I just starting using some PHP in my site to make this a bit easier on myself. One of the things I've done is use a php include for my nav bar on the left. The code looks like this in HTML.

<?
include("http://www.dirtymonkeys.net/nav_bar.php");
?>

On my main page I didn't use the include because I didn't know whether or not google and other search engines would read the links in the nav bar. However when I view the source code on a page that I used the include like my games page it appears just like it does where I included the html on the main page. So will google see the links the same on each page? Would it just make more sense to do everything in the nav_bar.php file then trying to keep them all matching exactly and making it more time consuming.

Search engines only see the formatted code not the backend code, so it is safe for you to use php anywhere. Actually, you will be the only person in the world capable of view the ACTUAL code, everythjing else sees it as it is formatted in teh "View Source".

the thing is, if you use "php", it creates and shows only html code for a browser, not the actual php script ... and yes, <include> is perfect for dynamic pages.

oh that's great to hear. i'm such a php newbie but boy is it great.

Yes I discovered PHP about 2 years ago and have never looked back