Looking at most of the WordPress-based blogs on the Internet, you’ll find that many of them have a Top Commentators list either in the sidebar or in the footer. This is meant to encourage readers to leave comments and also to give a little bit of “dofollow” link love back to the people who contribute to your blog.

While the Top Commentators list is certainly valuable, it does not account for all the other people who leave comments on the blog. Further still, it’s not immediately obvious how active a certain reader is when they leave a comment on a post without having to refer to the list in the sidebar or footer. The Featuring CountComments plugin addresses this.

With every comment left on your blog, you will not only the name and URL of the visitor, but also how many comments they have placed during the interval you define. The typical interval is monthly, but you can also set it to be completely cumulative if you prefer. This way, the first-time commenter can be easily differentiated from the commenting veteran.

In order for the comment count to be shown, however, the commenter must first be registered with your site. This can be a pro in that it encourages registration, but it can be a con in that it places an extra barrier to entry for new visitors.

For more information, checkout Featuring CountComments on WordPress.org.