[Plugin: WordPress Popular Posts] Version Version 2.3.0 breaks the blog

Héctor, that is very cool! Thank you! ??

The function created the sidebar, and I was able to add the widget to it, but the sidebar.php code did not make the new sidebar appear in the Political Artwork page.

I wonder what I may have done wrong?

Sidebar code, with Page ID:
if (is_page(‘16978’)) {
if ( ! dynamic_sidebar( ‘political-artwork’ ) ) : endif;
}

The problem may lie in the fact that, The Twenty Eleven Theme does not, inherently, display the sidebar. I am using a plug-in called, “Twenty Eleven Theme Extensions,” which made it so I can display the sidebar in the theme.

If there is no simple solution, then, it is probably best to leave good enough alone.

I’m pretty sure it can be done easily, you just need to be a little more patient ?? Since you were kind enough to help me debug WPP, I’ll take a look at the Twenty Eleven Theme and let you know how to get it working.

Hi Héctor,
Thank you! I really appreciate that! But, it isn’t something that is extremely important to me – that is why I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on it.

It would still be nice to know how to make it work, however, in the event that I want to use that method in the future. ??

It would also be cool if it can be integrated into the plug-in.

Héctor,

Has anyone commented about the Popular Post “views”?

I am wondering if they are actually calculating right? I have been getting far more views then prior to the plug-in update. If I am really getting more views, that is great – but, I am a little skeptical of the current count.

Popular post views are way off for me since upgrade as well.

jone,

Are they on the high-side? That is what I am experiencing.

Yes. A couple of hundred hits off. I’ve been watching closely and it is almost like they grow exponentially.

In one case I just released the most boring post ever. It has no more than 30 real hits. It is counting at over 300 right now. The wordpress.com stats and google analytics concur.

Yes,
I am seeing similar results.

My wordpress.com stats are more realistic. The Popular Post stats do look, largely, exaggerated.

If we downgraded to the previous version, that should tell us if it is, indeed, a programmatic error.

OK, I downgraded to version 2.2.1, and it did not change or resolve the count issue that I think we are having.

Hey guys,

Sorry, I haven’t been able to check on that. Work projects are keeping me busy at the moment and won’t be able to work on the plugin today at least. I think I know what might be causing this and it should be an easy fix if it is what I believe.

Héctor,
Do you believe that the integrity of the data is OK, and it is just the way that the data is being displayed that is the problem? In other words, is the real count being stored in the database, and will display correctly once you are able to fix it? Or, will we have to clear the cache and start over?

Alright guys, here’s an update of the situation:

Long story:

Found out what went wrong. The new ability to enable / disable ajax update via Settings / WordPress Popular Posts / Tools / Data tools is the culprit.

For some reason I’m still trying to understand and correct, when viewing any single post / page it ocassionally also updates the views count of another post / page simultaneously – hence why it is doubling the count of some entries.

Bad news is that after the update to 2.3.0 all views count added to the WP DB tables are wrong. The only workaround to prevent it from continuing doubling the views count is to enable the AJAX update since the problem occurs only when it’s disabled.

I will remove that feature on the next upgrade until a fix is ready, so please keep an eye on your Plugins’ page.

Summary: (for those who don’t feel like reading a lot)
Problem with views count is generated by the new ability to turn on / off the ajax update via Settings / WordPress Popular Posts / Tools / Data tools. Enabling AJAX update “fixes” the problem, it occurs only when it’s disabled. A plugin update will follow, this feature will be removed until a fix is ready.

Hi Héctor,

Thank you for the update! I will enable that feature for now. But, even my “all-time,” most popular post count, will be wrong from here on? ??