/ByteDev.VisualStudio.Templates

Visual Studio templates for new project creation.

Primary LanguageC#MIT LicenseMIT

ByteDev.VisualStudio.Templates

Visual Studio 2022 templates for new project/file creation.

Create project template

To create a Visual Studio project template:

  1. Edit your code project how you want it.
  2. Within Visual Studio 2022 navigate to:
    • Project > Export Template... > Project template (type)
    • Select the project you want to create a template from the pulldown menu

The project template will be bundled up as a .zip file. Within the .zip file there will be:

  • A template icon (.ico file)
  • The .NET project file itself (for example .csproj file)
  • A Visual Studio template file (.vstemplate file)

Manually import project template

A project template can be imported into your instance of Visual Studio.

To import a template locally copy the required .zip template file to: C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Visual Studio 2022\Templates\ProjectTemplates

Now when you goto add a new project in Visual Studio your new imported project template type should be available for you to select.

Manually remove project template

To remove a project template so it is no longer available simply:

  • Navigate to: C:\Users\%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Visual Studio 2022\Templates\ProjectTemplates
  • Find the .zip file for the project template and delete it.

Create VSIX deployment file

The template .zip file can be wrapped in a VSIX file for easy deployment as a Visual Studio extension.

Firstly you will need Visual Studio SDK installed. If you don't have the SDK installed run the Visual Studio Installer, find "Visual Studio SDK" and install.

To wrap the .zip file in a VSIX deployment file:

  • Create an empty VSIX project in Visual Studio:
    • Select File > New > Project> VSIX Project
  • Copy the template .zip file to the root of the new VSIX project
    • Set the .zip file's "Copy to Output Directory" setting to Copy Always
  • Open the .vsixmanifest file in Visual Studio. This should open a dialog box
  • In the Metadata section:
    • Set the Product Name
    • Set the Product ID to the same as Product Name with a -1 suffix
    • Set the Author
    • Set the Description
  • In the Assets section:
    • Add a "Microsoft.VisualStudio.ProjectTemplate" type and set its path to the name of the .zip file
  • Save and close the file
  • Build the VSIX project
  • The new .vsix can now be found in the project's bin folder
  • Run this .vsix file to install the project template as a Visual Studio extension

To manage/remove the project template extension within Visual Studio navigate to: Extensions > Manage Extensions > Installed (section)

Further information