Here is my burning question:

I rarely fail to give proper attribution, but I think there is something that should notify you of the trackback and I'm not sure how that works. I link to the permalink, but then what happens?

Newbie alert - I thought trackbacks were an automatic feature of the software. I've linked to lots of other sites and blogs on my own little blog. Sooo... can you please point to a good primer for us newbies?

Sydney -

What software are you using?

Looks like Sydney is at journURL; I'm on blogger/blogspot.

-Corrie

Hmmm, I only have direct knowledge of Moveable Type, where trackbacks are usually automatic. But there are glitches; for example, for me to trackback to a blog that uses "Blogger," I have to manually cut and paste the trackback url into a box at the bottom of my post interface. On the other hand, when I link to a Typepad entry, not only is it automatic, but MT insists on sending a ping every time I revise the post. Very annoying.

So there are various software compatibility differences.

You guys should read the links that I just posted in the update, they should answer quite a few of your questions.

The fact that I didn't see phrases like *cough*Sharpasamarble*cough* makes me feel a little better.

Send a TRIPLE Trackback to an Unrelated Maintenance Post That No One Else Would Possibly Link To in Order to Siphon Traffic" technique (STTUMPTNOEWPLTOSTT),

When I place a hyperlink in a post, my software automatically tries to make a trackback. Often, and this happens on your site, Bill, the system creates a trackback at the first post if no specific post was specified. I don't know why this happens and I'm already working on other code and would have a dickens of a time trying to fix that part as well.

Liar.

I just posted a link to INDC on my blog. If it is not too much trouble can you tell me if there was a trackback?

It doesn't work that way; you need to post a link to a specific post, like this one. If there is a trackback, you will see it show up on the little "Trackback" link next to the "comments" link.

A link just to "www.indcjournal.com" will never show up asa trackback. A link to "http://www.indcjournal.com/archives/001005.php" may ...

Bill,

Thanks for the tips and link! Personally, I'm using PostNuke on Houblog, which has... issues. Trackbacks are solely a feature of MT; other software implements the feature differently or not at all. I've tried to link to you and others using the "trackback URL" before, and it won't work unless you have MT.

PN is a "Not At All" and further, it's module structure keeps makes our article URL's hellishly long. As I have discovered, it chokes spiders, makes it hard to control appearance/style, prevents putting links to sites on the front page (unless you code php). It can also be difficult to set up for an inexperienced user. And linking pictures is especially fun, as I discovered this week.

I won't even go into the lack of Mozilla compatibility and editing hell.

There is a free version of MT downloadable from their website, and if someone's just starting out, I'd recommend that route. The only reason I've not switched is that I'll probably lose all my posts, and at the moment, I don't have time to dig into MT if it's as hard to set up as PN.

Hope this is of some benefit to those just starting out.

Agree, but doesn't that give the trackee Inbound Unique? Why should he complain?

So many bloggers don't understand how to use Trackback. Trackback is a powerful tool for small-to-medium audience bloggers like me. Many traffic 'lanches to my site began with a humble little well-timed trackback. And, the site hosting the trackback gets the added benefit of giving their readers more to read on the subject.

Steve at DOUBLE TOOTHPICKS

A link just to "www.indcjournal.com" will never show up asa trackback

I personally beg to differ ;)

I did post to a specific post and this is what I see:

-
1
Need a TrackBack ID (tb_id).

Can someone interpret?

I'm not familiar with your software or that message.

Ok, I'm trying Whizbang's manual trackback creator to link here, and seeing what happens on each blog.

OMG! if that was suppose to be "A Dummie's Guide to Trackbacks" then I should pack up my pajamas and go home! I didn't understand a thing he said.
I am more of a point and click kinda girl.
I don't even know what to ask...this is truly sad. *tears drop on my keyboard*

No! No tears! That tends to, er, stimulate... some guys too much. Like me. (Don't feel bad RWS, I had to let it all percolate a while to understand it too...And I'm not sure I do yet.)

On the bright side, Whizbang's manual trackback does work, though it took me a minute to figure it out. I mistakenly linked to the trackback url itself at first.

Blogspot has no trackback utility. Something to do with the inability to do cgi scripts (like I know what the heck I'm talking about). I installed the Haloscan utility to manage trackbacks and comments. Each trackback must be done manually. It's a fairly cumbersome process, but you get used to it.

Overview of their process here.

Bill, this post probably refers to me. I actually do link back religiously, but the difference between links and regular text on my site is very thin line. I've enhanced the visibility of the links. I need to change the CSS, but I'm having a miserable time finding which CSS to change.

Sorry for creating a stir,
Bill

I rarely use trackback because it's a hassle, but I very frequently link to InDC and other blogs.

Not a stir, just a reminder. A lot of new guys n' gals out there ...

I turned off MT's auto-trackback feature. It was too unpredictable. I just do the trackbacks with manual cut and pastes to the MT entry box for that ones I'm (finally) mostly done with a post. The I can check the intended target for the TB link, and if needed (when the acknowledgement ping fails) manually delete the trackback link form the box. If I don't check that box, some sites don't acknowledge, and it gets repeated every time I update the post (if I do). That has to annoy the other blogger, and I know it annoys me.

Wow, I thought I was a newbie. I figured out how trackbacks work in a day or two, it's a helpful feature for new blogs. I probably broke the etiquette once or twice in the beginning. Now I've received a few trackbacks on the other end and the people didn't link me in their post. You know, it *is* annoying. I'll certainly never do it again.

As Joe says, if you're on Blogger, going with Haloscan is probably your best bet. It's not too hard to install (and I'm not that technically astute). The manual ping function can be a bit cumbersome, but it's not too bad. I usually won't bother for a linking only post (of the "hey, go read this" variety) but if I'm linking and then expounding, it's usually worth the minute's investment of time to send the trackback because then the blogger to whom you're linking is more likely to go read what you wrote, rather than relying on them to pick up your post via Technorati or something.

Anyone use Wordpress? I loves me some wordpress.

Thanks for the info. I hit the "Blog This" button to dump the posts from acepilots into my blog for later reading. I'll also look up Haloscan, right after I get the time to install a blogroll. No point in doing a traffic counter, since nobody reads me anyway....

Corrie
sddc.blogspot.com