ASP.NET Web Forms Web Forms Server Controls Programming Web Forms Server Controls
Adding HTML server controls to a Web Forms page is like adding any HTML element, except that you convert the element to a control that you can work with in server code. You can add an HTML server control by declaring it directly in the .aspx file.
NOTE: For background information on ASP.NET HTML controls, see Introduction to Web Forms Server Controls.
Type the HTML syntax of the element you want to use as a control. Include the standard HTML syntax for the element, and in addition, do the following:
- Set the runat="server" attribute to convert the element to a control.
- Set the control’s id attribute to a unique value for that page, unless the control is part of a complex control and will be repeated ( as in Repeater, DataList, and DataGrid controls ).
The following example shows how to declare standard HTML form input elements as server controls on a Web Forms page.
For information about the declarative syntax for a specific control, see ASP.NET Syntax for HTML Controls.
IMPORTANT: Unless you need to program an HTML form element in server code, you should just leave it as a plain HTML element. Each HTML server control in a form uses server resources, so it is always good practice to use only server controls that the Web Forms page has to work with.
- Remove the runat="server" attribute from the control’s tag.
You do not have to remove the id attribute, especially if there is client script that references the element.
Adding Controls to a Web Forms Page Programmatically Adding Web Server Controls to a Web Forms Page Setting HTML Server Control Properties Programmatically Web Forms Validation