Easier Stats by Andrew Hill
View visitor activity in WordPress, with local analytics, source information and campaign tracking. Data begins accumulating after the tracker is installed; past Jetpack history is not automatically imported.
Free core; Pro adds UTM reports, link builder and CSV exports.
Install and check collection
Upload and activate the plugin. Open its Stats menu and review Settings, especially excluded roles. If Jetpack is installed, there may be two Stats menus. Open a public page while signed out, visit another page and return to the plugin’s traffic report. Your administrator visits are excluded by default.
Read traffic reports
Choose a period and compare views and visitors with the previous period. A view is a page load; visitors are an estimate based on the plugin’s daily identifier, not verified individual people. Review posts/pages, referrers, channels, countries, devices, browsers and operating systems. Click a report row to filter the other reports, then clear the filter before comparing whole-site totals.
Explore content and activity
Use landing pages, site searches and 404 reports to see how people enter and navigate. Outbound links, email/telephone clicks, configured file downloads and supported video plays appear as events. Review Insights for long-term totals, popular days/hours, authors, taxonomies and other available breakdowns. The toolbar sparkline, dashboard widget and posts-list view column provide quick summaries.
Track campaigns
Add UTM parameters to the destination URL in an email, advert or social post. For example: https://example.com/offer/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=autumn. Choose consistent lowercase source/medium names. The free edition records campaign tags; Pro provides campaign/source/medium/term/content reports and campaign filters. Use Pro’s link builder to assemble URLs and CSV export to download a report. Check the final URL still contains its tags after any redirects.
Show a public view count
Add 2 where a supported view count is needed. Developers can use rsstats_get_views( $post_id ) in a theme. Check the output on the relevant post before adding it throughout your site.
Understand privacy and differences
The tracker sets no cookies and does not store raw IP addresses. It uses a daily salted identifier and browser sessionStorage for visit/campaign context. Counts can differ from Jetpack or other tools because bot detection, excluded users and visitor definitions differ. Review your own privacy requirements in light of the actual configuration; a cookie-free design alone does not settle every consent or disclosure question.
Troubleshoot missing or unusual counts
Test signed out, confirm the tracker loads and check that script blockers or optimisation tools have not removed it. Clear caches after installation or changes, then test again. Cached pages can be counted because collection uses a browser script. A source can appear as Direct when the visitor’s browser does not supply a referrer. Country and visitor figures are estimates. Pro menus require the appropriate build and active licence.
Keep and remove data
Back up the database before updates or retention changes. Deleting the plugin normally retains the history. Only enable RSSTATS_DELETE_DATA_ON_UNINSTALL if you deliberately want the stored analytics removed. Keep historical exports if you need figures for reporting outside WordPress.