This step-by-step article describes how to create a custom
Web Form template so that you can include a cascading style sheet (CSS)
reference in all Web Forms in a Visual C# .NET Web project.
Typically, Web site designers must maintain a consistent look-and-feel on every
page for a particular Web site. This article describes how to create a custom
Web Form template that contains a link to a CSS style sheet. When you create
all Web Forms in an application with this template, you provide an easy way to
maintain a consistent design across the site.
The technique that is
described in this article is based on the concept of Microsoft Visual Studio
.NET Enterprise Templates. For more information, see the "
REFERENCES" section of this article.
Edit WebProjectItems.vsdir file
- In Notepad, open the WebProjectItems.vsdir file from the
following folder:
In Visual Studio .NET 2002:C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET\VC#\CSharpProjectItems\WebProjectItems
In Visual Studio .NET 2003:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\VC#\CSharpProjectItems\WebProjectItems
- Add the following text to the end of the file:
..\MyCustomWebFormWiz.vsz|{FAE04EC1-301F-11d3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}|My Custom
Form|10|#2263|{FAE04EC1-301F-11d3-BF4B-00C04F79EFBC}|4534|0|WebForm.aspx
- Save the file.
Create custom Web form wizard
- Open the following folder:
In Visual Studio .NET 2002:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio
.NET\VC#\CSharpProjectItems
In Visual Studio .NET
2003:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
2003\VC#\CSharpProjectItems
- Copy the CSharpAddWebFormWiz.vsz file to the
MyCustomWebFormWiz.vsz file.
- In Notepad, open the MyCustomWebFormWiz.vsz file, and then
change the Param value as follows:
Param="WIZARD_NAME = MyCustomWebFormWiz"
- Save the file.
Create custom Web form template
- Open the following folder:
In Visual Studio .NET 2002:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio
.NET\VC#\VC#Wizards
In Visual Studio .NET
2003:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003\VC#\VC#Wizards
- Copy CSharpAddWebFormWiz to a new directory that is named
MyCustomWebFormWiz.
- Open the following folder:
In Visual Studio .NET 2002:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio
.NET\VC#\VC#Wizards\MyCustomWebFormWiz\Templates\1033
In Visual Studio .NET
2003:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET
2003\VC#\VC#Wizards\MyCustomWebFormWiz\Templates\1033
- In Notepad, open the WebForm1.aspx file, and then add the
following link reference (which appears indented) between the <meta
name=vs_targetSchema> tag and the closing <head> tag as follows:
<meta name=vs_targetSchema content="[!output DEFAULT_TARGET_SCHEMA]">
<link id="link1" rel="stylesheet" href="myStyleSheet.css" type="text/css" runat="server" />
</head>
- Save the file.
Test link reference
- Start Microsoft Visual Studio .NET.
- On the File menu, point to New, and then click Project.
- Click Visual C# Projects under Project Types, and then click ASP.NET Web Application under Templates.
- On the Project menu, click Add New Item to add a style sheet to the project, and then name the style
sheet myStyleSheet.css.
- Set the background color of the body element to blue for
testing purposes.
- On the Project menu, click Add New Item.
- Click My Custom Form under Templates, name the file, and then click Open to add a custom Web Form to the application. Notice that the
style sheet is applied automatically to the new Web Form and that the
background is blue.
For more information about Visual Studio .NET Enterprise
Templates, visit the following Microsoft Web site:
Back to the top
