One snippet, pasted into an HTML card in the editor — because a live count only changes behaviour when it sits in the same line of sight as the price or the button. Ghost powers tens of thousands of independent publications, and almost none of those sites want another integration just to render a small piece of live data. No integration to configure. Ghost renders raw HTML and script tags from Code injection and from an HTML card, so there is nothing to install and no third party in the loop.
The free online users counter that stays honest. It counts only the visitors active in a live five-minute window: the number rises the moment someone lands and ticks back down five minutes after they leave, so it never parks at an invented figure. Bots are filtered server-side, so you're showing people. Six themes and a micro size small enough to sit inline beside a price or a signup button — which is where a live count actually changes behaviour. Free forever, no signup.
Ghost's whole appeal is speed. Putting a script in Site Header makes the browser deal with it before painting your post; Site Footer runs it after. Our snippet is async either way, so use the Footer box unless the widget must exist before first paint (the heatmap and the speed badge are the only two that benefit).
An HTML card displays the raw code while you're writing and only renders on the published page. That's by design, not a failed paste. Publish (or use the preview link) and check the live URL — and remember post-level code injection doesn't run in preview at all on some versions.
If you paste the snippet into a `.hbs` file, the next theme update or theme switch silently removes it. Code injection is stored in your Ghost settings, not in the theme, so it survives both. On Ghost(Pro) you can't edit theme files directly anyway — Code injection and HTML cards are the whole surface.
No integration to configure. Ghost renders raw HTML and script tags from Code injection and from an HTML card, so there is nothing to install and no third party in the loop. Installing an integration for this would mean an extra dependency, an update cycle and a security surface to render one snippet. Paste it into an HTML card in the editor and you're done.
An HTML card in the editor — because a live count only changes behaviour when it sits in the same line of sight as the price or the button. Open the post or page in the Ghost editor and press Ctrl/Cmd+Enter (or click +) to open the card menu. Choose HTML from the card list. Paste the snippet into the card. The editor shows the raw markup, not the rendered widget. Publish or update, then view the live post to see it render.
No. The script tag is async, so it never blocks your page from rendering, and the widget draws itself after your content is already on screen. Ghost is already the fastest mainstream publishing platform and the point is to keep it that way: the snippet is one async tag, so it never blocks your post from rendering. Site Footer is the right injection slot for script tags — Site Header is for things that must run before paint.
Ghost admin: Settings → Code injection → Site Footer. Ghost editor: insert an HTML card. Post settings: per-post Code injection fields. Self-hosted themes: edit default.hbs above {{ghost_head}}. Any builder with a raw-HTML or code block will render it, because there's nothing framework-specific in the snippet.