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Pingbacks and trackbacks are link notifications between blogs. A pingback is sent automatically when your WordPress post links to an eligible post; a trackback is entered manually and includes an excerpt. Both can arrive in the linked site’s comments area for approval, moderation or deletion.
Trackbacks and pingbacks compared
| Feature | Trackback | Pingback |
|---|---|---|
| How it starts | You copy a recipient’s Trackback URI and submit it manually. | WordPress attempts it automatically when you link to an eligible post. |
| Content sent | An excerpt of your post. | No post content; it is a notification that a link exists. |
| Best use | Notifying older blog systems that do not support pingbacks. | WordPress sites and other systems that support pingbacks. |
| Where it appears | Usually in the receiving post’s comments or discussion area, subject to that site’s settings and moderation. | |
WordPress.org defines the distinction plainly: trackbacks “must be created manually, and send an excerpt,” while pingbacks “are automated and don’t send any content.” A pingback functions like a remote comment: the receiving site checks that your linking post exists before offering the notification for approval.
When should you use each one?
Use a pingback for a normal WordPress-to-WordPress link
Link directly to the article you are discussing and publish your post. If both sites allow pingbacks, WordPress attempts the notification automatically. You do not need to paste a URI or write a separate message.
Use a trackback for a legacy blog
Choose a manual trackback when the destination system does not recognize pingbacks but publishes a Trackback URI. The recipient can still moderate or reject it, so sending one does not guarantee public display.
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Send a trackback in the Classic Editor
WordPress documents manual trackbacks for the Classic Editor. A WordPress recipient will normally be notified by pingback, making this workflow mainly useful for legacy systems.
- Open the linked site’s post and locate its Trackback URI (or similarly named field).
- Copy the complete URI.
- In your WordPress post’s Classic Editor, open the Send Trackbacks module.
- Paste the URI into the field. Add additional URIs only when you intentionally want to notify more destinations.
- Publish or update the post. The destination site decides whether to approve, moderate or discard the trackback.
The block editor does not use this Classic Editor module for the documented manual workflow. For modern WordPress posts, linking to an eligible destination is generally the simpler pingback method.
Control outgoing and incoming notifications
Open Settings > Discussion in the WordPress dashboard. The article-default settings govern two different directions:
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Outgoing notifications
Enable Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the article if you want WordPress to contact sites linked from new posts. WordPress warns that publishing an article with many hyperlinks can take longer while those sites are contacted.
Incoming notifications
Enable Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) if new posts should accept incoming pings into their comments/discussion workflow. Turn it off to reject incoming trackbacks and pingbacks for future posts.
Override the default on one post
Defaults can be overridden per post. In the block editor, open the post’s Discussion panel and use Enable pingbacks & trackbacks for Posts. Wording and panel placement can vary with your WordPress version, editor configuration and installed plugins.
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Disable pings on posts that already exist
Changing a setting under Settings > Discussion establishes the default for future posts; it does not necessarily change the saved ping setting on older content.
Change one post
- Edit the post.
- Open its Discussion or discussion-settings panel.
- Turn off pingbacks and trackbacks (or select Do not allow).
- Update the post.
Change many posts
- Open the Posts list and select the posts to change.
- Choose Bulk Edit.
- Set the pings option to Do not allow.
- Apply the change and verify a sample of posts.
Database-level changes are possible, but they are an advanced intervention. Use the dashboard controls first and make a complete backup before any direct database work.
Stop self-pings between posts on your own site
A link from one post to another on the same site can generate a self-ping when it uses the site’s full absolute URL. Use a relative URL instead, such as /2021/06/16/example, where your site structure supports it.
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- Edit the linking post and inspect the link’s saved
href, not only the text shown in the editor. - Replace the same-site absolute URL with the relative path.
- Save the post and check whether the self-ping stops.
The visual editor may add the domain back when a link is saved, so recheck the HTML or link destination after updating.
Handle spam and unwanted notifications
Incoming pings use WordPress’s comments and discussion system. Treat them as untrusted submissions: review them in the comments area, use moderation and spam controls, and disable pings on posts where they provide no value.
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- Set link limits and moderation or block lists where appropriate.
- Disable incoming pings site-wide for future posts if you do not want this channel.
- Use post-level settings or Bulk Edit for older content that remains open to pings.
Turning off ordinary comments does not necessarily turn off pingbacks. Check the separate pingback and trackback setting on the post or in Discussion settings.
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What the XML-RPC setting does—and does not do
Do not rely on the xmlrpc_enabled filter as a complete pingback shutdown. WordPress Developer Resources specifies that this filter affects XML-RPC methods requiring authentication; it does not control pingbacks or other custom endpoints that do not require authentication.
For narrowly targeted XML-RPC controls, WordPress documents the xmlrpc_methods and xmlrpc_element_limit hooks. Those are developer-level controls, not a substitute for the Discussion settings when your goal is simply to stop incoming or outgoing pings.
Quick Recap
A practical decision checklist
- Linking to a compatible WordPress post? Use a normal link and let pingback handling do the work.
- Notifying an older system? Find its Trackback URI and submit it through the Classic Editor’s Send Trackbacks module.
- Want no new outgoing attempts? Clear the outgoing notification option under Settings > Discussion.
- Want no incoming pings? Clear the incoming link-notification option and check individual post overrides.
- Cleaning up existing posts? Edit them individually or use Bulk Edit; changing defaults alone may leave older posts unchanged.
- Seeing self-pings? Inspect same-site links and use relative paths where suitable.
