Server Side includes

CGI Scripts | Javascript | PERL Scripts | PHP

WHAT IS SSI?
When you're surfing the net you will notice pages ending in .shtml or .shtm. That means the page content has been dealt out from the server by a program as opposed to standard HTML. To achieve this involves using SSI commands.

Basically it means this. You have a file. The server reads that file and looks at it for things to do - like special instructions. These instructions are then followed and the results are put together into a completed page. That page is then sent to the visitor's browser.

If you have a lot of repetitive items on a website (such as navigational menus) you only need one doucment which is served to each page by a SSI. This makes maintaining the site much easier. From there on the world's server's your oyster.

Here are a few places to learn more about Server Side Includes and what you can do with them.

Bignosebird (Their section on SSIs)
 
CGI Resource Index (Their section on SSIs)
 
NCSA (Now unsupported but they have left the site up for reference)

The Server Side Include function needs to be enabled on a server before SSIs can be used. The same applies to WebServUSB. To do this see the SSI pop up.

At present using a CGI/PERL SSI with the <!--#exec cgi="/scripts/file.pl"--> command is not yet enabled.