How do I quit a goal?

In Beeminder, the typical way to quit a goal is to archive it, allowing you to get off the hook without losing all your data. 

Goals can't be archived immediately, due to the akrasia horizon: instead, you schedule an archive that will take place in seven days. In the meantime, you may still need to add data to avoid derailing (depending on your safety buffer). The exception to this is when your goal is less than seven days old: in that case you can delete the goal immediately, unless you're in No-Excuses Mode.

How do I start the archive process?

To start the archive process for a given goal, go to the goal's page and click the Schedule Archive button in the Stop/Pause tab below the graph. (If you don't see this button, make sure you're logged into the site!) Pushing this button starts the 7-day countdown, after which your goal will be archived and no longer active. Until the countdown completes, your goal is still active, and you can derail on it!

Before:

Screenshot of the "Archive goal" section under Stop/Pause. The text says "If you click the "Schedule Archive" button below, you will still be on the hook until 9 Mar 2022. If you derail before the countdown ends, you will still be charged for the derailment. After the countdown runs out, we move the goal to your archived gallery and cancel the pledge."

After:

Screenshot of the stop/pause section. Text says "This goal is marked to be archived but you can cancel the archive any time before the countdown ends if you wish to keep the goal. You are on the hook until 2022-03-09. Once archived we will cancel this goal's pledge and move the goal to your archived page."

A banner will display across the top of your goal page indicating the scheduled archive date.

Screenshot of goal header, showing the text "Archiving on 2022-03-09" above the standard header of the goal showing how much needs to be added by when

You can cancel the archive any time during the countdown by pressing the Cancel Archive button that replaces the Schedule Archive button during the countdown.

What happens if I derail while my goal is still archiving?

If your goal derails during the archive period, it freezes. If you want to just archive the goal right away, you can choose to immediately archive the goal, paying the derailment fee immediately. If the charge wasn't legit for some reason, don't do this because the charge is non-refundable! You can contact support by replying to the legitimacy check email as usual. We'll get your goal back on track!

If you need to quit a goal in a hurry and you can't wait for the archive date, for example because you can't enter data due to a device failing, contact support to let us know what's going on, and we can figure out the best solution with you.

Can I set an archive to happen further in the future?

Not exactly! Archiving always happens seven days from when you schedule it.

However, if you set an end date or end total for your goal via the commitment dial, the goal will reach a "success" state when you hit your end date/total, and can be immediately archived at that point.

What exactly happens to an archived goal?

An archived goal is inactive, can't have data added or derail, and won't charge you, but can still be viewed at the same URL as when it was active, and it appears in your archived gallery. Data can be exported via the "data" tab, and the goal can be deleted if you want to remove it completely.

Once a goal is archived, you can't change all of the settings, but you can still access certain settings to e.g. change the name of the goal.


Keywords: end a goal early, archive a goal

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