For new bloggers, perhaps nothing is more misunderstood and underutilized than trackbacks. Even the name is misleading to the uninitiated. So what are trackbacks and why use them? Unlike comments, trackbacks allow you to continue a conversation in your own blog and obtain comments on your take of the topic. Additionally, trackbacks can drive traffic to your site; a bit a shameless self-promotion, if you will. First, let's get some specifics on how to add and managed trackbacks in MSN Spaces. Then I'll get into some of the concepts and drawback associated with their usage.

How do I add a trackback? Really the question is more along the lines of "How do I add trackbacks to another Space?" To add a trackback to a blog posting you’re reading you’ll first need to click the trackback link immediately under that post. This should expand a section listing the current trackback list. If an address is shown at the top of this section (should end in ".trak") then this Space accepts trackbacks from all blogging sites. If there is no address displayed then this space may only accept trackbacks from other MSN Spaces (blogs inside the MSN network) in which case you can only use the "Blog it" feature (more on this in a minute).

Assuming you find a ".trak" address in the space your reading (okay, you will in this one); next you'll want to copy it on you your clipboard. Now return to you space and start your own post. At the bottom of you entry page you'll find a collapsed trackbacks section. Click on the "+" to expand and now paste the contents of your clipboard into the field provided. Once you're done writing what you have to say go ahead and publish. If you like, return to the original post you were reading and refresh you browser. Do you see a new trackback pointing you your space?

How does the whole trackback thing work? The short semi-geeky description: That address you copied from the original post and then pasted into you entry (the one that ended with ".trak") is called when you click "publish". An HTTP POST is sent to this address and the permalink URL to your new post is passed along in the body of the request. This adds the URL to the trackback list of the original post. In the Spaces Beta, the trackback addressing the original post is not saved with your new post. This may change in future releases.

How to allow trackbacks to be added to your space? Once you've logged into your space, go to your "Settings" tab (far right) and then click on the newly exposed "Blog Settings" tab. Once there, about halfway down the page under trackbacks, you'll find the following three options (remember, these setting affect your visitors but don not change your ability to trackback to someone else's entry):

Allow trackbacks from any public website: Anyone sending a properly formatted call to your ".trak" address will be added to your post's trackback list.

Allow trackbacks from other MSN Spaces: This is the default for MSN Spaces. With this setting, visitors to you space are not shown the ".trak" address when selecting the trackback link under your post, however, they can still use the "Blog it" functionality and a trackback will be added to your post's trackback list.

Disable trackbacks: No trackbacks are allowed. Unlike disabling comments, users will still be able to select the trackback link under your blog posts but MSN Spaces will no longer accept any new trackbacks for any of your posts.

The reason MSN Spaces defaults to allowing trackbacks only from within the MSN network is not out of the desire to create some sort of blogging/trackback monopoly. It's simply that trackbacks are often abused by advertisers. While creating the Spaces Beta we were approached by others developing sites for the blogging community. The "free word of advice" that we often obtained was to lockdown (even remove) trackbacks or our user base would be spammed.

If you find unwanted trackbacks don't hesitate to delete them. If you find links to external advertising sites showing up on you blog posts try changing your setting back to "Allow trackbacks from other MSN Spaces". If you currently have this setting try Disabling  trackbacks for a short time. If the problem persists please notify MSN Support. They will disable any space that inappropriately spams another space with advertising or links to offensive sites. …Your discretion on that last one.

But back to the whole trackback concept thing; another way to think about a trackback is that it's a pointer to an answer for a question that someone else has posed. This may not always be the case; indeed sometimes it's just the continuation of the question, but let's chew on this Q&A idea for a moment. It is important to remember that when posting the answer with a trackback (your entry) you are really adding a link to the bottom of the question (the original post), not yours. Here's a way to remember this and an example of the one big flaw in traditional trackbacks…

Even the most casual fan of the book Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy knows the story of Deep Thought (the second most powerful computer in the universe of space and time). Many millions of years ago a race of "hyperintelligent" beings got so fed up with the constant bickering over the meaning of life (which used to interrupt their favorite pastime of Brockian Ultra Cricket; a curious game which involved suddenly hitting people for no apparent reason and then running away) that they decided to build themselves a super computer and ask it to figure out the meaning of life. …Seven and a half million years later Deep Thought reaches an answer to the question and delivers it to the descendants of the people who built the bloody thing. The answer is …42 (but you knew that, right?)

Obviously a bit perturbed, the people don't know what to do with the answer and, as we find out, they really don't even know what the question was. "So once you know what the question actually is, you'll know what the answer means." Deep Thought tells them. The only problems is that it will take a new super computer and 10 million more years to obtain the question from the answer of 42 …To sum things up, that computer was Earth and it's destroyed 5 minutes before finishing the reverse calculation. Why? Because that's how ironic comedy works.

Sadly, trackbacks suffer from the same inherent design flaw. No they're not in anyway inflicted by off-color British humor. You see, once you're at the answer, you have no way to get back to the question. Trackbacks are a one-way street from the question (or the original post) to someone's interpretation of the answer or continuance of the topic. Really, taking this perspective, that's why the name is misleading; it really might be better to call it a track forward.

"Blog it" was our first dabble in attempting to make trackbacks more useable. The copy this, paste that of traditional trackbacks is a cumbersome and with "Blog it" all you have to do is highlight what someone else is talking about and select the "Blog it" link at the bottom of their post. This will open up your own blog entry window (after verifying who you are, if not already logged in) and will then allow you to save the quote as a new entry in you own blog. Complete with a trackback sent to the original post and all.

As blogging becomes more popular, blogging sites such as MSN Spaces will need to do more to educate users and improve the usably of this powerful feature, once reserved for only true hardcore bloggers. Comments on how you'd like to see this system improved are welcome.

…And for all you really hardcore HHGG fans out there (meaning that you knew that acronym without having to spell out Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy): Remember that life is paradoxically coincidental to the ironical tyrrany applicable to the unparalleled definition of reverse entropy!