| Feature | SHTML (SSI) | Modern PHP/Python | Static Site Generators (SSG) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Every page request | Every request (or cached) | Build time only | | Top Nav example | <!--#include --> | <?php include('top.php');?> | % include 'top.html' % (Jekyll/Hugo) | | Performance | Slow (disk I/O per request) | Moderate (opcode caching) | Fastest (pure HTML) | | Best for | Legacy intranets | Dynamic apps | Blogs, marketing sites |
If index.shtml includes top.shtml , and top.shtml tries to include index.shtml , you’ll create a loop. Your server might time out. Always examine the top of each file to ensure no circular references exist. view shtml top