How to Disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks on Post

WordPress has a wonderful feature that notifies its users when a page or post from the site gets linked. For instance, if your blog post gets linked to another blog post, by default, WordPress will send a pingback, notifying the linked site. While this feature aims to enhance connectivity, many site owners prefer to disable trackbacks and pingbacks on post to prevent spam and unnecessary notifications.

Trackbacks and pings are the notifications that WordPress sends when your blog has linked to another piece of content. The notification message shows up in the WordPress comments section of the post that was linked to. It is called the WordPress version of trackback. Most beginners don’t know that this feature can be disabled.

In this blog, we’ll discuss how to disable tracks and pingbacks on posts.

Why should you disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks on Post?

Trackbacks is a WordPress feature that provides notification when your posts are linked to other websites. Whenever anyone on your blog gets linked to another blog, you’ll receive trackbacks and pingbacks. Pingbacks are automatic, while trackbacks need to be set manually.

Nowadays, spammers use this feature to send spam. WordPress even adds pings if you link them to any of your own blogs. Sometimes pingbacks can be quite annoying. You can manually approve or trash trackbacks and pingbacks like comments.

Thankfully, WordPress allows you to disable trackbacks and pingbacks on posts, and it’s quite easy to do it.

Let’s get started:

Disable Trackbacks and Pingbacks for WordPress Posts

You can simply turn off the trackbacks and pingbacks feature from WordPress settings.

• Go to Settings>>Discussion.
• Uncheck the box next to Allow link notifications from other blogs on new articles.

• Click the save changes button.
• At last, just click on the save button to keep the changes you made.

Doing so will only turn off trackbacks and pings on new posts. In order to disable them on all old posts, follow the methods given below:

• Go to Posts>>All Posts. 
• Click on the screen option situated at the top right-hand side.

• Now type 999 next to the Number of items per page. 
• Next, right tick the box to title label to select all posts.

• Now click on the edit option from the bulk action drop-down and hit the apply button.
• After that, search for the ping option and change it to do not follow. 
• Finally, hit the update button.

That’s it! You have successfully disabled trackbacks and pingbacks on posts.

Final Thoughts

Pingbacks and trackbacks are essential to filter out the spam and unnatural links to your website. But if you have a high-traffic website, it can be quite bothersome, so disabling it can be the better option. Now that you have learned how to disable trackbacks and pingbacks on posts, go give it a try!

FAQ’s

How are pingbacks and trackbacks used in WordPress?

Pingbacks are automatic notifications sent when another website links to one of your posts. Ping is used in WordPress for the linked site. If that site accepts pingbacks, your link appears as a comment.

Trackbacks are a manual method where a blogger sends a brief message (a trackback) to notify the author that they’ve referenced their post. The receiving WordPress site then displays that trackback as a comment.

Is it good when other websites ping my post in WordPress?

If they can serve as a form of social proof and a type of backlink that shows you’re connected within your niche. Similarly, when discovering who is linking to you, which can inform your outreach and relationship building. In the above cases, the ping on your WordPress can be good.

But remember if many pingbacks and trackbacks come from low-quality or spammy sources. Then, they can clutter your comment section and negatively affect user experience. They might also be exploited for spam or malicious purposes, potentially affecting site performance and security. So, it depends on what kind of ping you are getting on your WordPress post.

Why should you disable pingbacks and trackbacks used in WordPress?

The reason to disable pingbacks and trackbacks used in WordPress:

Spam Reduction: Pingback/trackback spam is common and can fill up your comments section. Where you may require extra moderation.
Security Concerns: They can attempt a spam attack or Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack that can bring a security threat to your website.
Cleanliness & Performance: Disabling them helps maintain a cleaner site with fewer unwanted notifications, allowing you to focus on genuine interactions.