A number, and a bar
The goal sits in the middle of the status bar. Choose what it counts — this section, this chapter, the whole book, or today — and type the number.
The bar fills as you write and takes its colours from whichever room you are in, so it never looks bolted on.
Deadlines
A deadline is a date and a time, set in a picker that matches the room, in 12 or 24 hour form. Once it is set, Quillard works out what it actually requires of you — words per day, live, against the days remaining.
That number is the honest one. It goes up when you miss a day, and it is the single most useful thing on the screen in the last month of a book.
Being warned, and how much
The deadline turns amber, then red, at thresholds you set yourself. Some people want a fortnight’s warning; some want three days. Both are reasonable, so neither is the default for everyone.
Desktop notifications are available for deadlines as well as for sync, and they are off until you turn them on.