CSS Code Generator and some Cool ASP.NET UI Design Templates you can use

Paschal has a cool post on some CSS layout generators out on the web today.  I've been getting into CSS more lately for a site template I've been working on in my free time (which unfortunately hasn't been much lately), and one of the things I'm always looking for is good samples to steal/borrow.  These look like good resources to bookmark.

Speaking of CSS, you might also want to check out these new ASP.NET 2.0 UI Design Templates that are now available for free download and re-use from Microsoft.  They provide clean, professional looking, UI templates built using CSS, Master Pages and Themes/Skins (each template ships with several skins and CSS files you can choose from).  The person who built them also added the appropriate CSS tips/tricks/hacks to make sure they look great in all modern browsers (if you read through the CSS you can learn a few good tricks).  You can re-use all of the content and code in these templates for your own applications free of charge with no license restrictions. 

Hope this helps,

Scott

 

7 Comments

  • It's a shame the templates aren't standards compliant like they claim to be.

  • Hi Chris,



    What issue did you find with the standards compliance?



    Thanks,



    Scott

  • Well, several pages on the ecommerce and smallbusiness templates fail XHTML validation and all of the ones I've tested have failed CSS validation. There are some problems with the built-in controls that will cause CSS validation failure (the menu for one) so that partially explains why the .NET templates fail. However, the newer HTML templates also fail CSS validation. Most of what I remember from the failure list on the newer templates was the designer failed to specify a background color when specifying a text color or vice-versa. At least you guys are making an effort to help push standards though.

  • Scott,



    Looks like your team has been working hard at it. Its seems like every week since the launch there have been some goodies coming from your ASP.NET team. Keep up the good work.

  • I played with the newer *.vsi versions last couple of days and this is the greatest thing from Microsoft since sliced bread!



    wait, sliced bread is not from MS? Then I have to check it thought :-)



    great thanks to the author(s)!

  • Scott,

    I've been playing with the design templates and also making my own master pages using strictly css, not html tables. However, I'm having a problem when I use VS2005 and the design mode. A lot of div's either overlap or are not positioned properly when in design mode. This makes working on content page's difficult. If this is a bug, I guess I can use dummy master pages when creating content pages and then load the actual master pages dynamically, but I'd rather not. Has anyone else noticed this behavior?

    Thanks,

    Kevin

  • There's a known issue where the adornments (frames) around the Content controls add extra pixels which affect your design. Especially with CSS, a few pixels extra somewhere can lead to a cascade of events that shatter the design. It's hard to say exactly what the issue is without looking at your page. I can take a look and try to "diagnose" if you'd like. =)



    HTH,

    Jeff

    jking@microsoft.com

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