This is one of those aha! moments. It seems that not only will WordPress pingback a blog entry that you link to within a post, but it’s intelligent enough to find the most recent entry within a category you link to and pingback that entry.
Let me explain. While I was writing up the WordPress Theme Websites and Directories post, I linked back to a category on my design website (powered by WordPress with trackbacks enabled) and I noticed I had received a pingback notification.
It turns out that WordPress found the most recent blog entry published to that category and sent a pingback notification. Of course, this will only work if the blog you’re linking to supports pingback notification and has it enabled.
To learn more about WordPress pingbacks, you can check out the WordPress Trackback and Pingback Tutorial.
I discovered recently that WordPress also sends a pingback even when you only save an article as a draft and have yet to publish it!
Kx
# July 26th, 2006
Wordpress is cool like that!
# October 12th, 2006
That’s a pretty nifty feature. I will have to give it a try.
# October 21st, 2006
How does the pinging service that Wordpress has built into it’s blog compare to a free service like Ping-o-matic?
Why does everybody use Wordpress? Is it because of the pinging it does every time you do something to your Wordpress blog?
Jeffrey A. Solochek
# November 26th, 2006
Hi Jeffrey,
Thanks for stopping by, now, let’s see if I can get your questions answered.
To clarify, WordPress doesn’t have a built in ping service. It has a built in pinging system which will notify the update services and other blogs once you publish a new blog entry.
Ping-o-matic (which is owned/managed by the WP folks) is simply a hub to notify each update site of your new blog entry. It’s generally used if you don’t wish to manually update each site individually, however, some people have experienced a lag with ping-o-matic and prefer to list each individual service in the WP ping list. This decision is truly up to the end user and her experience with ping-o-matic.
As for why WordPress is so popular, the reasons differ from person to person. Some main reasons, however, include WP’s flexibility, it’s free and open source (which means you can tinker around with the source code and mold it into something completely different if you want), extensibility with plugins, the wide array of themes, the lengthy list of included features, and the community that stands behind it.
Hope that clarifies for you, and if you have any other questions, please ask.
~ Teli
# November 27th, 2006
Hi Teli,
Could you tell me if this is also compatible with other blog based software such as blogger, joomla etc.?
Many thanks,
Kyle
# December 7th, 2006
Hi Kyle,
I’m not sure if you’re asking whether other services will ping WordPress categories or if you’re asking whether WordPress will ping the categories of other blog software.
In either event, the answer is no unless the software supports pings. Blogger, I know, doesn’t even support trackbacks without a third party service.
Hope that helps,
~ Teli
# December 7th, 2006
@Kathleen
Are you sure? That means if you publish it that it will be pinged again??
# December 12th, 2006
Can I ask a question?
Has Tag and Ping run its course…
Seriously, I’m wondering what all the fuss is about and if it will last!
Thanks.
-kevin
# December 14th, 2006
I think WordPress is so popular because it is well programmed for search engine optimization.
# December 14th, 2006
@internet marketing:
I am sure as it’s happened to me before: I’d written a draft & saved it, then visited a post I’d referenced in the draft and found a site link to my unpublished draft.
I don’t know if the system would ping twice or not as I’m not sure how it works. I have a plugin - Smart Update Pinger - which prevents multiple pings. I’m not sure if/how that might affect the draft issue though…
Anyone else have any experiences with this?
Kx
# December 15th, 2006
Hi Kathleen,
Which version of WordPress were you using when it happened? I’ve not had any drafts show up as pingbacks, or even trackbacks, before they were actually published.
As for pinging twice, I addressed it in another comment on the WordPress trackback tutorial. Basically, if you’re using WP 2.0.x or higher, you really don’t need to worry about double pinging.
The plugin you have installed (Smart Update Pinger) should handle any other pinging problems you might experience.
~ Teli
# December 15th, 2006
I had the pingback enabled on one of my blogs and did not realized it until a few months later. To my suprise, it linked to other entries that were closely related to the initial pingback. Great feature!
# January 6th, 2007
I’ve read somewhere that submitting your site to pingoat.com and pingomatic.com would be dangerous as this duplicates the process of pinging since wordpress pings your site automatically. Is there truth to this? Thanks.
# January 6th, 2007
@ituloy angsulong
While legitimate users have little to worry about, pinging both pingoat and pingomatic would be redundant as both services update the same websites.
Those who abuse these services, however, can find themselves quickly band from one or both, along with some of the update sites each pings.
For that reason, it’s best just to choose the service you prefer and stick with it and if you change, make sure to stop pinging the previous one.
Hope that helps,
~ Teli
# January 6th, 2007
Wow, good pinging related debate and tutorial. Bookmarked it!
# January 7th, 2007
I use WP 1.5.2 Could somebody tell me if modifying a post on the blog could lead to pinging again?
# January 9th, 2007
Generally, if the site you’re linking to is running a current installation of WP, you don’t need to worry about the blog author receiving a duplicate ping. However, if you’re running any version of WP, it will re-ping the update services whenever you modify a post.
A way around this is via the Smart Update Pinger plugin (previously mentioned) which suppresses any pings when you’re just editing a post.
Hope that helps,
~ Teli
# January 9th, 2007
erm.. I have been blogging quite a while… and I don’t know about you… but does pinging really help in anyway or anything? Since there are so many new ways not to make money blogging stuff on traffic and stuff…
I know that Google Sitemaps now is more effective than pings.. what are your thoughts?
# April 18th, 2007
I recently received another comment which violated the comment policy, however, raised a good point. (Sorry it’s been so long Alvin.)
The commenter mentioned that it’s better to use Google sitemaps to get indexed rather than pinging. That’s all well and good, however, Google sitemaps and pinging serve two different purposes. It’s like comparing apples and oranges.
Pings are not (generally) about getting your website indexed in Google search, it’s about getting your blog listed in the Google blog search, Technorati, and a number of other blog update services. I’ve discussed this in various comments in the past.
Finally, this topic is not about “tagging and pinging”, it’s simply an observation that WordPress will send a pingback to the most recent post in a category if you link to that category. For anyone who needs further understanding on what a pingback is, then check out my WordPress Trackback Tutorial.
~ Teli
# July 18th, 2007
Hello, I agree that pinging does help with traffic as I have seen the increase since being pinged and getting links from Technorati. Alvin Phang has a point since his Automatic Blogging site has shown increases in traffic as well. I wonder if it was the Google Sitemap that worked? I don’t have the Google Sitemap and am wondering if I should do that as well?
# August 17th, 2007
Thanks. I’ve never really got the hang of the trackback thing and although there is still some mist you have helped.
# October 9th, 2007
When you edit a post several times, does it ping several times too?
# October 15th, 2007
Can this work with Live Journal or Typepad?
# October 27th, 2007
That’s a great feature. I will have to give it a try.
# November 2nd, 2007
Wow, I learnt something new. Didn’t know WordPress sent a pingback even when you save as a draft.
# November 16th, 2007
Hi Mario,
Apologies for not seeing your question until now, but the answer depends on your version of WordPress. If you’re using the most up to date version (from version 2.0.x+), then no, you don’t have to worry about multiple pings when you’re in draft or editing a post.
~ Teli
# November 16th, 2007
This is a great feature I wasn’t aware of. I have just started getting involved in WordPress so I was glad to stumble upon your great informative blog!
# November 26th, 2007
This is a great feature! I’m just starting my first WP website after making quite a few with Joomla. It’s features like this that are making me lean to WP for the new site!
# January 19th, 2008