Docs / Getting Started / Getting Started

Getting Started

Install View Counter WP and start tracking views in under two minutes.
On this page

Installation

There are two ways to install View Counter WP:

From WordPress.org:

  1. Go to Plugins → Add New in your WordPress admin
  2. Search for View Counter WP
  3. Click Install Now, then Activate

Manual upload:

  1. Download the .zip file from view-counter.com or WordPress.org
  2. Go to Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin
  3. Select the zip file and click Install Now
  4. Activate the plugin

Once activated, a new View Counter menu appears in your admin sidebar.

Quick Configuration

View Counter WP works out of the box with sensible defaults:

  • Post types: Posts and Pages are tracked by default
  • Counting mode: PHP (server-side) — the simplest option
  • Exclusions: Bots are excluded by default
  • Display: Manual only (shortcode or block) — no automatic output

To customise, go to View Counter → Settings.

Tip

If your site uses full-page caching (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed, etc.), switch to JavaScript or REST API counting mode in Settings for accurate counts.

Your First Views

After activation, views are tracked immediately for all published posts and pages. Visit any post on your site to register a view, then check:

  • View Counter → Dashboard for charts and KPIs
  • Posts → All Posts for the sortable Views column
  • The Dashboard widget on the main WP admin home

View counts appear within seconds — no waiting for data to process.

What's Next

Next →
Settings Reference