.shtml SSI problems

Hi. Have created a site with server side includes using .shtml extensions in order to parse the SSI. The pages are not resolving (just drawing blank pages) through the dreamhost server, yet resolve perfectly well via a different server. Could it be to do with the doc type or the .ht access file? Or something else? When I validated the code on the w3c markup validation service - http://validator.w3.org/ - it comes up with a few errors, but basically reads the site ok. The web address is www.thealchemicaljourney.com - even weirder - it works through the ie and firefox browsers on some machines, but not on others. Can anyone help? Many thanks, John

I've never used .shtml on DH before, but try this in your .htaccess:

Options +Includes

AddType text/html .shtml
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml

There's probably more on the internet about how you should configure a .htaccess file accordingly, as different servers will come with different configurations, defaults, etc.

Also out of interest, why are you using .shtml over a "proper" scripting language, such as php?

Cheers,
Karl

web design, development & seo by DigitalVibe

Additionally, the page seems to load here (ie7, windows media centre laptop, vista home premium), although there is a massive gap between the top of the site and the content.

Not sure if this is a css issue - i've not had a look at the code... bedtime now (3am), and loads of xmas shopping (and drinking) to do tomorrow!

Cheers,
Karl

web design, development & seo by DigitalVibe

Re: "Also out of interest, why are you using .shtml over a "proper" scripting language, such as php?"

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/ssi.html#what

"They let you add dynamically generated content to an existing HTML page, without having to serve the entire page via a CGI program, or other dynamic technology.

The decision of when to use SSI, and when to have your page entirely generated by some program, is usually a matter of how much of the page is static, and how much needs to be recalculated every time the page is served. SSI is a great way to add small pieces of information, such as the current time. But if a majority of your page is being generated at the time that it is served, you need to look for some other solution."

http://httpd.apache.org/docs/2.2/howto/ssi.html#conclusion

"SSI is certainly not a replacement for CGI, or other technologies used for generating dynamic web pages. But it is a great way to add small amounts of dynamic content to pages, without doing a lot of extra work."