10 · View counter

A view is written to the site's database and shown by the entry. There is no third-party script here, so a reader is not measured in passing by someone they did not invite, and the site's owner hands nobody a picture of their traffic in exchange for a chart.

The number by the entry is information for both sides. The author sees what gets read; the reader sees whether the text they landed on already has an audience or does not. Both are more honest than a counter hidden in a panel.

This is deliberately little: no heat maps, no paths, no profiles. A literary site does not need a tool for optimising a sales funnel, and everything beyond a view count is paid for with a reader's privacy.