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

# Importance of AJAX

Over the past several years, more and more developers have been building AJAX-enabled web applications. An AJAX-enabled website uses a number of related web technologies to offer a more responsive user experience.

Creating AJAX-enabled <t>ASP.NET</t> applications is amazingly easy thanks to <t>ASP.NET</t> AJAX Framework.

<t>ASP.NET</t> AJAX is built into <t>ASP.NET</t> 3.5 and Visual Studio 2008. It is available as a separate download for <t>ASP.NET</t> 2.0 applications.

# How to include AJAX

It is imperative to add one `ScriptManager` control to each and every page that uses the AJAX framework. The `ScriptManager` control manages the client-side script used in AJAX-enabled web pages.

The HTML instructs the browser to download the JavaScript files that make up the <t>ASP.NET</t> AJAX client library. After that, it can also be used to register user-specific (custom) JavaScript files, Script-enabled web services, and custom application service functionality. 

The above requirement changes if you add a master page to the website. Then a `ScriptManager` control is added to only the master page. 

Many of the larger <t>ASP.NET</t> applications today make use of master pages and power this technology. Master pages are providers for building template websites. 

These days, <t>ASP.NET</t> includes <t>ASP.NET</t> AJAX as a part of the default install. You will find that master pages and AJAX go together quite well. The basic requirement for including AJAX capabilities is placing a `ScriptManager` Control on the page. For a particular design, place the single `ScriptManager` Control for the whole web application on the master page. This will make the page AJAX-enabled. 

 You can use this technique if your master page includes any AJAX capabilities, even if the content page makes no use of AJAX at all. This is also beneficial if you have JavaScript items to place on all pages of the web application. 

If your content page also needs to make use of AJAX capabilities, you cannot simply add another `ScriptManager` control to the page. Instead, the content page needs to make use of the `ScriptManager` control already placed on the master page.

# AJAX for content pages

If the content page needs specific functionality, it can access the controls on the master page using the `ScriptManagerProxy` server control. This `ScriptManagerProxy` control works exactly like this main `ScriptManager` control, except that it is meant for content pages making use of a master page. The `ScriptManagerProxy` control then interacts with the master page's `ScriptManager` control to perform any necessary actions.   

    

       

In this lesson, you will learn how to include AJAX functionality in an entire web application using a master page. Only a ScriptManager control is needed on the master page and a ScriptManagerProxy control on the content page for the specific AJAX functionality. 

__default

Master Pages and ASP.NET AJAX (C#)

Importance of AJAX

How to include AJAX