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

Question

I want to create common header and footer pages that are included on several html pages.

I\'d like to use javascript. Is there a way to do this using only html and

Answer 1

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

views/header.html

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