Apache Administrator's Handbook

Chapter 16. Server-Side Includes

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Configuration for SSI

• Using SSI Directives

• Variables and Flow Control with SSI

• Security Considerations

	Don't clarify things I already understand. It only confuses me.
	--Mary Cook

Server-side includes (SSI) are directives written directly into HTML pages that the server parses when the page is served to the browser. Rather than pass the page directly to the requesting client, the server opens and reads through the document, looking for SSI directives. If it encounters one, it replaces it with whatever content is produced by that directive.

SSI would be the right choice if, for example, you have an existing HTML page that needs a small amount of dynamically generated text inserted. SSI changes things such ...