Init Recent Comments – Templated, Modern, Minimal

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:

• Templated rendering with override support from themes
• Clean CSS you can disable or replace
• REST-ready architecture (future-proof)
• No jQuery, no nonsense

Perfect for blogs, news sites, or anyone who wants a better way to show active discussions. This plugin is part of the Init Plugin Suite — a collection of minimalist, fast, and developer-focused tools for WordPress. GitHub repository: https://github.com/brokensmile2103/init-recent-comments

1.4 – November 5, 2025

• Introduced new user-specific shortcodes:
• [init_plugin_suite_user_recent_comments] — display recent comments made by a specific user
• [init_plugin_suite_user_recent_reviews] — display recent reviews made by a specific user
• Backward-compat maintained: [init_user_recent_comments] and [init_user_recent_reviews]
• Both shortcodes reuse existing template system (wrapper.php / review-wrapper.php), ensuring UI consistency
• Fully supports pagination, theme mode, max height, and query argument overriding through filters
• Added new helpers for fetching user data:
• init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_get_user_comments()
• init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_get_user_reviews()
• Implemented separate cache groups for user comments & user reviews
• TTL fully customizable via filters (init_plugin_suite_user_recent_comments_ttl, init_plugin_suite_user_recent_reviews_ttl)
• Updated review item template:
• Display reviewer name and avatar resolved from user_id instead of relying on non-existing author_name
• Fallback support for anonymous reviewers
• Internal improvements and cleanup for code reliability and maintainability

1.3 – November 4, 2025

• Added new filter init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_query_args allows developers to modify or extend the comment query args before running get_comments()
• Improved recent comments retrieval function:
• Supports overriding query parameters via filter (e.g., filter by post_type, change number, include meta_query, etc.)
• Maintains full backward compatibility
• UI update for Reply-to context:
• Recent comment items now display "Replying to {Author}" when the comment has a parent
• Added minimal CSS styling (non-intrusive, inherits container background)
• Codebase refinements:
• Minor internal cleanups for readability and maintainability
• Consistent filter naming across features to match the plugin's prefix standard

1.2 – October 12, 2025

• Enhanced caching flexibility for existing functions:
• Added TTL filter support to init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_get_comments()
• Added TTL filter support to init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_get_reviews()
• Added TTL filter support to init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_get_total_comments()
• Introduced new helper function init_plugin_suite_recent_comments_get_total_by_posts() for counting total approved comments across multiple post IDs
• Separated cache group for comment totals (init_comment_totals) to improve cache isolation and performance
• Developers can now customize cache durations via filters
• Default TTL values remain unchanged (0 for comments/reviews, 5 minutes for totals)
• Minor internal optimizations for stability and consistency

1.1 – October 1, 2025

• Added new shortcode [init_recent_reviews] for displaying recent reviews
• Introduced prefixed shortcodes [init_plugin_suite_recent_comments] and [init_plugin_suite_recent_reviews] for better naming consistency
• Maintained backward compatibility: old shortcodes [init_recent_comments] and [init_recent_reviews] still work
• Added template override support for review wrapper (init-recent-comments/review-wrapper.php)
• Unified CSS handling and options across both comments and reviews shortcodes

1.0 – June 16, 2025

• Initial release
• Static shortcode [init_recent_comments]
• Basic settings page to toggle CSS
• Template override support
• Clean CSS with disable option