Title: The Hits List
Author: Adam Greenwell
Published: <strong>May 18, 2026</strong>
Last modified: May 18, 2026

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![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/the-hits-list.svg)

# The Hits List

 By [Adam Greenwell](https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamgreenwell/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/the-hits-list.1.3.0.zip)

 * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-hits-list/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-hits-list/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-hits-list/#installation)
 * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-hits-list/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-hits-list/)

## Description

The Hits List keeps post view tracking on your own WordPress site and gives you 
block, widget, and template-tag tools for displaying popular content.

Key features:

 * Local view tracking stored in WordPress database tables
 * Overall and daily popular-post counts
 * Popular Posts block and widget support
 * WordPress dashboard cards for daily top posts, all-time top posts, and views 
   over time
 * Top 10 migration compatibility with rerun-safe imports
 * REST-based tracking with AJAX fallback
 * Privacy-policy integration for site owners

### Privacy

The Hits List stores post view counts locally in the `hits_list` and `hits_list_daily`
database tables (table prefix may vary).

It does not send tracking data to a third-party analytics service.

Daily tracking buckets are retained for 180 days by default and older rows are removed
automatically.

You are responsible for describing your use of visitor analytics on your own site
as needed.

### Source Code and Build Tools

The compiled block assets in `blocks/popular-posts/build/` are generated from the
human-readable source files included in `blocks/popular-posts/src/`.

To rebuild the block assets:

 1. Go to `blocks/popular-posts/`.
 2. Run `npm install`.
 3. Run `npm run build`.

The block build uses `@wordpress/scripts`. Runtime PHP, vanilla JavaScript, and 
CSS assets outside the block build are maintained directly in the plugin source.

## Blocks

This plugin provides 1 block.

 *   The Hits List – Popular Posts Display the most popular posts as a list or grid
   based on view counts

## Installation

 1. Upload the `the-hits-list` folder to `/wp-content/plugins/`.
 2. Activate The Hits List through the Plugins screen in WordPress.
 3. Go to Settings > The Hits List to configure tracking and display options.
 4. If Top 10 data is detected, use the import button on the settings screen to migrate
    existing counts.

## FAQ

### Does this send data to a third-party service?

No. The Hits List stores tracking data locally in your WordPress database and does
not call a third-party analytics endpoint.

### Can I migrate from Top 10?

Yes. The plugin can import compatible overall and daily counts from Top 10 tables.
Imports are rerun-safe, so repeating the import does not double-count unchanged 
source data.

### How long is daily data kept?

Daily buckets are retained for 180 days by default. Older daily rows are pruned 
automatically by a scheduled cleanup task.

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“The Hits List” is open source software. The following people have contributed to
this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ Adam Greenwell ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamgreenwell/)

[Translate “The Hits List” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/the-hits-list)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-hits-list/), check
out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/the-hits-list/), or subscribe
to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/the-hits-list/) 
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/the-hits-list/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 1.3.0

 * Added WordPress dashboard cards for daily top posts, all-time top posts, and 
   views over time.
 * Added post list table columns for total, daily, and condensed view counts.
 * Hardened public REST tracking and counter endpoints.
 * Removed the legacy query-string tracking endpoint.

#### 1.2.0

 * Normalized tracking to use server-derived blog IDs and validated post targets.
 * Reworked daily tracking into true site-local day buckets with upgrade migration
   support.
 * Added rerun-safe Top 10 import state handling.

## Meta

 *  Version **1.3.0**
 *  Last updated **19 hours ago**
 *  Active installations **Fewer than 10**
 *  WordPress version ** 6.2 or higher **
 *  Tested up to **6.9.4**
 *  PHP version ** 7.4 or higher **
 * Tags
 * [blocks](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/blocks/)[migration](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/migration/)
   [page views](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/page-views/)[popular posts](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/popular-posts/)
   [post views](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/post-views/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/the-hits-list/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-hits-list/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-hits-list/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ Adam Greenwell ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/adamgreenwell/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/the-hits-list/)