Prepend and Append Files with .htaccess

One of the lessor known and used capabilities of .htaccess files is the ability to prepend and append includes to every page request. Doing so avoids needing to code 

<?php 

require('footer.php'); 

?> 

in every template file you wat to use them in. Here's the .htaccess code:

# Prepend the file 

php_value auto_prepend_file "/dir/path/utilities.php" 

 # Append file to bottom of page 

php_value auto_append_file "/dir/path/templates/footer.php"


Now don't mistake this post as me telling you to use this strategy; using this functionality creates a layer of indirection that could confuse a team of developers if they don't all have a grasp of where automatically included files are coming from. Just wanted to let you know this was possible!