In this mini-course, you will learn how to design master pages using HTML, CSS, and Visual Studio IDE. By learning how to design and work with master pages, you’ll be able to reuse some elements (header, menus, logos, etc.) without having to continually code them, saving you tons of time.

You will learn how to deal with nested master pages, pages for different browsers, as well as how to design pages using CSS and themes. By the end of this course, you will have a new skill that will drastically cut down your development time.

Introduction to Master Pages in ASP.NET

# Introduction to Themes

First, you start with the creation of a website. Then you add a folder called _App_Themes_. Inside this folder, a second folder called _Blue Theme_ is added. This folder is where the whole design required for the web site is stored. The folder can be named _Green Theme_ or _My Theme_, whatever you think is appropriate. After this, add a master page.

Add the _Blue Theme_ as a theme in _web.config_. For this process, add `stylesheet="Blue Theme"` in the page node, which already exists. After this, any CSS file in the _Blue_Theme_ folder will be linked in and applied automatically.

Nothing is to be done to the master page. In the design view, the look of the master page can be viewed after applying the CSS. Multiple CSS files can be added and applied automatically.

# Using _print.css_ file in particular

For the _print.css_ file the procedure is different. Rename the _print.css_ as _BlueTheme_print.css_. In the master page, you need to include a link to this CSS file.
        
For the code snippet to work, the head tag may include `runat="server"`.
    
And `OnPageLoad()` must have the `Page.Header.DataBind()` property.
             
In code you must use `<%# %>` instead of `<%= %>` that is use # instead of =.
           
The techniques described here are not the only one way to implement themes and CSS. Other techniques have their own advantages and disadvantages. Adding your own tweaks and modifications to suit your preferences is the ultimate goal. This is just a simple example so you have a place to start.   
  
 
             
      
    

In this lesson, you will learn about the current practices for using an ASP.NET master page with a theme and CSS. This can be tricky because themes and master pages were introduced in 2005; however, web development has changed drastically since then.

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Designing Master Pages Using Themes and CSS

Introduction to Themes