Feature request: Downloads countable

Hello Ulf,

you want to count the number of downloads for e. g. a PDF document, right? That’s currently not possible (and not planned). Tracking works either during page generation or client-side via JavaScript – both ways cannot track the view of static files, which are typically located in the wp-content/uploads directory.

If you want to download the Statify data, feel free to check the Plugin Statify – Extended Evaluation, which offers downloadable Statify data.

Cheers
Patrick

Thanks Patrick, for your quick response.
Yes, I meant the first.
It would be interesting to get the data but I can live without it!
My priority is to avoid unnecessary cookies and tracking and so not bothering the visitor with consent banners.
Stay healthy and happy!

There are several possibilities to track downloaded files.

Serve through PHP
* breaks with caching
* probably way out of scope for Statify

Intercept through PHP with redirect to real file
* can get tricky with caching, but possible
* does not accurately track number of downloads, only number of redirections to the actual link
* also way out of scope for Statify

Intercept with JavaScript
* only works with JS tracking
* can get tricky on which links the interception should be appended and which not
* does not actually track downloads, but clicks on the link

All assuming you use default WP file management. There are several Download manager or monitoring Plugins available for WordPress which provide such features. I don’t think such feature is really suitable for Statify

Regards,
Stefan

Thank you very much, @stklcode, for your profound additional explanations!