=== Better Recent Comments ===
Contributors: andykeith, barn2media
Donate link: http://barn2.co.uk
Tags: comments, widget, shortcode, wpml
Requires at least: 3.0.1
Tested up to: 4.5
Stable tag: 1.0.2
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html

Provides an improved Recent Comments widget and a shortcode to display your recent comments on any post or page.

== Description ==

The default Recent Comments widget is somewhat limited. Better Recent Comments improves on this by providing a more flexible widget with
options to show the user's actual comment, as well as show avatars and the ability to show or hide the comment date.

As well as the widget, there's a handy shortcode you can use to display your recent comments. This is useful if you need to display
comments somewhere other than your sidebar or footer, such as on your homepage. Simply add the shortcode `[better_recent_comments]`. 

That's not all! The plugin is also WPML compatible, which means that the comments will be restricted to those in the current language. The 
default WordPress widget will list all recent comments, regardless of language, so you might end up with comments for German-language posts in 
the sidebar of your English site. Better Recent Comments solves this and makes sure the comments are for the current language only.

Translations currently provided for Spanish, but more to follow soon hopefully...

Options available with the shortcode:

* `number` - the number of comments to display. Default: 5 comments
* `format` - the format of each recent comment. This option uses placeholders, e.g. {date}, which are then substituted with the actual data
when the comments are displayed. This allows you to choose the exact format you want for your recent comments. Available placeholders are {avatar},
{author}, {post}, {comment} and {date}. The {post} placeholder will display the post title and link to the user's comment below that post. 
Defaults to {author} on {post}: "{comment}" {date}
* `date_format` - the PHP date format to use. Defaults to 'M j, H:i'. See [this cheat sheet](http://barn2.co.uk/PHP-Date-Format.pdf) for a full list of date and time options.
* `avatar_size` - the size of the avatar in pixels. Only used if you have included {avatar} in your comment format (see 'format' option). Default: 50
* `post_status` - the status of posts to retrieve comments for. Defaults to 'publish'. Can be any valid status or a comma-separated list of statuses.

== Installation ==

1. Upload the plugin files to the `/wp-content/plugins/better-recent-comments` directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
1. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' screen in WordPress
1. To add the widget, go to Appearance -> Widgets, and find the 'Better Recent Comments' widget in the list, then add to any widget area.
1. To add the shortcode, open up any page or post and add `[better_recent_comments]` where you want the comments to be displayed.

== Frequently Asked Questions ==

= How do I add the widget? =
To add the widget, go to Appearance -> Widgets, and find the 'Better Recent Comments' widget in the list, then drag to any widget area. You can
then set the title for the widget, the number of comments to show, and choose to show or hide the comment avatars, dates, comment text and post link. 

= How do I use the shortcode? =
Add `[better_recent_comments]` to any post or page.

= What are the shortcode options? =
See the main [plugin description](https://wordpress.org/plugins/better-recent-comments/) for the list of options.

= Can I see a demo of the plugin? =
Yes, please visit http://barn2.co.uk/better-recent-comments-demo/ to see Better Recent Comments in action. 

= Will it work with my theme? = 
The plugin has been designed to work with different themes and will take the styling from your theme for the fonts etc. where possible. 
If any parts don't match your site as well as you would like, you can restyle it using CSS or [contact us](http://barn2.co.uk/contact-a-wordpress-designer/) 
about our customization service. 

= How do I use the plugin with WPML? = 
If you have a multilingual site using WPML then the plugin will display comments for the correct language automatically.

= Can you customize the plugin for me? =
We have developed this free plugin to be flexible and easy to configure so that it will be suitable for many different websites. If you would 
like us to modify the plugin to suit your exact requirements, please [contact us](http://barn2.co.uk/contact-a-wordpress-designer/) with the details and 
we'll be happy to provide a quote. 

== Screenshots ==

1. Recent comments added to a page.

== Changelog ==

= 1.0.2 =
Added 'post_status' shortcode option. 

= 1.0.1 =
Improve handling for themes which use custom bullets in sidebar widgets.

= 1.0 =
Initial release.