Publishing An E-Journal:
Use Of SSIs

Why Use SSI?

If you make use of Server-Side Includes (SSIs) HTML fragments can be included in your Web pages. This has the advantage that if a change to fragment is needed (e.g. you wish to add something new, or make changes to existing part of a Web page) it can be done by updating a single file, and this change will immediately be implemented across all files which include the fragment.

As well as including HTML fragment, SSIs can also be with a server-side scripting language, enabling fragments to be transformed into HTML from a neutral format. An example might be storing an author’s name, which can then be included and transformed into metadata (using the <META> HTML element) and citation details at the bottom of an article. Defining the name once and reusing it in multiple places minimises the chances of errors and minimises subsequent maintenance.

Example Of Use Of SSIs

The Cultivate Interactive e-journal makes use of SSIs. Their use is illustrated below.

The article consists of several areas including a header bar and a navigational bar at the top of the page. This is followed by the article itself. Then an additional navigational bar is provided, followed by additional functional, such as viewing related articles, translating the article, displaying links to the article, etc.

The HTML page includes three SSIs which are used to include article variables: global variables, such as the name of the e-journal, issue variables, such as the issue number and publication date and article variables, such as the article name, author details, etc.

The heading SSI fragment followed by the top navigational bar fragment are then included. The article itself is then included. The citation details SSI fragment is included, and the author and article details are processed. The navigational bar at the bottom of the page is included, followed by a set of extra functionality.

Further Information

An example of this approach can be seen by viewing Cultivate Interactive and Exploit Interactive e-articles, such as <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue4/exploit-interactive/>.

Publishing An E-Journal:
Use Of SSIs

Why Use SSI?

If you make use of Server-Side Includes (SSIs) HTML fragments can be included in your Web pages. This has the advantage that if a change to fragment is needed (e.g. you wish to add something new, or make changes to existing part of a Web page) it can be done by updating a single file, and this change will immediately be implemented across all files which include the fragment.

As well as including HTML fragment, SSIs can also be with a server-side scripting language, enabling fragments to be transformed into HTML from a neutral format. An example might be storing an author’s name, which can then be included and transformed into metadata (using the <META> HTML element) and citation details at the bottom of an article. Defining the name once and reusing it in multiple places minimises the chances of errors and minimises subsequent maintenance.

Example Of Use Of SSIs

The Cultivate Interactive e-journal makes use of SSIs. Their use is illustrated below.

The article consists of several areas including a header bar and a navigational bar at the top of the page. This is followed by the article itself. Then an additional navigational bar is provided, followed by additional functional, such as viewing related articles, translating the article, displaying links to the article, etc.

The HTML page includes three SSIs which are used to include article variables: global variables, such as the name of the e-journal, issue variables, such as the issue number and publication date and article variables, such as the article name, author details, etc.

The heading SSI fragment followed by the top navigational bar fragment are then included. The article itself is then included. The citation details SSI fragment is included, and the author and article details are processed. The navigational bar at the bottom of the page is included, followed by a set of extra functionality.

Further Information

An example of this approach can be seen by viewing Cultivate Interactive and Exploit Interactive e-articles, such as <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue4/exploit-interactive/>.