WP Tutorial
1. Where do you see “WP Tutorial”?
Open this page right now (or imagine it): https://www.w3schools.com/asp/default.asp ← that’s the ASP HOME page we talked about last time.
Look at the left sidebar or the top navigation area (depending on your screen size). You will see a menu like this:
- ASP HOME
- WP Tutorial ← here it is!
- WebPages Intro
- WebPages Razor
- WebPages Layout
- … (many more WebPages topics)
- Then later: ASP Intro, ASP Syntax, etc. (Classic ASP stuff)
“WP Tutorial” is the heading/group name that W3Schools uses for their entire set of lessons on ASP.NET Web Pages.
- WP = short for Web Pages
- It’s their shortcut label in the menu: “WP Tutorial” means “start here for the Web Pages track”
So when you see WP Tutorial, it just means: “Click here to learn the ASP.NET Web Pages way of building websites (using Razor syntax).”
2. What exactly is ASP.NET Web Pages? (The thing “WP Tutorial” teaches)
ASP.NET Web Pages is one of the simpler, beginner-friendly ways Microsoft created (around 2010–2012) to build dynamic websites using ASP.NET.
Key points (teacher mode ON):
- It’s much easier than full ASP.NET MVC or Web Forms
- It feels very similar to Classic ASP or PHP → one file = one page, mix HTML + server code
- Uses Razor syntax (the @ symbol magic) instead of old <% … %> tags
- You can write server code in C# (most popular) or VB.NET
- File extension → .cshtml (C# + HTML) or .vbhtml (VB + HTML)
- Great for small-to-medium sites, blogs, forms, database-driven pages
- Important 2025–2026 note: Microsoft is slowly merging/ending separate “ASP.NET Web Pages” into ASP.NET Core Razor Pages (which is very similar but more modern and cross-platform)
W3Schools says it like this (paraphrased from their intro):
“ASP.NET Web Pages is an SPA application model (Single Page Application). The SPA model is quite similar to PHP and Classic ASP.”
(Here SPA doesn’t mean modern JavaScript SPA like React — it means Single Page per file, like one .cshtml file handles everything.)
3. Real example from W3Schools WP Tutorial (Hello World style)
Go to: https://www.w3schools.com/asp/webpages_intro.asp (that’s the first lesson under WP Tutorial)
They show something like this as your very first page:
File name: Default.cshtml
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@{ // This is C# server code block var message = "Welcome to ASP.NET Web Pages!"; } <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <title>My First Web Pages Site</title> </head> <body> <h1>Hello Web Pages World!</h1> <p>@message</p> <p>Current time on server: @DateTime.Now</p> </body> </html> |
What happens?
- Everything between @{ … } is C# code that runs on the server
- @message and @DateTime.Now are Razor shortcuts → they print the value right into the HTML
- Browser gets clean HTML — no trace of the @ or C# code
Super clean, right? This is why beginners love it.
4. Another practical example (Form handling – very common in WP Tutorial)
From their “WebPages Forms” lesson:
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@{ var submitted = false; var name = ""; if (IsPost) { name = Request["username"]; submitted = true; } } <!DOCTYPE html> <html> <body> @if (submitted) { <h2>Hello @name!</h2> } else { <h2>Please enter your name</h2> } <form method="post"> Name: <input type="text" name="username" /> <input type="submit" value="Submit" /> </form> </body> </html> |
See how simple?
- IsPost checks if form was submitted
- Request[“username”] gets form data (just like Classic ASP)
- @name prints it safely
This is almost like Classic ASP, but with nicer syntax and better security defaults.
5. Full list of what “WP Tutorial” covers (from the menu)
Under WP Tutorial you get these lessons:
- WebPages Intro
- WebPages Razor (learn the @ syntax)
- WebPages Layout (master pages / _Layout.cshtml)
- WebPages Folders & Structure
- WebPages Global (like _AppStart.cshtml)
- WebPages Forms
- WebPages Objects (Request, Response, etc.)
- WebPages Files (read/write files)
- WebPages Databases (connect to SQL using WebMatrix.Data or EF)
- WebPages Helpers (@helper, built-in like @Gravatar, @WebGrid)
- WebPages WebGrid (easy HTML tables from data)
- WebPages Charts
- WebPages Email
- WebPages Security (simple login system)
- WebPages Publish
- WebPages Examples
- WebPages Classes
It’s a complete mini-course for building real small websites!
6. Quick comparison table (so you never mix them up)
| Menu Label | What it teaches | Language/Syntax | Modern status (2026) | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ASP (Classic) | Old 1998–2005 Active Server Pages | VBScript + <% %> | Legacy / maintenance only | Easy |
| WP Tutorial | ASP.NET Web Pages (2010 era) | C#/VB + Razor @ | Being merged into ASP.NET Core | Easy–Medium |
| Razor (separate) | Just the Razor syntax rules | C# or VB | Still used in Core Razor Pages | Medium |
| ASP.NET Core | Today’s recommended way (not in W3Schools yet fully) | C# + Razor/MVC/Blazor | Current & future | Medium–Hard |
Summary – like your teacher closing the class
WP Tutorial = the W3Schools menu section for learning ASP.NET Web Pages with Razor.
It’s their friendly, PHP-like path inside the big ASP.NET family — perfect if you want something simpler than full MVC but more powerful/modern than Classic ASP.
If you’re just starting server-side web dev and you like the W3Schools “Try it Yourself” style → do the WP Tutorial track after Classic ASP. It’s a great bridge to modern .NET.
Next class? Tell me:
- Want to see a full login system from WebPages Security lesson?
- Or compare Razor vs Classic ASP tags side-by-side?
- Or jump to why everyone now prefers ASP.NET Core Razor Pages instead?
Your turn — ask anything! 🚀 Happy coding from Hyderabad! 🇮🇳
