How to Show Post Views Count in WordPress Without a Plugin

You can track and display post views using a few lines of code—no plugin needed. The idea is simple: store a counter in post meta, increment it on each single-post view (with basic bot/duplicate protection), and output the value in your theme.

Step 1: Count Views (functions.php or a small must-use plugin)

This snippet increments a post_views meta key when a single post is viewed. It skips obvious bots and avoids double-counting with a short-lived cookie per post.

<?php
/**
 * Increment post views safely.
 */
function my_count_post_views() {
    if ( is_admin() || is_feed() || is_preview() ) {
        return;
    }

    if ( ! is_singular( 'post' ) ) {
        return;
    }

    global $post;
    if ( empty( $post ) || empty( $post->ID ) ) {
        return;
    }

    // --- Basic bot check (very light) ---
    $ua = isset($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']) ? strtolower($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']) : '';
    $bots = array( 'bot', 'crawl', 'spider', 'slurp', 'facebookexternalhit', 'mediapartners-google' );
    foreach ( $bots as $needle ) {
        if ( strpos( $ua, $needle ) !== false ) {
            return;
        }
    }

    // --- Avoid double count for the same visitor (cookie per post) ---
    $cookie_key = 'pv_' . $post->ID;
    $already    = isset($_COOKIE[$cookie_key]);
    if ( $already ) {
        return;
    }

    // Lifetime for "no double count": 12 hours (adjust)
    $expire = time() + 12 * HOUR_IN_SECONDS;
    setcookie( $cookie_key, '1', $expire, COOKIEPATH ?: '/', COOKIE_DOMAIN, is_ssl(), true );

    // --- Increment meta counter ---
    $count = (int) get_post_meta( $post->ID, 'post_views', true );
    $count++;
    update_post_meta( $post->ID, 'post_views', $count );
}
add_action( 'wp', 'my_count_post_views' );

Why this works: The wp action runs after WordPress resolves the main query, so is_singular('post') is reliable. The cookie prevents inflating counts from refreshes. The bot check is intentionally minimal—good enough for basic filtering without heavy CPU cost.

Step 2: Output the Views Anywhere (template tag + shortcode)

<?php
/**
 * Get formatted post views.
 */
function my_get_post_views( $post_id = null ) {
    $post_id = $post_id ?: get_the_ID();
    $count   = (int) get_post_meta( $post_id, 'post_views', true );
    return number_format_i18n( $count );
}

/**
 * Echo helper (for templates).
 */
function my_the_post_views( $label = 'Views' ) {
    echo '<span class="post-views">' . esc_html( $label ) . ': ' . esc_html( my_get_post_views() ) . '</span>';
}

/**
 * Shortcode: [post_views label="Views"]
 */
function my_post_views_shortcode( $atts ) {
    $atts  = shortcode_atts( array( 'label' => 'Views' ), $atts, 'post_views' );
    return '<span class="post-views">' . esc_html( $atts['label'] ) . ': ' . esc_html( my_get_post_views() ) . '</span>';
}
add_shortcode( 'post_views', 'my_post_views_shortcode' );

Use it:

• In templates (e.g., single.php): <?php my_the_post_views(); ?>
• In the editor: [post_views label="Reads"]

Step 3: (Optional) Show a Views Column in Admin & Make It Sortable

<?php
// Add column.
function my_views_column_head( $columns ) {
    $columns['post_views'] = 'Views';
    return $columns;
}
add_filter( 'manage_post_posts_columns', 'my_views_column_head' );

// Fill column.
function my_views_column_content( $column, $post_id ) {
    if ( $column === 'post_views' ) {
        echo esc_html( my_get_post_views( $post_id ) );
    }
}
add_action( 'manage_post_posts_custom_column', 'my_views_column_content', 10, 2 );

// Make sortable.
function my_views_column_sortable( $columns ) {
    $columns['post_views'] = 'post_views';
    return $columns;
}
add_filter( 'manage_edit-post_sortable_columns', 'my_views_column_sortable' );

// Sort logic.
function my_views_orderby( $query ) {
    if ( ! is_admin() || ! $query->is_main_query() ) return;
    if ( $query->get( 'orderby' ) === 'post_views' ) {
        $query->set( 'meta_key', 'post_views' );
        $query->set( 'orderby', 'meta_value_num' );
    }
}
add_action( 'pre_get_posts', 'my_views_orderby' );

Step 4: (Optional) List “Most Viewed” Posts on the Frontend

<?php
$popular = new WP_Query( array(
    'post_type'      => 'post',
    'posts_per_page' => 5,
    'meta_key'       => 'post_views',
    'orderby'        => 'meta_value_num',
    'order'          => 'DESC',
) );

if ( $popular->have_posts() ) :
    echo '<ol class="popular-posts">';
    while ( $popular->have_posts() ) : $popular->the_post();
        echo '<li><a href="' . esc_url( get_permalink() ) . '">' . esc_html( get_the_title() ) . '</a> (' . esc_html( my_get_post_views() ) . ')</li>';
    endwhile;
    echo '</ol>';
    wp_reset_postdata();
endif;
?>

Step 5: Quick Styles (Optional)

.post-views { color:#555; font-size:0.95rem; }
.popular-posts { margin:0; padding-left:1.2em; }

Tips & Notes

• Caching: If you use full-page caching, the counter may not run on cached hits. Consider AJAX or server-side bypasses for the counter if accuracy is critical.
• Privacy: This approach stores only an integer per post. It doesn’t track users.
• Performance: Post meta is fine for moderate traffic. For very high traffic, consider a transient or an external store (e.g., Redis) and batch-flush to post meta.
• Scope: The code counts only single post views (is_singular('post')). Adjust if you need to count pages or CPTs.

Summary

1. Add a counter that increments a post_views meta key on single-post views, with cookie & bot guard.
2. Display counts via a template tag or the [post_views] shortcode.
3. (Optional) Surface a sortable “Views” column in the admin and build “Most Viewed” lists.

That’s it—lightweight, flexible, and no plugin required.

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