Question

I know this is pretty basic, but why do variables in master pages lose their value in the child pages?

For example if I have

[masterpage]

public string userId

... set userId in masterpage


[child page]

Master.userId // userId will always be empty? 

Answer 1

Because this is a stateless paradigm. If you want to maintain those values between post backs you have only a few options:

1. Session State
2. View State
3. Database
4. javascript / hidden values