Getting Started with VWD Express

Starting a New Project

Without further delay, let us start the tour of VWD Express. Each new web application that we make is known as a `Project'. Therefore, the first thing to do is to learn how to start a new project.

When we launch VWD Express, it displays the `Start Page' as shown here -

The start page has various sections. There is a section for displaying the latest news on Visual Web Developer 2005 Edition. This section is titled as -`MSDN: Visual Web Developer 2005 Edition'. The `Getting Started' Section provides links to topics that provide instructions on working with web applications. The `Recent Projects' section displays a list of recently created projects. It also has options for opening a previously saved project or creating a new project.

For starting a new project, you may use one of several options:

In the `File' menu, select the `New Web Site...' option.

OR

On the toolbar, click on the `New Web Site' button.

OR

In the `Recent Projects' section, click the link `Web Site' of the `Create' option.

Whichever option you select, a dialog box will pop up. We need to provide some information about our project before we can proceed.

First, we need to specify the type of our project. Since we are going to build a web site using ASP.NET 2.0, we should select the `ASP.NET Web Site' template from the `Templates' section. This template will provide us with a basic structure of the web site.

Next, we need to specify the location where our web site will be stored. This can be done using the `Location' drop-down list. Here, we have three choices, If we do not have a web server like IIS installed, we can use the built-in web server of VWD Express by selecting the `File System' option from the drop-down list. We can specify the location on our hard disk where the web site will be stored and provide the name of the project. If however, we want to use the IIS web server, we need to select the `HTTP' option from the `Location' drop-down list and provide the server address. Finally, if we want to use a FTP server located at a remote place, we need to select the `FTP' option from the drop-down list and provide the server address. Throughout this text, we are going to use the built-in server of VWD Express.

The `Language' drop-down list provides the selection of language to be used in writing the code. The choices are - Visual Basic and Visual C#.

Finally, click the `OK' button. VWD Express will create the project structure and display the first page of our project.