View — Shtml
| Feature | Description |
|------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Full name | Server-parsed HTML |
| File extension | .shtml, .stm, .shtm |
| Primary use | Enabling SSI (Server Side Includes) – e.g., <!--#include file="header.html" --> |
| Processing | Web server parses the file before sending to browser |
| Fallback | Without server parsing, browser shows raw code (directives visible) |
Important: SHTML is not executed by the browser. If opened directly from a local file system (e.g.,
file://), the browser will display the raw SSI directives as text, not the processed output.
Most shared hosting plans support SHTML by default. view shtml
SSI is extremely lightweight. For simple inclusion tasks, it requires far less processing power than a PHP engine or client-side XHR requests.
If you request an SHTML file and see the actual code (e.g., <!--#include virtual="..." -->), SSI is not enabled. Here are the most common fixes. Important: SHTML is not executed by the browser
| Problem | Likely Cause | Solution |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Raw code displayed | Web server isn't parsing SHTML. | Add AddHandler server-parsed .shtml to .htaccess. |
| File not found (404) | Incorrect virtual path. | Use absolute paths relative to DOCUMENT_ROOT. Example: <!--#include virtual="/global/header.html" --> |
| Includes are blank | File exists but has wrong permissions. | Ensure included files (e.g., header.html) are readable by the web server (chmod 644). |
| Browser downloads file | MIME type is wrong. | Tell server to treat .shtml as text/html. |
| Local double-click fails | No server environment. | You cannot "view" SHTML without http:// in the address bar. Use localhost. |
Viewing SHTML files is relatively straightforward. Here are the steps: Most shared hosting plans support SHTML by default
When users search for “view shtml,” they typically mean one of two things:
| Goal | Meaning | |----------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------| | See the rendered page (as intended) | Execute SSI directives – needs a web server (Apache, Nginx) | | Inspect the source code | Open in any text editor or IDE – safe and straightforward |
Failing to distinguish between these two leads to confusion: opening an SHTML file directly in a browser shows a mix of HTML and unparsed directives like <!--#include virtual="menu.shtml" -->.
| Server | Setup Steps (simplified) |
|-----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| Apache| Place .shtml in htdocs/. Enable Includes in httpd.conf or .htaccess:
Options +Includes
AddType text/html .shtml
AddOutputFilter INCLUDES .shtml |
| Nginx | Use ssi on; in server block. |
| XAMPP / MAMP | All-in-one package with Apache. Works out-of-the-box for basic SSI. |
