"Master Page" support was one of the most popular features introduced with ASP.NET 2.0, and is one of those features that almost every new ASP.NET project now uses to deliver consistent layout template support across a web site.
One of the cooler scenarios that ASP.NET 2.0 supports is the ability to have "nested master pages" – where you can create a root master page for a site that defines a site’s overall layout, and then create nested master pages that are based on the root master and further customize the layout (for example: you could create a SingleColumn.Master and TwoColumn.Master that defined 1 or 2 column layout structures based on the root master template). This nested master page feature is extremely flexible, and enables developers and designers to quickly and very cleanly make changes to the layout and organization of a site with minimal code changes and no content duplication. The one (big) catch, though, is that Visual Studio 2005 doesn’t really support using nested master pages, and pages based on nested masters can’t be edited within the VS 2005 WYSIWYG designer.
The good news is that VS 2008 fully supports nested master pages, and makes using them super easy. Going forward I recommend that almost all ASP.NET projects should advantage of this feature – since it can add tremendous flexibility to the UI of your projects.
VS 2008 Nested Master Page Support – ScottGu’s Blog
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