A view in “Analytics” is a person who opened the published page in a browser. Link shorteners, newsletters and messengers count every click, bots included, so their number is usually higher.
What doesn't count as a view
- Your own views. If you're signed in to the dashboard in that browser, opening your own publication doesn't count. The same goes for co-authors you invited to the presentation.
- Bots and link previews. When a link is pasted into Telegram, WhatsApp, Slack or Discord, the messenger opens the page itself to build a preview card. That isn't a view. Search engine crawlers and uptime checks aren't either.
- Repeat visits. The same viewer within 30 minutes is the same view: reloading the page or opening a second tab doesn't inflate the counter.
- A locked page before the password. On a publication with a password or email gate, the view starts once the viewer enters the password or their email. Someone who saw the gate and left isn't a view.
- Too many opens from one address. More than 100 new views of one publication per hour from the same IP address aren't counted — this protects against inflated numbers.
When a view can get lost
- The counter starts once the page has loaded in the browser. If someone closed the link before that, there's no view.
- Some browser blockers stop the counter's requests.
- We recognise a viewer without cookies — by an anonymous code of the network and browser that changes every day. Two people on the same network with identical browsers within half an hour can merge into one view.
If the days don't match
Days on the “Views by day” chart follow UTC. A view late in the evening or early in the morning your time can land on the neighbouring day.
Want to check the page as a viewer sees it without touching the counter? Open it while you're signed in to the dashboard.
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