Change the output

Hi

thanks for this plugin – I need to separate the $count from the title, so I can style it differently. I have succeeded in wrapping the count in a span class, but probably not in a sensible way (myphp knowledge is limited) how would I change the output to achieve this?

$count = $wpdb->get_var(“SELECT count(*) FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_status=’publish’ AND post_type=’post’ AND post_date<‘{$date}'”);
if ($maintitle==$title) {
echo ‘<span class=”number”>’;
$count = $count.'</span>:’;
} else {
$count =”;

Secondly is there anyway to begin the count from 1 rather than 0?

Thanks,
D

https://www.ads-software.com/plugins/auto-numbering-post/