Themes are a way to allow programmers to establish 'skinnable' websites that can be programmatically adjusted for various purposes. A webmaster may decide that there should be a certain look and feel for site administrators while registered users see a different look and the remaining users see still a different view when they visit the site. This could include, among other things, completely different controls, graphics, and/or color schemes for each group. Users may want to set up a theme specifically targeted to meet the needs of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that removes all images and background colors and leaves the pages in stark contrast for that particular user group. Or maybe the developer just wants to let people choose the way they experience the site each time they visit.
Themes are very powerful and this book aims to highlight the potential of ASP.NET 2.0 Themes as well as their relationship to master pages and CSS in web applications today and illustrate many of the facets that can and should be included in theme development. While not specifically a designer's book, an overview of good web design and even a cheater's guide to PhotoShop will be included with the intent of taking the average ASP.NET Programmer and given them the knowledge to be 'Renaissance Men and Women' of web design.
