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.

Ricardo Gonzalez

WordPress 2.5 introduces a widgetized dashboard featuring the latest comments and WordPress news.
This plugin creates a new widget for that dashboard that lists out the latest comments.
See Also: <a href="https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/dashboard-widget-manager/" rel="ugc">Dashboard Widget Manager</a>
<h3>Credits</h3>
Inspired by <a href="http://www.viper007bond.com/wordpress-plugins/dashboard-latest-spam/" rel="nofollow ugc">Dashboard: Latest Spam</a> by <a href="http://www.viper007bond.com/" rel="nofollow ugc">Viper007Bond</a>

Dashboard: Recent Comments Extended

Widget for the WordPress 2.5+ dashboard to display the latest comments.

Init Recent Comments – Templated, Modern, Minimal vs Dashboard: Recent Comments Extended