What is a Trackback?
A trackback is a notification you send manually from your blog post to a post on another website, telling it you’ve linked to or referenced it. The trackback carries your post’s title, a short excerpt, and a link, which the receiving site can hold like a comment for the owner to approve. Unlike automatic pingbacks, trackbacks aren’t verified.
More about trackbacks
Trackbacks let you comment on another website’s post from your own blog. When the site owner approves your trackback, it appears in that post’s comment section with your post’s title, a short excerpt, and a backlink to your post.
The rule for when to send one is simple: use a trackback only when the site you’re linking to can’t receive pingbacks, which usually means an older blogging platform. If the other site runs WordPress, publishing your post with the link in it is normally enough, provided two things are true: your site allows outgoing link notifications, and the post you’re linking to accepts pingbacks. Before you publish, confirm that “Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the article” is checked under Settings → Discussion.
How to send a trackback in WordPress
The block editor, the default since WordPress 5.0 (December 2018), has no Send Trackbacks option, so you’ll need the official Classic Editor plugin to send one. WordPress can still receive trackbacks either way. Here’s the process, from the WordPress.org documentation (last updated July 20, 2025):
- On the post you’re linking to, copy its trackback URI. On WordPress blogs, that’s the post’s URL ending in /trackback/.
- In the Classic Editor, paste that URI into the Send Trackbacks box below the content area. If you don’t see the box, click the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen and check Send Trackbacks.
- Publish your post. The trackback goes out when the post goes live.
Sending isn’t the same as appearing: the receiving site may accept your trackback and still choose not to display it.
Trackback vs. pingback
Both tell another blog you’ve linked to it. The difference is who does the work and what travels with the notification:
- Trackbacks are sent manually from the Send Trackbacks box (Classic Editor only), carry your post’s title and a short excerpt, and the receiving site has no way to verify who really sent them.
- Pingbacks go out automatically when you publish a link to a pingback-enabled post, carry no excerpt, and are verified by the receiving site before they appear.
Our pingback entry covers the automatic side in more depth, including how to turn both kinds of notification on or off.
Trackback spam
Spam is the reason many blogs turn trackbacks off. Because the receiving site can’t verify where a trackback came from, they’re easy to forge, and spammers have used them to plant links on other people’s sites, a classic form of comment spam. Forged trackbacks land in your comment moderation queue just like real ones, where a spam filter such as Akismet can flag or filter them for you.
The practical defense is the same as for any comment spam: hold trackbacks for moderation, and delete anything that doesn’t reference a real post. Plenty of site owners simply disable trackbacks altogether.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are trackbacks still used?
Rarely. WordPress.org's documentation (last updated July 20, 2025) describes trackbacks as a way to notify legacy blog systems, and sending one now requires the Classic Editor plugin. If the target site runs WordPress and accepts pingbacks, WordPress notifies it automatically when you publish, so most bloggers never need trackbacks.
How do I turn off trackbacks in WordPress?
Go to Settings → Discussion and uncheck the option that allows link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks). That stops them on new posts only. For posts you've already published, clear the same option in each post's Discussion panel. Our pingback entry covers both switches in more detail.
Are trackbacks the same as backlinks?
No. A backlink is a link on one site pointing to another; a trackback is just the notification telling a site that the link exists. An approved trackback does produce a link in the comments area, but the receiving site moderates it, so don't rely on trackbacks for link building.
Where do I find a post's trackback URL?
On WordPress blogs, add /trackback/ to the end of the post's URL. On other platforms, WordPress.org's documentation says to look for a "Trackback URI" link on the post's page and copy the link's address. Paste that full address into the Send Trackbacks box.
