RSSminder

RSS stands for "Really Simple Syndication". It's basically a feed of items posted on a given site, and thus can be used to track all kinds of different things. The most common use is to track blog posts, but any RSS feed can be tracked this way!

What can I beemind with RSSminder?

New posts made to any RSS feed! Examples include blogs, YouTube channels, a Mastodon account (just add .rss to your public profile URL)... RSS feeds are really common, and you'll be surprised how often you find them. In general, if the URL ends in ".rss", ".xml" or "/feed", it should be compatible. Some sites also have a more hidden RSS option, e.g. by adding /rss or /feed to the URL.

Once your goal is set up, each time a new post is added to the RSS feed, that's +1 for your goal! Here's an example showing the goal Nicky uses to track posts on their book blog:

Example of data added via RSSminder, showing that each datapoint is a +1, and the comment displays the title of the post, "Auto-added via RSSminder", and the date/time data was added

It works the same for any RSS feed: each entry added is a +1.

RSSminder sample goal setup

  1. Head to create a new goal (also accessible through the New Goal link in the top menu).
  2. Click the RSSminder icon to start a new goal using URLminder data.

    RSSminder icon, the RSS symbol on a black background
  3. Paste the URL of the feed you want to track into the box.

    Beeminder + RSS: "My RSS feed URL is", followed by a box in which to paste the feed URL. Below there is a "Check" button.
    Click "Check" to continue. If the URL you gave is not a feed compatible with RSSminder, an error banner will pop up at the top of the page saying "Error while fetching feed."
  4. If all is well, the goal creation wizard will expand to give you some more options. Choose your rate here to decide how many posts you want to make: if you want to make one post per week, for example, you would set the rate to 1/7 per day.

    Screenshot of the goal setup wizard, where you can see how many posts have been added in the last week, set up your rate, and choose your initial 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
  5. 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.
  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 by selecting the cap. 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!)

    If you want to start out with a sort of trial period, you can choose to start the goal at $0. If you do that, the pledge will automatically increase to $5 after seven days. If you derail before that, it will also increase to $5.

    Screenshot of the "Starting Stakes" screen. The text says "Your pledge will increase each time you derail until you reach your pledge cap (which you can adjust below)", with a demonstration below showing the pledge progression: 5, 10, 30, 90... to the pledge cap, which currently shows $270. Below, a checkbox button allows you to choose to "Hold the pledge at $0 for 7 days while I get my feet wet"
  7. Step through the confirmation scenes and check the preview of your goal. If all sounds good, then that's it! You'll need to make a post in the next few days to avoid derailing on this goal.

    Example graph showing +1 post due in 4 days or pay $5


Keywords: autodata integrations, blog, feed, RSS

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