An approximate and inaccurate pageview counter is better than none.
Currently, we have none, and the only reason I've heard is that the fact
that we use squids makes it impossible to count all pageviews reliably.
Surely it would be useful to have a counter that does not aim to be
precise, but at least give an approximation.
Would it be possible to re-enable the pageview counter and rephrase the
message so that it says something like, "This page was viewed
approximately <x> times."? The <x> is a value calculated from the
non-squid pageview count. Perhaps with an "(explain)" link next to it
that sends the user to a Help page that explains why the counter is
approximate and how the estimate was calculated.
Do we have any statistics that allow us to estimate an approximate
number of pageviews given the number of pageviews that came through to
the servers?
Timwi