Title: WP_Widget_Recent_Comments::widget Published: April 25, 2014 Last modified: August 20, 2026 --- # WP_Widget_Recent_Comments::widget( array $args, array $instance ) ## In this article * [Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#parameters) * [Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#source) * [Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#hooks) * [Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#related) * [Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#changelog) [ Back to top](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#wp--skip-link--target) Outputs the content for the current Recent Comments widget instance. ## 󠀁[Parameters](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#parameters)󠁿 `$args`arrayrequired Display arguments including `'before_title'`, `'after_title'`, `'before_widget'`, and `'after_widget'`. `$instance`arrayrequired Settings for the current Recent Comments widget instance. ## 󠀁[Source](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#source)󠁿 ```php public function widget( $args, $instance ) { static $first_instance = true; if ( ! isset( $args['widget_id'] ) ) { $args['widget_id'] = $this->id; } $output = ''; $default_title = __( 'Recent Comments' ); $title = ( ! empty( $instance['title'] ) ) ? $instance['title'] : $default_title; /** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-pages.php */ $title = apply_filters( 'widget_title', $title, $instance, $this->id_base ); $number = ( ! empty( $instance['number'] ) ) ? absint( $instance['number'] ) : 5; if ( ! $number ) { $number = 5; } $comments = get_comments( /** * Filters the arguments for the Recent Comments widget. * * @since 3.4.0 * @since 4.9.0 Added the `$instance` parameter. * * @see WP_Comment_Query::query() for information on accepted arguments. * * @param array $comment_args An array of arguments used to retrieve the recent comments. * @param array $instance Array of settings for the current widget. */ apply_filters( 'widget_comments_args', array( 'number' => $number, 'status' => 'approve', 'post_status' => 'publish', ), $instance ) ); $output .= $args['before_widget']; if ( $title ) { $output .= $args['before_title'] . $title . $args['after_title']; } $recent_comments_id = ( $first_instance ) ? 'recentcomments' : "recentcomments-{$this->number}"; $first_instance = false; $format = current_theme_supports( 'html5', 'navigation-widgets' ) ? 'html5' : 'xhtml'; /** This filter is documented in wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-nav-menu-widget.php */ $format = apply_filters( 'navigation_widgets_format', $format ); if ( 'html5' === $format ) { // The title may be filtered: Strip out HTML and make sure the aria-label is never empty. $title = trim( strip_tags( $title ) ); $aria_label = $title ? $title : $default_title; $output .= ''; } $output .= $args['after_widget']; echo $output; } ``` [View all references](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/files/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-recent-comments.php/) [View on Trac](https://core.trac.wordpress.org/browser/tags/7.1/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-recent-comments.php#L72) [View on GitHub](https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/blob/7.1/src/wp-includes/widgets/class-wp-widget-recent-comments.php#L72-L161) ## 󠀁[Hooks](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#hooks)󠁿 [apply_filters( ‘navigation_widgets_format’, string $format )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/navigation_widgets_format/) Filters the HTML format of widgets with navigation links. [apply_filters( ‘widget_comments_args’, array $comment_args, array $instance )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widget_comments_args/) Filters the arguments for the Recent Comments widget. [apply_filters( ‘widget_title’, string $title, array $instance, mixed $id_base )](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/hooks/widget_title/) Filters the widget title. ## 󠀁[Related](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#related)󠁿 | Uses | Description | | [wp_list_pluck()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/wp_list_pluck/)`wp-includes/functions.php` | Plucks a certain field out of each object or array in an array. | | [get_the_title()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_the_title/)`wp-includes/post-template.php` | Retrieves the post title. | | [_prime_post_caches()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_prime_post_caches/)`wp-includes/post.php` | Adds any posts from the given IDs to the cache that do not already exist in cache. | | [get_comment_link()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_comment_link/)`wp-includes/comment-template.php` | Retrieves the link to a given comment. | | [get_comment_author_link()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_comment_author_link/)`wp-includes/comment-template.php` | Retrieves the HTML link to the URL of the author of the current comment. | | [get_comments()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_comments/)`wp-includes/comment.php` | Retrieves a list of comments. | | [current_theme_supports()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/current_theme_supports/)`wp-includes/theme.php` | Checks a theme’s support for a given feature. | | [__()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/__/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` | Retrieves the translation of $text. | | [_x()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/_x/)`wp-includes/l10n.php` | Retrieves translated string with gettext context. | | [esc_attr()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/esc_attr/)`wp-includes/formatting.php` | Escaping for HTML attributes. | | [esc_url()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/esc_url/)`wp-includes/formatting.php` | Checks and cleans a URL. | | [absint()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/absint/)`wp-includes/load.php` | Converts a value to non-negative integer. | | [apply_filters()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/apply_filters/)`wp-includes/plugin.php` | Calls the callback functions that have been added to a filter hook. | | [get_option()](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/functions/get_option/)`wp-includes/option.php` | Retrieves an option value based on an option name. | [Show 9 more](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#) [Show less](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#) ## 󠀁[Changelog](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/classes/wp_widget_recent_comments/widget/?output_format=md#changelog)󠁿 | Version | Description | | [5.4.0](https://developer.wordpress.org/reference/since/5.4.0/) | Creates a unique HTML ID for the `