Using Master Pages, Themes, and User Controls

The ASP.NET Beer Store is designed with Master Pages, Themes, and User Controls. Master Pages and User Controls are used to share content across multiple pages. Themes are used to give the pages in the application a common style.

Note

Master Pages, Themes, and User Controls are covered in Part II of this book, "Designing ASP.NET Websites."

The application uses two Master Pages named Store.master and Manage.master. The Store.master Master Page contains the layout for the public section of the website. The Manage.master page contains the layout for the private section of the website.

The Store.master Master Page contains two of the standard ASP.NET Navigation controls: the Menu control and the SiteMapPath control. The Menu control is used to display the list of product categories. The SiteMapPath control is used to display the breadcrumb that appears near the top of every page.

The application takes advantage of two User Controls to create a standard layout for displaying products and product categories. The Templates\ProductTemplate.ascx User Control is used in both the Featured Products DataList and the Products DataList to display product information. The Templates\CategoryTemplate.ascx User Control is used in the Categories DataList to display product category information.