The purpose of this plugin is simple. I want to list recents update of my posts. Similiar to default “Recent Posts Widget” by WordPress, but this one sort the post by last modified time and enable to add a short note about change or update being made.
For example, I maintaince a wordpress plugin (we name it, “Hollydolly Plugin”) and create a post about it on my blog. And because the nature of blog—when new posts are added the older ones are taken down automatically—it’s only a matter of time that post ‘disappeared’ from frontpage and no longer seen by visitor. So, when I release a new version of “Hollydolly Plugin” and updated the old post about it, unfortunately, there is no way I can do to ‘attract’ visitor to read (again) that post.
Right, in the new version of WordPress (since version 2.7) there is an option to make it as sticky post—make it listed on the top of frontpage. But that not my choice. I want to list it on my sidebar and displayed all over my blog. So I create this plugin for that purpose.

Plugin Name: Highlight Post Widget

A widget for displaying highlighted post on your sidebar and displayed your recent update post.

i.lychkov

Highlight unread posts on your blog.
Key features:
<ul>
<li>Works right out of the box</li>
<li>Uses cookies, no authorization required</li>
<li>4 different types of markers for highlighting posts (a “new” text label, 
an orange circle, etc.)</li>
<li>Customizable background color for unread post titles</li>
</ul>
There’s a setting to determine when a post should be considered read. You can pick one of the following:
<ul>
<li>after it was opened</li>
<li>after it was displayed in the post list</li>
<li>after opening any page of the blog</li>
</ul>
Functions available for theme developers:
<ul>
<li>mnp_is_new_post($post) – check if a post is unread</li>
<li>mnp_new_posts_count($query) – get unread posts count</li>
</ul>

Plugin Name: Highlight Post Widget vs Mark New Posts