Title: Trackback question
Last modified: August 18, 2016

---

# Trackback question

 *  Resolved [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/)
 * I have found many posts here on trackback issues. Many are just the question 
   I am asking, no real answer. The few suggestions I have come across, I either
   already have implemented or are for other track back issues.
 * My question is simply what are the 2 or 3 top things I should look at to get 
   trackbacks working? I have my options set to allow, and also allow on individual
   posts. But trackbacks do not appear on my site. I have had others link such that
   a trackback should show up, but it does not. Trackbacks from these sites do show
   up on other blogs.

Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573917)
 * After much reading, I believe I finally have trackbacks set up correctly. I have
   a trackback url link displaying under each individual post. I also have WP options
   set to allow pingbacks and trackbacks. On individual posts, I set to allow comments
   and pings.
 * However, neither trackbacks or pingbacks show up in the comments of individual
   posts.
 * What am I missing here????
 * Thanks!
 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573918)
 * I finally got the trackbacks working. They now show up as a comment waiting to
   be moderated, which is perfect.
 * Maybe I am just not understanding pingbacks correctly. If so, can someone PLEASE
   set me straight? :0
 * If another blog links to one of my posts, I should get a pingback, correct? If
   so, how am I notified of that pingback? Are they supposed to work like the trackbacks?
 * My understanding is that pingbacks, if set up correctly, work automatically. 
   Because I had to enter code manually in my single.php file to get trackbacks 
   to work, I suspect my theme also does not automatically support pingbacks.
 * I can’t find the directions for editing single.php to make pingbacks work.
 * Can anyone help?
 * Thanks!
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573919)
 * 1. It there is a mentioning of a post of yours in another blog post AND a link
   to your post in it = that wuld result in a ping.
    2. If the author of another
   blog writes something AND adds your post’s TB address in the special filed below
   the text input area in his admin panel = that’s a trackback.
 * They seem to be similar… although they are not.
    Since WP handles comments, TBs
   and pings in the same way – you should be notified of any ping, TB as you are
   about the comments.
 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573921)
 * OK, thanks. I am glad I understood the mechanism correctly. I did get trackbacks
   working correctly. #2 in your example works.
 * #1 is what is not working and I can’t figure out why. I had someone link to one
   of my posts in their blog and I get no notice of it. There are also other blogs
   that linked back to a couple of my posts a couple weeks ago and I got no notification.
   I even just linked today from one post on my site to another, (which should also
   cause a pingback?) and got no notice for that either.
 * One of the things I did for trackbacks was to add this line to my single.php 
   file:
 * `<a href="<?php trackback_url(true); ?>">Trackback This Post</a> |`
 * Do I need to do something similar for pingbacks?
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573922)
 * Do you have something like this in the header.php of your theme?
    `<link rel="
   pingback" href="<?php bloginfo('pingback_url'); ?>" />`
 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573924)
 * No, although I did try to follow a thread I found and put in something like it.
   But, it did not work. The entire header.php file as it is now is pasted below.
   I can try inserting exactly what you outlined above right before or after the“?
   php list_wp_pages” line and see if that does it?
 *     ```
       <div id="sitetitle">
       <h1><a href="<?php bloginfo('url'); ?>"><?php bloginfo('name'); ?></a></h1>
       <h2><?php bloginfo('description'); ?></h2>
       </div>
   
       <div id="menu">
       <ul>
   
         <?php wp_list_pages('sort_column=menu_order&exclude=32&title_li='); ?>
       </ul>
       </div>
       ```
   
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573926)
 * That can’t be **the whole** header file.
    Take a look at the default or classic
   to see what are you missing. There is no ‘head’ section in your file. Where is
   it?
 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573929)
 * Yes, that is the whole thing. The original that came with the theme is actually
   a few words shorter.
 * I have a head section in my index.php file. That code is pasted in the wp paste
   bin:
 * [http://wordpress.pastebin.ca/538203](http://wordpress.pastebin.ca/538203)
 * Also in the page.php file:
 * [http://wordpress.pastebin.ca/538212](http://wordpress.pastebin.ca/538212)
 * May not be related, but I got the following quote from the author of a plugin
   that in order to work with certain themes had to have the theme modified. He 
   was very nice and edited the theme files to make his plugin work.
 * “this sounds like another theme that doesn’t call wp_head(). Please try the default
   theme. If that works all right it’s the theme …”
 * If you can make any sense of it, I would really appreciate being told exactly
   where I need to put the code you typed in your second reply, above.
 * Thanks!
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573931)
 * The first pastebin code is wrong – if it is as you pasted there. You cannot have
   anything BEFORE the doctype declaration!
    (alltogether it is a stupid way to 
   make a theme…)
 * Anyway, put the line I gave you above just before the closing `</head>`.
 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573937)
 * I have NO idea why that div id = content is at the top of the file. I just copied
   and pasted the whole file into the bin. Rest assured it is not in that location
   in the index file in the Andreas theme. Weird. Anyway the correct paste of that
   files contents is here: [http://wordpress.pastebin.ca/541863](http://wordpress.pastebin.ca/541863)
 * As for your answer as to where to put it… Do you mean put the code before the
   closing head, right after `<?php wp_head(); ?>` only in the index.php? Or does
   it have to also be in the page.php?
 * For what it’s worth, there are several themes out that are written this way because
   I have seen where the author of the plugin I referred to above has had to patch
   them for people to get his plugin to work. Everyone seems to agree with your 
   assessment of it not being a smart way to make a theme!
 *  [moshu](https://wordpress.org/support/users/moshu/)
 * (@moshu)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573938)
 * Since Pages usually don’t have comments and/or TB – you don’t need that in the
   page.php.
    You may want to include it in the index and/or whatever file is used
   to display your single posts (single.php).
 * The reason I find it “not smart way” – in a traditional theme you have ONE head
   section in the only one header.php file that is called into ALL the other template
   files, so all the above guesswork (‘where to put it’) could have been saved.
 * So, why do you pick all the wrongly coded themes? 😉
 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573940)
 * > So, why do you pick all the wrongly coded themes? 😉
 * Yeah, I know, 0 for 2, so far! I guess because I picked them based on their looks
   and not on other, more relevant criteria. Also, as someone new to php files, 
   I did not have the knowledge to pick them by how well they were designed.
 * If I ever go with a new theme, maybe before I start customizing anything, I’ll
   start a thread asking for help determining if it is a well coded theme. Thing
   is that idea might start all newbies doing it, and drive a few of the pros here
   over the edge!
 * Oh, well… Thanks for your help in figuring this thread out!
 *  Thread Starter [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * (@wt)
 * [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573941)
 * For any future searchers of help on this, I tested and now pingbacks are working
   and show up in the moderation que as expected.

Viewing 13 replies - 1 through 13 (of 13 total)

The topic ‘Trackback question’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [pingback](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/pingback/)
 * [trackback](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/trackback/)

 * In: [Installing WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/installation/)
 * 13 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Will Taft](https://wordpress.org/support/users/wt/)
 * Last activity: [18 years, 11 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/trackback-question-3/#post-573941)
 * Status: resolved

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