Thank you so much for listening and making those adjustments! The traffic bar chart is incredibly helpful for tracking when people are "tuning in" since it's updated regularly throughout the day.
Having that follower count back is amazing, too! It's a great number to have.
If you're still taking feedback, I know my ADHD brain loves the upward trend, line graph on the app for subscribers. Can you add the followers, too? There's just something about seeing a steady incline that boosts the confidence (and dopamine). Thanks!
The wave graph is fine on the desktop for tracking trends but the line graph one is easier, visually, to read. If there could be an option for both...?
My inbox gets overwhelmed with subscribed emails, so I tend to follow so that I can see people in my feed without getting bogged down. I'm sure others do likewise.
So, seeing the follower counts/trends is really important too.
Just a little note to say thank-you, I really appreciate the time the team took to bring this back for us, now i have to say all the changes look incredible.
Except the new paid sub badge, jury is still out on that, makes me feel like I'm peeking in other peoples hand bags, and my bank account now feels guilty.
Why would the designers believe that taking the daily traffic and views bar chart away would improve the product? Please, BRING IT BACK as a feature on the menu.
It helps you understand how you are acquiring new subscribers. For instance, click Growth Sources, then New Subscribers on the tab and then you can see which sources are leading to your new subscribers. For instance, it gives you a list of which Notes lead to people subscribing to your Substack. This is very helpful info.
That’s great, are you going to add a film and television category to the system? So people who write in that category can get better awareness for SEO?
It would cover gardening but allow for all different kinds.
Right now film and television people are basically limited to the category of “culture” which is too broad. There could be gardening culture mixed in with film culture. We at least deserve to separate ourselves from “culture”.
Indeed, especially since film and television not only reflect culture but can either critically comment on or obscure it (as you and I appear to argue in different ways).
It’s something that a lot of Substack writers in this area have wanted. As one myself, I really want it. Been asking for 4 years now and apparently other people have been asking longer.
Hey where'd my total subscribers/followers chart go (not just subscribers, but followers too)? Please add that back to the home page Overview chart -- thank you!!!
I think he's talking about the list of followers on your profile? If you click on the '# subscribers" link underneath your bio it will take you to a list of all your subscribers and then there is a "followers" tab, but all this does is give you a list of your followers. Not an easily digestible number. If that's the case, it's pretty disappointing.
The only way I've been able to get a count is to copy the entire list, paste it into a spreadsheet, and then see how many are there. Not sophisticated, but you will get your overall follower count. I hope they bring this back and is not an indication that they plan on doing away with followers. I think followers are valuable!
That’s so counterproductive, and won’t show increase over time unless you save those numbers every day to do your own calculations… and if that’s what we’re doing, why have a stats dashboard?
That was my question too! I loved the bar charts and hate the new wave thing that doesn't even go back more than 90 days. The additions are fine, but I need those old things, too.
As someone with ADHD (and probably AuDHD) I used the traffic bar charts religiously to see what was working and what wasn’t… that wave thing, even if it had the same info (follower numbers over time, etc) it’s still harder to read than the bar chart.
Cool update, Matt, growth charts and shareables are nice, but can we talk about the fact you quietly axed follower counts and 30-day view stats?
Those numbers actually helped us track reach and feel connected to the bigger picture. Now I’m hoarding old screenshots like a raccoon because the new dashboard won’t show me what I used to see. Also I'm talking about the actual numbers, not the follower list.
If the goal is helping us “understand our audience better,” please bring those back too. Otherwise it feels a bit like you gave us shiny new stickers while taking away the biscuits. 🍪
So.... It appears I'm not alone in the desire to have the old bar chart (not the weird wave) for the traffic stats that includes subs and followers so that we can see growth over time where we have historical data from the very beginning. I need to be able to track what is working and what isn't. It's "real time" data and I used it several times a day.
Keep the other new stuff, fine... but please bring that back.
OMG, what did you do to the traffic stat? Yesterday's post had over 1,000 opens, but traffic now shows me 49. What does 49 even mean? Where is the traffic number that we had before? The breakdown is supposedly by category but where is the complete number? I swear it sometimes feels like engineers sit around and try to figure out how to make using Substack harder for writers.
The new Growth Sources chart is different from the old traffic stat, so the numbers won’t look the same.
The “traffic” number you’re seeing now reflects visitors (people who came to your publication), not email opens. That’s why it looks much smaller than the open count from your post.
You can still see your post-level email opens in the Stats tab under each individual post. The goal of the new chart is to give a clearer picture of where your growth is coming from over time (e.g. Notes, Recommendations, external sources like Instagram or Google), rather than mixing it with email engagement.
All of your stats are still available — they’ve just been reorganized so that opens and email performance live with post stats, while Growth Sources focuses on discovery and subscriber growth.
The Growth Sources chart supports preset ranges (7, 30, 90 days). This is designed to help you spot meaningful patterns and trends, rather than day-to-day noise, which can fluctuate a lot. For same-day subscriber changes, you’ll still see your real-time totals on your Home dashboard.
What do these numbers even mean? For Sep 11 I posted an article that had over 1,000 views. If I look at the new 'growth' chart it shows 49. What does 49 even mean? how can I tell how many view my page had beyond that single post? For example if i had 1,000 views on the post but traffic showed 1400 views then i know other articles were being viewed. This tells me nothing.
Ok, first of all, 8.6% paid to free conversion in that graph is wild.
Secondly, this is great. Long needed as a tool to see if any of the crap we're doing on other platforms to drive traffic to our substacks is yielding subscriptions.
Third, the new sharing assets on the app are great; thank you for adding those. I've only recently been using them on Insta stories and they've converted to some paid subs.
Thanks for all the feedback you’ve shared here. Based on what we heard from many of you, we’ve made a couple of updates:
- Followers: total follower count is still available in your Stats → Audience section, where you’ll see “Total followers” listed at the top.
- Traffic Tab: You can also check Stats → Traffic for an overview of total views across your Substack.
We really appreciate you taking the time to share what’s important — it helps us make the dashboard more useful for everyone.
Thank you so much for listening and making those adjustments! The traffic bar chart is incredibly helpful for tracking when people are "tuning in" since it's updated regularly throughout the day.
Having that follower count back is amazing, too! It's a great number to have.
If you're still taking feedback, I know my ADHD brain loves the upward trend, line graph on the app for subscribers. Can you add the followers, too? There's just something about seeing a steady incline that boosts the confidence (and dopamine). Thanks!
The wave graph is fine on the desktop for tracking trends but the line graph one is easier, visually, to read. If there could be an option for both...?
I second this.
My inbox gets overwhelmed with subscribed emails, so I tend to follow so that I can see people in my feed without getting bogged down. I'm sure others do likewise.
So, seeing the follower counts/trends is really important too.
I do that too. I like that I can get that number now, but not that I don’t have a line graph to track the growth history.
Just a little note to say thank-you, I really appreciate the time the team took to bring this back for us, now i have to say all the changes look incredible.
Except the new paid sub badge, jury is still out on that, makes me feel like I'm peeking in other peoples hand bags, and my bank account now feels guilty.
The Growth Sources will definitely help us with attribution, but please bring back the daily traffic and views.
Right?! Where did they go? That was what i used all the time.
Same. They replied to my comment below saying this change was on purpose.
An update should never remove functionality. It would be nice if they actually got feedback before they make these "improvements"
It's on purpose?! Whaaaa... Omg. It's a crucial stat, this is insane.
IKR?! Maybe test it with users first. What a concept.
It seems you can still access it by adding /publish/stats/traffic to the end of your substack url
Thanks, Mack. What a crazy hoop to have to jump through to get what we need from an 'improvement.'
Why would the designers believe that taking the daily traffic and views bar chart away would improve the product? Please, BRING IT BACK as a feature on the menu.
Thank you! I was going crazy looking for it!
genuinely curious. how do you use it?
It helps you understand how you are acquiring new subscribers. For instance, click Growth Sources, then New Subscribers on the tab and then you can see which sources are leading to your new subscribers. For instance, it gives you a list of which Notes lead to people subscribing to your Substack. This is very helpful info.
NEVER checked or knew this. thank you!!!
It was just launched like an hour ago, you haven’t missed anything :)
https://s203.q4cdn.com/367071867/files/doc_downloads/2025/07/Apple-Supply-Chain-2025-Progress-Report.pdf
That’s great, are you going to add a film and television category to the system? So people who write in that category can get better awareness for SEO?
A garden category would be great too
Or perhaps agriculture? Home renovations?
Yes, those are great as well.
It would cover gardening but allow for all different kinds.
Right now film and television people are basically limited to the category of “culture” which is too broad. There could be gardening culture mixed in with film culture. We at least deserve to separate ourselves from “culture”.
Indeed, especially since film and television not only reflect culture but can either critically comment on or obscure it (as you and I appear to argue in different ways).
And Substack talks about how they’re building culture but don’t distinguish between types of culture.
Yes! Gardening.
Also would like that because that's the category I write in!
It’s something that a lot of Substack writers in this area have wanted. As one myself, I really want it. Been asking for 4 years now and apparently other people have been asking longer.
oops I made a form for all film writers to connect with each other since substack won’t list us as a category. you can fill it out here.
https://forms.gle/STceQ3C316FMJrFP6 looking forward to seeing other folks and starting to connect with them. :)
I will definitely put my info in that when I have a chance. Although I would hope that Substack fixes things by adding a category for us.
As a film critic, I'd very much appreciate that. Thank you for bringing it up.
We in the community should make a point of bringing it up at every opportunity. Like these posts their official accounts are making.
Terror like werewolf and vampires
In what way?
This is really good development.
What is?
Hey where'd my total subscribers/followers chart go (not just subscribers, but followers too)? Please add that back to the home page Overview chart -- thank you!!!
The new Overview highlights paying and free subscribers. Follower counts are still available anytime on your Substack profile.
The old format was very easy because it combined the two. Where is the Substack profile that you are referring to that has the follower counts?
I think he's talking about the list of followers on your profile? If you click on the '# subscribers" link underneath your bio it will take you to a list of all your subscribers and then there is a "followers" tab, but all this does is give you a list of your followers. Not an easily digestible number. If that's the case, it's pretty disappointing.
Yep... I need the numbers and want to see the growth over time. I'm spinning out a little
The only way I've been able to get a count is to copy the entire list, paste it into a spreadsheet, and then see how many are there. Not sophisticated, but you will get your overall follower count. I hope they bring this back and is not an indication that they plan on doing away with followers. I think followers are valuable!
That’s so counterproductive, and won’t show increase over time unless you save those numbers every day to do your own calculations… and if that’s what we’re doing, why have a stats dashboard?
Thanks for the idea, though.
Very disappointed that Substack dropped this without warning and make it so much harder to track followers.
Matt, I'm not seeing Follower counts. Where exactly do you see them?
Yes, I'm missing that too.
Same
That was my question too! I loved the bar charts and hate the new wave thing that doesn't even go back more than 90 days. The additions are fine, but I need those old things, too.
Agree and it wouldn't be hard to add it in the new format :)
As someone with ADHD (and probably AuDHD) I used the traffic bar charts religiously to see what was working and what wasn’t… that wave thing, even if it had the same info (follower numbers over time, etc) it’s still harder to read than the bar chart.
Very hard to read and don't need all the layers.
Yes! Please bring back an easy way to see the combined subscriber/follower count!
Agree. Substack pulled a fast one and stopped reporting followers without warning. Not cool.
It sucks that Substack removed them without warning or explanation.
Cool update, Matt, growth charts and shareables are nice, but can we talk about the fact you quietly axed follower counts and 30-day view stats?
Those numbers actually helped us track reach and feel connected to the bigger picture. Now I’m hoarding old screenshots like a raccoon because the new dashboard won’t show me what I used to see. Also I'm talking about the actual numbers, not the follower list.
If the goal is helping us “understand our audience better,” please bring those back too. Otherwise it feels a bit like you gave us shiny new stickers while taking away the biscuits. 🍪
Totally agree, MindFullOfIt, substack pulled a fast one and that ain't cool. Bring back Follower counts.
It’s been two days and i am still not over this! 🤣
What I would really like to see is a breakdown of traffic by article. I want more information about what articles are bringing visitors.
Yessssss
That would be awesome
What happened to the daily "Traffic" bar chart that used to be a menu item under "Stats"? That was so useful and simple to view.
The new and supposedly improved version of the fever chart is NOT an upgrade.
Can Substack please include the day-by-day views count, too, because this wasn't broken and there was no need to fix it.
So.... It appears I'm not alone in the desire to have the old bar chart (not the weird wave) for the traffic stats that includes subs and followers so that we can see growth over time where we have historical data from the very beginning. I need to be able to track what is working and what isn't. It's "real time" data and I used it several times a day.
Keep the other new stuff, fine... but please bring that back.
Yes, please bring back Follower counts. Very disappointing that they removed it without warning.
Wonderful changes - please let me know if I may be of further help. Thank you Substack!
OMG, what did you do to the traffic stat? Yesterday's post had over 1,000 opens, but traffic now shows me 49. What does 49 even mean? Where is the traffic number that we had before? The breakdown is supposedly by category but where is the complete number? I swear it sometimes feels like engineers sit around and try to figure out how to make using Substack harder for writers.
The new Growth Sources chart is different from the old traffic stat, so the numbers won’t look the same.
The “traffic” number you’re seeing now reflects visitors (people who came to your publication), not email opens. That’s why it looks much smaller than the open count from your post.
You can still see your post-level email opens in the Stats tab under each individual post. The goal of the new chart is to give a clearer picture of where your growth is coming from over time (e.g. Notes, Recommendations, external sources like Instagram or Google), rather than mixing it with email engagement.
All of your stats are still available — they’ve just been reorganized so that opens and email performance live with post stats, while Growth Sources focuses on discovery and subscriber growth.
No, not all of the stats are available, you actively removed functionality and the "new" stuff is shiny but not particularly useful
Not as useful for me!
Can you tell me where they are and how I can access them?
Open your dashboard, click 'Stats' on the left, then select the 'Email' tab at the top to see your email metrics.
No, I'm looking for the traffic metrics bar chart.
It seems like email and follower stats are gone. I really liked that traffic bar chart.
I like the changes but miss some parts of the dashboard where I could see everything at once.
I want to see followers too
Me too. Very disappointed they deleted them without warning.
My stats were bad before but with the help of these new analytical tools, I can drill down into a whole new detailed level of bad.
I love the shared assets 👌🏾use them always
How do I see today's traffic breakdown? It seems to be gone? There is only an option for last 7 days.
The Growth Sources chart supports preset ranges (7, 30, 90 days). This is designed to help you spot meaningful patterns and trends, rather than day-to-day noise, which can fluctuate a lot. For same-day subscriber changes, you’ll still see your real-time totals on your Home dashboard.
I'm not looking for subscribers. I want to be able to look at traffic. Please bring back the original interface where I can select the days.
What do these numbers even mean? For Sep 11 I posted an article that had over 1,000 views. If I look at the new 'growth' chart it shows 49. What does 49 even mean? how can I tell how many view my page had beyond that single post? For example if i had 1,000 views on the post but traffic showed 1400 views then i know other articles were being viewed. This tells me nothing.
differentiating vanity metrics from what actually matters. every analyst's dream. 👏🏼
Ok, first of all, 8.6% paid to free conversion in that graph is wild.
Secondly, this is great. Long needed as a tool to see if any of the crap we're doing on other platforms to drive traffic to our substacks is yielding subscriptions.
Third, the new sharing assets on the app are great; thank you for adding those. I've only recently been using them on Insta stories and they've converted to some paid subs.
this is huge!! great update
What do you like about it?