Recent Comments Widget with Comment Excerpts
by Corey Salzano · Uncategorized
Also makes 10 other plugins · 7.2K+ installs across the portfolio →
Changes the behavior of the built-in Recent Comments widget to display comment excerpts instead of post titles
Try it live opens a temporary test site in your browser, which can take about 20 seconds to load. Plugins that rely on outside services or a full server may not work completely there.
Health
B 83/100
Few reviews
Active installs
100+
≈150 estimated
Momentum
+53%
downloads vs prior 30d
Biggest opportunity: Rating quality scores 58/100. Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
83 health vs 58 average across 25,753 Uncategorized plugins
Install conversion
How it's measured →0.7%
of downloads still active
At least 100 of 15.2K lifetime downloads are still running, in line with its category: the median Uncategorized plugin keeps 0.6%, across 17,772 plugins.
Downloads count every update, not just first installs, so older and more frequently released plugins read lower. Compare against other Uncategorized plugins, not across the directory. wp.org reports active installs as the bottom of a band, so the real rate is this or higher.
This plugin shipped 1 release in the last 12 months, and every existing install that updated counted as another download. wp.org publishes no split between first installs and updates, so we show the raw rate rather than guess at one.
Details
Directory ranking optimization
How it's scored →How well this listing is tuned to rank in WordPress.org search, on the factors an owner controls. Not popularity, optimization.
Excellent listing optimization
Most to gain: Rating quality
Updated 128 days ago
Tested up to WordPress 7.0.8, the current branch or newer
4.5★ over 6 reviews, smoothed to 4.14★ and held back under 25 reviews
5 of 5 tags set · short description in place
To rank higher: Too few reviews to rank on quality — nudge happy users to leave one.
Get the full rank-higher report →Search visibility
How it's tracked →Directory searches this plugin turns up in, and which way each one is moving. WordPress.org publishes no history of search positions, so this starts the day we first tracked a keyword and never backfills.
38
Momentum
Losing ground
-0.3
Velocity
places per keyword, 28d
19%
Breadth
of keywords climbing, 28d
-0.1
Acceleration
recent half vs earlier
wp.org is where the directory puts the plugin for that search. On merit is where it would sit if results were ranked on rating, support and updates, without the install boost. The last column is how far the wp.org position moved, from our first reading in the last 90 days to the latest.
| Keyword | wp.org | On merit | wp.org move, 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| comment excerpts your tag | #2 | #10 | down 1 |
| recent comment excerpts your tag | #2 | #8 | 0 |
| recent comments widget | #4 | #12 | 0 |
| excerpts | #4 | #14 | 0 |
| newest comments your tag | #4 | #14 | — |
| recent comments your tag | #4 | #9 | 0 |
| recent | #6 | #13 | 0 |
| display recent comments | #3 | #10 | up 1 |
| latest comments your tag | #9 | #18 | down 1 |
| comments widget | #10 | #18 | 0 |
| recent comments widgets | #4 | #13 | 0 |
| excerpt | #12 | #21 | down 3 |
| comment widget | #10 | #21 | 0 |
| recent comments wordpress | #11 | #22 | — |
| wordpress recent comments | #11 | #22 | 0 |
| recent post widget | #23 | #22 | 0 |
| recent posts widget | #23 | #22 | up 1 |
| recent page | #24 | #21 | 0 |
30 searches this plugin appeared in over the last 90 days, 18 listed. 12 left out as unrelated or noise (years, numbers, stray words).
What to do about it
- Your five tags are all earning their place. Each gets you onto page 1 of its own search, so none is worth giving up. “excerpts”, “comments widget” and “excerpt” (#4, #10 and #12 untagged) would be the next worth testing if a slot frees up.
Daily downloads
Since 5 Oct 2022 · 1,488 days · wp.org + Plugin Pulse archive
30-day downloads
Rolling 30-day volume · peak 154 · peaks are release surges
Directory rank
Ranked about #13,300 to #16,400, alongside the other plugins at 100+ installs. Plugins with the same install count swap places between wp.org requests, so this is where most of them sit. Checked monthly, last on 1 Nov 2026.
Health trend
Composite health score, snapshotted daily
Update activity
How busy the existing users are, measured as downloads in the last 30 days for every 1,000 active sites. A spike means a new release everyone's pulling; a long, slow decline means an aging user base that updates less.
Release cadence
Occasionally updatedHow often this plugin actually ships. A steady rhythm is the maintenance signal a single "last updated" date can't show.
1
releases in the last 12 months
4mo ago
latest release · v1.0.2 · 26 Jun 2026
6
tagged releases on record
Recent releases
What its installed base runs
via wordpress.orgShare of active installs on each version of this plugin · 62% run the current release. Green is the current release; a big slice on older versions is a user base that has stopped updating.
Estimated active installs
The public count shows “100+”. Our estimate pins where the real number sits.
Crossed into this band 13 months ago; a band this size takes about a year or more to cross, which places it about 50% of the way through.
Install history since 2 Mar 2018
Recent reviews
All reviews on wp.org ↗- ★★★★★ mattcass10.7y ago
well coded, easy to customize. thanks!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Olesya-Sandra12.0y ago
I looked for exactly such plugin. I’m happy to find it!!! I have edited it a little to get html-layout which I need. And I think: am I need to get a comment date also? Now I don’t know yet which code I must write for this purpose. And I like this plugin, it works with WP 3.9.1!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ samuel_2912.8y ago
does the job. but lacks of admin panel, to configure the following: – the excerpt’s length – the translations (ie. JohnSmith said: blahblah) I needed to edit the plugin code to achive this.
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Stefan Brechbuehl13.7y ago
Looks much better than the title
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ Anonymous13.7y ago
Just a quick thanks for this handy upgrade to the recent comments widget. Much obliged!
Read on wp.org ↗ - ★★★★★ cwinkler7813.9y ago
The comment excerpt and user info were exactly what I was looking for and it took into account my themeing. Perfect.
Read on wp.org ↗
Behavioral tests
via WP HiveAutomated install-time checks, tested on PHP 8.1.12 · WP 7.0
AI assistants
How it's measured →Whether ChatGPT and Claude name this plugin when asked the category question, and whether the readme gives them something to quote.
Not measured yet for this plugin’s topics. Its tracked searches are not among the measured topics. See the topics measured so far.
Readme readiness
2 of 8 pass · checked 28 Oct 2026Can an assistant quote this readme? Eight deterministic checks over the wp.org listing, no model involved.
- ✓ Says what it does "Changes the behavior of the built-in Recent Comments widget to display comment excerpts instead of post titles"
- ! Has a FAQ Only 1 question in the FAQ; 3 or more gives an assistant something to match.
- ! FAQ asks real questions 0 of 1 FAQ entries are headings, not questions ("undefined").
- ! Names who it is for Never says who the plugin is for or what they use it for.
- ✓ Names what it works with Mentions Twitter.
- ! Headings and lists 0 headings and 0 lists; assistants quote headed sections and bullet lists, not paragraphs.
- ! Enough to quote 398 characters of description; under 1,000 there is little to quote.
- ! Tags match the text Only 2 of 5 tags appear in the text ("latest comments", "newest comments", "recent comment excerpts" missing).
Growth timeline
Install-tier crossings we have observed, and how long each tier took to outgrow
- 2025-10-04 200+ → 100+ down after 7 days in tier
- 2025-09-27 100+ → 200+ up after 23 days in tier
- 2025-09-04 200+ → 100+ down after 3 days in tier
- 2025-09-01 100+ → 200+ up after 90 days in tier
- 2025-06-03 200+ → 100+ down after 22 days in tier
- 2025-05-12 100+ → 200+ up after 3 days in tier
- 2025-05-09 200+ → 100+ down after 560 days in tier
- 2023-10-27 300+ → 200+ down after 1 days in tier
Competes with
The plugins that solve the same job, ranked by shared tags then reach, closest match first. The letter on the right is each plugin's health grade (A best, F worst).
- R Recent Comments Widget with Excerpts 40+ installs · 3.6★ · 3 shared tags
- N news ticker benaceur 1K+ installs · 4.6★ · 1 shared tag B
- B Better WordPress Recent Comments 500+ installs · 4.3★ · 1 shared tag D
- C Customized Recent Comments 100+ installs · 3.6★ · 1 shared tag
- P Polygon Recent Comments With Avatar 100+ installs · 4.2★ · 1 shared tag D
-
Advanced Comments Widget 60+ installs · 4.1★ · 1 shared tag D
Embed this report card
Drop a live Pulse card for Recent Comments Widget with Comment Excerpts into a readme, a review or a deck. It updates itself.
<iframe src="https://plugins.wpmayor.com/embed/recent-comments-widget-with-comment-excerpts" width="480" height="300" style="border:0" loading="lazy" title="Recent Comments Widget with Comment Excerpts — Plugin Pulse"></iframe> Recent Comments Widget with Comment Excerpts: 100+ active installs, 4.5★ (6 reviews). Plugin Pulse (WP Mayor), as of 2026-11-01. https://plugins.wpmayor.com/plugin/recent-comments-widget-with-comment-excerpts
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