Most popular-posts plugins want to track page views, which means storing a counter on every load, or worse, pulling in an analytics service. I did not want any of that for my own themes, so I built this to use a number WordPress already keeps: the comment count. The posts people talk about most rise to the top, and nothing extra has to be tracked.
It gives theme developers one template tag. You call it where you want the list, you get your popular posts, done.
What you get
- A single template tag that returns your most-commented posts
- Comment count as the popularity signal — nothing to track, nothing to slow a page load
- No WooCommerce view tracking, no external analytics, no configuration screen
Who it’s for
Theme developers building a sidebar or footer who want a popular-posts block without adding weight. If your site gets real comment activity, this is an honest signal of what readers engage with.
How to install
- Upload and activate the plugin.
- In your theme, call the template tag where you want the list to appear.
- Style the output with your own markup and CSS.
When NOT to use this
If your site has comments turned off, or if comments are rare, the comment count is not a useful popularity signal and the list will not mean much. In that case you want a view-based plugin instead.
Status note
This is an archived plugin. Originally published on WordPress.org, now maintained on GitHub (opens in new tab) and reviewed for security. Still works on current WordPress. No new features planned.
File details
License: GPL-2.0-or-later
Tested with: WordPress 6.7 · PHP 8.1+
Format: .zip
Other downloads from this practice
- Easy Recent Posts. Recent posts via a template tag, no admin overhead.
- Easy Scheduled Posts. Surface upcoming scheduled posts before they go live.