Displaying your top commenters for your WordPress blog is a nice way to provide a little recognition. Blogs do this to get more people to comment and it doesn't have to be coded into WordPress. You can display your top commenters in your sidebar with the right plugin. Here's how it can be done.
<h2>Using the Top Commenters Widget Plugin</h2>
<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7325" src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TopCommenterWidget.png" alt="Top Commenter Widget" width="650" height="245" />

Download and install the <a href="https://wordpress.org/plugins/top-commentators-widget/">Top Commenter Widget WordPress Plugin</a>. Once the plugin is activated, you will be able to access it through the <strong>Appearance&gt;&gt;Widget area of your WordPress dashboard. </strong>

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7326" src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TopCommenterWidgetInAppearance.png" alt="Top Commenter Widget In Appearance" width="434" height="504" />

To use the widget, you can simply drag and drop it into the sidebar area you prefer. Then, you can adjust the different settings to fit your needs.
<h2>Adjusting the Settings of the Plugin</h2>
Some of the basic settings you can change include the title and description of the widget.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7327" src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/TitleAndDescription.png" alt="Title And Description" width="442" height="150" />

You can also exclude certain users, which helps to eliminate spam and keep the admin from becoming one of the top commenters.

<img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-7328" src="https://itxdesign.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ExcludeUsers.png" alt="Exclude Users" width="414" height="74" />

Other options you can change include:
<ul>
	<li>The Reset Period - Use this section to adjust how often the top commenters are reset. Choose each month, year, week, day, hour or you can even list them all.</li>
	<li>Limit Number of Name - You can also adjust how long the list with this option.</li>
	<li>Limit the Name Characters - Adjust the length of the names displayed with this option.</li>
	<li>Display list as - You can display your list as a bulleted or numbered list.</li>
	<li>And More!</li>
</ul>
These are just a few of the many other options you can change to fit your specific needs.

After you've made all your adjustments, you can click the "save" button, just like you would with any other widget. Then, you can preview the widget on your website to see what it looks like.

This plugin will allow you to reward your commenters by placing a list of the top commenters in your sidebar. Your list may help others want to comment even more on your blog posts.