In my ASP.NET MVC 3 project I have a master layout with a section defined. This section is responsible for displaying content in a sidebar, when it has any content assigned to it.
The problem I’ve encountered is the following:
I have some edit views, where both the sidebar and the main area is used for editing data. In this case the sidebar and the main body should be wrapped into one single form with a single submit button.
What is the best solution for this? The solution I came up with is that when the functionality I mentioned is necessary, I set a boolean property in my ViewBag. If this property is true, the master layout is rendered with the sidebar and the main content area wrapped in a form.
Is there a better way to this? The solution I described is a bit ‘hackish’ for me.
I would have two layouts. One with a seperate side-bar, and one without. Then, in the pages you need a sidebar with editable fields, you include the sidebar in your content page, not in the master.