Pingbacks work on staging, but when I push staging to live, they stop working

  • Unknown's avatar
    egidiotexas · Member ·

    I have tested pingbacks on two staging sites within my WP installation. On both staging sites, the pingbacks work well. Then, I pushed the staging site to live, and the pingbacks didn’t work. What is causing the issue on the live site?

    The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

  • Unknown's avatar
    egidiotexas · Member ·

    The site I need help is https://egidio.photography/ not what appears in the original note. I cannot edit it that post.

  • w32kazedetodo · Staff ·

    Hi there!

    Here are some options you could check to see why your pingbacks aren’t working once you deploy your staging site to live:

    1. URL Differences

    • Pingback URLs: Ensure that the URLs are correctly set on the live site. Pingbacks rely on correct URLs to function. Sometimes, the staging site URLs might differ from the live site URLs.
    • Permalinks: Check that the permalinks structure is the same on both staging and live sites. Go to Settings > Permalinks and verify the settings.

    2. Firewall and Security Plugins

    • Firewalls: Security measures on the live site might be blocking the pingback requests. This includes firewalls provided by your hosting provider or security plugins like Wordfence, Sucuri, etc.
    • Security Plugins: Temporarily deactivate security plugins to see if they are blocking the pingbacks.

    3. Spam Protection

    • Anti-Spam Plugins: Plugins designed to protect against spam might be mistakenly flagging pingbacks. Plugins like Akismet or others might need to be configured to allow pingbacks.
    • Comment Moderation Settings: Ensure that pingbacks are not being held for moderation. Go to Settings > Discussion and check your settings related to pingbacks and comments.

    4. Server Configuration

    • Server Settings: Check your server settings to ensure they allow outgoing HTTP requests. Some hosting environments restrict outgoing connections which are necessary for pingbacks.
    • PHP Configuration: Ensure that the allow_url_fopen directive is enabled in your PHP configuration, as it allows PHP to fetch URLs, which is necessary for pingbacks.

    5. If your host uses Apache servers: .htaccess Rules

    • Rewrite Rules: Ensure there are no .htaccess rules on the live site that might be blocking pingbacks. Sometimes, custom rules can interfere with the normal functionality of WordPress features.

    6. DNS Propagation

    • DNS Issues: If you have recently pushed the staging site to live, DNS propagation might still be in progress. This can temporarily affect the functionality, including pingbacks.

    7. Differences in Environment

    • Staging vs. Production Environment: There might be differences in the environment between your staging and live sites. These differences could include PHP version, server settings, or even differences in plugins enabled.

    8. XML-RPC Configuration

    • XML-RPC: Pingbacks use the XML-RPC protocol. Ensure that XML-RPC is enabled on your live site. Some security plugins or hosting providers disable XML-RPC for security reasons.

    That being said, I see your site is hosted with Unified Layer rather than WordPress.com so I can only share some general guidelines and recommendations since we’re not able to access the site. Take into account that by migrating your site with us you can enjoy our hands-on specialized WordPress support which could further help you with situations like this one and way more.

    If this might be something you would be interested in, don’t hesitate to answer the thread :)

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