[#47218] - [5.4] mod_tags_popular: Fix duplicate article count caused by many-to-many …
- Fixed in Code Base
- 5 Mar 2026
- Medium
- Build: 5.4-dev
- # 47218
- Diff
- adarshdubey03:fix/mod-tags-popular-distinct-count-5.4
User tests: Successful: Unsuccessful:
Pull Request resolves #46751.
- I read the Generative AI policy and my contribution is either not created with the help of AI or is compatible with the policy and GNU/GPL 2 or later.
Summary of Changes
Fixes incorrect article counts in the Tags – Popular module when a content item is assigned multiple tags.
The module previously used COUNT(*), which resulted in inflated counts due to row multiplication in the many-to-many join between #__contentitem_tag_map and #__ucm_content.
This change replaces:
COUNT(*)
with:
COUNT(DISTINCT m.core_content_id)
to ensure unique content items are counted per tag.
Testing Instructions
- Create two tags (e.g., Tag1 and Tag2).
- Create Article 1 and assign both Tag1 and Tag2.
- Create Article 2 and assign Tag1.
- Create Article 3 and assign Tag1.
- Enable the Tags – Popular module with "Display Number of Items" enabled.
Actual result BEFORE applying this Pull Request
Tag1 → 4
Tag2 → 2
Counts are inflated when an article has multiple tags.
Expected result AFTER applying this Pull Request
Tag1 → 3
Tag2 → 1
Each tag correctly reflects the number of unique associated content items.
Additional Notes
- core_content_id is defined as NOT NULL, making DISTINCT aggregation safe.
- No schema changes.
- No API changes.
- Minimal modification (single-line change).
- Verified with cache cleared and debug disabled.
Link to documentations
- No documentation changes for guide.joomla.org needed
- No documentation changes for manual.joomla.org needed
| Status | New | ⇒ | Pending |
joomla-cms-bot
- | Category | ⇒ | Modules Front End |
Hi @richard67,
I have verified the change on PostgreSQL 16 locally in addition to MySQL/MariaDB.
To confirm the behavior, I reproduced a duplicate row scenario at the database level by simulating multiple mappings for the same core_content_id. As expected:
COUNT(*) resulted in inflated counts when duplicate mappings were present.
COUNT(DISTINCT core_content_id) correctly returned the number of unique content items per tag.
PostgreSQL fully supports COUNT(DISTINCT ...) under ANSI SQL semantics, and the behavior matches MySQL/MariaDB in this context.
The fix therefore works correctly across both supported database engines.
I have tested this item ✅ successfully on 6b3d62e
postgresql 15.15
This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/47218.
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I have tested this item ✅ successfully on 6b3d62e
This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/47218.
| Status | Pending | ⇒ | Ready to Commit |
| Labels |
Added:
bug
PR-5.4-dev
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RTC
This comment was created with the J!Tracker Application at issues.joomla.org/tracker/joomla-cms/47218.
| Labels |
Added:
RTC
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✅ Final test before merge using JBT
- Three times, for MariaDB 10.6.25, MySQL 8.1 and PostgreSQL 15.16:
- Before PR problem seen; Note: Creating the tags and articles straight forward does not cause the counting problem for me, there was always one more change needed in assiging second tag to third article aftwards, then both counters are wrong
- Applied PR with Patch Tester and both counters are correct now
- Numbers are still correct if more articles are installed from 'Blog Sample Data'
| Status | Ready to Commit | ⇒ | Fixed in Code Base |
| Closed_Date | 0000-00-00 00:00:00 | ⇒ | 2026-03-05 08:00:33 |
| Closed_By | ⇒ | muhme |
Thank you @adarshdubey03 for your first time contribution. Thanky you @alikon and @brianteeman for testing.
Thank you for the review and merge!
I appreciate the testing and feedback from everyone involved.
Happy to contribute and looking forward to helping with more fixes and improvements.
@adarshdubey03 Have you verified that this works not only for MySQL (or MariaDB) but also for PostgreSQL?