Hi there, I just joined this forum in an attempt to get some help with something I am trying to do for my website, using Dreamweaver. I'd like to add a hit counter button of some type...but I cant get the code to work. I checked out a few different free counter sites, and they all of course give some type of code to "just plug into your website." Well...it's not as easy as copy n paste in Dreamweaver....or is it? Am I missing something? I really don't know all the features available with Dreamweaver....so I was hoping someone here might have some similiar experiences they could share to enlighten me. When I just put in the code it shows as just that, garbled letters n stuff ie code....I want it to show the counter button as it's supposed to. I hope I'm making sense :)

Yes, It should be that easy! You are pasting it in using the "code view"?

If your hosting account has cpanel there is a free hit counter script which does not rely on a third party which you can use.

Do you really need a hit counter though?, they are a bit 1995!

Did you forget to enable javascript ?

thank you both for replying. No, I dont really need a counter...it turns out my hosting company has that already in the cpanel...I just didn't know it. Now I do :)


I reallly dont know much about dreamweaver and am teaching myself as I go along, mostly through trial-and-error.

how do I check if I have enabled java script? :)

Having Java script enabled is a client side option (thank god). You can check to see if java is switch on in the client side, if so display this jazy java site, if not display this uber cool server side site.

I'm sorry, I kindof understand what you are saying, but I don't LOL Dsiplay what jazzy java site? lol or are you just using that as an example. I will have to hunt around to see if the java in enabled...not sure where to look...i've only had dreamweaver 6 months or so, so am still learning...sometimes i step away for a bit and then forget some things lol

Ok, Java script is something the client, ie the person viewing the site desides if he wants to see it or not. You as a developer can only see if they have java on or java off.

DreamWeaver is a good WYSWIG Program. I use it all the time but I like to go through and fix all of it's errors.

Javascript hit counters can be misleading. Since not everyone will have Javascript enabled. In fact, a number of large businesses have it off on all their computers. So, someone from a school's computer for example wouldn't be showing up on your counter so the numbers would be skewed. This also happens to Google Analytics and will show different numbers than your Cpanel's Awstats.

My personal belief is that hit counters for site traffic shouldn't be public on your site, because it could lead to some people judging your business or site falsely. That is why I only use counters for things like - total sales so far, or something along those lines. It is tangible and doesn't have the same misconception. You can easily see a general traffic analysis from behind the scenes using Awstats or Google Analytics.

If you must us a public traffic hit counter, I would use a php or cgi script that is generated server-side so that it increments before the page is loaded and prevents people skewing the number as with Javascript.

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