How to display same header and footer on different pages?

Question

I have header.php and footer.php files which I include in all of my pages. A sample page looks like this -

<?php include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/header.php');?>

<div id="content">
...
</div> <!-- content -->

<?php include($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/footer.php') ?>

Although this works well on the server, but when I test pages locally [ xampp on Windows 7 ], I get the following error message instead of the header, similarly for the footer -

Warning: include(C:/xampp/htdocs/header.php) [function.include]: failed to open stream: No such file or directory in C:\xampp\htdocs\f\index.php on line 1

Warning: include() [function.include]: Failed opening 'C:/xampp/htdocs/header.php' for inclusion (include_path='.;C:\xampp\php\PEAR') in C:\xampp\htdocs\f\index.php on line 1

This makes testing very tedious as I have to upload to the server for every minor change.

Also, I dug around the WP code, and it uses a get-header() to display the header.php file. I could not completely understand the function. My site does not use WP.

What is the correct way for including header and footer files?

look up the PHP `include` function – Max Nov 21 '11 at 11:30 — Max, Nov 21 '11 at 11:30

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 21 '11 at 11:34

the correct way to include any file is the include() or require() function. Wordpress uses a get_header() function because the header is more then just 1 file, so they created a function for outputting it.

The problem you have seems to be a problem with the $_SERVER variable. It has been quite a long time since I've worked with PHP, but what I would advise you to do is just use relative paths. For example, if the header.php and footer.php files are in the same directory as your index.php, you can just do:

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

<div id="content">
...
</div> <!-- content -->

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

I have tried this already, although it works locally, but on the server, header/footer are not displayed! Instead, can I change the value of $_SERVER ? — Akshay Tyagi, Nov 21 '11 at 11:52

beytarovski · Answer 2 · 2011-11-22T18:05:02.240

2

Simple and useful way (I use this in my all projects):

// find Base path
define( 'BASE_PATH', dirname(__FILE__) );

// include files
include BASE_PATH . '/header.php';
include BASE_PATH . '/footer.php';

edited Nov 22 '11 at 18:05

answered Nov 21 '11 at 11:44

beytarovski

2,649
5
31
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Muhammad Ummar · Accepted Answer · 2011-11-21T12:06:25.897

1

It seems that $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] is pointing to C:\xampp\htdocs, while your scripts are at C:\xampp\htdocs\f\, check the value of $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] on your local environment.

edit:

<?php
$rootDir = "";
if(strpos($_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'],'localhost')===FALSE)
{
  //On Production
  $rootDir = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'];
}
else
{
  //On Dev server
  $rootDir = $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'].'/f';
}

<?php include($rootDir.'/header.php');?>

<div id="content">
...
</div> <!-- content -->

<?php include($rootDir.'/footer.php') ?>


?>

edited Nov 21 '11 at 12:06

answered Nov 21 '11 at 11:35

Muhammad Ummar

3,426
4
36
68

Thanks! Also, how can I change the value of $_SERVER variable? – Akshay Tyagi Nov 21 '11 at 11:38
This variable is populated automatically by the PHP server. however it seems that you have created a subfolder `f` on your local environment for testing. please see my edited answer, it might help you. – Muhammad Ummar Nov 21 '11 at 11:58
Works! Saved me a lifetime. I create sub-folders locally because I work on multiple projects/websites simultaneously. I hope this is the right way to do so!? – Akshay Tyagi Nov 21 '11 at 12:27
Yes @Akshay Tyagi, for your problem this is correct way to deal with. – Muhammad Ummar Nov 21 '11 at 12:36

How to display same header and footer on different pages?

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