Now that I’ve discussed what TrackBack is and how to use it, I’ve decided to make another mini-tutorial on how to send one yourself. If you missed that entry, you can read How to Use TrackBack here. Basically, it says TrackBack is a way of recording who has linked to your posts and notifying others that you’ve linked to them.

However, sending a TrackBack ping is only half the story. You must also be able to receive them so be sure to turn on the feature that allows you to display those who have sent you a ping from their own blogs. On your Friendster blog, you can do this by checking on the "Accept Trackbacks" box right below the form that you fill out when you compose a new post. You have to remember to do this EVERY TIME you create a new post so that other bloggers can notify you if they have mentioned you or your blog on their own blog.

In light of the fact that you can’t send a trackback to another blog using your standard (read: free) Friendster blog, I searched for an alternative. Luckily, there are plenty of standalone Trackback ping forms available on the Net but I have chosen this one created by Paul Burdick because of it simplicity and functionality.

Once you  have created a post that you think is related to another post done by a blogger, you can send him/her a TrackBack using the steps outlined below.

Here’s how to send a TrackBack ping to another blog:

1. Copy the TrackBack URL of the post that you wih to send a ‘ping’ to. Remember that the permanent link (permalink) is different from the TrackBack URL.

2. Go to ReedManiac TrackBack to learn more about the service. Here you will find a form can be used to send a trackback ping to any weblog that accepts TrackBacks.

3. In the first box provided (TrackBack Ping URL), paste the TrackBack URL of the blog post.

4. In the second box provided (Entry Title), type or paste the title of your post.

5. In the third box provided (Your Weblog’s Name), enter the name of your blog.

6. In the fourth box provided (Entry Excerpt), include an excerpt, which is usually the first few sentences of your post.

7. In the last box provided (Your Entry’s Permalink URL), copy and paste permanent URL (permalink) to your entry on your blog.

8. Click Submit. You have now just sent a TrackBack!

To check if you have sent it properly, go to the weblog where you sent a TrackBack ping to and see if your blog entry is being cross-referenced on its TrackBack listing.