ToldYouAll

How it works

You write down what you think happens and when. We stamp the time, lock it so nobody can edit it afterwards, and email it back to you on the day. That is the whole product.

A prediction, start to finish

Something about the world, with a date on it.

  1. 1

    You call it, and it locks

    Write it, pick the date, seal it. Not a word can change after that. Not by you, not by us.

    • Until the dateSealed
  2. 2

    People doubt it

    Visitors say no way, or could happen. You cannot vote on your own.

  3. 3

    The day comes

    We email you and it lands in your notifications.

    • You have two weeks to answerDue
    • You never doNever claimed
  4. 4

    You answer

    No proof needed, though a solid link is what wins doubters over.

    • It happenedClaimed
    • It did not, and you say soGot it wrongfinal
  5. 5

    Doubters get one say

    Everyone who said no way is asked once, and the answer stands.

    • Half or more agree you called itTold you all
    • Most are not convincedDisputed
    • Nobody comes back in two weeks, though they still canUnchallenged

Private predictions skip the crowd. Nobody sees them, and on the day you mark it aged well or aged like milk yourself. Either way the site never rules on what is true.

Marked final means nothing can move it again. The rest can still change.

A promise, start to finish

Something you will do, made to somebody in particular.

  1. 1

    You promise it, and it locks

    Write it, pick the date, seal it. Always private, and not a word can change after that.

    • Until the dateSealed
  2. 2

    They take a seat

    You send the link, they sign in and take one of the seats. Reading it needs nothing; being counted needs an account.

    • Nobody takes one for two weeks after the dateBack to you to mark
  3. 3

    The day comes

    Everyone holding a seat is emailed, and so are you. You cannot mark it, so the email is a heads up rather than a job.

    • It waits as long as it takesDue
  4. 4

    They mark it

    One answer, and it stands.

    • They say you kept itKeptfinal
    • They say you did notBrokenfinal

The person you promised marks it, not you. That is the only thing separating a promise from a note to self. Keep it to yourself and you can mark it, but then it is only a note.

Marked final means nothing can move it again. The rest can still change.

Why not just tweet it

Because a tweet can be deleted, edited on some sites, and nobody is ever shown it again. This one cannot be changed, comes back to you on the day whether you remember it or not, and if you called it in public, the people who said no way are asked on the record. Immutable, delivered, witnessed. A tweet is none of the three.

Sealing

A prediction is a sentence and a date. Once sealed, the site will never change either: every write goes through one helper that refuses to touch them, and a test fails the build if any code tries to go round it. We could still edit the database by hand, and we say so rather than claiming a guarantee we do not have.

The date can be an hour away or 25 years away. Short calls are welcome, and so are the ones you will have forgotten about by the time they land. The only thing the floor stops is sealing something you already know.

You can seal 20 a day. Not a business rule, just a ceiling: sealing a hundred a day and keeping the ones that land is the oldest trick there is.

Predictions and promises

A prediction is about the world: GTA 6 slips, a film gets a date, a manager is sacked. A promise is about you. Same sealing, same locked date, same email on the day.

Promises are always private. They never go on the public board, because a promise is made to someone and a board of strangers is not someone. You send one link to whoever is judging it, and reading it needs no account.

When you seal it you say how many people may judge it, and that number is sealed with the claim. They take a seat through the link, which needs an account, because fifty anonymous answers cannot be told apart from one person answering fifty times. On the day they say kept or broken, once each, and you cannot. More than half of them must agree you kept it, and a fortnight after the date it settles on whoever turned up.

Choose nought judges and it is a note to yourself: no link, and you mark it. That is the whole difference between a promise and a note, and it is yours to pick.

You still get two words in. Before they answer you can say you have done it, which is a claim and not a verdict, and after they answer you get one reply, once. Someone else holds the pen, but nobody is marked in silence.

Private or public

A private capsule is a diary entry. Only you can see it, and you can send a secret link to anybody you want to. When the date arrives you say whether it aged well or aged like milk. Nobody checks. It is yours.

It cannot be deleted, by you or by us. A record you can quietly remove is not a record, and that applies to the private ones too: they are the ones nobody else is watching.

And it never counts for anything public. A private capsule is not on any chart, can never say told you all, has no share image, and does not appear on your profile to anyone else. That is deliberate: otherwise you could seal a thousand in secret, wait for a few to land, and show only those. If you want the record, you have to call it in the open.

A public challenge goes on the board, where anyone signed in can vote once: no way, or could happen. Votes are permanent. That is the point: a prediction that came true is worth more when you can prove people doubted it.

Going public needs a confirmed email address, which is the one wall on this site. If yours sealed privately because you had just signed up, the card has a button to put it on the board once you confirm. Only while it is still waiting, though: after the date it stays where it is, or the board would be a place to show the ones that worked out.

Who decides

Nobody. There is no referee here. When a public prediction comes due, or sooner if it happens sooner, you say what happened and post a link if you have one. Everyone who said "no way" is asked once whether they concede.

The card waits while the answer could still go either way, then settles the moment it cannot. Half the doubters conceding is told you all, whatever the rest say. Enough of them unconvinced is disputed. If the fortnight runs out with the room half silent, it goes on whoever bothered to answer, and if nobody did it says unchallenged, which stays open: a doubter answering later still settles it. We never say who was right.

If you never answer, the card says never claimed two weeks after the date, and that cannot be claimed back. You can still come back and say you got it wrong, though. There is no deadline on that.

What you cannot seal

Nothing about anyone’s health, death, pregnancy, relationships or sexuality. Nothing about crimes or arrests of private people. Nothing involving minors. Nothing targeting a private person. Those are refused however they are worded, and however famous the person is.

Public predictions have one extra rule: they must be about public figures acting in public, or public numbers and events. A prediction naming your brother is fine as a private capsule and will never go on the board.

Absurd is not the same as banned. "A McRib returns before GTA 6 ships" is exactly what this site is for.

No money

Nothing is staked, nothing is won, there are no points and no leaderboard. You are playing for the receipt.