To create an SSI document, write an html file as you normally would, but instead of giving it a .htm or .html extension, use .shtml instead.

To add spices to your newly created SSI document, add tags below somewhere in the document for to display on the fly information:

SSI tag	Output
<!--#echo var="DOCUMENT_NAME" -->	ssi.shtml
<!--#echo var="DOCUMENT_URI" -->	/usersguide/ssi.shtml
<!--#echo var="DATE_LOCAL" -->	Sunday, 05-Oct-97 15:09:41 EDT
<!--#echo var="DATE_GMT" -->	Sunday, 05-Oct-97 19:09:41 EST
<!--#echo var="LAST_MODIFIED" -->	Wednesday, 20-Nov-96 10:55:49 EST
<!--#echo var="REMOTE_HOST" -->	207.106.122.252
<!--#echo var="REMOTE_ADDR" -->	207.106.122.252
<!--#echo var="CONTENT_LENGTH" -->	(none)
<!--#echo var="HTTP_USER_AGENT" -->	Wget/1.4.4

That's not all there is to it in SSI. You can also include a file, execute a simple CGI, formatting a date, etc.

For more detailed information, consult:

• NCSA tutorial
• Using Server Side Includes, from ApacheWeek