# I need help counting.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-counting/55865>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 25, 2001, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-counting/55865 "2001-02-25T22:56:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\
**Post date:** [February 25, 2001, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-counting/55865/1 "2001-02-25T22:56:27Z")

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I’m writing a new webpage and I need a counter. I did a google search and got about 51,000 hits. A lot of the counter programs require that you sign up for a service (which usually involves getting unwanted e-mails).

Is there a (free) program that I can cut’n’paste into my HTML that will just put a counter on the page? I don’t need to do any tracking. I’d just like to know how many people visit the page when it’s up. I did find a couple that said something about “server side includes”, but I don’t know what that is. I doubt my server would let me modify their system anyway.

Anyone have some “plug’n’play” CGI/Java/whatever that I can use?

Thanks.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\
**Post date:** [February 26, 2001, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-need-help-counting/55865/2 "2001-02-26T01:48:19Z")

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Consult your web host. Most of them already have counter services available for free. Mine does.

As an alternative, you might see if your web host allows you to run cgi scripts. There are plenty of free cgi scripts for counters. Try Matt’s Script Archive for examples like:

[http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/counter.shtml](http://www.worldwidemart.com/scripts/counter.shtml)