NSI is an advanced, single-file CGI directory index that composes collections
of hand-written HTML into a real, consistent website. Simply drop index.cgi
into a directory, provide your content in plain HTML according to simple rules,
and NSI composes a page with no build step, runtime or dependencies needed
beyond a CGI-capable web server and Perl itself.
NSI supports nesting to build more complex websites: symlink index.cgi into
a subdirectory and it will inherit configuration, styling and build dynamic
navigation from its parents. NSI can also enable custom server-side dynamism
through executable script fragments.
NSI is built on progressive enhancement; its baseline output can target clients as early as Netscape and even NCSA Mosaic, while split-path stylesheet and script embedding can layer modern browser capabilities on top for clients that can take advantage of them.
NSI is tested against Perl 5.005 and later, and best runs under Apache or Lighttpd.
For a demonstration of a real NSI site, visit the official NSI website.