Still a bit confused about the take a break feature. If I set it to start Aug 1, then it doesn’t change until the end of day Aug 2 i.e. Aug 1 same rate, Aug 2 has a changed rate.
What about the end? If I end on Aug 2. Then the rate reverts on Aug 3?
I was thinking about this feature and a change in the UI might make it self explanatory. If you take inspiration from hotel booking sites, they have good date range pickers. I really like the one on spg.com (Starwood hotels). It highlights the selected area with the check in and check out dates. It has some other nice qualities, but that’s the one relevant to this request.
I used to just always add a day or two on either side of the break I need. Otherwise I somehow always end up with eep!s on the first day I’m out of town.
I think that it actually works like nights in the hotel rather than days. If you tell a hotel you want to be there Aug 2 - 3 you’re spending 2 days but only 1 night. If you tell Beeminder you want a break from Aug 2 - 2 it says “Your break must be at least one day” so it must be talking about nights and not days.
Agreed that it’s confusing. Techie-detail you didn’t want to know: iirc, the dates are lifted straight from the road matrix, which means that they’re the end dates of a segment of road. i.e. the last day on which a specified slope has effect.
So, flattening the road 2nd August to 7th August would have current slope up to and including the 2nd, then a flat slope up to and including the 7th, and then resume the current slope. (Doubly confusing that the ‘current’ slope means the ‘surrounding’ slope rather than necessarily the actual current slope.)
Quickest non-fix would be to add an example to the page text. My blathering just above probably doesn’t constitute an adequately clear example.
@drtall’s point about considering the edges of your break isn’t just for safety in having configured it ‘correctly’, it’s for sanity. On the day before a holiday, it’s usually manic all by itself and I’d rather not have a bunch of beemergencies too. On the day I get back, there’s often catch-up to do, so same thing. Consider buffering your breaks.
It would also be nice if the graph updated to show you what the new road would look like and allow easy editing of breaks if you get the dates wrong. #wishlist, #roadeditor
