Trackback and Pingback – Howto

What they do – an example.

[Note: throughout this document Blog-A is the remote blog, and Blog-B is your current blog.]

Suppose you read a post on someone else's blog, Blog-A say, and you think there is relevant content (posts and comments) on your site, Blog-B.

It would be helpful if readers of Blog-A could see the post and comments on your site Blog-B. That may be possible by using pingbacks or trackbacks.

Both, if moderated, add a comment to the remote blog.

• Pingbacks are automatic if the post contains the the post (permalink) link of the remote post. Both sites are recent Wordpress sites.
• Trackbacks require and contain a specific trackback URL (not the permalink or post URL) from the remote site. The remote site will not be a recent Wordpress site.

This is explained in detail at http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/04/25/trackbacks-and-pingbacks/

Is it possible?

It will be possible if

• The administrators of both sites have enabled track-pingbacks

Here is how it is done:

• Administrator pre-actions

  Dashboard -> Settings -> Discussion	Check the boxes	"Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the article (slows down posting.) "
  		"Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks.) "
  		"Allow people to post comments on new articles "
  	Save changes
  Dashboard -> Settings -> Permalinks		Check any Common Setting except Default
  	Save changes
  Extend Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks		Enter /usr/bin/php5 /home/sites/turtlewaxpro.co.uk/public_html/wp-cron.php in the box(es)
  	Update

• Visit remote Blog-A, read the relevant post, and find the permalink (Wordpress site) or trackback URL (non-Wordpress sie). Copy the link to your clipboard. The link may be something like :-

  • 'http://www.someone_elses_domain.co.uk/blog//2014/02/sample-post/' - the form should not be the default permamlink for Wordpress (see above - the default form will give a link to the remote post but will not auto generate pingbacks )

  Tip:
  	If remote Blog-A is a Wordpress blog, you will find the permalink in the address bar of the browser when you are looking at the post on Blog-A. Else the trackback URL should be displayed with the post.

• Visit your own site, Blog-B, and edit the post you wish to have accessible from Blog-A, pasting the URL of Blog-A into your post on Blog-B.
  

  Important.

  When editing your post choose theText tab at the top of the edit box, else the link will be become 'text' and will not work as a link.

  You should have the link from the previous step (Blog-A's permalink or trackback URL) in the actual text of your blog, e.g.

  Click <a href=”http://www.someone_elses_domain.co.uk/blog/?p=123”>here</a> to link to Blog-A.

• Update the post.

There will be a delay before the link to the post on your blog (Blog-B) appears on the other blog (Blog-A). When a cron job
/usr/bin/php5 /home/sites/turtlewaxpro.co.uk/public_html/wp-cron.php is run on your website, the administrator of Blog-A will be sent a request to moderate your track-pingback.

If he chooses to approve it the title, excerpt (if any), and a link to your post will appear as a comment to the relevant post on Blog-A. It will not appear until the administrator of Blog-A has approved it.

What can go wrong

You are flooded with requests for moderating track-pingbacks

Track-pingbacks require manual moderation and thus increase the administrator's work load. Unfortunately most (possibly 90% or more) track-pingback links are spam from sites wishing for hits and are unrelated to the subject matter of your post, but you have to check each one before approving or trashing it. Not everyone thinks track-pingbacks are a good idea.

If you do not want track-pingbacks

1. Uncheck the three items above in Dashboard -> Settings -> Discussion
2. Stop the cron job(s) /usr/bin/php5 /home/sites/turtlewaxpro.co.uk/public_html/wp-cron.php.

No output on remote site

• The remote administrator has not changed his permalink format from the default ( see above - your links will work ok but will not auto generate pingbacks).

• The remote administrator has not configured his site correctly – the correct permissions and correct use of caching are important.

• You have not used the correct link for the track-pingback.
  

• The remote administrator has not enabled track-pingbacks on that post.

• The comment is waiting for moderation.

• A spam catcher has discarded it.