# Your Writing Stats Widget

> Adds a personal dashboard widget showing how many posts and words you published this month and this year, plus your current number of drafts, a small motivation boost for writers.

- Type: PHP
- Runs: Admin only
- Category: [Dashboard](https://wpide.com/library/category/dashboard/)
- Tags: dashboard-widget, writing, statistics
- Author: WPIDE Team
- Installs: 0
- Updated: 2026-10-28
- Page: https://wpide.com/library/dash-writing-stats-widget/

## Code

```php
add_action( 'wp_dashboard_setup', function () {
    if ( ! current_user_can( 'edit_posts' ) ) {
        return;
    }

    wp_add_dashboard_widget( 'wpide_writing_stats', 'Your writing stats', function () {
        global $wpdb;

        $user_id = get_current_user_id();
        $stats   = get_transient( 'wpide_writing_stats_' . $user_id );

        if ( false === $stats ) {
            $year_start  = wp_date( 'Y-01-01 00:00:00' );
            $month_start = wp_date( 'Y-m-01 00:00:00' );
            $rows        = $wpdb->get_results( $wpdb->prepare(
                "SELECT post_date, post_content FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_author = %d AND post_type = 'post' AND post_status = 'publish' AND post_date >= %s",
                $user_id,
                $year_start
            ) );
            $stats = array( 'month_posts' => 0, 'month_words' => 0, 'year_posts' => 0, 'year_words' => 0 );
            foreach ( $rows as $row ) {
                $words = str_word_count( wp_strip_all_tags( strip_shortcodes( $row->post_content ) ) );
                $stats['year_posts']++;
                $stats['year_words'] += $words;
                if ( $row->post_date >= $month_start ) {
                    $stats['month_posts']++;
                    $stats['month_words'] += $words;
                }
            }
            $stats['drafts'] = (int) $wpdb->get_var( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM {$wpdb->posts} WHERE post_author = %d AND post_type = 'post' AND post_status = 'draft'", $user_id ) );
            set_transient( 'wpide_writing_stats_' . $user_id, $stats, HOUR_IN_SECONDS );
        }

        $cells = array(
            'Posts this month' => $stats['month_posts'],
            'Words this month' => $stats['month_words'],
            'Posts this year'  => $stats['year_posts'],
            'Words this year'  => $stats['year_words'],
            'Drafts waiting'   => $stats['drafts'],
        );
        echo '<div style="display:grid;grid-template-columns:repeat(auto-fit,minmax(110px,1fr));gap:8px">';
        foreach ( $cells as $label => $value ) {
            printf( '<div style="border:1px solid #dcdcde;border-radius:4px;padding:10px;text-align:center"><div style="font-size:20px;font-weight:600">%s</div><div style="color:#646970">%s</div></div>', esc_html( number_format_i18n( $value ) ), esc_html( $label ) );
        }
        echo '</div>';
    } );
} );
```

## Notes

Words are counted from published post content; figures are cached per user for an hour.

## How to use it

Install the free WPIDE plugin (https://wordpress.org/plugins/wpide/), find "Your Writing Stats Widget" in its snippet library and add it in one click; or create a new PHP snippet in WPIDE (or any code snippets plugin) and paste the code above. More snippets: https://wpide.com/library/