Installation
~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Drop the file in wordpress/wp-content/plugins
2. Activate the plugin the WordPress Plugin Management

If you have WordPress 1.2.x go to section WordPress 1.2.x

If you have WordPress 1.5 continue:

WordPress 1.5
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3. Insert one of the following code snippets into the sidebar
template. Which one is the right depends on the theme you are using. There are
two functions:

get_recent_comments()   - Show comments
get_recent_trackbacks() - Show trackbacks

---------------------------------------------------------------
Default Theme: wp-content/themes/default/sidebar.php 

   <?php if (function_exists('get_recent_comments')) { ?>
   <li><h2><?php _e('Recent Comments:'); ?></h2>
        <ul>
        <?php get_recent_comments(); ?>
        </ul>
   </li>
   <?php } ?>   

   <?php if (function_exists('get_recent_trackbacks')) { ?>
   <li><h2><?php _e('Recent Trackbacks:'); ?></h2>
        <ul>
        <?php get_recent_trackbacks(); ?>
        </ul>
   </li>
   <?php } ?>
---------------------------------------------------------------
Classic Theme: wp-content/themes/classic/sidebar.php 

   <?php if (function_exists('get_recent_comments')) { ?>
   <li><?php _e('Recent Comments:'); ?>
        <ul>
        <?php get_recent_comments(); ?>
        </ul>
   </li>
   <?php } ?>

   <?php if (function_exists('get_recent_trackbacks')) { ?>
   <li><?php _e('Recent Trackbacks:'); ?>
        <ul>
        <?php get_recent_trackbacks(); ?>
        </ul>
   </li>
   <?php } ?>
---------------------------------------------------------------

4. (Optional) Set options in the admin gui:
Options/Recent Comments   

You can configure the number of Comments and Trackbacks, that are shown.  And
you can set the length of the cited comments and specify a maximum word length.
Word longer than this value are wrapped, preventing them from damaging your
layout.

Using macros you can customize the format of the cited comments and trackbacks.
%comment_excerpt The text of the comment. It might get shorted to the number of
                 characters you entered in "Long comments are chopped off at..."

%comment_link    The URL to the cited comment.

%comment_author  The name, the commenter entered in the comment form. If she
                 left the field empty, the name is "Anonymous".

%comment_date    The date, when the comment was posted in the style you configured
                 as default date format.

%comment_time    The time, when the comment was posted

%author_url      The URL, the comment author left in the comment form, or if the
		 comment is a trackback, the URL of the site that issued the
                 trackback.

%post_title      The title of the posting that was commented.

%post_link       The URL of the posting that was commented.

%post_date       The date when the commented posting was published.

%trackback_title Only applicable in trackbacks: The title of the trackback. It
		 might get shorted to the number of characters you entered in
                 "Long trackbacks are chopped off at..."

WordPress 1.2.x
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

3. Write the following piece of code into your template (index.php)
                  
                  
<li id="recent_comments"><?php _e('Recent Comments:'); ?>
        <ul>
        <? get_recent_comments(); ?>
        </ul>
</li>

Done. If you want more, read on... 

WordPress 1.2.x Advanced configuration
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

4. (Optional) 
   You can specify one to three arguments to the function. It is possible to
   name only one argument or only two. Look at the following examples.
   
   The arguments have the following meaning: 
   1. Number of comments to display.  
   2. Maximum Number of characters in a comment excerpt
   3. Formatting

   If you don't specify arguments the plugin defaults to 5 comments, 120
   characters per comment and a standard formatting.
   
   The format is a piece of html code where you use tags that will be replaced
   by the actual data:

   %comment_excerpt - Shortened comment. 
   %comment_link    - Link to the comment. Something like:
                      http://blog.example.com/wp/archives/2005/02/03/this-is-a-test/#comment-523
   %comment_author  - Name left by the commenter
   %comment_date    - Date of comment
   %comment_time    - Time of comment
   %post_title      - Title of the posting 
   %post_link       - Link to the posting (and not the comment). Something like:
                      http://blog.example.com/wp/archives/2005/02/03/this-is-a-test/
   %post_date       - Date of the posting
    

WordPress 1.2.x Examples
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Show the 8 most recent comments
<?php get_recent_comments(8); ?>

Show the 8 most recent comments, with a maximum of 100 characters per comment:
<?php get_recent_comments(8,100); ?>

The same with your own formatting 
<?php get_recent_comments(8,100,'<li><a href="%comment_link">%comment_author</a>: %comment_excerpt</li>');



Feedback
~~~~~~~~

krischan@jodies.de
http://blog.jodies.de


