ON TRACKBACKS - UPDATED 11-24-05

You've heard of trackbacks, but you may not know what they are. Here's an excellent short explanation from Michael of Cruft:

1) The purpose of TrackBack is to let a site know that you are referencing them on your on site.
2) The TrackBack URL is different than the regular permanent link URL.
3) TrackBacks are fun. You should use them.

He also gives a longer explanation, with pictures.

Which is all well & good if you use Movable Type, but how do you send them if you're stuck on Blogger or LiveJournal or some other such blogging software that doesn't do automatic trackbacks?

Well, you can go to Haloscan, which give you the code for installing the Trackback feature. It'll even set it up for you automatically if you have Blogger.

Once you have it set up, you can log into Haloscan, fill out a form with some basic information, and send a trackback.

But here's a little secret: YOU DON'T NEED TO HAVE TRACKBACKS ENABLED ON YOUR OWN BLOG TO SEND A TRACKBACK TO SOMEONE ELSE, AS LONG AS *THEY* HAVE TRACKBACKS ENABLED.

All you need to do is fill out the Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger. Truth be told, it's actually slightly simpler than going through Haloscan.

UPDATE #1 11-24-05: You can also send pings using the Kalsey Trackback form.

But what if neither one of you has trackbacks enabled, or you just really don't feel like filling out the forms - either because you're busy or lazy?

Simple. You can use the "poor man's trackback", which is where you just leave a comment on their site like: "Nice post. I blogged about it here:" and leave the permalink to your post. As long as your post is related to their post, this is NOT a breach of netiquette. In fact, it's actually a favor both to the blogger whose post you're linking - everyone likes to know they're being talked about - and that blogger's readers - who might enjoy some further thoughts on the topic (this being the secondary reason for sending trackbacks - bringing yourself some trickle-down traffic).

Even if you have trackbacks enabled, don't hesitate to use the poor man's version (again - IF the link is relevant) if you want to save a little time. The only drawback to it is that some blogs actually display the trackback links under the post, so you might have a little less visibility this way.

Now here's the BIG question: WHEN do you use trackbacks? Are you morally obligated to ping someone every time you link their post?

Nope.

Remember, the purpose of sending a trackback is to let the person whose post you're linking know that you're linking them. If you know that this person is a daily reader of your blog and will see your post anyway, there's no reason to ping them. Although SOME people are fairly obsessive about their pings and want them anyway, so you may ping just to make them happy.

The main people you want to ping are the people who don't know you exist, so you can get on their radar. Also as a courtesy to the host, you should - if you enter a Carnival or link-fest - ping the round-up, just to let them know that their hard work was both noticed and appreciated.

In summary:

Trackbacks are a courtesy to the person you're linking, and not mandatory.
If you have to do it manually, use the Wizbang Standalone Trackback Pinger.
If they don't have trackbacks, you can leave a link in their comments.
Trackbacks can bring you extra site traffic.

CAUTION: ONLY TRACKBACK WHEN YOUR POST IS RELEVANT TO THEIR POST. ONLY COMPLETE JERKS DO OFF-TOPIC "HEY! LOOK AT MY BLOG!" PINGS.

UPDATE #1: 4-13-05 For those using Haloscan comments, Contagion of Miasmatic Review has a simple bit of code that will make it easier for other people to send trackbacks to you.

UPDATE #2: 4-13-05 Ogre of Ogre's Politics & Views has a post on the same feature.

UPDATE 9-1-05: Basil has an excellent primer on trackbacks at Alliance HQ.

UPDATE #2 11-24-05: Basil has important information about how to find the correct trackback URL at Alliance HQ.

UPDATE 5-24-05: [If you've found this post useful enough to blog about, send a trackback or e-mail the permalink to me at harvolson-at-gmail.com and I'll add you to my Bad Example Groupies blogroll. See this post for details]