diff --git a/src/lib/submissionChangeDetection.ts b/src/lib/submissionChangeDetection.ts
index 00ef3a25..0396a1f2 100644
--- a/src/lib/submissionChangeDetection.ts
+++ b/src/lib/submissionChangeDetection.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,18 @@
 import type { SubmissionItemData } from '@/types/submissions';
+import type { 
+  ParkSubmissionData, 
+  RideSubmissionData, 
+  CompanySubmissionData,
+  RideModelSubmissionData 
+} from '@/types/submission-data';
 import { supabase } from '@/integrations/supabase/client';
 
+type SubmissionDataTypes = 
+  | ParkSubmissionData 
+  | RideSubmissionData 
+  | CompanySubmissionData 
+  | RideModelSubmissionData;
+
 export interface FieldChange {
   field: string;
   oldValue: any;
@@ -411,30 +423,70 @@ function shouldTrackField(key: string): boolean {
     'review_count',
     'coaster_count',
     'average_rating',
+    
+    // Analytics fields (auto-updated by system)
+    'view_count_7d',
+    'view_count_30d',
+    'view_count_all',
   ];
   
   return !excludedFields.includes(key);
 }
 
 /**
- * Deep equality check for values
+ * Normalizes values for consistent comparison
+ * Handles enum-like strings (snake_case) by ensuring lowercase
+ */
+function normalizeForComparison(value: any): any {
+  // Null/undefined pass through
+  if (value == null) return value;
+  
+  // Normalize enum-like strings to lowercase for comparison
+  // Matches patterns like: "operating", "Operating", "amusement_park", "Amusement_Park"
+  if (typeof value === 'string' && /^[a-zA-Z_]+$/.test(value)) {
+    return value.toLowerCase().trim();
+  }
+  
+  // Recursively normalize arrays
+  if (Array.isArray(value)) {
+    return value.map(normalizeForComparison);
+  }
+  
+  // Recursively normalize objects (but not Date objects)
+  if (typeof value === 'object' && !(value instanceof Date)) {
+    const normalized: Record<string, any> = {};
+    for (const [key, val] of Object.entries(value)) {
+      normalized[key] = normalizeForComparison(val);
+    }
+    return normalized;
+  }
+  
+  return value;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Deep equality check for values with normalization
  */
 function isEqual(a: any, b: any): boolean {
-  if (a === b) return true;
-  if (a == null || b == null) return a === b;
-  if (typeof a !== typeof b) return false;
+  // Normalize both values before comparison
+  const normalizedA = normalizeForComparison(a);
+  const normalizedB = normalizeForComparison(b);
   
-  if (typeof a === 'object') {
-    if (Array.isArray(a) && Array.isArray(b)) {
-      if (a.length !== b.length) return false;
-      return a.every((item, i) => isEqual(item, b[i]));
+  if (normalizedA === normalizedB) return true;
+  if (normalizedA == null || normalizedB == null) return normalizedA === normalizedB;
+  if (typeof normalizedA !== typeof normalizedB) return false;
+  
+  if (typeof normalizedA === 'object') {
+    if (Array.isArray(normalizedA) && Array.isArray(normalizedB)) {
+      if (normalizedA.length !== normalizedB.length) return false;
+      return normalizedA.every((item, i) => isEqual(item, normalizedB[i]));
     }
     
-    const keysA = Object.keys(a);
-    const keysB = Object.keys(b);
+    const keysA = Object.keys(normalizedA);
+    const keysB = Object.keys(normalizedB);
     if (keysA.length !== keysB.length) return false;
     
-    return keysA.every(key => isEqual(a[key], b[key]));
+    return keysA.every(key => isEqual(normalizedA[key], normalizedB[key]));
   }
   
   return false;