Post views without plugin

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<?php
// function to display number of posts.
function getPostViews($postID){
    $count_key = 'post_views_count';
    $count = get_post_meta($postID, $count_key, true);
    if($count==''){
        delete_post_meta($postID, $count_key);
        add_post_meta($postID, $count_key, '0');
        return "0 View";
    }
    return $count.' Views';
}

// function to count views.
function setPostViews($postID) {
    $count_key = 'post_views_count';
    $count = get_post_meta($postID, $count_key, true);
    if($count==''){
        $count = 0;
        delete_post_meta($postID, $count_key);
        add_post_meta($postID, $count_key, '0');
    }else{
        $count++;
        update_post_meta($postID, $count_key, $count);
    }
}


// Add it to a column in WP-Admin
add_filter('manage_posts_columns', 'posts_column_views');
add_action('manage_posts_custom_column', 'posts_custom_column_views',5,2);
function posts_column_views($defaults){
    $defaults['post_views'] = __('Views');
    return $defaults;
}
function posts_custom_column_views($column_name, $id){
	if($column_name === 'post_views'){
        echo getPostViews(get_the_ID());
    }
}
?>

Instructions:

There are lots of plugins that keep count of your posts views, but they all tend to be quite advanced and do a lot more than you might need(which is true for most plugins in general too).

This simple, yet brilliant snippet posted by Kevin Chard over at WP-Snipp does exactly what we need, and nothing more. Follow the steps below to count and display the number of views a post has.

Add the snippet to functions.php and follow these instruction:

Add this to single.php, and make sure you paste in inside the loop.

<?php setPostViews(get_the_ID()); ?>

Lastly, to display the number of views a post has, just add this where you want it to be displayed:

<?php echo getPostViews(get_the_ID()); ?>

Related links:

http://wpsnipp.com/index.php/functions-php/track-post-views-without-a-plugin-using-post-meta/