Professional ASP.NET 2.0 Design: CSS, Themes, and Master Pages

Chapter 8. Themes

If you are a fan of, or can at least relate to, the pirates of old, you can think of this book as a sort of modern day treasure map. With most treasure maps, you might have to go around the palm tree, walk 300 paces to the three-trunk tree, and head south for 150 meters to a spot where the waterfall cleverly hides a cave with the fabled treasure. In the context of this book, however, themes are your buried treasure. Much as with a treasure map, you had to get through several intermediate steps before you were ready to get into making themes, at least successful themes, work. You had to learn about the considerations of web design and standards. You had to obtain a basic working knowledge of graphics and color. You needed to learn what Cascading Style Sheets were and how they can be used in your projects. You had to understand site navigation and the tools in .NET that allow you to make it consistent. And, most recently, you needed to see how to create a standard template using all of the previous ideas and concepts so that you could carry out the overall layout of your site throughout all of the pages that make it up. So now you just need to walk through the waterfall and begin digging ten paces due north; you are finally ready for themes. And, once you open this new treasure box, you will find it filled with CSS, skins, and images that you can apply to all of the pages of your site.

What Are Themes?

Themes are one of the cooler ideas introduced with the .NET 2.0 ...