Organize your Blog by Separating Comments and Trackbacks

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:48:30 +0000

In order to make the most of your WordPress site you should make sure it is neat and organized so that users have an easy way of viewing posts. In order to accomplish this many people choose to separate their comments and trackbacks in their blog. In WordPress, there are several default settings. Luckily one of the advantages to using WordPress is the ease in which you can customize your settings or use plugins to make the site more user friendly for your particular needs. In WordPress the default setting is to combine both comments and trackbacks.

What are Comments and Trackbacks

To begin, you need to understand the difference between trackbacks and comments. Comments are easy. When you post a blog users can make remarks about what you originally wrote. You can view their comments and reply to them as well. Doing so allows for a more robust interactive community and is highly valuable for search engine optimization (SEO) as well as general popularity of your site and garnering additional traffic.

Trackbacks are when one site references another and how those references are identified. If it sounds confusing it really is not. For example, if you write a blog post someone else may read it. They may want to repost it or reference it in their own blog on another site. When they do so, they cite you as the source material by using a trackback. When this happens you will receive a comment on your original post that this was done. It is simply an automated process of someone commenting, “I posted this blog on my site too.”

Benefits of Separating Comments and Trackbacks

Separating comments and track backs is essentially an aesthetic choice but for the owner of the blog it is also useful. For other users, you may want to separate the two because most users coming to your blog won’t care in the least who reposts your blog. Plus, if they follow the links they may be “converted” to the other person’s blog. So why clutter their viewing with all those trackbacks?

For the owner of the blog, it is useful to see where traffic is coming from and going to. If you are getting continual referrals from a particular site it may be useful to monitor that site as well and contribute there so you get a feel for what others find useful. This can help improve your own content.

How to Implement Comment and Trackback Separation

The actual process of separating comments and trackbacks is relatively easy but you will need to edit your PHP script. The file you need is “comments.php”. Backup your site first in case you need to revert back. Then follow the directions found here which will get you the separation you want.

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Organize your Blog by Separating Comments and Trackbacks