Make header and footer files to be included in multiple html pages [duplicate]

I add common parts as header and footer using Server Side Includes. No HTML and no JavaScript is needed. Instead, the webserver automatically adds the included code before doing anything else.

Just add the following line where you want to include your file:

<!--#include file="include_head.html" -->

Must you use html file structure with JavaScript? Have you considered using PHP instead so that you can use simple PHP include object?

If you convert the file names of your .html pages to .php - then at the top of each of your .php pages you can use one line of code to include the content from your header.php

<?php include('header.php'); ?>

Do the same in the footer of each page to include the content from your footer.php file

<?php include('footer.php'); ?>

No JavaScript / Jquery or additional included files required.

NB You could also convert your .html files to .php files using the following in your .htaccess file

# re-write html to php
RewriteRule ^(.*)\.html$ $1.php [L]
RewriteRule ^(.+)/$ http://%{HTTP_HOST}/$1 [R=301,L]


# re-write no extension to .php
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^([^\.]+)$ $1.php [NC,L]

The question asks about using only HTML and JavaScript. The problem is that a second request to the server using JavaScript or even jQuery (requesting the extra header.html "later") is:

Slow!

So, this is unacceptable in a production environment. The way to go is to include only one .js file and serve your HTML template using only this .js file. So, step 1, in your HTML you can have:

<header id="app-header"></header>
<script async src="header.js"></script>  

And then, step 2, put your template in your header.js. Use backticks for this HTML string:

let appHeader = `
    <nav>
       /*navigation or other html content here*/
    </nav>
`;
document.getElementById("app-header").innerHTML = appHeader;

This has also the benefit, that you can change the content of your template dynamically if you need, because it is JavaScript! Also, try defer (or even nothing) insted of async, but it may seem slower to the user - this depends on your other content, so just try. Just, don't forget to put the script after the header.

Explanation about speed

In the HTTP/2 world, the web server "undestands" what additional files (.css, .js, etc) should be sent along with a specific .html, and sends them altogether in the initial response. But, if in your "original" .html you do not have this header.html file imported (because you intend to call it later with a script), it won't be sent initially. So, when your JavaScript/jQuery requests it (this will happen much later, when HTML and your JavaScript will get "interpreted"), your browser will send a second request to the server, wait for the answer, and then do its stuff... That's why this is slow. You can validate this, using any browser's developer tools, watching the header.html coming much later.

So, as a general advice (there are a lot of exceptions of course), import all your additional files in your original .html (or php) file if you care about speed. Use defer or async if needed. Do not import any files later using JavaScript.

You could also put: (load_essentials.js:)

document.getElementById("myHead").innerHTML =
	"<span id='headerText'>Title</span>"
	+ "<span id='headerSubtext'>Subtitle</span>";
document.getElementById("myNav").innerHTML =
	"<ul id='navLinks'>"
	+ "<li><a href='index.html'>Home</a></li>"
	+ "<li><a href='about.html'>About</a>"
	+ "<li><a href='donate.html'>Donate</a></li>"
	+ "</ul>";
document.getElementById("myFooter").innerHTML =
	"<p id='copyright'>Copyright &copy; " + new Date().getFullYear() + " You. All"
	+ " rights reserved.</p>"
	+ "<p id='credits'>Layout by You</p>"
	+ "<p id='contact'><a href='mailto:[email protected]'>Contact Us</a> / "
	+ "<a href='mailto:[email protected]'>Report a problem.</a></p>";

<!--HTML-->
<header id="myHead"></header>
<nav id="myNav"></nav>
Content
<footer id="myFooter"></footer>

<script src="load_essentials.js"></script>

I tried this: Create a file header.html like

<!-- Meta -->
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1">
<!-- JS -->
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/lib/jquery-1.11.1.min.js" ></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/lib/angular.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/lib/angular-resource.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="js/lib/angular-route.min.js"></script>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/bootstrap.min.css">

<title>Your application</title>

Now include header.html in your HTML pages like:

<head>
   <script type="text/javascript" src="js/lib/jquery-1.11.1.min.js" ></script>
   <script> 
     $(function(){ $("head").load("header.html") });
   </script>
</head>

Works perfectly fine.

I've been working in C#/Razor and since I don't have IIS setup on my home laptop I looked for a javascript solution to load in views while creating static markup for our project.

I stumbled upon a website explaining methods of "ditching jquery," it demonstrates a method on the site does exactly what you're after in plain Jane javascript (reference link at the bottom of post). Be sure to investigate any security vulnerabilities and compatibility issues if you intend to use this in production. I am not, so I never looked into it myself.

JS Function

var getURL = function (url, success, error) {
    if (!window.XMLHttpRequest) return;
    var request = new XMLHttpRequest();
    request.onreadystatechange = function () {
        if (request.readyState === 4) {
            if (request.status !== 200) {
                if (error && typeof error === 'function') {
                    error(request.responseText, request);
                }
                return;
            }
            if (success && typeof success === 'function') {
                success(request.responseText, request);
            }
        }
    };
    request.open('GET', url);
    request.send();
};

Get the content

getURL(
    '/views/header.html',
    function (data) {
        var el = document.createElement(el);
        el.innerHTML = data;
        var fetch = el.querySelector('#new-header');
        var embed = document.querySelector('#header');
        if (!fetch || !embed) return;
        embed.innerHTML = fetch.innerHTML;

    }
);

index.html

<!-- This element will be replaced with #new-header -->
<div id="header"></div>

views/header.html

<!-- This element will replace #header -->
<header id="new-header"></header>

The source is not my own, I'm merely referencing it as it's a good vanilla javascript solution to the OP. Original code lives here: http://gomakethings.com/ditching-jquery#get-html-from-another-page

I think, answers to this question are too old... currently some desktop and mobile browsers support HTML Templates for doing this.

I've built a little example:

Tested OK in Chrome 61.0, Opera 48.0, Opera Neon 1.0, Android Browser 6.0, Chrome Mobile 61.0 and Adblocker Browser 54.0
Tested KO in Safari 10.1, Firefox 56.0, Edge 38.14 and IE 11

More compatibility info in canisue.com

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <title>HTML Template Example</title>

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="styles.css">
    <link rel="import" href="autoload-template.html">
</head>
<body>

<div class="template-container">1</div>
<div class="template-container">2</div>
<div class="template-container">3</div>
<div class="template-container">4</div>
<div class="template-container">5</div>

</body>
</html>

autoload-template.html

<span id="template-content">
    Template Hello World!
</span>

<script>
    var me = document.currentScript.ownerDocument;
    var post = me.querySelector( '#template-content' );

    var container = document.querySelectorAll( '.template-container' );

    //alert( container.length );
    for(i=0; i<container.length ; i++) {
        container[i].appendChild( post.cloneNode( true ) );
    }
</script>

styles.css

#template-content {
    color: red;
}

.template-container {
    background-color: yellow;
    color: blue;
}

Your can get more examples in this HTML5 Rocks post

Aloha from 2018. Unfortunately, I don't have anything cool or futuristic to share with you.

I did however want to point out to those who have commented that the jQuery load() method isn't working in the present are probably trying to use the method with local files without running a local web server. Doing so will throw the above mentioned "cross origin" error, which specifies that cross origin requests such as that made by the load method are only supported for protocol schemes like http, data, or https. (I'm assuming that you're not making an actual cross-origin request, i.e the header.html file is actually on the same domain as the page you're requesting it from)

So, if the accepted answer above isn't working for you, please make sure you're running a web server. The quickest and simplest way to do that if you're in a rush (and using a Mac, which has Python pre-installed) would be to spin up a simple Python http server. You can see how easy it is to do that here.

I hope this helps!

For a quick setup with plain javascript and because not answered yet, you could also use a .js file to store your redundant pieces (templates) of HTML inside a variable and insert it through innerHTML.

backticks are here the make it easy part this answer is about.
(you will also want to follow the link on that backticks SO Q/A if you read & test that answer).

example for a navbar that remains the same on each page :

<nav role="navigation">
    <a href="/" class="here"><img src="image.png" alt="Home"/></a>
    <a href="/about.html" >About</a>      
    <a href="/services.html" >Services</a>          
    <a href="/pricing.html" >Pricing</a>    
    <a href="/contact.html" >Contact Us</a>
</nav>

You can keep inside your HTMl :

<nav role="navigation"></nav>

and set inside nav.js file the content of <nav> as a variable in between backticks:

const nav= `
    <a href="/" class="here"><img src="image.png" alt="Home"/></a>
    <a href="/about.html" >About</a>      
    <a href="/services.html" >Services</a>          
    <a href="/pricing.html" >Pricing</a>    
    <a href="/contact.html" >Contact Us</a>
` ;

Now you have a small file from which you can retrieve a variable containing HTML. It looks very similar to include.php and can easily be updated without messing it up (what's inside the backticks).

You can now link that file like any other javascript file and innerHTML the var nav inside <nav role="navigation"></nav> via

let barnav = document.querySelector('nav[role="navigation"]');
    barnav.innerHTML = nav;

If you add or remove pages, you only have to update once nav.js

basic HTML page can be :

// code standing inside nav.js for easy edit
const nav = `
    <a href="/" class="here"><img src="image.png" alt="Home"/></a>
    <a href="/about.html" >About</a>      
    <a href="/services.html" >Services</a>          
    <a href="/pricing.html" >Pricing</a>    
    <a href="/contact.html" >Contact Us</a>
`;

nav[role="navigation"] {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-around;
}

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">

<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <title>Home</title>
  <!-- update title   if not home page -->
  <meta name="description" content=" HTML5 ">
  <meta name="author" content="MasterOfMyComputer">
  <script src="nav.js"></script>
  <!-- load an html template through a variable -->
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/styles.css?v=1.0">
</head>

<body>

  <nav role="navigation">
    <!-- it will be loaded here -->
  </nav>
  <h1>Home</h1>
  <!-- update h1 if not home page -->

  <script>
    // this part can also be part of nav.js 
    window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => {
      let barnav = document.querySelector('nav[role="navigation"]');
      barnav.innerHTML = nav;
    });
  </script>
</body>

</html>

This quick example works & can be copy/paste then edited to change variable names and variable HTML content.

It is also possible to load scripts and links into the header. I'll be adding it one of the examples above...

<!--load_essentials.js-->
document.write('<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="css/style.css" />');
document.write('<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://code.jquery.com/ui/1.10.3/themes/smoothness/jquery-ui.css" />');
document.write('<script src="js/jquery.js" type="text/javascript"></script>');

document.getElementById("myHead").innerHTML =
"<span id='headerText'>Title</span>"
+ "<span id='headerSubtext'>Subtitle</span>";
document.getElementById("myNav").innerHTML =
"<ul id='navLinks'>"
+ "<li><a href='index.html'>Home</a></li>"
+ "<li><a href='about.html'>About</a>"
+ "<li><a href='donate.html'>Donate</a></li>"
+ "</ul>";
document.getElementById("myFooter").innerHTML =
"<p id='copyright'>Copyright &copy; " + new Date().getFullYear() + " You. All"
+ " rights reserved.</p>"
+ "<p id='credits'>Layout by You</p>"
+ "<p id='contact'><a href='mailto:[email protected]'>Contact Us</a> / "
+ "<a href='mailto:[email protected]'>Report a problem.</a></p>";

<!--HTML-->
<header id="myHead"></header>
<nav id="myNav"></nav>
Content
<footer id="myFooter"></footer>

<script src="load_essentials.js"></script>

Use ajax
main.js

fetch("./includes/header.html")
    .then(response => {
        return response.text();
    })
    .then(data => {
        document.querySelector("header").innerHTML = data;
    });

fetch("./includes/footer.html")
    .then(response => {
        return response.text();
    })
    .then(data => {
        document.querySelector("footer").innerHTML = data;
    });

index.html

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <meta charset="UTF-8">
        <title>Liks</title>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="css/styles.css">
    </head>
    <body>
        <header></header>
        <main></main>
        <footer></footer>
        <script src="/js/main.js"></script>
    </body>
</html>

another approach made available since this question was first asked is to use reactrb-express (see http://reactrb.org) This will let you script in ruby on the client side, replacing your html code with react components written in ruby.

You can use object tag of HTML with out use of JavaScript.

<object data="header.html" type="text/html" height="auto"></object>

Step 1: Create a file called header.js and paste following code: $(function(){ $("#header").html( ........); });

Step 2: Add at proper place as you seem fit

Step 3: Add following code before ending of body tag:

    <script src="assets/js/jquery-3.2.1.min.js"></script>
    <script src="header.js"></script>

Do same steps for footer or sidebar.

Credits : W3 Schools How to Include HTML

Save the HTML you want to include in an .html file:

Content.html

<a href="howto_google_maps.asp">Google Maps</a><br>
<a href="howto_css_animate_buttons.asp">Animated Buttons</a><br>
<a href="howto_css_modals.asp">Modal Boxes</a><br>
<a href="howto_js_animate.asp">Animations</a><br>
<a href="howto_js_progressbar.asp">Progress Bars</a><br>
<a href="howto_css_dropdown.asp">Hover Dropdowns</a><br>
<a href="howto_js_dropdown.asp">Click Dropdowns</a><br>
<a href="howto_css_table_responsive.asp">Responsive Tables</a><br>

Include the HTML

Including HTML is done by using a w3-include-html attribute:

Example

    <div w3-include-html="content.html"></div>

Add the JavaScript

HTML includes are done by JavaScript.

    <script>
    function includeHTML() {
      var z, i, elmnt, file, xhttp;
      /*loop through a collection of all HTML elements:*/
      z = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
      for (i = 0; i < z.length; i++) {
        elmnt = z[i];
        /*search for elements with a certain atrribute:*/
        file = elmnt.getAttribute("w3-include-html");
        if (file) {
          /*make an HTTP request using the attribute value as the file name:*/
          xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
          xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
            if (this.readyState == 4) {
              if (this.status == 200) {elmnt.innerHTML = this.responseText;}
              if (this.status == 404) {elmnt.innerHTML = "Page not found.";}
              /*remove the attribute, and call this function once more:*/
              elmnt.removeAttribute("w3-include-html");
              includeHTML();
            }
          } 
          xhttp.open("GET", file, true);
          xhttp.send();
          /*exit the function:*/
          return;
        }
      }
    }
    </script>

Call includeHTML() at the bottom of the page:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<script>
function includeHTML() {
  var z, i, elmnt, file, xhttp;
  /*loop through a collection of all HTML elements:*/
  z = document.getElementsByTagName("*");
  for (i = 0; i < z.length; i++) {
    elmnt = z[i];
    /*search for elements with a certain atrribute:*/
    file = elmnt.getAttribute("w3-include-html");
    if (file) {
      /*make an HTTP request using the attribute value as the file name:*/
      xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
      xhttp.onreadystatechange = function() {
        if (this.readyState == 4) {
          if (this.status == 200) {elmnt.innerHTML = this.responseText;}
          if (this.status == 404) {elmnt.innerHTML = "Page not found.";}
          /*remove the attribute, and call this function once more:*/
          elmnt.removeAttribute("w3-include-html");
          includeHTML();
        }
      }      
      xhttp.open("GET", file, true);
      xhttp.send();
      /*exit the function:*/
      return;
    }
  }
};
</script>
<body>

<div w3-include-html="h1.html"></div> 
<div w3-include-html="content.html"></div> 

<script>
includeHTML();
</script>

</body>
</html>