Tips and Tricks HQ

Ruhul Amin

mbrsolution

Josh

Alexander C.

I developed the Simple Download Monitor plugin because I needed a nice way to manage my digital downloads and monitor the number of downloads of my files and documents.
This plugin is very useful for managing and tracking your digital file download counts.
You can password protect your downloadable files and documents too (visitors will require a password before downloading the file when you use this option).
You can configure downloadable files from your WordPress admin dashboard via an elegant user interface. Then allow your visitors to download the files and this plugin will monitor which files get downloaded how many times.
The plugin will log the IP addresses of the users who download your digital files and documents. It will also log the date and time of each download.
It has a very user-friendly interface for uploading, managing, monitoring and tracking file downloads.
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Simple Download Monitor Plugin Basic Usage" width="750" height="422" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SjVaanbulRU?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<h4>Simple Download Monitor Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Add, edit and remove downloads from an easy to use interface.</li>
<li>Drag and drop file and document uploads.</li>
<li>Assign categories and tags to your downloadable files and documents.</li>
<li>Rich text editor for editing your download item description.</li>
<li>Use shortcodes to display a download now button on a WordPress post or page.</li>
<li>Show trackable download now buttons for your files anywhere on your site.</li>
<li>Shortcode to create a direct download link for a file. Useful for hotlinking.</li>
<li>Download counter for each file.</li>
<li>Ability to set a download count offset for each file.</li>
<li>Track IP addresses of the users who downloaded your files.</li>
<li>Track date and time of each file downloads.</li>
<li>Track the usernames of the users downloading the files.</li>
<li>Track the User Agent of the visitors downloading the files.</li>
<li>Track the Referrer URL to see which page the downloads are coming from.</li>
<li>Option to setup secure downloads for your files (the URL of the downloadable file will be hidden).</li>
<li>Option to upload a thumbnail image for each of your downloadable files.</li>
<li>Option to use a nice looking template to show your download now buttons.</li>
<li>Ability to search and sort your downloadable files in the admin dashboard.</li>
<li>Ability to create a search page and allow your visitors to search your downloads.</li>
<li>Track the number of downloads for each of your files.</li>
<li>Track the visitors country.</li>
<li>View the daily download counts of your items in a chart.</li>
<li>WordPress Shortcode for embedding a download link for a file.</li>
<li>Tinymce button in the WordPress post/page editor so you can easily add the shortcode.</li>
<li>You can customize the “Download Now” button text of an item to anything you want.</li>
<li>Ability to add the download now buttons to your sidebar widget.</li>
<li>Create password protected download now buttons. Users will only be able to download the file if they enter the correct password. <a href="https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/create-a-password-protected-download-file-6838" rel="nofollow ugc">View the tutorial</a></li>
<li>Option to add additional security to your downloadable files with the <a href="https://simple-download-monitor.com/enhanced-file-protection-securing-your-downloads/" rel="nofollow ugc">Enhanced File Protection Feature</a>.</li>
<li>Shortcode to show the download counter of a file. Use it to show off your file download count.</li>
<li>Shortcode to show all the downloads from a particular category.</li>
<li>Shortcode to embed a file tree browser for your downloadable files. The file browser is ajax based and it shows the files structured by categories.</li>
<li>Ability to open the downloads in new browser window or tab. When your users click on a download button, it will open in a new window or tab.</li>
<li>Ability to show your downloads in a grid display. <a href="https://www.tipsandtricks-hq.com/show-file-downloads-in-a-nice-grid-display-7273" rel="nofollow ugc">View the tutorial</a></li>
<li>Export all the file download logs to a CSV file.</li>
<li>Ability to reset the log entries.</li>
<li>Ability to trim the download log entries.</li>
<li>Shortcode to show a number of latest downloads to your visitors.</li>
<li>Shortcode to show a number of popular downloads to your visitors.</li>
<li>Ability to disable the download monitoring (logging) for certain items (or all items).</li>
<li>You can also choose to only monitor downloads from unique IP address only.</li>
<li>Option to specify file size info so it can be shown to your visitors. <a href="https://simple-download-monitor.com/how-to-show-file-size-info-of-your-downloads/" rel="nofollow ugc">View the tutorial</a></li>
<li>Option to specify version number info for the download item so it can be shown to your visitors.</li>
<li>Option to show the download published date.</li>
<li>Option to restrict downloads to logged-in users only. <a href="https://simple-download-monitor.com/offering-downloads-to-logged-in-users-members-only/" rel="nofollow ugc">View the tutorial</a></li>
<li>There is an option to show an ajax file tree browser so your visitors can browse all your files and download the ones they want.</li>
<li>Option to ignore download count from bots.</li>
<li>Option to add Google reCAPTCHA to your download buttons.</li>
<li>Option to add Cloudflare Turnstile CAPTCHA to your download buttons.</li>
<li>Option to add Terms and Conditions to your download buttons.</li>
<li>Ability to easily clone/copy your existing download items.</li>
<li>Ability to insert Adsense or other Ad code inside the download item display.</li>
<li>Gutenberg block to insert download now buttons on a post or page.</li>
<li>Option to override the default template by placing a custom template file in the active theme’s directory.</li>
<li>The stats menu can show you the top downloads, downloads by date, country, browser etc.</li>
</ul>
View more details on the <a href="https://simple-download-monitor.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">download monitor plugin</a> page.
<h4>Language Translations</h4>
The following language translations are already available for the download monitor plugin:
<ul>
<li>English</li>
<li>German</li>
<li>Spanish</li>
<li>French</li>
<li>Italian</li>
<li>Russian</li>
<li>Dutch</li>
<li>Portuguese (Brasil)</li>
<li>Hebrew</li>
</ul>
<h4>Simple Download Monitor Plugin Usage</h4>
Once you have installed the plugin, go to “Downloads -> Settings” interface to configure some options
A) Configure Download Monitor basic settings
<ul>
<li>Admin Options: Remove Tinymce Button – Removes the SDM Downloads button from the WP content editor (default: unchecked).</li>
<li>Color Options: Download Button Color – Select a default color of the download button (default: green).</li>
</ul>
B) Add a new download
To configure a new download follow these steps:
<ol>
<li>Go to “Downloads->Add New” interface in your WP admin</li>
<li>Enter a title for your download</li>
<li>Add a description for the download</li>
<li>Select the file from your computer and upload it (or use an URL of the file)</li>
<li>Select an image for the download (it will be displayed as a thumbnail on the front end)</li>
<li>Publish it</li>
</ol>
You can view all of your existing downloads from the “Downloads->Downloads” interface.
C) Create a download button
Create a new post/page and click the “SDM Downlaods” TinyMCE button to insert a shortcode (This button will only show up if you haven’t unchecked it in the settings). You can choose to display your download with a nice looking box or just a plain download link/button.
Example Shortcode Usage:
<pre><code>[sdm_download id="271" fancy="1"] (embed a download button inside a box with other information e.g. Thumbnail, Title and Description)

[sdm_download id="271" fancy="0"] (embed a plain download button/link for a file)

[sdm_download id="271" fancy="0" color="blue"] (embed a plain download button/link for a file with a blue color)
</code></pre>
D) Download logs
You can check the download stats from the “Downloads->Logs” interface. It shows the number of downloads for each files, IP address of the user who downloaded it, date and time of the download.
<h3>3rd Party or External Libraries/Services</h3>
The plugin uses the Google Charts library to show the download count charts in the admin interface (if you use the stats menu of the plugin). You can see more details about this library at the following URL: 
https://developers.google.com/chart/
<h3>Detailed Usage Documentation</h3>
View more usage instructions on the <a href="https://simple-download-monitor.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Download Monitor Plugin</a> page.
<h3>Github Repository</h3>
https://github.com/Arsenal21/simple-download-monitor
If you need extra action hooks or filters for this plugin then let us know.

Simple Download Monitor

On the WebinarIgnition Demo i use the Simple Download Monitor to hide direct access of the file and even better i removed the opening of PDFs in browser and forced to just download.

nice and it can be used to secure downloads in webinars too

Easily manage downloadable files and monitor downloads of your digital files from your WordPress site.

WebberZone

Ajay

WordPress doesn’t have an in-built system to track page views or displaying popular posts. <a href="https://webberzone.com/plugins/top-10/" rel="nofollow ugc">Top 10</a> is an easy to use, yet, powerful WordPress plugin that will count the number of page views of your posts, pages and any custom post types. You can then display the page view counts as well as display your most popular posts.
Top 10 adds two widgets that you can use to display a list of popular posts and the counta cross all your blog posts.
Although several similar plugins exist today, Top 10 is one of the most feature-rich popular post plugins with support for thumbnails, shortcodes, widgets, custom post types and CSS styles. The inbuilt caching system also helps reduce server load by caching your popular posts output. The tracking uses ajax and is thus compatible with most popular caching plugins.
Top 10 also has powerful API and is fully extendable with WordPress actions and filters to allow you easily extend the code base to add new features or tweak existing ones.
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Page counter: Counts page views on single posts, pages and custom post types on an hourly basis which can then be easily displayed automatically, using shortcodes or functions</li>
<li>Popular posts: Display a list of popular posts either for total counts or for a custom period. You can choose how many posts are to be displayed along with loads of other customisation options</li>
<li>Gutenberg / Block Editor support: You can find a block called “Popular Posts [Top 10]” with its own configurable set of options</li>
<li>Widget ready: Sidebar widgets available for daily popular and overall popular posts. Highly customizable widgets to control what you want to display in the list of posts</li>
<li>Shortcodes: The plugin includes two shortcodes <code>[tptn_list]</code> and <code>[tptn_views]</code> to display the posts list and the number of views respectively</li>
<li>Thumbnail support
<ul>
<li>Support for WordPress post thumbnails. Top 10 will create a custom image size (<code>tptn_thumbnail</code>) with the dimensions specified in the Settings page</li>
<li>Auto-extract the first image in your post to be displayed as a thumbnail</li>
<li>Manually enter the URL of the thumbnail via <a href="https://codex.wordpress.org/Custom_Fields" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress meta fields</a>. Specify this using the meta box in your Edit screens.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Exclusions: Exclude posts from select categories from appearing in the top posts list. Also exclude posts by ID from appearing in the list</li>
<li>Styles: The output is wrapped in CSS classes which allows you to easily style the list. You can enter your custom CSS styles from within WordPress Admin area or use the style included.</li>
<li>Admin interface: View list of daily and/or overall popular posts from within the dashboard. Top 10 also adds two sortable columns to your All Posts and All Pages pages in your WordPress Admin area</li>
<li>Export/Import interface: Export the count tables and settings to restore in the same site or on other installs</li>
<li>Works with caching plugins like WP-Super-Cache, W3 Total Cache or Quick Cache</li>
<li>Extendable code: Top 10 has tonnes of filters and actions that allow any developer to easily add features, edit outputs, etc.</li>
</ul>
<h4>Features in Top 10 Pro</h4>
<ul>
<li>
Advanced Blocks and Widgets
<ul>
<li>Top 10 Query Block: Query and display popular posts directly from the block or site editor.</li>
<li>Enhanced Top 10 Featured Image Block: Supports multiple image sources for more flexibility.</li>
<li>Popular Posts Block Enhancements: </li>
<li>Save and clear default block settings with a single click.</li>
<li>Auto-insert default and global settings attributes with an option to disable.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Improved Admin Tools
<ul>
<li>Admin Bar Integration: New admin bar menu item to view daily, total, and overall post counts, access admin pages, and clear the cache quickly.</li>
<li>Dashboard Access Control: Control which user roles can view the Top 10 dashboard.</li>
<li>Display Settings: Choose which post type screens display admin columns.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Custom Display Options
<ul>
<li>Taxonomy-Specific Displays: Use the <code>display_only_on_tax_ids</code> parameter to restrict popular post displays to specific taxonomy terms.</li>
<li>Category Inclusion: Include popular posts from specific categories using a new option in the Edit Post meta box.</li>
<li>RSS Feed Filtering: Enhanced RSS feeds with category and post type filtering, available via URL parameters (?category=news, ?post_type=product) and dedicated settings.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Enhanced Tracking and Performance
<ul>
<li>Fast Tracker: A new, faster tracking method to improve post view speed.</li>
<li>Query Filters: Enable parent term inclusion in post queries for more accurate filtering.</li>
<li>Query Optimization: Add MySQL MAX_EXECUTION_TIME directive to prevent long-running queries from consuming excessive server resources. Configurable via settings and the <code>top_ten_query_max_execution_time</code> filter.</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Developer-Friendly Features
<ul>
<li>Filters and Hooks: New filters like <code>top_ten_query_exclude_terms_include_parents</code>, <code>top_ten_query_include_terms_include_parents</code>, and <code>get_tptn_short_circuit</code> for greater customisation.</li>
<li>Custom Post Type Sortable Columns: Display columns on post types and make them sortable.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>GDPR</h4>
Top 10 is GDPR compliant as it doesn’t collect any personal data about your visitors when installed out of the box. You can see the data the plugin stores in the <code>wp_top_ten</code> and <code>wp_top_ten_daily</code> tables in the database. Note: the prefix <code>wp</code> might be different if you have changed it from the default.
YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ENSURING THAT ALL GDPR REQUIREMENTS ARE MET ON YOUR WEBSITE.
<h4>Translations</h4>
Top 10 is available for <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/top-10" rel="nofollow ugc">translation directly on WordPress.org</a>. Check out the official <a href="https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/handbook/rosetta/theme-plugin-directories/" rel="nofollow ugc">Translator Handbook</a> to contribute.
<h4>Contribute</h4>
Top 10 is also available on <a href="https://github.com/webberzone/top-10" rel="nofollow ugc">Github</a> 
So, if you’ve got some cool feature that you’d like to implement into the plugin or a bug you’ve been able to fix, consider forking the project and sending me a pull request. Please don’t use that for support requests.
<h3>Other plugins from WebberZone</h3>
Top 10 – Popular Posts is one of the many plugins developed by WebberZone. Check out our other plugins:
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="ugc">Contextual Related Posts</a> – Display related posts on your WordPress blog and feed</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/add-to-all/" rel="ugc">WebberZone Snippetz</a> – The ultimate snippet manager for WordPress to create and manage custom HTML, CSS or JS code snippets</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/knowledgebase/" rel="ugc">Knowledge Base</a> – Create a knowledge base or FAQ section on your WordPress site</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-search/" rel="ugc">Better Search</a> – Enhance the default WordPress search with contextual results sorted by relevance</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoclose/" rel="ugc">Auto-Close</a> – Automatically close comments, pingbacks and trackbacks and manage revisions</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/popular-authors/" rel="ugc">Popular Authors</a> – Display popular authors in your WordPress widget</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/where-did-they-go-from-here/" rel="ugc">Followed Posts</a> – Show a list of related posts based on what your users have read</li>
</ul>

Top 10 – WordPress Popular posts by WebberZone

A very good plugin that helps to display top 3 popular posts via shorcode.

Good Plugin

Track daily and total visits on your blog posts. Display the count as well as popular and trending posts.

Simple Download Monitor vs Top 10 – WordPress Popular posts by WebberZone