alt Hacker Newsthat's the server side html generator i already mentioned. ok, this one is not large, but it still ties me to a limited set of server platforms that support running php. and if i have to write code i may as well write javascript and get a platform independent solution.
the point is, none of the solutions are completely satisfactory. every approach has its downsides. but most critically, all this complaining about people picking the wrong solution is just bickering that my chosen solution does not align with their preference.
my preferred solution btw is to take a build-less frontend framework, and build my site with that. i did that with aurelia, and recently built a proof of concept with react.
You didn't actually indicate a downside to using xslt, and yes it would fit your use case of a static include for a shared menu, though the better way to do it is to move all of the shared pieces of your site into the template and then each page is just its content. Sort of like using a shared CSS file.
To just do the menu, if your site is xhtml, IIRC you could link to the template, use a <my-menu> in the page, and then the template just gives a rule to expand that to your menu.