This is a long time coming. I finally created a version of Simple Styles that is designed for Silverlight. Woohoo! This was a rewrite, a complete departure from the WPF Simple Styles and it may still be a little rough around the edges so please send me feedback!

What are Simple Styles?

Simple Styles are a set of styles and (more importantly) control templates that are designed to be a starting point for creating your own custom templates. The idea is to include all of the essential elements of the template and no extras. It’s a stripped down version of the control template, presented in full color (well, two colors) for your tweaking pleasure.

I’m a Silverlight geek and I want some details

Simple Styles should work great for XAML geeks (handcoders) and Blend nerds alike. They use the VSM (as all good Silverlight control templates should) and include all states that I deemed common (someone had to be the deemer here, let me know if I missed something). In many cases I don’t do anything with the state, but I still included it. That was to increase Blend friendliness so that the states show up in the states editor.

I also (and this was a tough decision) chose to (in most cases) not use a lot of template bindings to propagate properties through the control. Unfortunately, the VSM editor / animation editor in Blend doesn’t like bindings. Since I really believe in the Blend state editor, I decided to pull the plug on those bindings. For handcoders, this might not be the right decision. Sorry handcoders, I think it’s for the best.

Where do I get them?

You can get Simple Styles for Silverlight by clicking on any of the links in the sample app above, or you can download the entire project (including the sample app) below.

Download as a Single Zip

How do I use them?

Well, it’s kind of up to you. If getting started isn’t intuitive, then you probably want to read a little about Resources, Styles and Control Templates in Silverlight. Then you want to learn about editing Control Templates in Blend. If you feel like you understand these things and still feel lost, then email me and maybe I can get you pointed in the right direction.