Pavel Khloponin

SQMViews is a simple and lightweight tracking and analytics plugin that helps you understand how visitors interact with your WordPress content—without sending data to third-party services. 
Plugin adds very little overhead, capable of tracking millions of page views per day on a moderately sized website. 
Plugin includes sqm-views-pages.php drop-in script installation (Fast endpoint) to collect pageviews without loading WordPress core, reducing pageview request from 250 ms to 5 ms. If drop-in installation is not possible, the plugin falls back to the WordPress call (API endpoint).
<h4>Key Features</h4>
Tracking & Analytics:
<ul>
<li>Near real-time page view tracking</li>
<li>Engagement metrics (time on page, active time)</li>
<li>Shows user activity (clicks, scrolls, etc.) with privacy-friendly event counting</li>
<li>Interactive analytics dashboard with D3.js visualizations</li>
<li>Historical data with daily aggregation</li>
<li>Filter by date range, content type, and more</li>
</ul>
Performance:
<ul>
<li>Ultra-fast tracking endpoint (bypasses a core load)</li>
<li>Minimal overhead (~5ms per request with the drop-in script)</li>
<li>File-based batch processing (no database requests during the pageview event collection, only during cron processing)</li>
<li>Efficient data storage with automatic archiving</li>
<li>Configurable background processing via WP-Cron</li>
</ul>
Drop-in script 
* Created to minimize overhead 
* Uses exactly the same code as the API endpoint except two hooks for config modification (sqm_views_ping_interval, sqm_views_session_timeout) 
* Run strict JSON request schema validation to minimize attack surface. 
* Receives request, run validation, add it to a file for the later batch processing. Very low memory and CPU footprint.
Pageview lifetime 
JS code will send an <code>init</code> event, followed by <code>ping</code> events and completed by <code>exit</code> or <code>timeout</code> events. Unique ID is returned during <code>init</code> used for all the following events. During cron processing all the events with the same IDs are combined into a single pageview and stored in the database.
Privacy & Control:
<ul>
<li>100% privacy-focused (no external services)</li>
<li>All data stays on your server</li>
<li>Encrypted tracking payloads (you don’t need to reveal everything you track)</li>
<li>Full control over what gets tracked</li>
<li>GDPR-friendly (no personal data collected by default), we focus on pageviews</li>
</ul>
Flexibility:
<ul>
<li>Track custom post types and taxonomies</li>
<li>30+ developer hooks for customization</li>
<li>WP-CLI commands for automation</li>
<li>Translation-ready (i18n)</li>
<li>REST API for integrations</li>
</ul>
<h4>What Gets Tracked?</h4>
Content Types: 
* Posts and pages (configurable) 
* Custom post types 
* Category and tag archives 
* Custom taxonomy archives 
* Author archives 
* Date archives 
* Home page 
* Search results
Engagement Metrics: 
* Count – Total number of views 
* Time on Page – Total time spent on page 
* Active Time – Time user was actively engaged 
* High-Frequency Events – User browsing on the page (scrolling, mouse movement) 
* Low-Frequency Events – Deliberate actions (clicks, touches, typing)
<h4>Perfect For</h4>
<ul>
<li>Publishers monitoring content performance</li>
<li>Marketers analyzing user engagement</li>
<li>Developers needing custom analytics</li>
<li>Privacy-conscious site owners</li>
<li>Anyone wanting Google Analytics alternative</li>
</ul>
<h4>How It Works</h4>
<ol>
<li>Lightweight JavaScript tracker injected on tracked pages (inline or external)</li>
<li>Fast endpoint receives tracking data</li>
<li>File-based storage for raw data writes data to JSONL files (no database overhead)</li>
<li>Background processing via WP-Cron aggregates data hourly/daily and put them in the database</li>
<li>Interactive dashboard displays charts and metrics</li>
</ol>
<h4>Extensibility</h4>
30+ Developer Hooks:
<ul>
<li>Frontend Hooks – Control what gets tracked and how</li>
<li>Processing Hooks – Modify data before database storage</li>
<li>REST API Hooks – Customize chart data and permissions</li>
<li>Activation Hooks – Adjust default settings and storage</li>
</ul>
<h4>WP-CLI Support</h4>
<pre><code># Process statistics manually
wp sqm-views process
</code></pre>
<h4>Multisite Compatible</h4>
Planned
<h4>Why Choose SQMViews?</h4>
vs. External Analytics: 
* No external JavaScript libraries 
* No tracking cookies required 
* No data sent to Google servers 
* Faster page loads (no external requests) 
* Complete data ownership
<h4>Requirements</h4>
<ul>
<li>WordPress 6.0 or higher</li>
<li>PHP 8.1 or higher (PHP 8.2+ recommended)</li>
<li>PHP Sodium extension (for encryption)</li>
<li>MySQL 5.6 or higher / MariaDB 10.0 or higher</li>
<li>Write permissions for <code>wp-content/uploads/sqm-views</code> directory</li>
</ul>
<h4>Credits</h4>
SearchQueryMaster.com team
Powered by: 
* D3.js for visualizations 
* WordPress CMS 
* Sodium crypto library
<h3>Privacy Policy</h3>
SQMViews is designed with privacy in mind. The plugin:
Does NOT collect: 
* Personal information 
* Cookies not required for tracking 
* Sessions – there is no session tracking at the moment, only pageviews tracking 
* Usernames or emails 
* Browser fingerprints
IP address and user agents are: 
* collected in raw log files for troubleshooting, spam, bot, and system abuse prevention 
* removed from aggregated data and not used anywhere else
Does collect: 
* Page URLs being viewed 
* Tags and categories on the current page 
* Timestamps of visits 
* User interaction metrics (scrolls, clicks) counter 
* Browser user-agent string (for bot filtering) 
* Referrer URL (if available)
Data storage: 
* All data stored on your WordPress server 
* No data sent to external services 
* You control data retention and deletion
Your responsibilities: 
* Update your site’s privacy policy to mention analytics tracking 
* Implement cookie consent if required in your jurisdiction 
* Handle data subject access requests per GDPR/CCPA requirements 
* Configure the plugin to exclude personal data if necessary
<h3>Support</h3>
Free Support: 
* <a href="https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/sqm-views/" rel="ugc">WordPress.org Support Forum</a>
<h3>Developer Notes</h3>
Architecture: 
* Namespaced PHP code (<code>SQMViews\</code>) 
* PSR-4 autoloading via Composer 
* REST API endpoints for integrations 
* File-based queueing system
Database Tables: 
* <code>sqm_views_trackables</code> – Catalog of tracked content 
* <code>sqm_views_events</code> – Event type definitions 
* <code>sqm_views_records</code> – Individual tracking records 
* <code>sqm_views_daily</code> – Daily aggregated statistics
Hooks:
Hooks Reference:
Filters (apply_filters):
Tracking & Frontend: 
* <code>sqm_views_should_track</code> – Control whether tracking should occur (2 params: $should_track, $data) 
* <code>sqm_views_tracking_data</code> – Modify tracking data before encryption (1 param: $tracking_data) 
* <code>sqm_views_trackable_post_types</code> – Customize which post types can be tracked (1 param: $post_types) 
* <code>sqm_views_trackable_taxonomies</code> – Customize which taxonomies can be tracked (1 param: $taxonomies) 
* <code>sqm_views_data_taxonomies</code> – Modify taxonomies included in tracking data (1 param: $taxonomies) 
* <code>sqm_views_encryption_key</code> – Override the encryption key (1 param: $key) 
* <code>sqm_views_tracker_endpoint</code> – Customize tracking endpoint URL (2 params: $endpoint, $saved_endpoint) 
* <code>sqm_views_minified_js</code> – Control whether to use minified tracker JS (1 param: $use_min) 
* <code>sqm_views_tracker_script_path</code> – Customize the tracker script file path (2 params: $path, $use_min) 
* <code>sqm_views_tracker_script_url</code> – Customize tracker script URL (2 params: $url, $use_min) 
* <code>sqm_views_inline_js</code> – Control whether to inline tracker JS (1 param: $use_inline) 
* <code>sqm_views_show_debug_comment</code> – Show debug HTML comment (1 param: $show)
Processing: 
* <code>sqm_views_raw_record</code> – Filter raw record data during processing (1 param: $data) 
* <code>sqm_views_calculated_metrics</code> – Modify calculated metrics (2 params: $metrics, $records) 
* <code>sqm_views_session_timeout</code> – Customize session inactivity timeout (1 param: $timeout) 
* <code>sqm_views_ping_interval</code> – Customize the ping interval for session tracking (1 param: $interval)
Dashboard: 
* <code>sqm_views_dashboard_minified_js</code> – Control minified JS for dashboard (1 param: $use_min) 
* <code>sqm_views_dashboard_script_path</code> – Dashboard script file path (2 params: $path, $use_min) 
* <code>sqm_views_dashboard_script_url</code> – Dashboard script URL (2 params: $url, $use_min) 
* <code>sqm_views_dashboard_inline_js</code> – Control inline JS for dashboard (1 param: $use_inline) 
* <code>sqm_views_dashboard_default_filters</code> – Customize default dashboard filters (1 param: $defaults)
REST API: 
* <code>sqm_views_rest_permissions</code> – Customize REST API permissions (1 param: $capability) 
* <code>sqm_views_rest_chart_data</code> – Modify chart data in REST response (2 params: $data, $request) 
* <code>sqm_views_chart_cache_expiration</code> – Customize chart cache expiration time (1 param: $seconds) 
* <code>sqm_views_rest_chart_filters</code> – Customize available chart filters (1 param: $filters)
Activation & Settings: 
* <code>sqm_views_enable_dropin</code> – Enable/disable drop-in file creation (1 param: $enable) 
* <code>sqm_views_default_settings</code> – Customize default plugin settings (1 param: $settings) 
* <code>sqm_views_data_directory</code> – Customize data storage directory (1 param: $directory)
Actions (do_action):
Activation & Upgrade: 
* <code>sqm_views_activated</code> – Fires after plugin activation (0 params) 
* <code>sqm_views_upgraded</code> – Fires after plugin upgrade (2 params: $from_version, $to_version) 
* <code>sqm_views_before_upgrade</code> – Fires before the upgrade process (2 params: $from_version, $to_version) 
* <code>sqm_views_after_upgrade</code> – Fires after the upgrade process (2 params: $from_version, $to_version) 
* <code>sqm_views_uninstalled</code> – Fires during plugin uninstallation (0 params)
Tracking: 
* <code>sqm_views_before_tracker_output</code> – Before tracker script output (2 params: $tracking_data, $tracker_config) 
* <code>sqm_views_after_tracker_output</code> – After tracker script output (1 param: $tracking_data)
Processing: 
* <code>sqm_views_before_processing</code> – Before statistics processing starts (1 param: $verbose) 
* <code>sqm_views_after_processing</code> – After statistics processing completes (1 param: $processor_instance) 
* <code>sqm_views_record_processed</code> – After individual record processed (1 param: $record) 
* <code>sqm_views_daily_aggregated</code> – After daily aggregation completes (1 param: $result)
Cache: 
* <code>sqm_views_chart_cache_invalidated</code> – When chart cache is cleared (0 params)
Examples 
Frontend Hooks – Control Tracking Behavior:
Exclude logged-in administrators from tracking (will not work properly if you cache pages or use CDN):
<pre><code>add_filter( 'sqm_views_should_track', function( $should_track, $data ) {
 if ( current_user_can( 'manage_options' ) ) {
 return false;
 }
 return $should_track;
}, 10, 2 );
</code></pre>
Modify tracking data before sending:
<pre><code>add_filter( 'sqm_views_tracking_data', function( $data ) {
 // Add custom metadata
 $data['custom_field'] = get_post_meta( get_the_ID(), 'my_field', true );
 return $data;
} );
</code></pre>
Customize which post types are tracked (overrides UI settings):
<pre><code>add_filter( 'sqm_views_tracked_post_types', function( $post_types ) {
 // Add custom post type
 $post_types[] = 'portfolio';
 return $post_types;
} );
</code></pre>
Processing Hooks – Modify Data Before Storage:
Calculate custom engagement metrics:
<pre><code>add_filter( 'sqm_views_calculated_metrics', function( $metrics, $records ) {
 // Calculate engagement score
 $metrics['engagement_score'] = ( $metrics['active'] / max( 1, $metrics['on_page'] ) ) * 100;

 // Calculate bounce rate indicator
 $metrics['likely_bounce'] = $metrics['on_page'] < 5 ? 1 : 0;

 return $metrics;
}, 10, 2 );
</code></pre>
Filter records before processing:
<pre><code>add_filter( 'sqm_views_before_process_record', function( $record ) {
 // Exclude specific URLs
 if ( strpos( $record['url'], '/test-page/' ) !== false ) {
 return null; // Skip this record
 }
 return $record;
} );
</code></pre>
REST API Hooks – Customize Chart Data:
Modify chart permissions:
<pre><code>add_filter( 'sqm_views_rest_permissions', function( $has_permission ) {
 // Allow editors to view analytics
 return current_user_can( 'edit_posts' );
} );
</code></pre>
Activation Hooks – Adjust Default Settings:
Set custom default settings on activation:
<pre><code>add_action( 'sqm_views_activated', function() {
 // Set default processing interval
 update_option( 'sqm_views_cron_interval', 'hourly' );

 // Enable external JavaScript by default
 update_option( 'sqm_views_js_mode', 'external' );
} );
</code></pre>
Cron Hooks – Custom Processing Schedules:
Run custom tasks after processing:
<pre><code>add_action( 'sqm_views_after_process', function( $processed_count ) {
 // Send notification if processing high volume
 if ( $processed_count > 10000 ) {
 wp_mail(
 get_option( 'admin_email' ),
 'SQMViews High Volume Alert',
 sprintf( 'Processed %d records', $processed_count )
 );
 }
}, 10, 1 );
</code></pre>
REST API: 
* <code>POST /wp-json/sqm-views/v1/track</code> – Submit tracking data through WordPress API endpoint 
* <code>POST sqm-views-pages.php</code> – Submit tracking data through Fast endpoint 
* <code>GET /wp-json/sqm-views/v1/charts</code> – Retrieve chart data
WP-CLI: 
* <code>wp sqm-views process</code> – Process pending statistics
License:
GPLv3. See LICENSE file for details.

SQMViews

Lightweight, privacy-focused plugin for real-time page view analytics. All data stays on your server. Focuses on PageViews tracking.

Ajay

WebberZone

WordPress lacks built-in page view tracking or a popular posts feature. <a href="https://webberzone.com/plugins/top-10/" rel="nofollow ugc">Top 10</a> solves this by counting views across posts, pages, and custom post types, then letting you showcase your most popular content.
Top 10 provides blocks, widgets, shortcodes, and template functions for displaying popular posts and view counts across your site. All tracking data is stored locally in your WordPress database, with no external services involved.
Top 10 includes comprehensive features such as thumbnail support, flexible display options, custom post type support, and developer-friendly extensibility. A built-in caching layer reduces server load, while AJAX-based tracking avoids page cache interference and works with most popular caching plugins.
Top 10 also exposes a powerful API with WordPress actions and filters, allowing developers to customise queries, tracking behaviour, and output rendering without modifying core plugin files.
<h4>Features</h4>
<ul>
<li>Page Counter: Tracks hourly post views on posts, pages, and custom post types. Display counts automatically using blocks, shortcodes, or template functions</li>
<li>Popular Posts: Display most viewed posts by total counts or within custom time periods</li>
<li>Gutenberg Support: Dedicated “Popular Posts [Top 10]” block with configurable display options</li>
<li>Multisite Dashboard: Network-wide aggregated statistics across all sites in a multisite installation</li>
<li>Widgets: Sidebar widgets for daily and overall popular posts with extensive customisation</li>
<li>Shortcodes: Use <code>[tptn_list]</code> to display popular post lists and <code>[tptn_views]</code> to show view counts</li>
<li>Thumbnails:
<ul>
<li>WordPress post thumbnail support with custom <code>tptn_thumbnail</code> image size</li>
<li>Automatic extraction of the first image from post content</li>
<li>Manual thumbnail URLs via Edit Post screens</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Exclusions: Exclude posts by category or post ID from popular post lists</li>
<li>Styling: Output wrapped in semantic CSS classes. Add custom CSS via settings or use included styles</li>
<li>Admin Interface: View daily and overall popular posts from the dashboard. Adds sortable view-count columns to post and page lists</li>
<li>Export/Import: Export count tables and settings, and restore them on the same site or other installs</li>
<li>Caching Compatibility: Works with WP Super Cache, W3 Total Cache, Quick Cache, and similar plugins</li>
<li>Developer-Friendly: Extensive filters and actions to customise queries, tracking behaviour, and output rendering</li>
</ul>
<h4>Features in Top 10 Pro</h4>
<ul>
<li>
Enhanced Tracking and Performance
<ul>
<li>Fast and High-Traffic Trackers: Alternative tracking methods for improved performance on busy sites</li>
<li>Query Optimisation: MySQL <code>MAX_EXECUTION_TIME</code> directive to prevent long-running queries, configurable via settings and the <code>top_ten_query_max_execution_time</code> filter</li>
<li>Data Retention Override: Customizable data retention period (default 180 days via <code>TOP_TEN_STORE_DATA</code>)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<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: Support for multiple image sources with fallbacks</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>
Enhanced Admin Tools
<ul>
<li>Admin Bar Integration: Admin bar menu item to view daily, total, and overall post counts, access admin pages, and clear cache</li>
<li>Disable Admin Bar menu: Setting to disable the Admin Bar menu</li>
<li>Dashboard Access Control: Setting to control which user roles can view the Top 10 dashboard</li>
<li>Display Settings: Setting to choose which post type screens display admin columns</li>
<li>Mini “Top 10 Views Overview” widget: Compact views-over-time chart on the WordPress Dashboard</li>
<li>Multisite Settings Copy: Tool to copy settings between sites in a multisite network</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Custom Display Options
<ul>
<li>Taxonomy-Specific Displays: <code>display_only_on_tax_ids</code> parameter to restrict popular post displays to specific taxonomy terms</li>
<li>Category Inclusion: Edit Post meta box option to include popular posts from specific categories</li>
<li>RSS Feed Filtering: Filter RSS feeds by category or post type via settings or URL parameters</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
WP-CLI Integration
<ul>
<li><code>wp top10 counts</code>: View, get, set, reset, export, and import post view counts from the command line</li>
<li><code>wp top10 db</code>: Manage database tables — check status, create, update, recreate, prune old rows, force aggregation, truncate, and clean up orphaned counts</li>
<li><code>wp top10 cache</code>: Flush, enable, disable, and check the status of the output cache</li>
<li><code>wp top10 settings</code>: Get, set, export, and import plugin settings as JSON</li>
<li><code>wp top10 cron</code>: View, enable, disable, and manually trigger the maintenance and aggregation cron jobs</li>
<li><code>wp top10 popular</code>: List popular posts with counts using the same query as the front end</li>
<li><code>wp top10 status</code>: Print a full plugin status overview</li>
<li>All destructive commands support <code>--dry-run</code> and <code>--force</code>; multisite commands support <code>--network</code> and <code>--blog-id</code></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>
Developer-Friendly Features
<ul>
<li>Custom Post Type Sortable Columns: Admin columns on supported custom post types with sortable functionality</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h4>GDPR</h4>
Top 10 does not collect personal visitor data out of the box. Tracking data is stored locally in the <code>wp_top_ten</code> and <code>wp_top_ten_daily</code> database tables (table prefix may vary).
You are responsible for ensuring GDPR compliance on your website.
<h4>Translations</h4>
Top 10 is available for translation on <a href="https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/top-10" rel="nofollow ugc">WordPress.org</a>. 
See the <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 developed openly on <a href="https://github.com/webberzone/top-10" rel="nofollow ugc">GitHub</a>. 
Fork the project and submit pull requests for bug fixes or improvements. Please do not use GitHub for support requests.
<h3>Other WebberZone Plugins</h3>
<ul>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/contextual-related-posts/" rel="ugc">Contextual Related Posts</a> – Display related posts on your WordPress site and feeds</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-search/" rel="ugc">Better Search</a> – Enhance WordPress search with relevance-based results</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/knowledgebase/" rel="ugc">Knowledge Base</a> – Create a knowledge base or FAQ section</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/add-to-all/" rel="ugc">WebberZone Snippetz</a> – Manage custom HTML, CSS, and JavaScript snippets</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/autoclose/" rel="ugc">Auto-Close</a> – Automatically close comments, pingbacks, and trackbacks</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/popular-authors/" rel="ugc">Popular Authors</a> – Display popular authors widgets. Addon for Top 10.</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/where-did-they-go-from-here/" rel="ugc">Followed Posts</a> – Show related posts based on reader journeys</li>
<li><a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/webberzone-link-warnings/" rel="ugc">WebberZone Link Warnings</a> – Add accessible warnings for external links and target=”_blank” links</li>
</ul>

WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts

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

Good Plugin

Track post views and page views, and display popular posts and trending content on your WordPress site.

SQMViews vs WebberZone Top 10 — Popular Posts