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Init View Count – AI-Powered, Trending, REST API

Init View Count – AI-Powered, Trending, REST API

By Hao Nguyen
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Description

Init View Count is a fast, clean plugin to track post views without clutter. It:

  • Uses REST API and JS to count real views
  • Prevents duplicate counts with session/local storage
  • Stores counts in meta keys like _init_view_count, _init_view_day_count, etc.
  • Provides [init_view_count] and [init_view_list] shortcodes
  • Includes [init_view_ranking] shortcode with tabbed ranking by time range
  • Supports template overrides (like WooCommerce)
  • Lightweight. No tracking, no admin bloat.
  • Includes REST API to query most viewed posts
  • Supports pagination in [init_view_list] via the page attribute
  • Batch view tracking support to reduce REST requests on busy sites
  • Optional strict IP-based filtering to block fake view requests posted directly to the REST endpoint
  • Includes a Dashboard widget to monitor top viewed posts directly in wp-admin
  • Learns site-wide traffic shape (hourly & weekday) via AI-powered smoothing
  • Shapes cached and updated efficiently with minimal overhead
  • Safe reset action to rebuild patterns automatically
  • Fully integrated with Trending Engine v3 for uplift-based scoring

This plugin is part of the Init Plugin Suite — a collection of minimalist, fast, and developer-focused tools for WordPress.

GitHub repository: https://github.com/brokensmile2103/init-view-count

Highlights

  • REST-first design — no jQuery or legacy Ajax
  • View tracking powered by time + scroll detection
  • Realtime display with optional animated counters
  • Fully theme-compatible with overrideable templates
  • Developer-friendly with rich filter support
  • Optional [init_view_ranking] shortcode for tabbed view by day/week/month/total
  • Assets are only loaded when needed – perfect for performance-conscious themes
  • Fully compatible with headless and SPA frameworks (REST-first + lazy)
  • Supports batch mode: delay view requests and send in groups (configurable in settings)
  • Includes optional Dashboard widget for quick admin overview of top viewed posts
  • AI-powered Traffic Shape Learner – understands your site’s hourly & weekly rhythm
  • Auto-integrated with Trending Engine v3 for seasonality-aware uplift detection
  • Smart fallbacks (day week month total) ensure rankings never run empty
  • Ultra-light: only 1 write per increment + 1 rollup per day, cache-first design

Shortcodes

[init_view_count]

Shows current view count for a post. Only works inside a post loop.

Attributes:
– field: total (default), day, week, month – which counter to display
– format: formatted (default), raw, or short – controls number formatting
– time: true to show time diff from post date (e.g. “3 days ago”)
– icon: true to display a small SVG icon before the count
– schema: true to output schema.org microdata (InteractionCounter)
– class: add a custom CSS class to the outer wrapper

[init_view_list]

Show list of most viewed posts.

Attributes:
– number: Number of posts to show (default: 5)
– page: Show a specific page of results (default: 1)
– post_type: Type of post (default: post)
– template: sidebar (default), full, grid, details (can be overridden)
– title: Title above list. Set to empty (title="") to hide
– class: Custom class added to wrapper
– orderby: Sort field (default: meta_value_num)
– order: ASC or DESC (default: DESC)
– range: total, day, week, month, trending
– category: Filter by category slug
– tag: Filter by tag slug
– empty: Message to show if no posts found

[init_view_ranking]

Show tabbed ranking of most viewed posts. Uses REST API and JavaScript for dynamic loading. Optimized for SPA/headless usage.

Attributes:
– tabs: Comma-separated list of ranges. Available: total, day, week, month (default: all)
– number: Number of posts per tab (default: 5)
– class: Custom class for outer wrapper

This shortcode automatically enqueues required JS and uses skeleton loaders while fetching data.

REST API

This plugin exposes two REST endpoints to interact with view counts: one for recording views and another for retrieving top posts.

POST /wp-json/initvico/v1/count
Record one or more views. Accepts a single post ID or an array of post IDs.

Parameters:
– post_id — (int|array) Required. One or more post IDs to increment view count for.

This endpoint checks if the post is published, belongs to a supported post type, and applies delay/scroll config (via JavaScript). It updates total and optionally day/week/month view counters.

Note: The number of post IDs processed per request is limited based on the batch setting in plugin options.

GET /wp-json/initvico/v1/top
Retrieve the most viewed posts, ranked by view count.

Parameters:
– range — (string) total, day, week, month. Defaults to total.
– post_type — (string) Post type to query. Defaults to post.
– number — (int) Number of posts to return. Default: 5.
– page — (int) Pagination offset. Default: 1.
– fields — (string) minimal (id, title, link) or full (includes excerpt, thumbnail, type, date, etc.)
– tax — (string) Optional. Taxonomy slug (e.g. category).
– terms — (string) Comma-separated term slugs or IDs.
– no_cache — (bool) If 1, disables transient caching.

This endpoint supports filtering and caching, and can be extended to support custom output formats.

Filters for Developers

This plugin provides multiple filters to help developers customize behavior and output in both REST API and shortcode use cases.

init_plugin_suite_view_count_should_count
Allow or prevent counting views for a specific post.
Applies to: REST /count
Params: bool $should_count, int $post_id, WP_REST_Request $request

init_plugin_suite_view_count_meta_key
Change the meta key used to read or write view counts.
Applies to: REST & Shortcodes
Params: string $meta_key, int|null $post_id

init_plugin_suite_view_count_after_counted
Run custom logic after view count has been incremented.
Applies to: REST /count
Params: int $post_id, array $updated, WP_REST_Request $request

init_plugin_suite_view_count_api_top_args
Customize WP_Query arguments used for /top endpoint.
Applies to: REST /top
Params: array $args, WP_REST_Request $request

init_plugin_suite_view_count_api_top_item
Modify each item before it’s returned in the /top response.
Applies to: REST /top
Params: array $item, WP_Post $post, WP_REST_Request $request

init_plugin_suite_view_count_api_top_cache_time
Adjust cache time (in seconds) for /top results.
Applies to: REST /top
Params: int $ttl, WP_REST_Request $request

init_plugin_suite_view_count_top_post_types
Customize the list of post types returned by the /top endpoint.
Applies to: REST /top
Params: array $post_types, WP_REST_Request $request

init_plugin_suite_view_count_query_args
Filter WP_Query args for [init_view_list] shortcode.
Applies to: [init_view_list]
Params: array $args, array $atts

init_plugin_suite_view_count_empty_output
Customize the HTML output when no posts are found.
Applies to: [init_view_list]
Params: string $output, array $atts

init_plugin_suite_view_count_view_list_atts
Modify shortcode attributes before WP_Query is run.
Applies to: [init_view_list]
Params: array $atts

init_plugin_suite_view_count_default_shortcode
Customize the default shortcode used when auto-inserting view count into post content.
Applies to: [init_view_count] auto-insert
Params: string $shortcode

init_plugin_suite_view_count_auto_insert_enabled
Control whether auto-insert is enabled for a given context.
Applies to: [init_view_count] auto-insert
Params: bool $enabled, string $position, string $post_type

init_plugin_suite_view_count_engagement_meta_keys
Change the meta keys used to retrieve like and share counts when calculating engagement quality.
Applies to: Engagement algorithm
Params: array $meta_keys (likes, shares), int $post_id

init_plugin_suite_view_count_trending_post_types
Override the list of post types used by the Trending cron calculation.
Applies to: Cron Trending
Params: array $post_types

init_plugin_suite_view_count_trending_component_weights
Adjust weights for Trending score components.
Applies to: Trending algorithm
Params: array $weights (velocity, engagement, freshness, momentum)

Template Override

To customize output layout, copy any template file into your theme:

Example: your-theme/init-view-count/view-list-grid.php

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPLv2 or later.
You are free to use, modify, and distribute it under the same license.

Screenshots

  • Plugin settings page – configure post types, view types, delay, scroll check, and storage method.
  • Shortcode builder for [init_view_list] – generate view-based post lists with custom templates.
  • Shortcode builder for [init_view_ranking] – generate tabbed rankings for different view ranges.
  • Shortcode builder for [init_view_count] – display view count for current post with format options.
  • Frontend view – ranking display (all time), light mode interface.
  • Frontend view – ranking display (this week), dark mode interface.

Installation

  1. Upload plugin to /wp-content/plugins/init-view-count/
  2. Activate via Plugins menu
  3. Use [init_view_count] or [init_view_list] in your content
  4. Customize settings in Settings Init View Count

FAQ

Can I customize the layout of the list?

Yes. Use the template attribute in [init_view_list] (e.g. template="grid"), and override the corresponding file in your theme like WooCommerce templates.

Does it work with custom post types?

Yes. Just set post_type="your_custom_type" in the shortcode or REST query.

How does it avoid duplicate views?

Init View Count uses both time delay and scroll detection via JavaScript, and stores viewed post IDs in either sessionStorage or localStorage (your choice).

Is the view count updated immediately?

Yes. When the scroll+delay conditions are met, the count is updated via REST API and saved using update_post_meta().

What meta key is used to store views?

By default:
– _init_view_count (total)
– _init_view_day_count
– _init_view_week_count
– _init_view_month_count
These keys can be changed via the init_plugin_suite_view_count_meta_key filter.
Trending scores are calculated separately and stored in a transient.

Can I display view counts in my template manually?

Yes. Use get_post_meta($post_id, '_init_view_count', true) or similar keys. Or use [init_view_count] shortcode in post content.

Can I disable the built-in CSS?

Yes. There is an option in the plugin’s settings to disable the default stylesheet. You can style the output manually as needed.

Is it compatible with caching plugins?

Yes. Since it uses JavaScript + REST for counting, page caching doesn’t interfere. However, REST responses (/top) are cached using transients.

Can I use it in block editor / Gutenberg?

Yes. Just insert a Shortcode block and paste [init_view_count] or [init_view_list] as needed.

Does it track bots?

No. Since counting only happens after scroll and delay via JavaScript, bots like Googlebot are naturally excluded.

Can I sort posts by views in WP_Query?

Yes. Use 'meta_key' => '_init_view_count' and 'orderby' => 'meta_value_num' in your WP_Query args.

Can I reduce the number of view requests sent to the server?

Yes. You can enable batch view tracking in the plugin settings. Instead of sending one request per view, views will be stored in the browser and sent in a group once the threshold is reached.

Reviews

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Contributors & Developers

“Init View Count – AI-Powered, Trending, REST API” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin.

Contributors

Translate “Init View Count – AI-Powered, Trending, REST API” into your language.

Interested in development?

Browse the code, check out the SVN repository, or subscribe to the development log by RSS.

Changelog

1.19 – October 2, 2025

  • Hotfix: Daily/Weekly/Monthly counters now enabled by default
    • init_plugin_suite_view_count_enable_day default = 1
    • init_plugin_suite_view_count_enable_week default = 1
    • init_plugin_suite_view_count_enable_month default = 1
  • Fixes issue where counters stayed disabled unless user manually saved settings
  • No migration required – existing installs automatically respect new defaults
  • Backward compatibility: behavior unchanged if options already set explicitly

1.18 – October 1, 2025

  • Reset & history tracking:
    • Daily, weekly, and monthly reset now archive values into _init_view_day_yesterday, _init_view_week_last, _init_view_month_last
    • Enables direct retrieval of “Yesterday”, “Last Week”, and “Last Month” stats
    • Fully backward-compatible – existing keys remain unchanged
  • Shortcode [init_view_ranking]:
    • New ranges supported: yesterday, last_week, last_month
    • Default tabs unchanged (total,day,week,month) for compatibility
    • Added i18n labels for new ranges (“Yesterday”, “Last Week”, “Last Month”)
  • REST API (init_plugin_suite_view_count_top):
    • range parameter extended with yesterday, last_week, last_month
    • Auto-maps to new meta keys, preserves existing defaults
    • Minimal/full field responses and caching remain consistent
  • Settings & control:
    • New option “Disable Trending” in settings page
    • When enabled: trending engine, shape learner, and all related calculations return no-op
    • When disabled (default): trending runs as normal, no behavior change for existing sites
  • Performance & stability:
    • Only 3 additional meta writes per reset cycle
    • All new keys pass through init_plugin_suite_view_count_meta_key for extensibility
    • Trending, shape learner, and caching unaffected unless explicitly disabled
  • Backward compatibility:
    • Existing shortcodes, API calls, and filters continue to work unchanged
    • No migration required – new keys auto-populate from next reset cycle

1.17 – August 20, 2025

  • Traffic Shape Learner – AI-powered hourly & weekday distribution model:
    • Collects raw hourly bins per day and rolls them up into site-wide traffic shape
    • Hour-of-day pattern: updated via EMA with Bayesian prior smoothing (kappa control)
    • Day-of-week pattern: updated via EMA with stabilized daily totals
    • Both distributions normalized to mean = 1 for consistent multiplicative scaling
  • Performance & caching:
    • Learned shapes cached in transient for 2h with filterable TTL
    • Rollup action protected by object-cache lock to avoid race conditions
    • Minimal overhead: only 1 write per view increment + 1 rollup per day
  • Filters & extensibility:
    • init_plugin_suite_view_count_site_traffic_shape provides current hour/day shape arrays
    • Tunable alpha/kappa values via filters for both hour-of-day and weekday models
    • init_plugin_suite_view_count_shape_collect_enabled allows enabling/disabling collection
  • Reset & admin:
    • New admin-post action init_plugin_suite_view_count_shape_reset to clear all learned shape data
    • Fully safe to run anytime – plugin will rebuild patterns automatically
  • Backward compatibility:
    • All existing trending and view count filters remain intact
    • Trending Engine v3 (1.16) automatically integrates with learned shapes for uplift calculation
  • Trending Engine improvements:
    • Multi-key fallback (day week month total) ensures enough posts even at start of day
    • Day-views fallback estimation from week/month averages prevents empty scores at early hours
    • Optimized CRON queries: skip week/month/total lookups if daily data already sufficient
    • Debug payload now includes views_day_used and fallback flags for transparency

1.16 – August 16, 2025

  • Trending Engine v3 – AI-powered uplift & momentum detection:
    • Seasonality-aware uplift: compares actual views against expected traffic shape (hour-of-day, day-of-week) for true anomalies
    • EWMA momentum with acceleration: smoother trend detection, keeps natural growth without noise
    • Anti-gaming protection: robust ratio checks (day vs month/total) and capped score growth per run
    • Exposure fatigue: reduces dominance of posts that stay at the top too long, keeps feed fresh
    • MMR re-ranking: maximized marginal relevance for better diversity across categories and tags
    • Explore/exploit logic: occasional boost for promising new posts with strong uplift signals
  • Performance & caching:
    • Cached EWMA velocity per post with 12h TTL, minimal overhead
    • Site traffic shape cached for 2h with filterable override hook
    • Added transient-based streak tracking for fatigue multiplier
  • Debug & transparency:
    • Extended debug payload includes uplift_raw, expected_views, ewma_val, acc, fatigue_streak
    • New action init_plugin_suite_view_count_trending_debug_row available for developers to log detailed trending rows
  • Fully backward-compatible:
    • Existing filters remain intact (init_plugin_suite_view_count_trending_component_weights, init_plugin_suite_view_count_meta_key)
    • Default weights added for uplift, ewma, fatigue, explore, and mmr with safe multipliers

1.15 – August 8, 2025

  • Trending Engine v2 – optimized for performance and stability:
    • Added cache lock (object cache) to prevent race conditions when cron overlaps
    • Soft-cap scoring using an exponential formula for smooth limits (avoids hard caps)
    • Optimized O(n) diversity filter with auto fill-back to always return enough items
    • Improved hot topics SQL for ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY compatibility and timezone safety with post_date_gmt
    • Reduced N+1 queries by caching author_id, categories, and tags per post
  • New filters for Trending:
    • init_plugin_suite_view_count_trending_post_types – limit/override post types (e.g., only manga)
    • init_plugin_suite_view_count_trending_component_weights – adjust weights for velocity, engagement, freshness, momentum
  • Sanitize & fallback: normalized post types from settings, auto-remove attachment, safe fallback when empty
  • Engagement smoothing: improved stability when daily views are low

1.14 – July 24, 2025

  • Introduced a powerful hybrid trending algorithm with hourly updates
  • Trending score is calculated based on five dynamic components:
    • View velocity (per hour, adjusted by recent growth patterns)
    • Time decay (natural dropoff over time, with extended half-life)
    • Engagement quality (comments, likes, shares per view)
    • Content freshness boost (heavier weight for new posts)
    • Category/tag momentum (boost for trending topics in the last 24 hours)
  • Trending list is automatically cached and refreshed every hour
  • Added diversity filter to ensure balanced results across authors and categories:
    • Max 2 posts per author and 3 per category if diversity allows
    • Automatically lifts limits if not enough authors/categories to fill the top list
  • Fully filterable and compatible with all public post types, taxonomies, and view tracking logic

1.13 – July 13, 2025

  • Added init_plugin_suite_view_count_top_post_types filter to allow overriding post_type in top view REST API route
  • Useful for restricting or customizing results (e.g., only manga, article, etc.)

1.12 – July 8, 2025

  • Shortcode [init_view_count] now supports id="..." attribute to display the view count of any post (not just the current one)
  • Allows showing view counts for related posts, custom queries, or manually selected IDs
  • Fully backward-compatible: if id is omitted, the current post will be used as before

1.11 – June 30, 2025

  • Shortcode [init_view_ranking] now supports post_type="..." to filter rankings by custom post type
  • JS file ranking.js updated to pass post_type to REST API and cache results per tab and type
  • Removed redundant function init_plugin_suite_view_count_human_time_diff() in favor of core human_time_diff()
  • Updated [init_view_count] shortcode to use native human_time_diff() for publishing time display
  • Updated all templates to use native human_time_diff() instead of removed custom function

1.10 – June 26, 2025

  • Added new icon="true" attribute to [init_view_count] shortcode to display inline SVG before the view count
  • New setting: “Auto-insert shortcode into post content?” with options to insert before or after post content
  • Auto-insert only applies to post types where view tracking is enabled (manual shortcode use still supported)
  • Added schema="true" attribute to [init_view_count] to output Schema.org microdata (InteractionCounter)
  • Added class="custom-class" attribute to allow injecting custom CSS classes into the shortcode wrapper
  • New filter init_plugin_suite_view_count_default_shortcode allows developers to override default auto-insert output
  • New filter init_plugin_suite_view_count_auto_insert_enabled gives control over whether auto-insert is active per context
  • Fully backward-compatible: all new features are optional and disabled by default

1.9 – June 24, 2025

  • Replaced all PHP 8+ match expressions with backwards-compatible logic using array maps and switches
  • Now fully compatible with PHP 7.4 and above – no syntax errors on legacy environments
  • All changes preserve existing filters like init_plugin_suite_view_count_meta_key and template behavior
  • Maintained consistent behavior across REST API endpoints, [init_view_list], and [init_view_count] shortcodes
  • Improved code clarity and maintainability without altering plugin output or logic

1.8 – June 22, 2025

  • Added new “Strict IP check” option to block repeated views from the same IP in a short timeframe
  • Uses hashed IPs and transient-based FIFO cache (default: 75 recent IPs per post)
  • Designed to prevent fake views posted directly to the REST endpoint (e.g., bots, cURL scripts)
  • Fully privacy-safe: does not store raw IPs and automatically expires over time
  • New setting: “Enable strict IP check?” (disabled by default)

1.7 – June 21, 2025

  • Added Dashboard widget with [init_view_ranking] display
  • Introduced admin-style.css optimized for clean, one-line layout
  • REST API /count now respects the batch limit setting to avoid overload

1.6 – June 19, 2025

  • Added batch view tracking option to reduce server requests on high-traffic sites
  • Views can be temporarily stored in localStorage and sent in groups
  • New setting: “Batch view tracking” (default = 1 for real-time)
  • Updated JS to support batch logic with scroll + delay detection
  • REST API now accepts multiple post IDs and returns array responses
  • View count updates instantly after tracking, no reload needed

1.5 – June 16, 2025

  • Added shortcode builder panel to settings screen for easier shortcode generation
  • Introduced new init-shortcode-builder.js with full shortcode configuration UI
  • Supports [init_view_list], [init_view_ranking], and [init_view_count] shortcodes
  • i18n-ready: all UI strings are fully translatable via InitViewCountShortcodeBuilder.i18n
  • Improved JS architecture to separate builder panel from core builder logic

1.4 – June 8, 2025

  • Introduced “Trending” scoring system based on daily views and post age (views per hour)
  • Trending posts are calculated hourly via cron, optimized for high-traffic and large sites
  • New range=trending support added to /top REST endpoint with built-in sorting and pagination
  • Shortcode [init_view_list range="trending"] now fetches trending posts
  • Internal meta key filtering is fully respected in all ranking and trending logic
  • Improved post meta cleanup for day/week/month reset with filterable keys
  • Prepared shortcode UI and REST responses for enhanced performance and data accuracy

1.3 – June 7, 2025

  • Added new [init_view_ranking] shortcode to display tabbed ranking UI by day/week/month/all-time
  • Shortcode uses lazy-loading via REST API and includes built-in skeleton loaders for smoother UX
  • Fully compatible with headless or SPA environments – optimized to load only when visible
  • All assets are conditionally enqueued: JS loads only when shortcode is used, styles are shared via style.css

1.2 – June 5, 2025

  • Enqueued style.css earlier to avoid being printed in the footer
  • Added toggle option to disable plugin’s default CSS in the settings page
  • Applied init_plugin_suite_view_count_meta_key consistently across REST API, shortcodes, and background tasks
  • Fixed issue where custom meta key override was ignored in some cases

1.1 – May 28, 2025

  • Added page parameter to /top REST endpoint for pagination
  • Added page attribute to [init_view_list] shortcode for paginated lists
  • Removed infinite scroll trigger for simplicity and better template control
  • Fully compatible with existing templates and theme overrides

1.0 – May 18, 2025

  • Initial release
  • REST-based view counter
  • 4 templates included
  • Fully extensible with filters/hooks
  • Shortcodes with layout switching

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