Description
ReaderCount shows how many people read your site, where they came from and which posts they like, without cookies and without a cookie banner.
This plugin connects your site to ReaderCount:
- Counts your visitors. Adds ReaderCount’s small script (under 2 KB) to every page, with your site’s name filled in.
- Leaves out your own visits. People who can edit the site aren’t counted while they’re signed in, so your own reading doesn’t skew the numbers.
- Finds missing pages. WordPress “not found” pages are marked, so ReaderCount can list the broken addresses readers are trying to reach.
- Your week on the Dashboard. Add a read-only API key and the Dashboard shows the last 7 days’ visitors and page views, compared with the week before, plus your most-read pages.
- Check it’s working. One button asks ReaderCount whether your visits are arriving.
ReaderCount also counts clicks on outbound and affiliate links, file downloads and goals, connects to Google Search Console, and can answer questions about your stats in Claude.
You need a ReaderCount account
The plugin is free. The stats themselves are on ReaderCount, a paid service that starts with a 30-day trial. See plans and prices.
What this plugin sends to ReaderCount
This plugin relies on ReaderCount, an outside service at readercount.com.
- While “Count visitors” is on, every public page loads a script from
https://app.readercount.com/s.js. For each page view it sends ReaderCount the page address, the address the reader came from, the reader’s browser and device type (read from the browser’s own description), how long the page was on screen, and clicks on links to other websites and file downloads. ReaderCount sets no cookies, stores nothing in the reader’s browser and doesn’t keep IP addresses: each day’s visitor count uses a one-way code that changes every day. - If you add an API key, your site’s server asks
https://api.readercount.com/v1/for your stats (at most every 10 minutes) to fill the Dashboard box, and when you press “Check now”.
Nothing is sent until you switch on “Count visitors” or add a key.
Screenshots
Installation
- Start a trial at app.readercount.com/start and add your website’s address.
- In WordPress, go to Plugins, Add New, search for “ReaderCount”, then Install and Activate.
- Go to Settings, ReaderCount, tick “Count visitors” and save.
- Optional: on your ReaderCount stats page, under API keys, make a key and paste it into the API key box to see your stats on the Dashboard.
FAQ
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ReaderCount sets no cookies and stores nothing on your readers’ devices, so it adds nothing that needs a cookie banner. Other plugins on your site might.
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Will it slow my site down?
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The script is under 2 KB and loads with
defer, so it never holds up your page. -
I use a caching plugin. Does that matter?
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No. The script runs in the reader’s browser, so cached pages are counted too. If you change the settings, clear your cache so every page picks them up.
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Can I count a site under a different name?
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Yes. Put the name you used in ReaderCount (such as
example.com) in “Website name in ReaderCount”. -
How do I stop counting my visits on a device where I’m not signed in?
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Open any page of your site once with
#readercount-ignoreon the end of the address, such ashttps://example.com/#readercount-ignore.#readercount-countundoes it.
Reviews
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Contributors & Developers
“ReaderCount – Privacy-first stats” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.
Contributors
Translate “ReaderCount – Privacy-first stats” into your language.
Interested in development?
Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.
Changelog
1.0.0
- First release.