Admin Refresh, Enhanced Analytics, and Performance Boosts in v1.3

With the release of CommentsWP v1.3, I’m focusing on making your dashboard experience more flexible and faster than ever. This update includes a visual refresh of the admin area, deeper control over your data cards, and significant performance optimizations under the hood.

IMPORTANT: Starting with this version, CommentsWP requires WordPress 6.5 or higher. Please ensure your site is up to date before upgrading.

Let’s dive into what’s new!

More Control Over Your Time-Based Analytics

The “Total by Time Period“ card received a major upgrade in flexibility.

Grouping Option: Total by Day

Screenshot of the dashboard Car "Total By Time Period" that features the new "Group by Day" grouping option.

You can now drill down deeper into your data by choosing the new “Group by Day” option. This is perfect for identifying specific days with high engagement or tracking the immediate impact of a new post.

Custom Sorting

Screenshot of the dashboard Car "Total By Time Period" that features the new sorting option that has these values: Newest First and Older First.

I’ve added “Newest First” and “Oldest First” display options. Whether you want to see your most recent activity at a glance or analyze historical trends from the beginning, you can now toggle the order to suit your workflow.

Both of these new options are applied to all historical data as well.

A Fresh Look for the Admin Area

Screenshot of the refreshed look of the admin area of the plugin

I believe that managing your comments should be as aesthetically pleasing as it is functional. Version 1.3 introduces a visual refresh of the plugin admin area, streamlining the interface to feel more modern and integrated with the latest WordPress design patterns.

I aim to bring a lot more features and having a great foundation in terms of design will help me ship faster in the future.

Speaking of modern, I have also officially verified support for WordPress 6.9.1. You can update with confidence knowing that CommentsWP is fully compatible with the latest core release.

Significant Performance & Under-the-Hood Improvements

Performance is a feature, and I’ve spent a lot of time in this release making the plugin lighter and more efficient.

AJAX Optimization: I noticed that CommentsWP was loading its dashboard data even on AJAX requests intended for other 3rd-party plugins. In 1.3, I’ve prevented this unnecessary loading, which should result in a snappier experience across your entire WordPress admin.
Smarter Card Population: I’ve improved the performance of Dashboard cards by preventing “double population,” ensuring your data loads once and loads quickly.
Code Cleanup: I’ve removed various unused functions and performed a comprehensive PHP code style overhaul to ensure long-term stability and reliability.
Bug Fixes: This release also squashes a few bugs to keep things running smoothly.

As always, I’m grateful for your feedback! If you run into any issues or have suggestions for future cards, let me know in the comments below or using the Submit Feedback form.

You can read the full list of changes in our Changelog.

Let me know what you think of the new admin look and the enhanced time period options! 🚀