SERVER SIDE INCLUDE (SSI)

Server Side Include (SSI) is a way to display another document within a web page. Thus, if you have a menu that must be shown on every page on your site, you can use SSI to do easily and then, when the menu must be updated, you only have to change one file.

NOTE: SSI normally can only be used on a server that allows SSI files. You use to be able to use SSI code on a GeoCities page with either the .htm or .html file type pages. Unfortunately, GeoCities must have changed the code as now it doesn't work. To verify this please see my GeoCities page, ssi.htm.

If you have a site on GeoCities you can also uses the following two techniques: Dynamically Update Your Pageand IFRAME HELP PAGE

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO TO USE SSI
There are four things you need to successfully run a SSI on your site, for example, a menu that you put on any number of pages. In the following I refer to the two files as

  1. Your host's server must allow SSI extension. GeoCities allows SSI with .htm or .html file extensions.

  2. The Host Page that will have the Include File in it normally has to have a file extension of .shtml. GeoCities, however, can use either .html or .htm file types.

  3. To insert the Include File into a Host Page, place this INCLUDE CODE,

    <!--#INCLUDE FILE="filename"-->

    where you want the Include File to appear. The filename could be mypage.html, mymenu.htm, etc..

  4. The Include File that will be inserted into the Host Page need not have the following tags in it: <html>,<head>, <title>, <body> or any of the ending tags, e.g. </body>. The Include File may have a file extension of .html, .htm, or .txt as well as many others.

To learn about SSI tags that can be used, please see the following references: