Visual Studio Templates

A number of predefined project and project item templates are installed when you install Visual Studio. You can use one of the many project templates to create the basic project container and a preliminary set of items for your application, class, control, or library. You can also use one of the many project item templates to create, for example, a Windows Forms application or a Web Forms page to customize as you develop your application.

Note

The template architecture described in this section is not supported for Visual C++ projects. For information on creating Visual C++ project templates, see Designing a Wizard.

In addition to the installed templates that are available in the New Project and Add New Item dialog boxes, you can access templates that you have created or that you have obtained from the community. For more information, see How to: Find and Install Templates Located Online.

This section contains topics that describe how to create, customize, and distribute Visual Studio templates.

In This Section

• Introduction to Visual Studio Templates
  Describes Visual Studio templates and what they contain, and provides an introduction to Starter Kits."

• Visual Studio Template Metadata Files
  Explains the .vstemplate files required for templates.

• Differences Between Project and Item Templates
  Explains the differences in contents and usage between project and item templates.

• Creating Project and Item Templates
  Contains topics that describe how to create project and item templates.

• Customizing Project and Item Templates
  Contains topics that describe how to customize project and item templates.

• Finding and Sharing Project and Item Templates
  Contains topics that describe how to download and share templates.

• Advanced Template Procedures
  Contains topics that describe how to perform advanced procedures such as localizing and signing templates.

• Starter Kits
  Contains topics that describe Starter Kits.

• Default Project Templates in Visual Studio
  Contains descriptions of the default project templates available in Visual Studio.

• Visual Studio Template Reference
  Provides links to reference information about the different aspects of Visual Studio project and item templates.

Related Sections

• Visual Studio Template Schema Reference
  Describes all elements of the Visual Studio template XML schema.