RonR

Displays a list (typically, in your sidebar) of your visitors’ recent comments. 
By default, shows the latest comment from each of the last five commented-on posts.
You control:
<ul>
<li>how many recent comments to display</li>
<li>how many characters of the post title to display</li>
<li>how to style each comment in the list (with open/close tags)</li>
<li>whether to include or omit trackbacks/pingbacks</li>
<li>whether to include or omit comments from the post’s author</li>
<li>a list of users for whom never to display comments (e.g., yourself; or use this to create a blacklist).</li>
</ul>
See “Installation” for easy setup instructions.
<h3>History</h3>
A few months ago, I wanted to display a list of recent comments in my blog’s 
sidebar. After searching through the countless plugins which return lists of 
comments, I finally decided on Scott Reilly’s <a href="http://www.coffee2code.com/archives/2004/07/08/plugin-toprecent-commenters/" rel="nofollow ugc">Top/Recent 
Commenters</a> plug-in.
Unfortunately, I had to tweak Scott’s code to get it to work the way I wanted. 
One tweak led to another (you know how it is) until I finally just scrapped 
the original code and rolled my own. (You can see it in action on my blog’s 
<a href="http://ronrothman.com/public/leftbraned/" rel="nofollow ugc">front page</a>.)
<h3>What It Does</h3>
Adds a single template function:
<pre><code>rr_recent_comments (
 $num_recent_posts = 5,
 $before = '<li>',
 $after = '</li>'
)
</code></pre>
The function <code>rr_recent_comments()</code> returns a list of recent comments.
When invoked with no parameters, it returns a list containing the latest comment from 
each of the most recent 5 posts. Only one comment (the most recent one) per 
post is listed.
By default, any comments made by the author of the post are not 
included in the list. (This behaviour can be configurably modified.) Long 
post titles are truncated to a length which you can configure. Trackbacks and 
pingbacks are not included in the list by default.
You can exlcude certain posters, based on various criteria (author email, 
author name, etc.). This is helpful, for example, to exclude yourself from 
the list.
You can customize your list two ways: tag parameters and global config 
options.
<h4>Parameters</h4>
The function <code>rr_recent_comments()</code> takes three parameters, all of which are optional.
<ol>
<li><code>$num_recent_posts</code> 
The [maximum] number of comments to display. 
Default: 5</li>
<li><code>$before</code> 
The text to display before each comment. 
Default: ‘<li>’</li>
<li><code>$after</code> 
The text to display after each comment. 
Default: ‘</li>’</li>
</ol>
<h4>Configuration Options</h4>
The behaviour of <code>rr_recent_comments()</code> can be customized on a 
global basis by editing some values in the plugin file, <code>rr_recent_comments.php</code>. 
With the possible exception of <code>$max_title_length</code>, 
most installations will probably not need to 
futz with these, but they’re there if you want ’em.
<ul>
<li>
<code>$max_title_length</code> (Default: 38) 
This value represents the longest length that a post title 
may be without it being truncated for display. Titles longer than this will 
be indiscriminately chopped, and an ellipses will be appended to them. Set to 
0 to disable truncation altogether (not recommended).
</li>
<li>
<code>$exclude_authors_comments</code> (Default: true) 
Set to true to exclude an author’s comments from his/her 
own posts. Set to false to include them.
</li>
<li>
<code>$link_to_commenters_websites</code> (Default: true) 
Set to true to hyperlink the comment author’s name to the 
website they enter on your comment form. Set to false to suppress 
hyperlinking.
</li>
<li>
<code>$suppress_trackbacks</code> (Default: true) 
If true, trackbacks and pingbacks are excluded from the 
comment list. Set to false to include them.
</li>
<li>
<code>$identify_authors_by</code> and <code>$excludes_sql_list</code> 
(Default: no exclusions) 
These two fields work in conjunction to allow you to 
specify a list of comments whose comments should never be included in 
the list. (Note that most blog installation will not need to use this 
functionality.) 
First, choose the criterion by which you want to identify the 
excluded comments and set <code>$identify_authors_by</code> to one of:
<ul>
<li><code>'comment_author'</code>,</li>
<li><code>'comment_author_url'</code> or</li>
<li><code>'comment_author_email'</code>. 
Then add the excluded commenters to the list <code>$excludes_sql_list</code>; 
be careful to follow the correct format, which is: <code>('COMMENTER_1', 'COMMENTER_2', ..., 'COMMENTER_N')</code>. 
You must specify the COMMENTERs in a way that matches the value of <code>$identify_authors_by</code>. I.e., if <code>$identify_authors_by</code> 
is <code>'comment_author_email'</code>, then the COMMENTERs in <code>$excludes_sql_list</code> must all be email addresses.</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Revision History</h3>
0.1 (May 1, 2005): Initial revision.
0.2 (October 30, 2005): Rewrite and add new features.
0.3 (November 11, 2005): Clean up for publication.
0.4 (?)
0.5 (April 4, 2007): Add <code>$link_to_commenters_websites</code> option.

Recent Love – A List of Recent Comments

Displays a list of recent comments.  Several configuration options exist.

darrinb

This recent comments widget provides advanced widget features for displaying comment author avatars and an excerpt of their comment.
Features
<ul>
<li>Select which post types to show comments for. (You can choose either all types, or a specific type.)</li>
<li>Exclude pingbacks and trackbacks.</li>
<li>Set the number of comments to show.</li>
<li>Set the order for displaying the comments.</li>
<li>Show comment author avatar.</li>
<li>Set and preview avatar size.</li>
<li>Show an excerpt of the comment.</li>
<li>Determine the length of the excerpt.</li>
<li>Select the comment list format to match your site’s markup. Choose from: <code>ol</code>, <code>ul</code>, or <code>div</code>.</li>
<li>Select the comment format. Choose between <code>html5</code> or <code>xhtml</code>.</li>
<li>Create multiple comment lists with different settings.</li>
</ul>
Developer Features
This widget was built not only with end-users in mind, but also plugin developers. Almost every aspect of this widget is extensible through filters and action hooks. You can even add your own form fields to the widget form!
<ul>
<li>Need to remove a field from the widget form? Not a problem! Every field is passed through its own filter for easy customization.</li>
<li>Need to modify the output of the widget? Easy! The output is passed through numerous filters, allowing you to customize the comment list to meet your project’s requirements.</li>
<li>For a full list of action hooks and filters, please see the plugin documentation: http://darrinb.com/plugins/advanced-comments-widget</li>
</ul>

Advanced Comments Widget

A highly customizable recent comments widget with avatars and excerpts.

Recent Love – A List of Recent Comments vs Advanced Comments Widget