Every story I post on my main page has a URL to some other site. I would like to be able to track how many times people have clicked on each link. The only way I can figure out how to do this is to put the story text in the "read more" box, and force them to click the "read more" link to read the story. That, or they click on something in the "Old articles" or archves section.
Thing is, I don't want them to have to do this. I would like to somehow have the story (in its entirety) on the main page, including the link URL, but when they click on the link, it goes back to my site, increments the counter by one, then immediately redirect them to the site I'm linking to (appears as if they are just going right to that site without another page on my site). I know this can be done, I've seen it in many of the other blogsites I've seen.
Does anyone know of a hack, mod or fix that would allow me to do this?
If you want an idea of what I'm talking about, here's my website:
http://flambore.com Click on any of the links in any of the articles, and it takes you directly to that site, but doesn't increment the counter. If you click "discuss", then it will increment the counter (or "reads", as it's displayed on the main page).
Here's an example of what I would like to do:
http://www.web-shite.co.uk/ (warning: this site has some Not Safe for Work images, so be careful). When you click on their links, it goes to their site, but gets redirected to the linked site. And right on the main page, you can see how many times a certain article has been clicked.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm talking in circles, I just want to make sure my intentions and how I described them are clear.
appreciate any help.
thanks.
[edit]
Actually, I just noticed they do this on the main PHP-Nuke site. When you click on the PHP-Community link, they do it here:
http://www.phpnuke.org/modules.php?n...&op=show&cid=2
United Kingdom
Site Name: PHP-Nuke UK
Country: United Kingdom
Site Maintainer: Darren
Description: England support and community web site.
Go to PHP-Nuke UK (24369 Hits) <<---- When you click on Go to PHP-Nuke UK, the URL is this:
http://www.phpnuke.org/modules.php?n...ty&op=go&id=60
This auto increment and redirect is exactly what I would like to do, except I want to do it using the Stories rather than links to other sites.
(sorry for the long post)