ThemeRuby

Light Views Counter is a professional, high-performance WordPress plugin that tracks post and page views using intelligent scroll detection technology.
Designed for bloggers, news sites, magazines, and content creators, this plugin helps you understand what content truly resonates with your audience.
Built for speed and scalability, Light Views Counter is optimized for heavy-traffic websites and large post databases. It delivers reliable view tracking without adding query overhead or slowing down your site’s performance.
<h4>🎯 Why Choose Light Views Counter?</h4>
Tracking 
* Scroll Detection Technology – Only counts views when visitors actually read your content (configurable scroll threshold) 
* Bot Protection – Automatically filters out search engine crawlers and automated traffic 
* Duplicate Prevention – Prevent counting the same user multiple times within a configurable time window 
* Short Content Smart Detection – Intelligently handles posts that fit in viewport without requiring scroll
Lightning Fast Performance 
* Zero Impact on Page Speed – Asynchronous REST API ensures counting happens in the background 
* Built-in Caching – Transient-based caching system reduces database load 
* sendBeacon API – Fire-and-forget counting for maximum performance (enabled by default)
Easy to Use 
* Automatic Tracking – Works immediately after activation, no configuration required 
* Flexible Shortcode – Display views anywhere with <code>[lightvc_post_views]</code> shortcode 
* Popular Posts Widgets – Ready-to-use WordPress and Elementor widgets 
* Auto-Display Option – Automatically show view counts at the end of posts
Developer Friendly 
* Clean Public API – Simple functions: <code>lightvc_get_post_views()</code>, <code>lightvc_get_popular_posts()</code> 
* WP_Query Integration – Sort posts by views: <code>'orderby' => 'lightvc_views'</code> 
* Hooks & Filters – Customize everything: <code>lightvc_post_views_count</code>, <code>lightvc_views_html</code>, <code>lightvc_exclude_user</code> 
* REST API Endpoints – HTTP access for external integrations
Enterprise Ready 
* High Traffic Optimized – Tested on sites with millions of views per day 
* Cache Plugin Compatible – Works perfectly with WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, Cloudflare 
* GDPR Compliant – No personal data collection, no cookies, privacy-focused
<h4>Perfect For</h4>
<ul>
<li>Bloggers – See which posts your readers love most</li>
<li>News Websites – Track trending stories and breaking news engagement</li>
<li>Magazine Sites – Identify top-performing content and popular topics</li>
<li>Content Marketers – Measure content performance and reader engagement</li>
<li>E-commerce – Track product page views and customer interest</li>
<li>Publishers – Understand content performance across categories</li>
</ul>
<h4>Key Features</h4>
Smart Counting System 
* Scroll-based view detection 
* Automatic short content detection and handling 
* Configurable time window to prevent duplicate counts 
* Admin user exclusion (don’t count your own views) 
* Bot and crawler filtering
Widgets & Integration 
* Standard WordPress widget for popular posts 
* Display options: thumbnails, view counts, dates 
* Fully customizable layouts 
* Works in any widget area
Analytics & Reporting 
* Admin dashboard with statistics 
* Total views across all posts 
* Most viewed posts list 
* Average views per post 
* Views column in posts list (sortable)
Performance Features 
* Custom database table with optimized indexes 
* Transient caching system 
* Object cache support (Redis/Memcached) 
* sendBeacon API for fire-and-forget requests 
* Conditional script loading 
* No external dependencies
Developer Tools 
* WordPress hooks and filters 
* view data REST API endpoints 
* WP_Query orderby support 
* Compatible with any theme
<h4>💻 For Developers</h4>
Light Views Counter provides a complete developer toolkit:
Basic Functions
Get post views:
 
Get popular posts: 
 10, 
 ‘date_range’ => 7 // Last 7 days 
 ) ); 
 ?>
WP_Query Integration
Sort posts by views: 
 ‘post’, 
 ‘orderby’ => ‘lightvc_views’, 
 ‘order’ => ‘DESC’, 
 ‘posts_per_page’ => 10 
 ) ); 
 ?>
Hooks & Filters
Modify view count: 
 add_filter( ‘lightvc_post_views_count’, ‘my_custom_views’, 10, 2 );
Customize HTML output: 
 add_filter( ‘lightvc_views_html’, ‘my_custom_html’, 10, 3 );
Exclude specific users: 
 add_filter( ‘lightvc_exclude_user’, ‘my_user_exclusion’ );
Track view events: 
 add_action( ‘lightvc_views_counted’, ‘my_view_tracker’ );
REST API Endpoints
<ul>
<li><code>GET /wp-json/lightvc/v1/views/{post_id}</code> – Get view count for a post</li>
</ul>
<h4>📱 Shortcode Usage</h4>
Display views anywhere using the flexible shortcode:
Basic usage: 
 [lightvc_post_views]
With custom style: 
 [lightvc_post_views style=”badge”]
With custom label: 
 [lightvc_post_views label=”Total Reads”]
For specific post: 
 [lightvc_post_views post_id=”123″]
All options: 
 [lightvc_post_views post_id=”123″ style=”badge” label=”Views” icon=”👁️” show_label=”true”]
Available styles: <code>default</code>, <code>minimal</code>, <code>badge</code>, <code>compact</code>
<h4>Translations & Compatibility</h4>
Language Support 
* English (default) 
* Translation ready with .pot file included
Theme Compatibility 
* Works with any WordPress theme 
* Deep integration with Foxiz News theme
Plugin Compatibility 
* Cache Plugins: WP Rocket, W3 Total Cache, WP Super Cache, LiteSpeed Cache, Autoptimize 
* CDN Services: Cloudflare, StackPath, KeyCDN, BunnyCDN
<h4>🔒 Privacy & Security</h4>
GDPR Compliant 
* No personal data collection 
* No cookies used 
* No cross-site tracking 
* localStorage is client-side only 
* Complete transparency
Security Features 
* Rate limiting to prevent abuse 
* Admin capability checks
<h4>🔗 Useful Links</h4>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://themeruby.com/light-views-counter" rel="nofollow ugc">Plugin Homepage</a></li>
<li><a href="https://themeruby.com/light-views-counter/docs/" rel="nofollow ugc">Documentation</a></li>
<li><a href="https://themeruby.com" rel="nofollow ugc">ThemeRuby Website</a></li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/light-views-counter/" rel="ugc">Support Forum</a></li>
</ul>

Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites

Lightweight and fast post view counter with smart tracking, built for high-traffic sites and large post databases.

Lester Chan

<h3>Usage</h3>
<ol>
<li>Open <code>wp-content/themes/<YOUR THEME NAME>/index.php</code></li>
<li>You may place it in archive.php, single.php, post.php or page.php also.</li>
<li>Find: <code><?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?></code></li>
<li>Add Anywhere Below It (The Place You Want The Views To Show): <code><?php if(function_exists('the_views')) { the_views(); } ?></code></li>
<li>Or you can use the shortcode <code>[views]</code> or <code>[views id="1"]</code> (where 1 is the post ID) in a post</li>
<li>Go to <code>WP-Admin -> Settings -> PostViews</code> to configure the plugin.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Development</h3>
<a href="https://github.com/lesterchan/wp-postviews/" title="https://github.com/lesterchan/wp-postviews/" rel="nofollow ugc">https://github.com/lesterchan/wp-postviews/</a>
<h3>Translations</h3>
<a href="http://dev.wp-plugins.org/browser/wp-postviews/i18n/" title="http://dev.wp-plugins.org/browser/wp-postviews/i18n/" rel="nofollow ugc">http://dev.wp-plugins.org/browser/wp-postviews/i18n/</a>
<h3>Credits</h3>
<ul>
<li>Plugin icon by <a href="http://www.icomoon.io" rel="nofollow ugc">Iconmoon</a> from <a href="http://www.flaticon.com" rel="nofollow ugc">Flaticon</a></li>
</ul>
<h3>Donations</h3>
I spent most of my free time creating, updating, maintaining and supporting these plugins, if you really love my plugins and could spare me a couple of bucks, I will really appreciate it. If not feel free to use it without any obligations.
<h3>Version 1.76.1</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Add Post Author in views template</li>
<li>NEW: Bump for WordPress 5.3</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.76</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Added postviews_should_count filter</li>
<li>FIXED: Change to (int) from intval() and use sanitize_key() with it.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.75</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Use WP_Query() for most/least viewed posts</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.74</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Bump WordPress 4.7</li>
<li>NEW: Template variable %POST_CATEGORY_ID%. It returns Post’s Category ID. If you are using Yoast SEO Plugin, it will return the priority Category ID. Props @FunFrog-BY</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.73</h3>
<ul>
<li>FIXED: In preview mode, don’t count views</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.72</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Add %POST_THUMBNAIL% to template variables</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.71</h3>
<ul>
<li>FIXED: Notices in Widget Constructor for WordPress 4.3</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.70</h3>
<ul>
<li>FIXED: Integration with WP-Stats</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.69</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Shortcode <code>[views]</code> or [views id=”POST_ID”]` to embed view count into post</li>
<li>NEW: Added template variable <code>%VIEW_COUNT_ROUNDED%</code> to support rounded view count like 10.1k or 11.2M</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.68</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Added action hook ‘postviews_increment_views’ and ‘postviews_increment_views_ajax’</li>
<li>NEW: Allow custom post type to be chosen under the widget</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.67</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Allow user to not use AJAX to update the views even though WP_CACHE is true</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.66</h3>
<ul>
<li>NEW: Supports MultiSite Network Activation</li>
<li>NEW: Add %POST_DATE% and %POST_TIME% to template variables</li>
<li>NEW: Add China isearch engines bots</li>
<li>NEW: Ability to pass in an array of post types for get_most/least_*() functions. Props Leo Plaw.</li>
<li>FIXED: Moved uninstall to uninstall.php and hence fix missing nonce. Props Julio Potier.</li>
<li>FIXED: Notices and better way to get views from meta. Props daankortenbach.</li>
<li>FIXED: No longer needing add_post_meta() if update_post_meta() fails.</li>
</ul>
<h3>Version 1.65 (02-06-2013)</h3>
<ul>
<li>FIXED: Views not showing in WP-Admin if “Display Options” is not set to “Display to everyone”</li>
</ul>

WP-PostViews

Now I can independently control the logic of counting! Like this:

function exclude_wp_post_views_count($should_count, $id) {
    if ( current_user_can('administrator') ) { // or other condition(s)
        $should_count = false;
    }
    return $should_count;
}
add_filter('postviews_should_count', 'exclude_wp_post_views_count', 10, 2);


Thanks for the filter 'postviews_should_count'!

Enables you to display how many times a post/page had been viewed.

Light Views Counter – Fast, Scalable View Counter for High-Traffic Sites vs WP-PostViews