This is the first of a two part series about wordpress comments. After using some of these plugins, you still might be interested in even more advanced and unique looks that can be only achieved beautifully by CSS.

Wordpress Comment Plugins

Spam Protection

1. Akismet: The ultimate spam protection. One of the favorite among numerous blogs. The most probable reason why? It’s created by the geniouses behind Wordpress itself. The plugin requires an API key, which is free, from Wordpress.com
2. Spam Karma Plugin: Effortlessly blocks spam comments without interrupting regular commentators.
3. Defensio Plugin: Blocks spam comments and holds them in quarantine for your review. It rates a comments “spaminess” to identify is it’s a legitimate comment or not.
4. Spam Stopper Plugin: Blocks spam by asking users to answer a simple question before posting a comment.
5. ReCAPTCHA: The reCAPTCHA uses Captcha to prevent comment spam and also prevents email spam. This pulgin also uses an API key given by the site, which is as well free of cost.
6. Anti-Spam Image Plugin: This Anti-Spam plugin displays a random word image that users need to re-type to leave a comment. Comes with audio option for visually impaired.
7. Did you pass math? Plugin: This plugin requires users to solve a simple math problem before being able to comment.
8. Bad Behavior Plugin: Bad Behavior is a PHP-based solution for keeping unwanted blog, wiki, forum, guestbook and referrer spam away from your site.

Trackback Spam Protection

1. Simple Trackback Validation Plugin: Verifies IP address to identify spam trackbacks.
2. Trackback Validator Plugin: Performs a simple and effective test to verify authenticity of trackbacks.
3. Moderate Trackbacks Plugin: Puts trackbacks in comment moderation queue.

Encourage Commenting

1. Top Commenters Plugin-Widget: Adds a linkable list to the sidebar of the top commenters on your site.
2. Show Top Commenters Plugin: Uses PHP to show the top commenters on your site. Might need this guide for a quick trouble-free install of Exec-PHP, since it is necessary for the commenters plugin. Alternately, you could install the edited version of Top-Commenters which is widget ready, here.
3. Comment Plugger Plugin: Lists the people who’ve commented a post, linking to their site if a link is provided.
4. Strip No-Follow Plugin: Strips no-follow attribute from links in comments and comment authors.
5. Do-Follow Plugin: Removes no-follow from links in comments.
6. Do-Follow Trackbacks Plugin: Removes no-follow from trackbacks.
7. Lucias Linky Love Plugin: Removes no-follow from comments with some features to control it.

Threaded and/or Pages Comments

1. Wordpress Paged Comments Plugin: Control how many comments are displayed by page.
2. Threaded Comments Plugin: Allow users to post threaded comments.
3. Yet Another Threaded Comments Plugin: …is another threaded comments plugin.
4. Ajax Paged Comments Plugin: Page comments that use ajax to search through them.

Display Most Recent/Commented

1. Most Commented Plugin: Displays a list of most commented posts.
2. Most Commented Plugin and Widget: Display most commented within a page or in the sidebar as a widget.
3. Most Recent Comments Plugin:Display most recent comments in a highly customisable way.
4. Brian’s Latest Comments Plugin: The plugin shows latest comments as a list of the last commented-on articles and their commenters. Comments can be colored to show age.
5. Fresh Comments Widget: Widget displays latest comments.
6. Recent Comments Plugin/Widget: Display recent comments.
7. Customizable Post Listings: Display recent comments and much more.
8. Latest Comments with Avatars Reloaded Plugin: Display recent comments with author avatar.

Moderate and Manage Comments

1. Bannage Plugin: Ban users by by IP, username or email address.
2. Numbered Comments Plugin: Not only does it number comments, but it also can display total comments in a post and in your whole site.
3. Reverse Order Plugin: Organize comments from most recent to oldest.
4. Comment Central Plugin: Batch open/close commenting.
5. Comment Timeout Plugin: Closes commenting on old posts.
6. Old Post Alert Plugin: Warn users the age of the post they’re going to comment on.
7. Autoclose Plugin: Auto close comments, pingbacks and trackbacks on old posts. Set what you want closed and when to close it (Only comments on posts 90 days old for example).

Conversation Improving Plugins

1. CoComment Plugin: Track comments using CoComment.
2. Comment Karma Plugin: Allow users to rate comments.
3. Quoter Plugin: Allows users to quote a post or another comment.
4. Whisper Plugin: For registered users only. It allows them to send private comments to admins or other users.

Appeareance Plugins

1. Comment Highlighter Plugin: Add different style classes to comments.
2. Author Highlight Plugin: Apply a different style to the author’s comments.
3. No Sh*t Plugin: Filter rude language from comments.
4. Edit Comments XT Plugin: Allow users to edit their own comments.
5. Ajax Edit Comments Plugin: Allow users to edit their own comments for a limited time, also has other features for admins.
6. Live Comment Preview Plugin: Let users preview their comments live before posting them.
7. Comments Preview Plugin: After writing the comment the users chooses to click the preview button or the submit button.
8. Custom Smilies Plugin: Change default smilies for ones you prefer.
9. Smilies Themer Plugin: Replace Wordpress’ default smilies.
10. MCE Comments Plugin: Give users a WYSIWYG editor in the comment textfield.
11. Favatars Plugin: Shows the favicon of the corresponding authors’ site if applicable on comments, trackbacks and pings.
12. Comvatars Plugin: Shows avatar images on user comments .
13. Gravatars Plugin: Shows gravatar images on user comments (Gravatar, MyBlogLog, OpenAvatar, Wavatar, Identicon, monsterID).
14. Gravatars Plugin: Shows gravatar images on user comments.
15. MBLA Plugin: Add MyBlogLog and Gravatar to blog posts and comments.
16. Relative Date Plugin: Displays relative date alongside with your post/comments actual date.
17. Comment Quicktags Plugin: Help users use codes easily with quicktags.
18. Wp-Chunk Plugin: Makes long URL’s posted in comments shorter.It does not affect urls within posts, just comments.

Subscribe to Comments Plugin

1. Subscribe to Comments Plugin: Encourages users to sign up to recieve notices of follow-up comments.
2. Enroll to Comments Plugin: Enroll to receive an email when someone comments on a post.