Hao Nguyen

Init Recent Comments is a developer-friendly plugin that lets you display the latest comments anywhere via a simple shortcode. It uses clean HTML, minimal CSS, and fully customizable templates.
No widgets, no bloated options. Just lightweight, extendable code — made for real sites.
Key design goals:
<ul>
<li>Templated rendering with override support from themes</li>
<li>Clean CSS you can disable or replace</li>
<li>REST-ready architecture (future-proof)</li>
<li>No jQuery, no nonsense</li>
</ul>
Perfect for blogs, news sites, or anyone who wants a better way to show active discussions.
This plugin is part of the <a href="https://en.inithtml.com/init-plugin-suite-minimalist-powerful-and-free-wordpress-plugins/" rel="nofollow ugc">Init Plugin Suite</a> — a collection of minimalist, fast, and developer-focused tools for WordPress.
GitHub repository: <a href="https://github.com/brokensmile2103/init-recent-comments" rel="nofollow ugc">https://github.com/brokensmile2103/init-recent-comments</a>
<h3>Features</h3>
<ul>
<li>Simple shortcode: <code>[init_recent_comments]</code></li>
<li>Template-based rendering (<code>comment-item.php</code>, <code>wrapper.php</code>)</li>
<li>CSS can be disabled to use your theme’s design</li>
<li>No widgets, no jQuery, no frontend bloat</li>
<li>Developer-ready: extend with filters, REST, and lazy loading (planned)</li>
<li>Translation-ready (<code>.pot</code> included)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Usage</h3>
Use the shortcode anywhere:
<pre><code>[init_recent_comments number="5" maxheight="400px"]
</code></pre>
Attributes:
<ul>
<li><code>number</code> – Total comments to show (default: 5)</li>
<li><code>maxheight</code> – Optional max height with scroll and hidden scrollbar (example: <code>300px</code>)</li>
</ul>
To override templates, create the folder in your theme:
<pre><code>your-theme/
└── init-recent-comments/
 ├── wrapper.php
 └── comment-item.php<h3>Filters for Developers</h3>
</code></pre>
This plugin provides multiple filters to help developers customize caching behavior and performance for recent comments, reviews, and total comment count queries.
<code>init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_ttl</code> 
Control the cache TTL (in seconds) for recent comments. 
Applies to: Recent Comments Query 
Params: <code>int $ttl</code>
<code>init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_query_args</code> 
Allows developers to modify or extend the WP_Comment query arguments before the query runs. 
Applies to: Recent Comments Query 
Params: <code>array $args</code>
<code>init_plugin_suite_recent_reviews_ttl</code> 
Control the cache TTL (in seconds) for recent reviews. 
Applies to: Recent Reviews Query 
Params: <code>int $ttl</code>
<code>init_plugin_suite_total_comments_ttl</code> 
Control the cache TTL (in seconds) for total approved comment counts by post type. 
Applies to: Total Comments Query 
Params: <code>int $ttl</code>, <code>array $post_types</code>
<code>init_plugin_suite_total_by_posts_ttl</code> 
Control the cache TTL (in seconds) for total approved comment counts across multiple post IDs. 
Applies to: Total by Post IDs Query 
Params: <code>int $ttl</code>, <code>array $post_ids</code>
<h3>License</h3>
This plugin is licensed under the GPLv2 or later. 
You are free to use, modify, and distribute it under the same license.

Init Recent Comments – Templated, Modern, Minimal

Display recent comments with customizable templates and clean CSS. Lightweight, flexible, and built for modern WordPress sites.

Khang Minh

This plugin displays recent comment lists at assigned locations. It does not add any significant load to your website. The comment list is updated on the fly when a visitor adds a comment or when you moderate one. No additional queries are needed for end-users.
A recent comment list, in my opinion, can help stimulate discussion and exploration of your blog tremendously. Now for the past few months I have been using a plugin called Get Recent Comments; though this plugin is configurable and indeed popular, the code is somehow messy and no support for custom post type is found. The worst thing is Get Recent Comment doesn’t seem to be updated anymore, so I decide to write another recent comment plugin which is more lightweight and makes use of some nice features provided by WordPress 3.0.
Powerup your recent comment list today!
<ul>
<li>Group comments by post (inspired by the classic Get Recent Comments plugin).</li>
<li>AJAX navigation for any recent comment list you want!</li>
<li>Has the options to show comment only, trackback only, or show both (separately or all together)</li>
<li>Get comments from a specific post, using either ID or post name (slug).</li>
<li>Possibility to add different comment lists with different settings on one page</li>
<li>You can show comments on a separate page, with pagination and custom template!</li>
<li>You can sort comment lists descendingly or ascendingly</li>
<li>Supports custom post type</li>
<li>Supports Gravatar</li>
<li>Supports smiley</li>
<li>Widget-ready</li>
<li>Template functions ready</li>
<li>Generate Zero SQL query for end-users</li>
<li>Possibility to trim post title to a certain number of words.</li>
<li>Possibility to trim comment to a specific number of words</li>
<li>Possibility to split long words into smaller chunks</li>
<li>WordPress Multi-site compatible (not tested with WPMU)</li>
<li>And more…</li>
</ul>
Get in touch
<ul>
<li>I’m available at <a href="http://betterwp.net" rel="nofollow ugc">BetterWP.net</a> and you can also follow me on <a href="http://twitter.com/0dd0ne0ut" rel="nofollow ugc">Twitter</a>.</li>
<li>Check out <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/BetterWPnet" rel="nofollow ugc">latest WordPress Tips and Ideas</a> from BetterWP.net.</li>
</ul>
Languages
<ul>
<li>English (default)</li>
<li>French 1.1.0 (fr_FR) – Thanks to <a href="http://maitremo.fr" rel="nofollow ugc">Ma�tre M�</a>!</li>
<li>Russian 1.1.0 (ru_RU) – Thanks to Konstantin (kg69design)!</li>
<li>Ukrainian 1.1.0 (ua_UA) – Thanks to Konstantin (kg69design)!</li>
<li>Portuguese 1.2.1 (pt_PT) – Thanks to Marcus (http://www.maniadecelular.com.br)!</li>
<li>Spanish 1.2.1 (es_ES) – Thanks to Jordi!</li>
<li>Polish 1.2.1 (pl_PL) – Thanks to Jarek!</li>
</ul>
Please <a href="http://betterwp.net/wordpress-tips/create-pot-file-using-poedit/" rel="nofollow ugc">help translate</a> this plugin!
Visit <a href="http://betterwp.net/wordpress-plugins/bwp-recent-comments/" rel="nofollow ugc">Plugin’s Official Page</a> for more information!

Better WordPress Recent Comments

This plugin displays recent comment lists at assigned locations, with comprehensive support for widgets.

Init Recent Comments – Templated, Modern, Minimal vs Better WordPress Recent Comments