Metaminder (Beeminder → Beeminder)

Metaminder is the Beeminder -> Beeminder integration, where your data source for your autodata goal is Beeminder itself.

What can I beemind with Metaminder?

Entering data into another Beeminder goal!

But what can I use that for?

Anything where you want to ensure you're entering data into a particular goal. For example, if you want to ensure you weigh in a minimum of six times a week, and you already have a weight goal, you can set up a Metaminder goal with a rate of 6/7 per day that will get a +1 each time a weight measurement is added to your weight goal.

Another example: Nicky used a meta goal for beeminding meditation: one goal tracked the number of minutes they meditated each day, but it got a lot of buffer if they did a long meditation... so they also had a meta goal which needed +1/day. Any meditation at all would satisfy that goal, but they needed to meditate even when they were totally safe on their meditation minutes goal.

So it's great for habits where you want/need to consistently do the thing every day, but the amount you want to do can be variable so you don't want to use autoratchet or something like that to keep you right on the edge. You could use it with reading goals, to-do list goals, exercise goals, ... the list goes on and on.

Can I set it up so it only counts once per day, so I can't get extra credit by doing something multiple times in one day?

If you have a premium subscription at the Bee Plus or Beemium level, you can turn your meta goal into a custom goal and do neat things with the aggregation. For example, if you set it to "nonzero", your data will be aggregated so that no matter how many datapoints get added in a day, it still only counts as +1. If you wanted to beemind doing at least one Focusmate session every day, you could use this to create a meta goal that will only give you credit once, no matter how many Focusmate sessions you do that day.

If you don't have premium and you absolutely need this feature, get in touch with support to explain the situation! We might be able to help you out in exchange for the feedback.

Can I turn an existing goal into a Metaminder data source?

Yep! Go to the goal you want to use as a data source, and in the settings, paste the URL of the goal that you want to receive the data into the webhook field.

Screenshot showing the "Data" section of a goal, highlighting the "webhook" field
That's it! From now on, each time you update the source goal, your other goal will be automatically updated.

Metaminder sample goal setup

  1. Head to create a new goal (also accessible through the New Goal link in the top menu).
  2. Click the Beeminder icon to start a new goal using data from one of your existing Beeminder goals.

    Beeminder icon, showing a black and yellow bee
  3. Select the goal you want to be the data source from the dropdown. To set up a goal for weighing in daily, for example, select your weight goal.

    Beeminder + Beeminder: "Select which goal should send data to your new meta goal", with a dropdown of options
  4. Next, you need to set the deadline time for your meta goal. It's a good idea to set this a few minutes after the original goal, just in case you're down to the wire on adding data to it. For example, if your weight goal has a deadline of 00:00am, set the new goal to a deadline of 00:15am. That way, if you're only adding data to the original goal right before midnight, there's still time for data to get to the meta goal before that one derails.

    You can check the deadline of the goal you want to get data from in the dropdown above. In my case, it says "dailyweight (00:00am)", so the deadline for that goal is 00:00am, and I want to set my meta goal to a deadline of 00:15am.

    Deadline setting, with a dropdown featuring times with increments of 15 minutes.
  5. Now it's time to set your commitment! I want to make sure I weigh myself every day, so I'm going to set a rate of 1/day.

    Commitment settings, "Commit to setting at least X datapoints per day", where X is an entry box you can put any number into, including fractions. Below, you can check a box to add extra safety buffer.

    Lastly, 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 and press Continue.
  6. Give your goal a brief name. If you want, you can also write a short description with more information.

    "Give your goal a name", followed by two text entry boxes. The first allows you to enter a short slug which will name your goal and create a URL for it. The second textbox allows you to set a short description, and is optional.
  7. 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.
  8. Step through the confirmation scenes and check the preview of your goal. If all sounds good, then that's it! I'll goal need to weigh in and add the data to my weight in the next few days to avoid derailing this goal.

    Example graph, showing +1 datapoint due in 4 days time

For more inspiration (maybe mostly speculation about the future and some historical context), see our blog post announcing it.


Keywords: meta integration, metamind, metaminder, automatically pushing data from one Beeminder goal to another

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