Implement ride count fields with real-time annotations; update filters and templates for consistency and accuracy

memory-bank/decisions/park_count_fields.md

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+# Park Count Fields Implementation
+
+## Context
+While implementing park views, we encountered errors where `ride_count` and `coaster_count` annotations conflicted with existing model fields of the same names. Additionally, we discovered inconsistencies in how these counts were being used across different views.
+
+## Decision
+We decided to use both approaches but with distinct names:
+
+1. **Model Fields**: 
+   - `ride_count`: Stored count of all rides
+   - `coaster_count`: Stored count of roller coasters
+   - Used in models and database schema
+   - Required for backward compatibility
+
+2. **Annotations**:
+   - `current_ride_count`: Real-time count of all rides
+   - `current_coaster_count`: Real-time count of roller coasters
+   - Provide accurate, up-to-date counts
+   - Used in templates and filters
+
+This approach allows us to:
+- Maintain existing database schema
+- Show accurate, real-time counts in the UI
+- Avoid name conflicts between fields and annotations
+- Keep consistent naming pattern for both types of counts
+
+## Implementation
+1. Views:
+   - Added base queryset method with annotations
+   - Used 'current_' prefix for annotated counts
+   - Ensured all views use the base queryset
+
+2. Filters:
+   - Updated filter fields to use annotated counts
+   - Configured filter class to always use base queryset
+   - Maintained filter functionality with new field names
+
+3. Templates:
+   - Updated templates to use computed counts
+
+## Why This Pattern
+1. **Consistency**: Using the 'current_' prefix clearly indicates which values are computed in real-time
+2. **Compatibility**: Maintains support for existing code that relies on the stored fields
+3. **Flexibility**: Allows gradual migration from stored to computed counts if desired
+4. **Performance Option**: Keeps the option to use stored counts for expensive queries
+
+## Future Considerations
+We might want to:
+1. Add periodic tasks to sync stored counts with computed values
+2. Consider deprecating stored fields if they're not needed for performance
+3. Add validation to ensure stored counts stay in sync with reality
+4. Create a management command to update stored counts
+
+## Related Files
+- parks/models.py
+- parks/views.py
+- parks/filters.py
+- parks/templates/parks/partials/park_list_item.html
+- parks/tests/test_filters.py