Hi all,

I have successfully used SSI on one of my VSD-created websites. Now I'm trying it again on a new site, and "WHAM" - I'm up against the wall again! What happened?!!!!!

My issue is: The menu does not appear!

Here is a link to my test page: http://www.divinefemininealchemy.com/dfaTestPage.html

Here's what I have done:

1. I've created a simple page, dfaTestPage.html, with nothing on it other than a solid color background.
2. Using the HTML Tool, I've inserted a #include statement into the body.
3. Here's the #include code: <!--#include virtual="/includes/menuMain.shtml">
4. I have created the following folder in the root directory of the server: includes
5. The file containing the code is: menuMain.shtml
6. The file, menuMain.shtml, is located in the includes folder.
7. I have attached the file, menuMain.shtml, to this post. To attach the file to this post I had to change the file extension from shtml to txt.

Does anybody have a suggestion regarding what I am doing incorrectly? I'm at wit's end. I think I've exhausted my ideas on what the problem could be. Maybe I'm just too close to the issue? Or I need a stiff drink!

Thanks, in advance, for any help you can provide.

Are you not supposed to change the extention of the page itself to .shtml? Or am I misunderstanding how that all works yet? After the discussion in a different thread a couple days about about SSI I was under the impression that you would need to change your page extentions to .shtml as well as the include pages. If that's not the problem, then ... nevermind

Yes, that is the problem. Your page must end .shtml

Hello Jo Ann and Eric, two of my favorite people

You may be right; however, changing the page extension to shtml did not solve the issue. It did provide an error message, though, when I tried to access the page: "Error processing SSI File"

Now let's muddy the waters a little bit. I have another site in progress where I have the DHTML menu working well. On this other site, the SHTML file in the includes folder on the server has the same name as the file on the site where I am having issues. On both sites the server file is named "menuMain.shtml" and it is located in a folder named includes (case sensitive) on the server. On the site that is working the page extensions are html NOT shtml. They are working just fine.

Here is a link to the good, working site: http://www.momscustomhomes.com

It appears, at least to a neophyte such as I, that the pages in your site may not need to have SHTML extensions. Am I wrong?

Just when I thought it was safe to "go back into the water," I hit another wall. We've just gotta love these challenges.

Thanks, again, for your help and suggestions.

Hi Jo Ann and Eric again,

I forgot to mention that I have another file in the root directory of the server. It is a simple, text file named .htaccess containing the following: AddType text/x-server-parsed-html .html

Eric, when you suggested I research SSI, I came across this declaration so that all pages do not need to have SHTML extensions. Again, I know enough to be quite dangerous here.

I hope this helps in your analysis of my issues.

Ok. the problem is this (I think). The .shtml file is supposed to be your main pages and your .html is supposed to be your menu page. I think you have the files backwards. I think it is a fluke that it is working on one page - it should not be. I think even though it is working you should still change it, because you don't want it to stop working after the site goes live (lord knows that is our luck).

let me know how this goes.

No dice! No matter what I do on this one site, my menus do not display. I have read several tutorials, and did exactly why the tutorials recommended....Still no dice! SSI work on one site, but not the other, so I am beginning to wonder if there is something in the VNU file or at the server end that is causing the issue. Both sites are hosted by GoDaddy Linux, so I don't know if there is any difference in the servers, but it's worth a call to their technical support.

For those who are interested, here a couple of links to information on SSI:

http://www.yourhtmlsource.com/sitemanagement/includes.html#whataressi

http://www.parkansky.com/tutorials/bdlogxbh.htm#htaccess

Alas, I am no closer to a solution now than I was when I started, butt I am not giving up.

This link doesn't open your site it opens a download box.

Hi Jo Ann and Eric,

I discovered the problem I have been having with menus displaying on one site and not the other. You both have to promise not to laugh at me. If you must, please snicker under your breaths.

I called GoDaddy who hosts both sites and I learned that the site where my includes were not working is a WINDOWS hosting site, while the other site is a Linux site. SSI, so I was told by the GoDaddy rep, is a Linux-only system. To solve the issue, the client must switch to a Linux-hosting system.....I can hardly wait.

Thank you both for your efforts. I apologize for being a dummy and not knowing that the client had a Windows hosting system which does not support SSI.

I learn more every day.

Hi Jo Ann,

Yikes! Yes, I think I broke the other site (the good one that was working on a Linux server). I misstakenly started an upload from the bad site (different client) to the good site, and I probably corrupted something on the good site's server. The VSD needs to have a prompt when uploading to confirm that you want to upload to Site XX so that you won't inadvertently upload to the wrong site. I am old, senile, and sometimes do dumb things. This was an example of a pretty dumb thing. Now I will have to fix it, if I know how.

Thanks for pointing out the error. I don't know what would cause a dowload to be executed when accessing a site, but I will look into it.

Again, you and Eric are the best!