That's not necessarily what it means. Often it's someone checking back to see if there's new content. So they are not unique views. I have trackers on my sites but I look at the unique visit. Just numbers of visits or views to comments is not very informative. A person may post once and return multiple times to read other comments without commenting again but those would all register as views with out comments.

If I don't have anything constructive to add to a post I will read and leave. And the ones that have 30+ answers already are just going to get repeats.

And in a heated thread, people will come back many many times to see how the thread is progressing or imploding!

There used to be one on the old GardenWeb that you could access. Not many knew about it and I discovered it quite by accident. I used to be very active on the Holidays decorating forum, where there were just about 20 of us who posted regularly. Such a nice, thoughtful, positive group of women. It was easy to fall into an "It's-just-us" little group feeling. One day I found where you could see how many actual views a post got and I was totally shocked! There might have been 15 posts on one thread, but I saw that it was viewed hundreds of times within a few hours! We had a lot of lurkers! That, in and of itself, was not a bad thing, it's just that we all needed to be more careful and more aware that what we shared went far beyond our cozy little group of 20. I can only imagine how many lurkers (and I don't mean that in a bad way) we have here on this forum.

The first time years ago when I became aware of this here, I was also shocked. A post might have 6 replies and 1,500 views. We are popular, aren't we!

I often just read threads late and have nothing to post that has not already been covered so I just read for interest. I do always try and remember that what I write is truly for the world to see and act accordingly.

I used to participate in a private forum with only about 15 members. We were all pretty close friends, obviously. We switched sites at one point and the new site had a view counter. Hated it, particularly if someone posted something and nobody replied, but you could clearly see it had been viewed 27 times! It was unsettling, particularly in a forum that small. Maybe it would be different here since this place is open to the public, but I still don't really think it would make me feel all warm and fuzzy and can't really see what purpose it would serve, beyond a passing curiosity as to why the views were either high or low.

Sometimes I do think twice about something I've posted and go back and delete it. Not because I didn't mean what I said, but mostly when I've thought it over and decided it wasn't worth making the post in the first place. I do make it a point not to write anything here that I would be embarrassed to have anyone else read. There are a lot of things I think we all would never dream of sharing here.

I am mostly a lurker because I read the posts in between doing other things and can't reply at the very moment I read the post. I always mean to go back and post but I usually forget and it would not be timely.

I was just thinking today, or was it yesterday? that I have read so many books because of the "What Are We Reading" threads and yet have never posted to those. :-(

It's mainly idle curiosity. On this other forum it's like 100 to 1. Yes, unique viewers would be most interesting.

I don't want to know!

This gives some stats, like who posts most frequently, but I didn't see number of views.

I am a frequent reader, occasional poster. i think I am a little gun shy as I am very sensitive.

I don't want to know. I find it frustrating and kind of sad to see that many views on something and hardly any comments. I think the decorating forum is quite slow compared to years ago. I'll admit I don't post, or read, near like I used to.

I agree, Shee

I used to be on a forum that showed views. People would post mad or sad that people were viewing but not posting. I think it's better just not to know.

I enjoy exchanging opinions with many active members here, and I have
learned a lot from other GWers. If someone reads my comments just out of
idle curiosity, I'm perfectly fine with it. It's a public forum, after all.

We all are free to volunteer our ideas and knowledge here. At the same time, we are free to decide whether we want to participate in a discussion or not. If I start a new thread and no one replies, no problem. It just means that the audience here either doesn't share my interest in the subject or can't provide any useful answer to my question. No obligations here.

There are a lot of people who read threads here because they're looking for information. For example, I read through a number of threads on flooring because I wanted to know what others thought about this or that type of flooring. I did not have anything to contribute to those threads, though.

Some viewers could be looking for new ideas on decor, home layouts and such without wanting to contribute to the threads they read. Also, sometimes I read a new thread but the discussion doesn't interest me, so I just move on.

The view counters could be useful. I visit history forums that use them a lot. If a topic becomes very popular and gets 1,000's of views, the moderators often make it a sticky thread so people looking for the same subject don't have to sift through old threads. Every section in those forums has a bunch of "stickies" on top. The discussions on those most popular topics can go on for years!

I think GW could use more stickies because there are so many threads covering the same topics over and over.

MtnRd, are you talking about CC? I find the questions to be diiverse and interesting. I open a lot of posts that I know that I could never answer.

GW also used to track the most active posters as well. I don't know if they still do. I only read posts that have a title that is of interest to me and it doesn't take long for me to figure out if I have something worthwhile to contribute.

oops - I just read deeinohio's comment a little more carefully. mmmm maybe I should try doing that a little more often as well. :)

I would not like to see a views tracker. I think this forum would change drastically due to the divided political climate and paid bloggers. Any place with high views such as the gardenweb sites would have people sneaking in their message. It would cause trouble. Better not to let the views become public.

Well that board tracker thing that dee posted suggests (as if we didn't already know) that the stats are already available to outside interests. Do "we" - the posters here - want to see that information? I don't. I am co-owner of an online group and do use that information to gauge interest but I don't need to see it in forums I'm not responsible for maintaining.

I sometimes view this site when dropping off to sleep on a Kindle or my phone. It is nearly never worth the while to type on those rinky keyboards, so I wait till I am at a real computer before responding to threads. Which automatically doubles my viewing.

Like right now.

I actually have no desire to see how many views any thread has.

I never noticed this but after reading this, I realized that another site I frequent (citydata) does have that feature, I think it's a good feature just to know that there is activity. I agree that lots of people browse and dont feel compelled to post for many reasons. (nothing to contribute, hesitant about reactions, etc). And edited to add that I agree that there is much less activity on here than on thathomesite. I remember that "refreshing" that site would yield tons of new replies. 'back in the day.

On another of my forums, that view tracker results in a LOT of (teenagers, I assume...the ones who don't answer a ringing phone, but immediately reply to a text!) rude ""bumps", and posts that say, "So, 27 views and NO comments...HELLOoo...".

That is extremely annoying to a patient reader like me...lol.

I often just read quickly because I either don't have time to comment, don't have anything constructive to add, or don't want to jump into the fray on a controversial topic when things veer off. I really don't care how many views a post has received as sometimes I come back just to see if there are any additional comments to something I found interesting.

When I was fairly new here I often just read as I was trying to get the 'lay of the land' and see who really had some knowledge and something to contribute. Really a bit of sorting out online personalities & viewpoints I guess.

i wouldn't be interested at all in # of views... well, maybe just a couple of times just to see how much these types of forums really are visited, but that would be it!

i did at least find it somewhat reassuring when i have listed houses for sale to see on zillow # of views- it was comforting at least to know the house was being checked out regularly online...

i think i would be interested if i belonged to a forum that had a real educational purpose or something and i wanted to know that what my message was really being seen-- there is so much incorrect information online...

LOL, Annie. I've seen several of those recently!

Same here......I got tired of recommending people hire decorators! Sometimes it is obvious that's what is needed but i guess people dont come to GW to hear it.

I'm definitely heavy on the view side, and light on the post side. The same is true for me on the few other forums I read with some regularity (although I sometimes go for months without coming here). I don't post because this is an advice forum, and I just don't feel qualified to give good advice on decor, etc; I'm one who needs the advice. There are many talented people with excellent taste on this forum, and I leave it to them to offer help when solicited.

I would expect the views to be significantly higher than posts on a forum like this one. I'm sure there are plenty of viewers like myself, that just love looking at homes and reading the advice threads. I always enjoyed reading Dear Abbey when I was young, but I never wrote in.

I think it's a good thing that there is a big difference, I often view because I want to learn, and only feel that I should say something if I can contribute positively. I actually find the opposite annoying, people replying without reading through the post, asking questions that have already been answered etc. A tracker is fine, but not sure if it would give any insights, for instance, I always click on posts whose topic is very vague to see what it is about but leave if not interesting to me.

I don't post as much as others here or on GW. I wouldn't consider myself a lurker, just a little more reserved about commenting. I've learned so much from everyone here. There are many reasons to be a member of this forum, Interest in decorating, being able to see so many styles and ideas in one place (especially for those that don't have access to such where they live) and a great learning experience from the top contributors who share their knowledge and suggestions with everyone.

My answer to the question is that it really wouldn't matter to me. What is a View Tracker's purpose - finding what people are interested in?

there are always more views than comments. don't care either way about adding this feature.

I read and participate in spurts. Often, I'll read threads to educate myself on subjects I'm not working on but am interested in learning about, like layouts, sink installations and countertop supports.I seldom have anything to add to those but continue to check in when comments are added. So, many views = no posts.

I was very intimidated about commenting or offering opinions when I first joined. I'm still impressed with the knowledge and level of expertise of some posters, but over the years it struck me that there are probably more people like me than them hoping for feedback. Many who are new to decorating and these forums haven't heard or read a lot of the GW stock responses to inquiries. So now I'll chime in with sources, paint colors that worked for me, things I've learned through trial & error - or just an opinion. I'm grateful when people respond to my posts and a lot of times just reading through a variety of suggestions helps spark a workable solution that hasn't even been offered.

These are, after all, discussion forums. Everyone starts somewhere. I understand that many are happiest just reading along but feel bad to think that some who would enjoy adding their thoughts to a thread hang back because they don't feel their opinion is worthy.

Re OP's question - I'm not interested in a feature that shows numbers of views & comments.

Didn't see it, but has anyone realised page views can be from anywhere & everywhere? I often get search results that are message board discussion/threads.

And weren't some recently expressing annoyance about people resurrecting old discussions by posting replies to them?

Also, why should I insert myself into every discussion? When @ a party or gathering, do we offer our opinion on every conversation? I thought that was considered rather rude. Not everyone has a lot to say - IRL or virtual.

FWIW the internet is a public place - you never know who is looking & might well always assume that many are.

I find this phenom so BIZARRE. This is SOCIAL MEDIA. What anyone does is open for anyone to see, privately or publicly!!! If ya can't accept that ya REALLY need to get off all together. There is no assumption of privacy once you POST ANYTHING!!

I get emails from Tripadvisor every so often that tell me how many times my reviews have been read. I've only posted maybe ten reviews but they have been read thousands of times. Kind of eye-opening.

Arcy - Where did that come from?

I'm definitely a lurker because everyone here seems to be friends so to speak, and I almost feel like I'm butting in. Eh. You guessed it I'm a wallflower even online. :(

I try to comment when I have something helpful to say, but it isnt very often especially with decorating. I lurk because I feel like I'm learning, and I get bored being a SAHM while my kid is at school.

Hmm, just an idle thought. I'd just be curious to know how many discreet viewers look at a post. Just curious really, especially in this funny little corner, under Houzz, back in decor, and then in conversations. I was on GW for years before I knew there was a "conversations"!

Oh and IowaCommute, first of all, no skill or knowledge is needed! Just an opinion. Second, we are all friends! Well pretty much LOL.

Welcome Iowa! You've posted, introduced yourself, and now you're a "friend", too. But, as Mtn already said, everybody is welcome and we can all be friends. Come back soon and ask a question , or just leave a comment .

I would also be interested in the number of viewers-- purely out of curiosity and as a measure of what is important and of interest to others. I post often but in spurts.. there are some days I dont visit GW at all and some when I am more in the mood to read than participate (I *always* have an opinion-- but I don't always want to put in effort to share it.

Iowa, no need to be timid. As I said, I always have an opinion but I don't have any special skills to make me worthy of posting on a topic. I'll jump in and talk on a wide range of topics with only my experience, opinions and aspirations. Sure, there are some tangles at times.. and I could see that they might be intimidating.. but they are usually short-lived and focused on a specific topic. Just like in our "real lives" (though I consider this forum an extension of my real circle of friends), sometimes the people around us have bad days. Even me :) So sit back, relax and jump in when you have something to say!

Iowa, welcome to you and please post. This is how we become friends!

Iowa, yes, all that's needed is an opinion! And I'm sure, like most of us, if you open a thread and consider the question asked, you likely have an opinion. Some of us have more opinionated opinions, some have more expertise and experience, and some who just THINK they have more expertise. So, all are welcome. We all were new at one time.