Pingbacks and trackbacks, reciprocal links between articles
Pingbacks and trackbacks are two terms that designate the reciprocal links that can be set up between two articles, which can be found on the same blog, Hypotheses blog or website, or on two different blogs or websites.
The idea is this: if an article published on a blog A quotes an article published on a blog B (via the creation of a hypertext link), then blog A can try to “inform” blog B it has been quoted. This process, invisible to readers, is called “pingback”. Once this ping is received, blog B can create a link in the other direction, pointing to blog A and reporting that the latter has cited it. This is called a trackback. This will appear as an automatic comment, published under the post in question, on blog B.
These reciprocal links are managed in the same place as the comments, in the Settings > Discussion menu of the dashboard of your blog (see screenshot below).
Check the box “Attempt to notify any blogs linked to from the article” to activate the trackbacks issued by your blog.
Check the box “Allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks) on new articles” to allow the creation of pingbacks (and therefore the creation of automatic comments) on your blog.

It is also possible to adjust these settings on each article and page, independently of the general setting described above. To do this, the “Discussion” module must be displayed on the editing interface of the post or page in question, below the main editing area. If you do not, click on the “Screen Options” tab at the top right of the WordPress window, and check “Discussion”. The module should now appear under the editing area, and allow you to accept or not reciprocal links (“Allow trackbacks and pingbacks on this page” box) and comments (“Allow comments” box) for this post or this page.
Featured image: Link by S. Castelli under license Creative Commons BY-NC