# Understanding link click counters
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-link-click-counters/254552
**Category:** Using Discourse
**Tags:** explanation, click-counter
**Created:** [February 9, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-link-click-counters/254552 "2023-02-09T00:49:56Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Discourse)
#### Post date: [February 9, 2023, 12:49am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-link-click-counters/254552/1 "2023-02-09T00:49:56Z")
> 🔖 This is a guide about Link Click Counters in Discourse, explaining what they are, how they work, and their behaviors.
>
> 🙋 Required user level: All users
## What are link click counters?
Link Click Counters are numbered indicators next to all links shared through Discourse. They are enabled for all `http` and `https` links on a site and apply to both internal and external links. They track and display the number of times a link is clicked. This allows users to see the popularity or engagement level of shared links.
> 📣 Try clicking this link to see the counter in action: [Click this link!](http://example.com/)
## How link click counters work
Here are some important points about the functionality and behavior of Discourse Link Click Counters:
- **Intelligent tracking** : The click counter tracks clicks from other users but ignores clicks from the user who posted the link. Each user’s click is only counted once per 24-hour period.
- **Anonymous user IP tracking** : If an anonymous user clicks a link, it is counted but only once per IP address per 24-hour period. Repeated clicks from the same IP within that window won’t increase the counter.
- **Client-side updates** : The counter increases on the client side when a link is clicked and updates when the page is refreshed.
- **Right-click excluded** : The counter only increases when a `click` DOM event is fired. Right-click is explicitly excluded. Middle-click does not fire a `click` event and is therefore not tracked. Note that control-click and shift-click do fire a `click` event and will be tracked.
> Last edited by @hugh 2024-06-17T09:58:24Z
>
> Last checked by @hugh 2024-06-17T09:58:29Z
>
> > **Check document**
> >
> > Perform check on document:
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### Author:  [@jcarlson](https://meta.discourse.org/u/jcarlson)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2024, 2:19pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-link-click-counters/254552/4 "2024-10-28T14:19:18Z")
Can the counter be disabled? We’re running a small, internal Discourse, and users mistake it for some kind of footnote or important detail. Click count is rarely an important piece of information for us, and we’d like to just hide the counter.
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### Author:  [@Moin](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Moin)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2024, 2:28pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-link-click-counters/254552/5 "2024-10-28T14:28:41Z")
You can hide them with css
> [@Disable Click Counts?](https://meta.discourse.org/t/disable-click-counts/146622/2):
>
> I don’t believe there’s a setting to disable the count, but you can hide it via CSS. Something like this should work. .badge.badge-notification.clicks { display: none; }
[Making custom CSS changes on your site](https://meta.discourse.org/t/make-css-changes-on-your-site/168101)