Why You Shouldn't Use Pingbacks. Let’s admit it. When we read an article, we don’t always have time to leave a comment on it. What do you do in that case? Use the “pingback” feature enabled by WordPress, of course! This nifty little feature lets you track where your post was mentioned on the Internet.
Why You Shouldn't Use Pingbacks
Using pingbacks, you can find other WordPress blogs that have linked to your article and send them a little signal to alert them that they have done so. Unfortunately, this nifty feature has some negative side effects which we will go over in this blog post.
While it’s not uncommon for users to enable the pingback feature on their website, it is not always recommended. In this blog post, we'll explain why you should not use pingbacks and how to disable them for WordPress -- follow us and let's begin.What are Pingbacks
Pingbacks are alerts sent by one blog to another blog whenever a new post is published. They’re usually sent by trackbacks, which are links posted on another blog to let the owner of that blog know that the article has been linked to on your blog. Some blogs also send “pingbacks” as well as “trackbacks,” although most websites only use the “pingback” terminology.
Why You Shouldn’t Use Pingbacks and How to Disable Them
Pingbacks have some bad points that aren’t always obvious to people who aren’t familiar with them. Let’s take a look at some of the most common reasons you shouldn’t use pingbacks and how to disable them for WordPress.
1- Bad for your blog’s back end - Pingbacks are useful for the person who receives them, but they’re bad for the person who sends them. When you send a pingback from your website, you’re sending a signal from your back end to the back end of the site that has linked to you. Pingbacks are bad for your back end because they put a lot of strain on your system and can slow down your site.
2- Bad for your readers - Pingbacks are bad for your readers because they consume bandwidth and slow down your website. Depending on the amount of traffic you get, pingbacks could end up slowing down your website, which could have a negative impact on your readers’ browsing experience.
3- Bad for other blogs - Pingbacks are bad for blogs that you’re linking to because they’re a form of spam. They’re basically letting them know that you’ve linked to them without giving them an option to approve the link or even to know that it exists.
WordPress Disabling Tips
Now that we’ve gone over why you shouldn’t use pingbacks and how to disable them for WordPress, let’s go over some basic tips for disabling pingbacks on your own website.
1- Disable the feature on your own website - If you decide that you don’t want to use pingbacks on your own website, the first thing you need to do is to disable the feature. There are two ways to do this. One is by deactivating the feature on your WordPress dashboard, and the other is by adding code to your website’s htaccess file.
2- Find the code that enables pingbacks - Once you’ve disabled the feature on your WordPress dashboard, you’ll need to find the code that enables it. It’s usually placed in your “functions.php” file. Once you’ve found the code that enables pingbacks, you need to comment it out.
Pingbacks are a useful feature if they’re used correctly
Pingbacks are a useful feature if they’re used correctly. However, they can be dangerous if not used correctly. It’s important to assess your website’s traffic and decide whether pingbacks are right for you. If you determine that pingbacks are not right for you, it’s important that you disable the feature before it does more harm than good on your website.