I want to bring back HTML Import

[aarongustafson]

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title: I want to bring back HTML Import
date: 2020-12-11T20:11:35.941Z
submitter: PRIVATE
number: 5fd3d2779f82e73719c7323e
tags: [ ]
discussion: https://github.com/WebWeWant/webwewant.fyi/discussions/
status: [ discussing || in-progress || complete ]
related:

• title:
  url:
  type: [ article || explainer || draft || spec || note || discussion ]

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I feel the discussion to kill HTML Import only involved web developers who focus on web app development and not those who create web pages - the actual users of this feature.

The original rationale used to kill it - that ES6 modules is better - is an argument made purely from the perspective of web app developer, and is deeply flawed.

The killer feature of HTML Import is that it's simple to use and does not depend on JavaScript. You can make the same argument for killing HTML Import for killing native form elements, arguing that you can build them with divs and JavaScript - you can, but you shouldn't.

HTML Import is an extremely useful tool for authoring web document and web pages and can replace frames and framesets in many cases with much better accessibility, without having to use JavaScript. It can also replace PHP and SSI when the only feature you need is the ability to include snippets of HTML/CSS/JS.

As the web grows more powerful, we should take care to not only make sure the tools we have are powerful - for the more experienced developers - but also not forget about tools that are easy to use.

It not only make the web a more inclusive place - enable less technically inclined creators to participate - but it is also good for the environment (less complicate sites means less energy usage).

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If posted, this will appear at https://webwewant.fyi/wants/5fd3d2779f82e73719c7323e/