v1.1.1

The footer line now shows up on every block theme I could throw at it, and never twice.

Download site-word-counter.zip below (not the "Source code" zips), then upload it from Plugins › Add New › Upload Plugin. If you already have Site Word Counter, WordPress will offer to replace it. It needs WordPress 7.1 or later.

What's fixed in 1.1.1

• The footer line doesn't go missing anymore. On some footers, like an empty group or one with a nested group that looked just like the outer one, the line quietly didn't appear. Now, if it can't go inside your footer, it goes right after it instead.
• It follows your theme's spacing and sizes. The space under the line comes from your theme's spacing scale instead of a fixed value, and the line only uses the "small" text size when your theme actually has one.
• Settings tells you why. If your theme has no footer template part, or its footer isn't set as a footer area, the footer option says so and points you to the "Words published since" pattern instead.

I tested it on Twenty Twenty-Two through Twenty Twenty-Five, Ollie, Frost, Extendable, Assembler, Ipsum, and Tufte Blocks, plus a couple of footers built to break it.

Help me test it

This still isn't on WordPress.org. If the footer line looks off on your theme, open an issue and tell me which theme you're using.

v1.1.0

You can now put your live word count inside a sentence, and the footer line finally looks like it belongs to your theme.

Download site-word-counter.zip below (not the "Source code" zips), then upload it from Plugins › Add New › Upload Plugin. If you already have Site Word Counter, WordPress will offer to replace it. It needs WordPress 7.1 or later.

What's new in 1.1

• A word count in the middle of a sentence. In any paragraph, heading, list item, quote, or caption, open the block toolbar's More menu and choose Word count. The number stays current and looks like the rest of the text: "Today it says 37,051." If you ever turn the plugin off, the sentence keeps the number from the day you added it.
• You can see which numbers are live. Inline counts get a faint dotted underline in the editor. Visitors don't see it.
• A footer line that matches your theme. The line now sits inside your footer, right under its last line, and uses the same text size, color, and font as the rest of the footer. I noticed it on my own blog, where it showed up as big, centered text under a small, left-aligned footer. (This came out in 1.0.2, which didn't get its own release.)
• A smaller zip. A stray notes file is no longer packaged.

Help me test it

This still isn't on WordPress.org. If the inline count or the footer line looks off on your theme, open an issue and tell me which theme you're using.

v1.0.0

The first real release of Site Word Counter: a block that shows how many words you've published across your whole site. It started as a Telex prototype in 2025, and this is the version I'd hand to a friend.

Download site-word-counter.zip below (not the "Source code" zips), then upload it from Plugins › Add New › Upload Plugin. It needs WordPress 7.1 or later.

What's in 1.0

• Counts the way you'd expect. Accented words, Japanese, Chinese, and Thai all count correctly. Shortcodes, HTML, and titles don't count.
• Stays fast. Each post is counted when you save it, and older posts are counted in the background after you activate.
• Shows up where you want it. Settings › Word Counter can add "33,895 words published since 2019." to your footer or below each post, with a link straight into the Site Editor to reword it. The year comes from your first post.
• Two patterns. "Words published since" for footers, and "Word count stat" for About pages.
• Plays nice. Full or compact numbers (33,895 or 33.9K), a count-up animation that respects reduced motion, and the editor's own typography, color, and spacing controls.
• Works with custom post types. Movie reviews, recipes, whatever you publish.
• Keeps old counters working. If you downloaded the Telex version from my blog, your counter keeps working and converts in one click.

Help me test it

This isn't on WordPress.org yet. Before it goes there, I'd love to hear how it does on real sites, especially big archives, non-English content, and themes other than Twenty Twenty-Five and Ipsum. If something looks off or the count seems wrong, open an issue and tell me your theme and roughly how many posts you have.