including header.php and footer.php automatically

Question

I have been trying to search a solution online and on stackoverflow but did not come across any satisfactory solution.

I wanted to know how can i include (if required) header.php and footer.php automatically in the new PHP pages that i create, at present whenever i create a new PHP file i manually add header.php on top and footer.php at the bottom, I dont really have a problem with doing this but i was wondering if this is how everyone does it and if not what is the best solution to this.

I know I could takeup any framework out there and use that because may be they include the header and footer automatically, but i am referring to custom PHP coding.

I will really appreciate views of experienced developers out there.

Answer 1

The usual approach is to use the front controller design pattern.

Use a single PHP file to load all the pages. Have it include the header and footer and use the URL (and whatever other information you like) to determine which content to include.

PHP developers often use mod_rewrite to map URLs onto a single script. You could also use the Apache alias directive.