and payments, check out some FAQs!)

    Screenshot of the "Pledge your money" screen, showing the starting stakes (choosing between $0 and $5 using radio buttons). The text below that says "Your pledge will increase each time you derail until you reach your pledge cap", with a demonstration below showing the pledge progression: 5, 10, 30, 90... to the pledge cap, which is a set of stepper buttons currently showing $270.
  7. And that's it! Step through the preview and payment confirmation to see your new graph. I'll need to start writing by tomorrow to avoid paying Beeminder my first $5.

    Example graph showing one where +500 words are due in 1 day


Keywords: autodata integrations, writing tools, similar to URLminder, document word count, wordcount, words added vs deleted

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