ASP.NET Site Navigation

To create a consistent, easily managed navigation solution for the site, one can use ASP.NET site navigation. ASP.NET site navigation offers the following features:

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  Site maps You can use a site map to describe the logical structure of your site. You can then manage page navigation by modifying the site map as pages are added or removed, instead of modifying hyperlinks in all of your Web pages.
  
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  ASP.NET controls You can use ASP.NET controls to display navigation menus on your Web pages. The navigation menus are based on the site map.
  
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  Programmatic control You can work with ASP.NET site navigation in code to create custom navigation controls or to modify the location of information that is displayed in a navigation menu.
  
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  Access rules You can configure access rules that display or hide a link in your navigation menu.
  
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  Custom site-map providers You can create custom site-map providers that allow you to work with your own site-map back end (for example, a database where you store link information) and plug your provider into the ASP.NET site-navigation system.
  

Relationships Between Site-Navigation Components

The following illustration shows the relationships between the ASP.NET site-navigation components:
Figure: Relationships between the ASP.NET site-navigation components(From msdn)