Creating a KU Web site on an independent web server

The KU Web Template operates with a small network of inter-related files: basic pages, page snippets incorporated as Server-Side Includes, images, and style sheets and javascript. In order to make use of the KU Web Template on a non-Central IS web server, it is not necessary to fully replicate the entire environment and its suite of files. In fact, provided the independent web server is capable of processing Server-Side Include directives OR php files, only a few files and conventions need to be established.

Web Template Header and Footer

First, the header and footer files will need to be copied from an IS web server and installed on your local web server. You can use either the SSI version which mirrors the central KU web servers, or a PHP version of the same file. For copies of these files, please use the following links (KU login required):


While the header and footer can certainly be downloaded from their native locations, these links provide access to the full, raw files, with all the Server-Side Include or php directives still in place.
Note: The files are only retrievable to those with a valid KU Login.

The header and footer files should be installed at the root level of your web server so they can be easily accessed by all web addresses within.

Once installed, it would be best to establish an automatic refresh of the files. If an update is made to the template, it would be inconvenient to have to retrieve fresh copies by hand. The details of configuring such an automated process differ with the server operating system and web server software configuration, so no instructions are provided here. In any case, it should be more than sufficient to schedule a once-a-day refresh of the files.

Local web site configuration

With the KU header and footer include files in place, it should be relatively straightforward to adapt the standard template usage to your server. All the documentation describing the page-creation process is given with relative URLs, so very little adjustment should be needed. IF you are using the php version, you should set your variables using $varname = 'Value'; instead of the standard SSI syntax.

One likely change you may need to make will be all the references to "/~http/..." These references are intended to point to the root web server directory, so that prefix may need to be edited for use in your local environment.

Images, Style Sheet, etc.

The KU Web Template files are configured to load their images and main stylesheets from webmedia.ku.edu. This should continue to work no matter what server is hosting the header and footer files, provided that the users viewing your web site have network access to the central IS web servers. In fact, this behavior is preferred, since it means the KU web content can be housed centrally and does not need to be replicated on other systems in order to be used.

Campus Alerts

The above files attempt to include the campus alerts file by default. If you are using the SSI version, you should setup an automated process to copy the alerts file from http://www.ku.edu/ssi/2009/campusalert.shtml to your server. Then edit the SSI lines for campus alert to point to the correct location.

If you are using the PHP version, it assumes that fopen is enabled on your server and includes the correct file automatically.