How to List most recent comments and recent post on your wordpress themes

Installing too many plugins will make the WordPress blog work slowly and unstable, use code built-in your theme will reduce the system resources.

Most recent post and comments

I've known a ton of plugins and widgets that allows me to list recent comments and recent post on my WordPress blog but I'm not using it. Because I've integrated some useful code below then I get results similar to those extensions which I've known.

List most recent comments

<?php
  global $wpdb;
  $sql = "SELECT DISTINCT ID, post_title, post_password, comment_ID, comment_post_ID, comment_author, comment_date_gmt, comment_approved, comment_type,comment_author_url, SUBSTRING(comment_content,1,30) AS com_excerpt FROM $wpdb->comments LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb->posts ON ($wpdb->comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb->posts.ID) WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 10";

  $comments = $wpdb->get_results($sql);
  $output = $pre_HTML;
  $output .= "n<ul>";
  foreach ($comments as $comment) {
    $output .= "n<li>".strip_tags($comment->comment_author) .":" . "<a href="" . get_permalink($comment->ID)."#comment-" . $comment->comment_ID . "" title="on ".$comment->post_title . "">" . strip_tags($comment->com_excerpt)."</a></li>";
  }
  $output .= "n</ul>";
  $output .= $post_HTML;
  echo $output;
?>

If you want to list more or less comments, simply change the "10" in the $sql variable.

List most recent posts

<?php query_posts('showposts=5'); ?>
<ul>
<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>
<li><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></li>
<?php endwhile;?>
</ul>

Do you want to deactive your List most recent comments and recent post plugins then use code snippets above?

<?php global $wpdb; $sql = "SELECT DISTINCT ID, post_title, post_password, comment_ID, comment_post_ID, comment_author, comment_date_gmt, comment_approved, comment_type,comment_author_url, SUBSTRING(comment_content,1,30) AS com_excerpt FROM $wpdb->comments LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb->posts ON ($wpdb->comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb->posts.ID) WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 10"; $comments = $wpdb->get_results($sql); $output = $pre_HTML; $output .= "n<ul>"; foreach ($comments as $comment) { $output .= "n<li>".strip_tags($comment->comment_author) .":" . "<a href="" . get_permalink($comment->ID)."#comment-" . $comment->comment_ID . "" title="on ".$comment->post_title . "">" . strip_tags($comment->com_excerpt)."</a></li>"; } $output .= "n</ul>"; $output .= $post_HTML; echo $output; ?>

<?php global $wpdb; $sql = "SELECT DISTINCT ID, post_title, post_password, comment_ID, comment_post_ID, comment_author, comment_date_gmt, comment_approved, comment_type,comment_author_url, SUBSTRING(comment_content,1,30) AS com_excerpt FROM $wpdb->comments LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb->posts ON ($wpdb->comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb->posts.ID) WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 10"; $comments = $wpdb->get_results($sql); $output = $pre_HTML; $output .= "n<ul>"; foreach ($comments as $comment) { $output .= "n<li>".strip_tags($comment->comment_author) ." on <a href="" . get_permalink($comment->ID)."#comment-" . $comment->comment_ID . "" rel="nofollow" title="on ".$comment->post_title . "">".$comment->post_title ."</a> : " . strip_tags($comment->com_excerpt)."...</li>";} $output .= "n</ul>"; $output .= $post_HTML; echo $output; ?>

comments LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb-&gt;posts ON ($wpdb-&gt;comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb-&gt;posts.ID) WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 10"; $comments = $wpdb-&gt;get_results($sql); $output = $pre_HTML; $output .= "n"; foreach ($comments as $comment) { $output .= "n".strip_tags($comment-&gt;comment_author) ." on <a href="" rel="nofollow">ID)."#comment-" . $comment-&gt;comment_ID . "" rel="nofollow" title="on ".$comment-&gt;post_title . ""&gt;".$comment-&gt;post_title ."</a> : " . strip_tags($comment-&gt;com_excerpt)."...";} $output .= "n"; $output .= $post_HTML; echo $output; ?&gt;

Discussion – Let's talking about "How to List most recent comments and recent post on your wordpress themes"

37 Comments
2 Trackbacks

Wooly says:

November 21, 2009 at 11:53

[... - http://www.narga.net is another useful authority of information. Making money online is [… -

Mäds says:

November 21, 2009 at 11:59

Hi,

I cannot get this to work. “<a href="" = syntax error for me in Aptana Studio and I get the same result if I ignore that and try anyway

Can you help? Thanks

- Narga says:
  
  November 21, 2009 at 13:36
  
  I recommend you using another code editor just as Notepad++, Notepad2 … or you can try notepad to edit that code
  
Anshuman says:

February 25, 2010 at 07:07

Hello:

Thanks for sharing the code for listing of comments. I have used it at indicpost.com/readers-zone/. You can see it after clicking the “Recent Comments” tab.

However, as you can see, the comments are NOT in the desired output. I want JUST ONE COMMENT PER LINE. Please guide me on the subject. Just for info, I am a journalist and not a techie.

Thanks in advance,

Best Regards,
Anshuman (from INDIA)

- Narga says:
  
  February 25, 2010 at 08:54
  
  Because the output is unordered list, so you can style it by using CSS in your html code.
  You can use
```
display: block;
```

Anshuman says:

February 25, 2010 at 09:03

Hello:

Thanks a lot for your reply.

At the risk of antagonising you, I’m afraid I will have to ask you the basic question:

Where do I put “display: block;” in the following:

—————————————————–

Note: Click the name of the user to reach the exact news story where the comment was posted.

Recent Comments

&lt;?php
  global $wpdb;
  $sql = &quot;SELECT DISTINCT ID, post_title, post_password, comment_ID, comment_post_ID, comment_author, comment_date_gmt, comment_approved, comment_type,comment_author_url, SUBSTRING(comment_content,1,30) AS com_excerpt FROM $wpdb-&gt;comments LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb-&gt;posts ON ($wpdb-&gt;comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb-&gt;posts.ID) WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 10&quot;;

  $comments = $wpdb-&gt;get_results($sql);
  $output = $pre_HTML;
  $output .= &quot;n&lt;ul&gt;&quot;;
  foreach ($comments as $comment) {
    $output .= &quot;n&lt;li&gt;&quot;.strip_tags($comment-&gt;comment_author) .&quot;:&quot; . &quot;&lt;a href=&quot;&quot; . get_permalink($comment-&gt;ID).&quot;#comment-&quot; . $comment-&gt;comment_ID . &quot;&quot; title=&quot;on &quot;.$comment-&gt;post_title . &quot;&quot;&gt;&quot; . strip_tags($comment-&gt;com_excerpt).&quot;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&quot;;
  }
  $output .= &quot;n&lt;/ul&gt;&quot;;
  $output .= $post_HTML;
  echo $output;
?&gt;

I am sorry but I am only a journalist and am learning the thing through trial and error only.

Thanking you in advance,

Best Regards,
Anshuman

Narga says:

February 28, 2010 at 11:00

You will get the HTML output is:
```
&lt;ul class=&quot;&gt;
&lt;li&gt;comments&lt;/li&gt;
&lt;/ul&gt;
```
Everythings you need to do is create a CSS selector for that list.

Change the line 7th to:
```
$output .= &quot;n&lt;ul class=&quot;recent-comment&quot;&gt;&quot;;
```
Create CSS selector:
```
.recent-comment ul li {
display: block;
}
```

ankara nakliyat says:

February 28, 2010 at 10:33

very goods

saç ekimi says:

March 13, 2010 at 17:07

Hi all
very nices post.
thank admin

ankara nakliyat says:

March 29, 2010 at 04:11

wery nice blog

Clouseau says:

March 30, 2010 at 20:07

I used this ‘recent comments’ function: http://www.blogohblog.com/10-wordpress-hacks-to-make-your-life-even-easier/

it’s the same code, which I have seen on several blogs, but nobody mentions/notices that the output is not working…
i.e.: it doesn’t display the author nor post-title – only the excerpt?

what I need is the following: Author on: title – excerpt (title being the link to the post) – how to edit this line:

$output .= “n”.strip_tags($comment->comment_author) .”:” . “ID).”#comment-” . $comment->comment_ID . “” title=”on “.$comment->post_title . “”>” . strip_tags($comment->com_excerpt).”“;

to get the desired result (as I’m no php coder)?

Sac ekimi says:

March 31, 2010 at 05:45

nice blog and good post

Narga says:

March 31, 2010 at 10:47

@Clouseau: It worked on this blog, you can view it in the sidebar

Clouseau says:

April 1, 2010 at 10:54

Hi Narga – you’re right: title is shown as ‘alt-tag’ – it is working here in your sidebar – not sure why it didn’t work on mine….

Could you help me updating that code/line? I want it to look like:

“Narga on: how-to-list-most… – ‘It worked on this blog’…”

Thanks in advance!

Narga says:

April 2, 2010 at 05:05

You can use the snippet below:

	&lt;?php global $wpdb;
	$sql = &quot;SELECT DISTINCT ID, post_title, post_password, comment_ID, comment_post_ID, comment_author, comment_date_gmt, comment_approved, comment_type,comment_author_url, SUBSTRING(comment_content,1,30) AS com_excerpt FROM $wpdb-&gt;comments LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb-&gt;posts ON ($wpdb-&gt;comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb-&gt;posts.ID) WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 10&quot;;
	$comments = $wpdb-&gt;get_results($sql);
	$output = $pre_HTML;
	$output .= &quot;n&lt;ul&gt;&quot;;
	foreach ($comments as $comment) {
	$output .= &quot;n&lt;li&gt;&quot;.strip_tags($comment-&gt;comment_author) .&quot; on &lt;a href=&quot;&quot; . get_permalink($comment-&gt;ID).&quot;#comment-&quot; . $comment-&gt;comment_ID . &quot;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; title=&quot;on &quot;.$comment-&gt;post_title . &quot;&quot;&gt;&quot;.$comment-&gt;post_title .&quot;&lt;/a&gt; : &quot; . strip_tags($comment-&gt;com_excerpt).&quot;...&lt;/li&gt;&quot;;}
	$output .= &quot;n&lt;/ul&gt;&quot;;
	$output .= $post_HTML;
	echo $output; ?&gt;

Have fun!

Clouseau says:

April 2, 2010 at 07:02

Thank you very much, you made our day!

PS: in the code above, the fell off, but in the email notification it was there…

Jake says:

April 13, 2010 at 16:09

How do you display more content of the comments?

Narga says:

April 14, 2010 at 12:04

You can edit the valua 30 in this string to whatever you want
```
SUBSTRING(comment_content,1,30)
```
Sac ektirme says:

April 22, 2010 at 09:25

However, as you can see, the comments are NOT in the desired output. I want JUST ONE COMMENT PER LINE. Please guide me on the subject. Just for info, I am a journalist and not a techie.

Narga says:

April 22, 2010 at 10:53

The output content in HTML format, you can style the ul list as you want by CSS

David says:

May 10, 2010 at 23:00

Great piece of code. Thanks.

How could I modify this to call a specific post and show the comments from that post only?

Sac ekim says:

May 19, 2010 at 08:23

good article very interesent

Otomasyon says:

May 20, 2010 at 05:27

Hey interesting article and nice site you have

hans müller says:

July 23, 2010 at 02:38

very good

sidder says:

September 17, 2010 at 10:43

Thank you very much I’ll give it a try.

Mishelli says:

November 28, 2010 at 11:45

Is there any reason why use the code instead of the plugin that allows you to show recent comments?

- Narga says:
  
  November 29, 2010 at 08:07
  
  So many reasons:
  
  Style your recent comments as you want
  Combine css and javascript in to your theme without include some unused code
  It always work on your theme, if you using plugins, may be it incompatible with new or old version of your theme.
  more and more…
  
ankara nakliyat says:

January 24, 2011 at 14:40

A beautiful and high quality information. this paper is accurate to be useful. Thanks to the author.

eksper says:

January 24, 2011 at 14:41

A beautiful and high quality information. this paper is accurate to be useful. Thanks to the author.

Jason Derll says:

January 31, 2011 at 22:47

I think my biggest problem is too many plugins going at once.
I will be tying the code out soon.

Frank says:

February 10, 2011 at 15:24

This blog appears to recieve a great deal of visitors. How do you promote it? It offers a nice unique twist on things. I guess having something authentic or substantial to talk about is the most important factor.

Esmaeil says:

March 5, 2011 at 01:05

Hi. I wanted to add Avatar recognition to this recent comments code:

comments LEFT OUTER JOIN $wpdb-&amp;gt;posts ON ($wpdb-&amp;gt;comments.comment_post_ID = $wpdb-&amp;gt;posts.ID) WHERE comment_approved = '1' AND comment_type = '' AND post_password = '' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 10&quot;;
$comments = $wpdb-&amp;gt;get_results($sql);
$output = $pre_HTML;
$output .= &quot;n&quot;;
foreach ($comments as $comment) {
$output .= &quot;n&quot;.strip_tags($comment-&amp;gt;comment_author) .&quot; on &lt;a href=&quot;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;ID).&quot;#comment-&quot; . $comment-&amp;gt;comment_ID . &quot;&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot; title=&quot;on &quot;.$comment-&amp;gt;post_title . &quot;&quot;&amp;gt;&quot;.$comment-&amp;gt;post_title .&quot;&lt;/a&gt; : &quot; . strip_tags($comment-&amp;gt;com_excerpt).&quot;...&quot;;}
$output .= &quot;n&quot;;
$output .= $post_HTML;
echo $output; ?&amp;gt;

but no matter where I put the code:

comment_author_email, '55' ); ?&amp;gt;

It always doesn’t work. How can I fix the problem?
Thank you so much.

Igor says:

April 24, 2011 at 22:15

How could I modify this to call a specific post and show the comments from that post only?

sami says:

May 14, 2011 at 19:08

I like the theme, thanks very much

koh hong wan says:

June 17, 2011 at 12:11

for the recent comment, anyway to tweak it to show only latest comment for a specific post?

Get Him Back Forever says:

August 7, 2011 at 08:33

it’s a helpful info for blogger like me…
thank you for your info

Matt Huston says:

August 7, 2011 at 08:35

I think my biggest problem is too many plugins going at once.
I will be tying the code out soon.