Thoughts on MasterPages

[dbsquared]

I would like to get some feedback about using masterpages on my website.
One thing I have noticed is that it takes a lot longer to build the website with the masterpage design in one of my projects.
Questions I have is:
Should I change all my projects to use master pages?
Will masterpages slow down my website like it does on the build?
what is the benefits of using masterpages if any?

Thanks for everyones input.

To go where no programmer has gone before.

 

[ca8msm]

Should I change all my projects to use master pages?

Master Pages are great if you have (or will have) the need to be able to quickly change the layout of your site and add/edit/remove functionality to the whole site in one go. As to whether you want to change your existing sites, that's up to you but for new sites, I'd use them.

Will masterpages slow down my website like it does on the build?

There may be a very slight performance hit whilst the page and the master page is combined, but I'd bet that you couldn't notice it without using a timer.

what is the benefits of using masterpages if any?

See my first answer.


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[jshurst]

I have mixed feelings about Masterpages. On one hand they are great in that you can build new pages really quickly by just filling in the content. On the other hand if you need to change something about your site, you have to think hard about everything that it's going to impact, thus removing localization (so more planning is needed and it can be tricky).

As far as performance, I could tell a difference in my last project, but that is only because I had limited bandwidth (112k). For any type of LAN or broadband connection you won't be able to tell.