Order documents by most popular in sharepoint content query webpart

Question

I'd like to order a set of webpages showing inside a content query webpart by 'most viewed' I know sharepoint keeps track of such things but I don't know how to expose this list to the content query web part - can anyone point me in the right direction?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

It is true that SharePoint can log user visits to the usage log on disk and the audit log in the content database. But there is no API for issuing report building queries against the data like a query for most viewed pages. You will need to develop or buy:

1. Develop: You could turn on the audit log for your site collection(s) and develop a batch job that on a scheduled basis scans it for new entries and updates a custom list holding the most viewed pages. See Reading Entries from the Audit Log in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 for more information on working with the audit log.

2. Buy: For a more flexible reporting solution and to avoid development, you could take a look at some third-party reporting solutions for SharePoint like Nintex, Cardiolog or MAPIlab.