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

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

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
   %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
    

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