Friday 20 January 2012

Is there a replacement for Techonrati?

Of all the pros and cons about starting blogging again that I have been throwing back and forth in my head since passing my viva (yes, I'm pretty much a doctor now, though the certificate won't arrive till March), there is one obstacle that stands out above all, and that is the fact the invaluable service once provided by Technorati no longer seems to work, at least outside of the States (customer service doesn't respond to questions either - I can't even delete my account!). Until this is sorted, I'm not sure I can get back to blogging again, for I will have no practical way of knowing who is reponding to my posts or not. Inter-blog dialogues are one of the things that make time invested in blogging worthwhile.

So, my question to the blogosphere: Is there a replacement for Technorati? My own googling efforts have revealed nothing . Specifically, what I want is a service that tells me, in chronological order (and not in order of my most popular posts) who has linked to me so that I can respond to them. 

6 comments:

Ron said...

Phil !!! I am so glad you started blogging again! Also, a hearty congratulations on passing your defense (is that the "viva"?). Unfortunately, I have no idea how to solve your technical problem, but brother, I can't wait to see more from mind of Phil Sumpter :)

Phil Sumpter said...

Hi Ron, yes, the viva was my defence. Many thanks, and thanks too for your endorsement of my 'mind'! Until I get this issue sorted I'm still not sure when I'll pick up blogging again.

James Pate said...

I hear you on this, Phil. I miss the days when you could go to Technorati and see who had you on their blogroll. Nowadays, wordpress and blogger have pingbacks, but I know of no way to find out who has me on their blogroll.

Phil Sumpter said...

Hi James,

I hadn't heard of pingbacks. I'll have to find out what they are, but my brief skim through blogger didn't reveal anything (unless they are simply 'backlinks', which don't provide what I need). Do they give you an overview of links, so that even if someone links to an older post you'll be informed about it?

James Pate said...

I don't think blogger gives an overview of links. Under the post that's being linked to, that's where you learn about the pingback.

Overall, I'd say that Wordpress handles pingbacks better. For one, a pingback on Wordpress is treated as a comment, and so you are informed about it on your Dashboard and e-mail. Second, blogger does not consistently say what posts are linking to the post, and, sometimes, it lists a bunch of posts as linking to a post when that post is not actually linking to it. So blogger strikes me as having more gliches, when it comes to pingbacks.

Phil Sumpter said...

Thanks James. I would actually like to join the general move to Wordpress, but I just haven't got the time right now to figure out how that would work.