Has anyone else noticed that their view count has gone down? I’m blaming it on the new pop-up window in the reader that allows people to read a post without going to the site.
While this new feature is sometimes handy, it discourages other WordPress users from clicking on the actual post. When they don’t look at the post, they don’t see our site, and when they don’t go to our site, they don’t see what else is on our site.
Just think about it this way: One of the people you follow may have found the cure for the clap yesterday, but if you only read about how his or her cat looked cute rifling through the cantankerous neighbours trash bin today, you’ll never know! That’s valuable information there you’ve missed out on!
So tell me, is it just me? Or has your view count gone down too?
lindaghill.com 
November 16, 2013 at 5:46 pm
Gone down drastically. I’ve been struggling how to get views even before this, and now I just don’t know what to do. It’s linked to my Facebook and I try to encourage traffic from colleagues as well . . . but it’s always been a struggle for me to get both LIKES and VIEWS. Oh well. I don’t get paid for it and it’s more of hobby anyway, so I just brush it off!
Great post!
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November 16, 2013 at 6:24 pm
Thanks very much!
I’ve found that the first line or two of any post is all important. If that’s all the reader is going to show, it’s gotta be good enough to draw viewers and readers in.
Best of luck and thanks for commenting. 🙂
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November 17, 2013 at 5:02 am
Thanks for your reply! I’ll need to work on a few things to get the understanding 🙂
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November 17, 2013 at 4:37 pm
Good luck 🙂
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November 15, 2013 at 11:30 pm
Great post! I wholeheartedly agree with your theory! I have had countless issues with wordpress and have written about things myself this past year. But on the bright side, I am here now and for the many I follow loyally, I go right to their page to see what I’ve missed because I enjoy their blogs. Glad to have found this page, I am happy to follow! 🙂
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November 15, 2013 at 11:36 pm
Thanks very much! Yes, more and more I’m following by email so that I can avoid the reader. I used to be on it all day – now it’s once a day. My hope is they’ll fix all the issues with WP, but I’m not holding my breath
I appreciate your kind words and your follow. 😀
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November 15, 2013 at 6:34 pm
I do not like it. Especially when I want to leave a comment, I get half way through writing, and it ALWAYS freezes. I can’t ever seem to remember to just go directly to their site to comment. It irritates me for sure. But yeah, my count has gone waaaaay down. Not like I had a big count to begin with, though. Ha!
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November 15, 2013 at 6:38 pm
I do think I found the remedy for the view count drop – it’s posted here in the comments and on the other post. I definitely recommend changing your reader view to summary.
The whole thing is a nuisance. I wish they’d never ‘fixed’ it. 😛
Thanks for the comment 😀
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November 15, 2013 at 6:44 pm
Aw, well thanks for the follow!
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November 15, 2013 at 6:45 pm
No problem. I love Indian food too! 😀
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Pingback: Word Press Views and What I’ve Discovered | lindaghill
November 12, 2013 at 8:48 am
I don’t know I shall have to check, I still visit all my followers sights and others too! 😉 xxxx
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November 12, 2013 at 10:17 am
Good for you! If enough of us do, this pop-up window will be useless, or so we can only hope. 🙂
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November 11, 2013 at 4:51 pm
I don’t like it at all. To get to the blog I have to double click. That’s one to many for my tired fingers. In all seriousness, don’t like it as a blogger. Stats help me see what is working and what isn’t working in terms of readership. If it’s just nameless reading then I don’t know when I have a successful piece to build more off of.
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November 11, 2013 at 5:05 pm
That’s a very good point. I, too, rely to a certain extent on the stats to know whether people are really interested and actually reading or just doing a drive-by like, as I call them.
I think we all need to complain.
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November 11, 2013 at 5:19 pm
To which internet god/admin do I need to email my prayers to, asking for salvation from this undeserved labor of low stats and drive bys, and be answered in a timely manner?
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November 11, 2013 at 9:57 pm
I’m going to write another article later in the week on this topic and what I’ve found since I changed my reader pop-up window to summary from full post. I’ll find out how we can all do something to change this and put that info in the post at the same time. I think it’s in the forums somewhere if you want to go searching in the meantime.
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November 9, 2013 at 11:08 pm
Ugh, is that why it’s been like that? I say boo on that.
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November 9, 2013 at 11:21 pm
Me too. It really sucks.
Thanks for the comment and the follows 😀
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November 9, 2013 at 11:03 pm
It is the reader. The only ones not affected are the ones that get comments or the reader comes through email. Oh well… means we have to work harder. You can see it’s affect on mine as well Linda, have you compared?
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November 9, 2013 at 11:20 pm
I have! You had quite the drop. I did notice that they’ve put the wordcount back in the reader, which is nice. And now that they’ve done that, if you click on the wordcount instead of the title of the post, it takes you straight to the site. I still wish they’d switch it back though.
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November 9, 2013 at 11:21 pm
🙂 Me too.
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November 8, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Yep,sure has.. Thought I just sucked..
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November 9, 2013 at 12:20 pm
Me too! That’s why I asked. 🙂
Thanks for commenting.
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November 9, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Why did they change it? You don’t suck btw!!
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November 9, 2013 at 12:29 pm
Thanks, neither do you. 🙂
I have no idea what sort of brain fart made them change what was already working, but I wish they’d change it back.
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November 9, 2013 at 1:16 pm
Thanks! Agreed!
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November 9, 2013 at 1:27 pm
🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 11:10 pm
Yes, mine have gone down as well. I really, really don’t like this new “feature.” Thanks for writing about this.
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November 9, 2013 at 12:20 pm
I thought it was about time. It’s kinda good to know that it’s not just me who has a problem with it, too. Thanks for the comment 🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 8:27 pm
YES! I thought I was the only one. So is that why?
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November 8, 2013 at 9:26 pm
It really seems to be contributing to the problem. I’m kinda glad I’m not the only one as well, though I think the whole situation is sad.
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November 8, 2013 at 6:38 pm
Supposedly, if a reader opens the new pop-up window, it counts as a view (and perhaps two views if the reader then visits your actual site). Some people have tested this out and said the view didn’t register. In the discussion forum on issues with the new reader, one of the staff members assured us that they would count as views, though there may be a delay in the reporting… Also, with the new changes, there are evidently some bugs to work out, as we’re experiencing a variety of issues.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:25 pm
I’ve noticed that sometimes I’ll get ten views all at once, so maybe that’s why – because of the delay.
I think the biggest “bug” is the unnecessary changes they keep making!
Thanks for the info, Chris. 🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 5:03 pm
You have voiced what all of us (if anecdotal evidence from your comments count) have been feeling since WordPress delivered to us that ornery reader. Anybody from WordPress want to tell us why it’s here? Or if you can take it away? I am always clicking ‘go to original’ out of principal and ease of reading. Thanks, LInda.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:23 pm
You’re welcome.
I do the same thing. It’s not fair that people are missing out on views because of the new reader.
Personally, when I’m on someone’s site, I’ll often click on links to other things, follow them on twitter etc. If I only read their post in the reader I feel like I’m missing something too.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:27 pm
Yes, yes. Using the reader is like taking a walk through a park wearing blinders.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:28 pm
Excellent analogy. 🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 4:44 pm
I seldom look at my stats, but I just checked and yes, I got a significant dip at the time the new reader went on-line. I suspect that it is across the board because of the way that it works. So while your total number of views may be down, your ranking in WordPress is probably about the same because everybody’s page views are down. So it’s kind of systemic deflation.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:19 pm
It’s really not as much the stats as what the pop-up window is doing to our sites. You advertise your books on yours – if people are only looking at your most current post in the reader and not going to your site, your advertising is useless.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:47 pm
The new wordpress reader is atrocious, no doubt about it. I hope that if enough people complain they’ll change it back.
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November 8, 2013 at 10:11 pm
Me too. I’ve already put my two cents worth in.
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November 8, 2013 at 4:40 pm
Well I’m glad you mentioned the clap. I was reading this morning that Saint Fiacre is the Patron Saint of Sexually Transmitted Diseases, and I was wondering who the hell I could tell! He is also the patron of Taxi Drivers. I wonder if the two are connected? And, yes, my count has diminished as well.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:15 pm
Oh, you can tell me anything. 🙂 I’m happy to be here for you, as always, Bruce. 😀
Will you try changing your settings? If you’re not sure how, one of my helpful commenters here spelled it out for us. 🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 4:15 pm
In your dashboard go to Settings/Reading and then scroll down to “For each article in a feed, show”. Select either Full Text or Summary.
I changed mine to full text the other day, so now my entire post shows in the reader. I figured that if I was getting annoyed by having to click “Read Full Post” then others may be also.
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November 8, 2013 at 4:23 pm
Ha I just did the opposite. I want people to come to my site and I don’t like the fact wordpress are enabling people to read my posts by looking in through a window instead of visiting. Interesting to see if it annoys people. What I wondered was does this affect readers reading anywhere else.
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November 8, 2013 at 4:28 pm
That makes sense too. If they don’t go into the blog itself, then they probably don’t count as a view. That’s a little frustrating. It sounds to me like a lose-lose situation then. Viewing posts via smart phones (without using the WP app) is normal as of right now. But, what percentage of readers do that?
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November 8, 2013 at 9:12 pm
I’m very frustrated that they didn’t just leave it alone. 😦
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November 8, 2013 at 9:11 pm
I don’t like it either, Tric. 😦
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November 8, 2013 at 9:11 pm
I find it annoying only because it’s there now and it didn’t used to be necessary.
Thanks very much for this. I thought the setting you’re pointing out was for my home page, but if it’s for the reader, then I’m going to change mine so that people have to visit and see if it makes a difference.
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November 8, 2013 at 10:56 pm
If you don’t mind, update us later to let us know if it helps.
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November 8, 2013 at 10:59 pm
I will 🙂
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November 10, 2013 at 12:27 am
Thanks for that tip. I had begun to manually put in some ‘read more’ breaks in my posts, just to get folks from email over to the full site.
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November 8, 2013 at 4:14 pm
I really enjoy going to the sites. Do not at all like the pop up. I usually que a bunch of posts then just go down the line. Hopefully I will never need that cure though 😉
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November 8, 2013 at 9:07 pm
I do the same thing – go through my reader and open what I want to read in a new tab, then read them all, though sometimes it takes me half a day. 😛
And yeah, be careful out there, Paul 😉
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November 8, 2013 at 10:14 pm
I’m a bit of a prude. Touch not, scratch not. 😛
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November 8, 2013 at 10:17 pm
Good plan 🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 4:08 pm
I’ve noticed that too. I thought maybe it had something to do with NaNoWriMo. Personally, I don’t care for the new set up at all. I agree that it greatly limits a blog’s potential. If the post can be read fully in the viewer (as I’m doing now with yours), then there’s no reason to go on their site.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:05 pm
Exactly my point. And it sucks.
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November 8, 2013 at 4:01 pm
Haven’t looked at the reader in a while, but I can see how such a thing causes trouble. My view counts have been iffy for over a month now.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:04 pm
I definitely think it has to do with the reader, now more than ever since I posted this.
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November 8, 2013 at 3:59 pm
My views are way down. (Not that they were huge to begin with). The number of likes on my posts doesn’t correlate with the views. Go figure!
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November 8, 2013 at 9:03 pm
I know, even the number of comments don’t correlate, which is what tipped me off in the first place. 😛
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November 8, 2013 at 3:52 pm
I haven’t posted since WP started this new box thingy on the reader, so I’ll have to see next week. I don’t go into my stats much, but I bet you’re probably right. After all, I’m using that box thingy to comment right now. Not so sure I will anymore.
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November 8, 2013 at 9:02 pm
I try not to use it. I think most people appreciate the view – I know some people who practically live for them.
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November 8, 2013 at 3:33 pm
I’ve thought about the new reader and I am neither for nor against… I’ve given up on stats… it was either give up on stats or give up on blogging… lol
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November 8, 2013 at 3:41 pm
Glad you gave up on the stats. 😉
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November 8, 2013 at 3:31 pm
I haven’t been on here for long but I like where this post is going. It makes me feel like my stats are wrong because my likes don’t match my views!
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November 8, 2013 at 3:41 pm
It’s not just you, trust me. I’ve been talking to someone in real time on my comments from Singapore – had them leave my site and come back, and still no view from Singapore. It’s screwy all around.
Despite that, hope you’re having fun on WordPress!
Somehow the fanfare on that just seemed to fizzle, didn’t it? haha
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November 8, 2013 at 3:24 pm
I find that new pop-up window to be annoying. Now I have to click on the post in my reader and then click View Original to get to the post. Much easier before, one click and you could read it. If it ain’t broken…
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November 8, 2013 at 3:26 pm
…don’t fix it. EXACTLY what I was thinking.
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November 8, 2013 at 4:10 pm
J.D., I’m in full agreement.
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November 8, 2013 at 3:17 pm
I haven’t checked the number of views since forever. 🙂
But I don’t like this feature very much. Sometimes it shows the entire post in the reader, while at other times, it asks you to read further by opening up the separate tab of the post.
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November 8, 2013 at 3:20 pm
That’s the other thing – some sites seem to have that and others don’t, but I can’t find a setting to change it anywhere. So…. did they just pick some at random that you can see the whole post in the preview window and some you can’t?
Ugh.
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November 8, 2013 at 3:20 pm
Who knows!?
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November 8, 2013 at 3:22 pm
Eh, maybe someone does who will come across this post. 🙂
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November 12, 2013 at 1:51 pm
Can’t complain about it much myself… if someone very much wants to read the blog, they will enter your site, and look at other entries. It separates a window shopper with the potential consumer.
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November 12, 2013 at 2:09 pm
True enough. The problem is that what we put in that window isn’t always what our blog is all about. 😛
Thanks very much for the comment 🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 3:14 pm
Lol! It is a bit annoying – I am used to it just opening up the blog – those extra clicks to get where you are going – a pain frankly.
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November 8, 2013 at 3:17 pm
I agree! And then after you do go to the site, you come back and it’s still there so you have to close it again.
Lovely “improvement” WordPress!
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November 8, 2013 at 3:26 pm
Hmmm – It just suddenly appeared aswell
I thought there was something going wonky with my reader!
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November 8, 2013 at 3:38 pm
I’ve just started to expect something different every day. That way I’m not surprised. 😛
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November 8, 2013 at 3:40 pm
Sounds like a plan hey – you have little people – you know the drill 😉
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November 8, 2013 at 3:42 pm
Haha! Yep, very true. 🙂
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November 8, 2013 at 3:49 pm
😀
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November 8, 2013 at 3:13 pm
Are you suggesting that I have the clap??
I rarely look at my stats, so I’m not much help there. I will say that I don’t care for this new setup though.
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November 8, 2013 at 3:15 pm
I know, the reader’s weird these days. I don’t like it either.
*claps politely* There, now you do. 😉
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