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So, Server Side Includes? (Clueless)

Ayame

Ayame

Weeping Willow Pines.
So, I've been looking around awhile and I'm actually not entirely sure what SSI does.
I know you can use it to include things but I don't know what. I have no idea what the limitations are.

Could I, for example, use it to include all the links on a left (or right) menu? And how would I go about doing this?

All the guides I read were either unclear what exactly I could do, or just confusing. I don't need to use it for anything terribly complex, so I don't think that another language would be preferable.
Sorry for asking such a simple question. I just wanted to use it to include the entirety of certain <divs> so I didn't have to update every single page when I added a link.
 
SSI is just one type of including, and it is not a language.

You basically include plaintext, which can include HTML tags or whatever; everything is given to the user and parsed after the files are effectively pasted onto the page. Tags can begin in one file and end in another if you like.

Did you look at part ten of my HTML guide? I think that explanation of SSI is about as straightforward as it gets.
 
Butterfree said:
SSI is just one type of including, and it is not a language.

You basically include plaintext, which can include HTML tags or whatever; everything is given to the user and parsed after the files are effectively pasted onto the page. Tags can begin in one file and end in another if you like.

Did you look at part ten of my HTML guide? I think that explanation of SSI is about as straightforward as it gets.
Click to expand...

Thank you very much, Butterfree. I just read your guide and it really, really helped. It was incredibly straightforward and not vague at all. :D
Edit: I followed the steps, but it is not working at all. I renamed the file to .shtml- that's not the problem.
It looks sort of like this currently (from <body> onwards):
Code: 
<body>
<!--#include file="top.txt" -->
<div id="content">
<h1> News </h1>
Updates are listed here.  <br/>
<h1> Generic Header</h1>
This is an update.  I am updating a lot of things: many pages have been updated.   </div>
<!--#include file="bottom.txt" -->
</body>
</html>
And this is top.txt:
Code: 
 <div id= "header">
-the header- </div>
<div id= "left">
<h1> Site </h1>
<a href=http://www.google.com> Google </a> <br />
<a href=http://www.yahoo.com> Yahoo </a>
</div>
And of course the lovely bottom.txt:
Code: 
<div id= "right">
<h1> More </h1>
The mighty right menu.  Home to nothing.
</div>
 
Last edited:
Well, what do you mean by "it's not working"? Is it not showing up properly or is it not showing up at all? Is it not working when you preview it on your own computer, or not working when you upload it and check the actual webpage? Are you certain that your host supports SSI? Most do, but not all of them.

Actually, since SSI needs to be installed on the machine to work, I'm certain your computer can't understand it on its own. You won't be able to see it by just clicking on your .shtml page in its folder on your computer and opening it in your browser. If you haven't already tried uploading the pages and included files to your server, do so and see if that works. If it still doesn't work then your server must not support SSI, because it doesn't look like you're doing anything wrong otherwise.
 
Kratos Aurion said:
Well, what do you mean by "it's not working"? Is it not showing up properly or is it not showing up at all? Is it not working when you preview it on your own computer, or not working when you upload it and check the actual webpage? Are you certain that your host supports SSI? Most do, but not all of them.

Actually, since SSI needs to be installed on the machine to work, I'm certain your computer can't understand it on its own. You won't be able to see it by just clicking on your .shtml page in its folder on your computer and opening it in your browser. If you haven't already tried uploading the pages and included files to your server, do so and see if that works. If it still doesn't work then your server must not support SSI, because it doesn't look like you're doing anything wrong otherwise.
Click to expand...

... Oh. I guess it is working, then. I hadn't uploaded the pages. Thanks again for your help.
 
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