ping Attribute
One of the attributes I somehow missed with the HTML5 revolution was the ping attribute; Other attributes were more popular, download being one of them. Hell, I just stumbled upon the ping attribute while reading an old forum post. The ping attribute of an a element represents a list of URLs to POST to when the link is clicked.
A sample usage of the ping attribute would look as follows:
<a href="/checkout" ping="/tracking/going-to-cart">Checkout</a>
I tried writing the POST data to file but the PHP $_POST array was empty, so I can only assume no data is passed. As for why you'd use the attribute...I don't know. JavaScript tools provide tracking capabilities so I can only assume these POST pings can be coupled with session tracking to get more detailed information.
Have you used the ping attribute before? If so please let me know what you used it for!
![JavaScript Promise API]()
While synchronous code is easier to follow and debug, async is generally better for performance and flexibility. Why "hold up the show" when you can trigger numerous requests at once and then handle them when each is ready? Promises are becoming a big part of the JavaScript world...
![How to Create a RetroPie on Raspberry Pi – Graphical Guide]()
Today we get to play amazing games on our super powered game consoles, PCs, VR headsets, and even mobile devices. While I enjoy playing new games these days, I do long for the retro gaming systems I had when I was a kid: the original Nintendo...
![Facebook Open Graph META Tags]()
It's no secret that Facebook has become a major traffic driver for all types of websites. Nowadays even large corporations steer consumers toward their Facebook pages instead of the corporate websites directly. And of course there are Facebook "Like" and "Recommend" widgets on every website. One...
![Introducing MooTools Dotter]()
It's best practice to provide an indicator of some sort when performing an AJAX request or processing that takes place in the background. Since the dawn of AJAX, we've been using colorful spinners and imagery as indicators. While I enjoy those images, I am...
In a similar fashion to navigator.sendBeacon, the “ping” attribute fulfills the request in the background, thus it’s not suspcentible to common document unloading problems when sending requests..
Any sense of browser support?
I remember hearing about this many years ago (I think the last draft of specs to include it were in 2010, and it hasn’t been included since), but browser support was iffy. I think FF allows it only if the user modifies their about:config, there’s no real push for IE support, and Chrome/webkit supposedly support it but that’s not enough to recommend it’s use when it’s not on track to become a spec.
It was meant to be used primary for analytics and tracking, for the reasons Adam mentions (the request wouldn’t get canceled by the navigation itself).
It is designed for advertisers. The idea is to have a banner ad that links to the advertiser while having a click tracker go to the ad supply company without having to ad 3rd party JS that who knows what it does.
Since this is designed for advertisers, Google obviously has it working in Chrome, but Firefox doesn’t really care. Because of this, the ad industry just makes the click through url hit the ad supply site for tracking and then it redirects you to the actual ad url.
Just see that Google use it on results search links