An Introduction to building pages with php include statements

[vpssupport]

Hi Brian,
with reference to your reply - "As for search engines - they never see the code - it is all processed on the server *before* the pages are published to the net. So in its simplest form, it is can become just a more dynamic way of working with HTML".

Am I right in thinking that when search engine bots just look at your index page they will be able to see all content on that page as if it was one file?

[RandallDesign]

If ever there was an argument for server-side includes....

Let's say a client wants a small change to his logo, perhaps to darken the colour.

If you have a "header.php" file being included, only that 1 file needs changing. Hurrah.

If, like me, you used the same XHTML file as a template throughout the site then, like me, you have to spend 4 hours reinserting the image into every single bloody arsing file!

Was poor planning on my part in the original plans for developing the site, however I learnt from that mistake.

Dave

[vpssupport]

If we change all our files to .php would a search engine have difficulty knowing its the same site and change its ranking?

[Brian Turner]

If you're only building relatively few static pages, then a better idea would perhaps be to use folder names in your URL, rather than a filename with extension.

That way, if you ever change extension - ie, moving from PHP to ASP or JHTML - then your URLs will be preserved fine.

The reason is that search engines don't index pages, as much as URLs - so if you change your URLs, search engines only see new pages, and any ranking advantages the old ones had could need to be rebuilt.

ie:

domain.com/folder/keyword/

as opposed to:

domain.com/folder/keyword.php

And because the code is processed by the server first, the search engine spiders will never read the php code - merely the HTML the PHP code calls up.

As for David - yeah, we all learn the hard way.

[Globalart4u]

I have a question about php - how do get a list to go into three columns alphabetically ie a b c on one line then d e f on other etc do I use php for this or do something in mysql? Or is this an html thing?

[Brian Turner]

A single problem can have multiple solutions.

It depends upon what you are actually trying to achieve - but I'm sure a set of PHP includes could do you fine here.

Try starting a new thread in the web design board to detail your problems, and see what possible solutions are offered.

[lin robinson]

Thanks Brian!!! maybe you should setup a donation box lol!!

Requiring animal sacrifices makes a more dynamic statement.

This is so helpful, Brian. One question: the index.php file getting called by the URL.

I have seen that if the url is http://mysite.com/index.php it works, but using the naked URL just goes to the index.html file. So is the situation that if their is an index.html file present, it gets called, but if not the php index will be what presents?

[monaghan]

the default document for the virtual directory is often the .html file rather than the .php

Generally, you would only want either the .php or the .html to be in place to avoid confusion. Some control panels will allow you to control the order of the default document list, if so, then you could put index.php above index.html and it would serve the php file.

[Brian Turner]

If you want index.php to show, best to remove index.html.

I actually do have a few sites where I have an index.html page which then calls up and re-arranges data from index.php because there's more control, and the index.html shows instead of index.php on a root folder request.

In other words, the prioritisation of .index.html over index.php is something you can use to your advantage.

[hataish]

Hi, This post is very informative, however ther are some queries to ask about some specific topic. If someone can help me then please send me a private message. Thanks,