Defining Trackbacks And Pingbacks ∫ The Webmaster's Edge

Jun 27th

2008

Defining Trackbacks And Pingbacks

Written by Bradford

Posted @ 3:47 pm

I was recently asked:

Can you do a post about trackbacks? I really don’t understand it.

Sounds like a great idea to me!

Trackbacks

Lets start with Trackbacks. Trackbacks were originally created for the MovableType blog software by SixApart. SixApart defines Trackbacks as:

In a nutshell, TrackBack was designed to provide a method of notification between websites: it is a method of person A saying to person B, “This is something you may be interested in.” To do that, person A sends a TrackBack ping to person B.

Trackbacks can be used in a few ways, but probably the most common use over the past year has been for contests. When a Blog holds a contest in which you Blog about the post in order to get entries, you do a Trackback in your post so that an except of your post and a link to it is automagically inserted into the contest holder’s Blog comments.

Another primary use is when you Blog about a similar subject or even expand upon a subject that another Blogger wrote a post on. You can trackback to their post so that both they and their users see that your post might be an interesting related read.

So how does one Trackback in Wordpress? First you need the Trackback URL from the site you wish to Trackback to. This will typically be listed right after the post and right before the comments, while sometimes it is after all of the comments. Look for a “Trackback URL for this entry” or a Trackback link of some sort. This entry’s Trackback URL is http://webmastersedge.net/home/2008/defining-trackbacks-and-pingbacks/trackback/ . Take that URL and paste it into the Trackbacks section in your post’s Advanced Options as shown here:

Wordpress Trackbacks

That’s it! You are now using Trackbacks, but what about Pingbacks?

Pingbacks

Pingbacks are similar to Trackbacks, with a few primary differences. Pingbacks are designed to let the author know that you linked to their Blog in one of your entries, but doing so WITHOUT posting a comment. Pingbacks are pretty much automatic, so long as you have “Allow Pings” checked in your entry. To turn Pingbacks on and off, you use this box under Advanced Options when you write your post:

Wordpress Pingbacks

Once you’ve sent a Trackback or Pingback, you are now ready to verify that you’ve sent it.

Verifying The *Backs

To verify that a Trackback or Pingback was sent, you can edit your post after publishing it and take a look at your Trackbacks section. Look for the “Already pinged” sites:

Wordpress Pinged Sites

Sometimes if your Trackback doesn’t show up in their comments it is because they have Trackbacks moderated or comments turned off. This usually isn’t any cause for alarm.

Be Careful

It is common courtesy that Trackbacks only be used if you mention or link to the site you are tracking back to. Sometimes it can make sense tracking back to a site when you didn’t link to them, however don’t be surprised if the owner of the site considers it to be Spam and removes it from the comments.

Testing Trackbacks

Feel free to test your Trackbacks by tracking back to this post. If your site contains ANY inappropriate content, the trackback will not be posted. If you spam this post with multiple trackbacks, expect none of them to appear. If you found this post helpful, when you test your trackback please mention this post to help your readers learn more about using Trackbacks and Pingbacks.