# View count difference in category vs data-explorer

**URL:** <https://meta.discourse.org/t/view-count-difference-in-category-vs-data-explorer/314227>\
**Category:** Data & reporting\
**Created:** [June 28, 2024, 8:05pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/view-count-difference-in-category-vs-data-explorer/314227 "2024-06-28T20:05:22Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![JammyDodger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/jammydodger/32/254611_2.png) [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)\
**Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/view-count-difference-in-category-vs-data-explorer/314227/2 "2024-06-28T21:15:53Z")

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The `topic_views` table only records the first view of a topic for each user (or IP Address for anyone not logged in), whereas `topics.views` from the `topics` table records one new view every 8 hours (default, but configurable using the `topic view duration hours` admin setting).

We do have a new table to collect topic view data that can be reported on over a timeframe, which may also be of interest (quite new still, so the data won’t go back too far). That’s in the `topic_view_stats` table, and can give an aggregate amount of views per topic (for both anon and logged in users) per day.

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_[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/view-count-difference-in-category-vs-data-explorer/314227)._