Server-Side Includes (shtml files) do not work

[DartGuru]

I have a website which uses my virgin media webspace (well, ntlworld as it's been around so long), which can be seen at www.xch180.co.uk.

On here, in a test area (add index-test.html to the domain) I have .shtml files used to permit me to include html inside html using :-
<!--#include file="file.htm" -->

However, they don't work, and all files that are .shtml appear as text.

Does VM not support SSI at all, or can I get it activated and, if so, how?

Note: I have already tried adding an HTML doctype to the head of the shtml file.

TIA

[Stuart C]

Looks like they don't, on Residential connections.

[TheNorm]

The free web space (all 55 meg of it) is very basic. But it is free.

[DartGuru]

Originally Posted by TheNorm

The free web space (all 55 meg of it) is very basic. But it is free.

Only in the sense that it is included in the monthly cost of the broadband :-)

So, if I wanted to contact VM to ask about it, is the only P-O-C the broadband helpline number, the 0906 one ?

Incidentally, http://help2.virginmedia.com/help/ge..._pwp_tools_ssi implies it works.

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by DartGuru

...Incidentally, http://help2.virginmedia.com/help/ge..._pwp_tools_ssi implies it works.

Very interesting! But did you notice that these pages seem to be specific for "blueyonder" users, e.g.:

Hostname: ftp.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

(from http://help2.virginmedia.com/help/ge...p_building_ftp)

My area is ex-NTL (was Cambridge Cable), and I've never been able to get anything but plain vanilla HTML to work on my "free" webspace.

Can anyone shed any light on this?

[DartGuru]

I guess that's a "no" then.

[ThunderChild]

You can put what you want to include in a java script, then use the script instead of the include. This was done a lot in the days of 28k modems, just to save download time for anything repeated through a site.

[DartGuru]

I've had a reply from VM which implies they DO support SSI.
They referred me to here:-
http://help2.virginmedia.com/help/ge...guide_whatitis
and
http://help2.virginmedia.com/help/ge..._pwp_tools_ssi

If I look at my test files again http://www.xch180.co.uk/index-test.html, in IE7, the right-hand pane shows the unincluded file (see view source), so I think it recognised .shtml, but the SSI bit doesn't work.
If I look at it in Firefox, I see the viewed source in the pane instead.

I'm very confused now.

[TheNorm]

Originally Posted by DartGuru

...I'm very confused now.

As in post #5, this seems to be restricted to those who are ex-blueyonder.

[m8internet]

Originally Posted by DartGuru

Does VM not support SSI at all, or can I get it activated and, if so, how?

A quick search of the VM webspace website and I found this :

http://www.virginmedia.com/customers...e-includes.php

[Joxer]

I think the mime type might be wrong on the server - I get text just loading the file using:
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/alan.go...testnews.shtml

But if I save it locally and open that it opens ok, though obviously saving it changed the meta data, Firefox just ignores the <!--#include file="file.htm" --> as any decent browser should.

I don't think it is an issue with ssi working on the server as the rest of the html should still display - something else is causing the browser(s) to think it is a plain text file.

Bear in mind I know almost nothing about web servers and html.

[Matth]

As I understood it, ex-Telewest PWP supports a lot more tricks than ex-NTL homepage - only time will tell if they ever get merged into one, and which way the merge would go, though there would be fury from some ex-TW customers if they lost features they were using.