Feb
10
10
Rochelle
I add a counter code to each of my sites. There are several free counters but the one I use (and have for years) is StatCounter. I like the many statistics easily available within StatCounter, as well as being able to hide my counters. Did I mention it’s free?
My instructions to add StatCounter code to your site: |
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Step One
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| Go to StatCounter and create an account. | |
| Click on ‘Add New Project‘ to add your site and generate the code needed to install StatCounter to your site. If you need help getting started go to StatCounter’s help section. | |
| Copy the code you created for your counter. | |
| Step Two | |
| Log in to your site’s Admin and click on the ‘Template‘ tab and ‘footer.php‘ link for the template you are using. | |
| Save a copy of the original code (click here for instructions on how to do this). | |
| Paste the StatCounter code ABOVE the </body> tag. | |
| Save changes and view your site for errors. | |
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Step Three
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| Go back to StatCounter. Click the ‘My Projects‘ tab and look for the site you just added. It should now show one visitor. This was you when you checked your site for errors. If you do block your IP address then every time you visit or refresh your site you will be counted as a visitor. | |
| Click here if you have never blocked your IP address in StatCounter Click here if you have already blocked your IP address in StatCounter and are now adding a new project |
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| How to block your IP address if this is your first StatCounter project | |
| To block your IP address click on your site’s link (aka project name) and then click on the ‘Visitor Paths‘ link: | |
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| Click the ‘Label IP Address‘ link above your visitor path stats: | |
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| Copy the numbers visible in the IP Address box: | |
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| Click the ‘Edit Settings‘ link: | |
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| Paste your IP address in the ‘IP Blocking‘ area, remove the last two numbers and replace them with *. | |
| For example, if your IP address is 24.110.123.12 then change it to 24.110.123.* (make sure you delete only the last two digits and not the period as well). The reason for this is in the event you have more than one computer in your home that you use. Each computer in your home accessing the Internet will have the same IP address except for the last two digits. By replacing the last two digits with an asterisk you will block any computer from your home that visits your site | |
| Click the ‘Edit Project‘ button: | |
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| Your IP address is now blocked and your visits will no longer be counted. | |
| How to block your IP address on new projects if you have previously blocked your IP address on a different project | |
| It is much easier to block your IP address on any additional projects you create if you’ve already blocked your IP address. To block your IP address on new StatCounter projects click on the wrench next to any project that already is already blocking your IP address blocked: | |
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| Click the ‘Edit Settings‘ link: | |
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| Click the ‘Update IP Blocking in All Projects?‘ button, putting an ‘x’ in it, and then click the ‘Edit Project‘ button: | |
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| Your IP address is now blocked in all your StatCounter projects. Each time you add a new site to your StatCounter account follow the above steps to block your visits. | |
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StatCounter has some very helpful stats. Click the various links on the left sidebar to see what all they have to offer.
Rochelle
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Nice step-by-step, thanks. Consider doing the same for something like GoStats - I like gostats better because it does have that log limit that statcounter has. Plus it’s overall better
Thanks for the tip on GoStats. I’m sure there are many good counter available but I simply don’t have the time to write instructions for them all.
Yes, StatCounter has a log limit (meaning they will only keep current stats on the most recent 500 visitors) but I’ve never found that to be a limitation. Everything StatCounter keeps track of is also found in my hosting site’s statistic trackers and if I really want to dig deep I can look there. I find that StatCounter is easy to use and well-organized for my needs.
What a great tip…thanks Rochelle! Already I am seeing visits when I didn’t think anyone was really finding me. (o;
Keep up the great work!
Hi Rochelle,
Do you add the code to all your pages or just the home page?
Thanks
Shelley
Shelley,
I add statcounter code to the footer.php so that it will be on all my pages. The reason I want it on all my pages is so statcounter will keep track of every page that people visit. Having stats just for my home page will do me no good.
Rochelle
Where do we put StatCounter now with all these new hybrid templates? The new template footers hardly have anything in them anymore, including no /body tags.
When you login to your blog’s Admin (WordPress) click the ‘Design’ tab, then the ‘Theme Editor’ link. Look on the right for the Footer (footer.php) and click that link.
You can add the code here. I recommend saving the footer.php code to Notepad before you do anything, in case you need to revert back to it.
The best place to place the StatCounter code is just above this code:
Don’t forget to save your changes.
Rochelle
Thanks Rochelle. It gets harder and harder to find the familiar spots to put things with all of the customization going on!
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