How to: Create File System Web Sites

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In a file system Web site, you put the files for your application into a folder on a local computer or on a computer that is accessible on your network. Because you do not require Internet Information Services (IIS) to create or test file system Web sites, they are useful for developing locally on your computer.

In a file system Web site, static files, such as images and style sheets, are subject to ASP.NET authorization. For example, static files in a file system Web site will not be served to an anonymous user when anonymous access to those files is disabled. However, when you create a Web site project in an HTTP location, IIS serves static files without using authorization rules. For more information, see File System Web Sites.

To create a file system Web site

  1. In Visual Web Developer, on the File menu, point to New, and then click Web Site.

  2. Under Visual Studio Installed Templates, select the template for the type of Web site that you want to create.

  3. In the Location box, click File System, and then type the path and folder where you want to create the Web site.

    Note

    You can specify either a local path or a UNC path to a different computer on your network.

  4. If you prefer to browse to an existing location, do the following:

    1. Click Browse.

    2. In the Choose Location dialog box, click the File System tab.

    3. In the tree, select the folder that you want to use, or type the path in the Folder box.

    4. To create a new folder, select the location, click Create New Folder, and then type a name for the new folder.

    5. Click Open to return to the New Web Site dialog box.

  5. Click OK.

    Visual Web Developer creates the site, opens a default page in the page designer, and displays the folder in Solution Explorer.

    Note

    If the path you specified already contains files, Visual Web Developer prompts you to specify a different location, open the existing Web site, or create the Web site anyway. In the last case, the files that are created with the Web site overwrite any files with the same name that are already in the folder.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Specify the Web Server for Web Sites

Concepts

Types of Web Sites in Visual Web Developer

File System Web Sites