Show Popular Posts Without Plugins: This one is a little trickier. However, if you are not too keen on installing an extra plugin to showcase popular posts (say, you have limited server memory or disk space), follow this snippet. Remember lots of plugins is not always a good thing. They don’t always play nice and can crash your site.
Paste the following in functions.php:
function count_post_visits() {
if( is_single() ) {
global $post;
$views = get_post_meta( $post->ID, 'my_post_viewed', true );
if( $views == '' ) {
update_post_meta( $post->ID, 'my_post_viewed', '1' );
} else {
$views_no = intval( $views );
update_post_meta( $post->ID, 'my_post_viewed', ++$views_no );
}
}
}
add_action( 'wp_head', 'count_post_visits' );
Thereafter, paste the following wherever in the template files that you wish to display the popular posts:
$popular_posts_args = array( 'posts_per_page' => 3, 'meta_key' => 'my_post_viewed', 'orderby' => 'meta_value_num', 'order'=> 'DESC' ); $popular_posts_loop = new WP_Query( $popular_posts_args ); while( $popular_posts_loop->have_posts() ): $popular_posts_loop->the_post(); // Loop continues endwhile; wp_reset_query();
Related Posts:
Allow Contributors to Upload Images in WordPress
How do I install plugins in WordPress?
Disable the Admin Bar in WordPress
Create a PayPal Donation Shortcode – WordPress
Change the Author Permalink Structure
Introduction to Python Programming Language
Using the Current Year in Your Posts – WordPress
Redirect New Registered Users to a Specific Page – WordPress
How do I start a WordPress blog? (hosting wordpress)
Should I Choose a Hosted or Non-hosted Blogging Platform?
The background-color CSS property
Introduction to JavaScript – Properties
Show Post Thumbnails in RSS Feed – WordPress
How to Update: Automatically create media_buttons for shortcode selection
Choose your preferred blog CMS platform
Paginate Your WordPress Site Without Plugins
