ContentTemplate

This help article showcases how to add complex content (server-side controls and HTML elements) in a RadButton instead of plain text. You can do this both in the markup, or in the code behind:

• Add Elements to RadButton in the Markup

• Add Elements to RadButton from the Code-behind

Add Elements to RadButton in the Markup

In order to add controls to the RadButton in the markup, you should place them directly in the composite ContentTemplate property (Example 1).

Example 1: Adding controls to the ContentTemplate of a RadButton in the markup.

ASP.NET

<telerik:RadButton RenderMode="Lightweight" runat="server" ID="RadButton1">
	<ContentTemplate>
		<img alt="cog" src="https://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/button/examples/contenttemplate/Img/cog.png" />
		<span>Tasks</span>
		<telerik:RadRating RenderMode="Lightweight" ID="RadRating1" runat="server" Enabled="false" Value="3" SelectionMode="Continuous" ItemCount="5" />
	</ContentTemplate>
</telerik:RadButton>

Add Elements to RadButton from the Code-behind

You can add controls to the RadButton from the code-behind in two ways:

• Add elements to the Controls collection of the RadButton (Example 2).Example 2: Adding controls to the Controls collection of RadButton from code behind.

ASP.NET

<telerik:RadButton RenderMode="Lightweight" runat="server" ID="RadButton1" Width="160px" Height="70px">
</telerik:RadButton>

C#

protected void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
	Literal radButtonContent = new Literal();
	radButtonContent.ID = "radButtonContent";
	radButtonContent.Text = "<img alt='car' src='https://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/button/examples/contenttemplate/Img/car.png' /><span>Vehicles</span>";
	RadButton1.Controls.Add(radButtonContent);
}

VB

Protected Sub Page_Init(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
	Dim radButtonContent As New Literal()
	radButtonContent.ID = "radButtonContent"
	radButtonContent.Text = "<img alt='car' src='https://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/button/examples/contenttemplate/Img/car.png' /><span>Vehicles</span>"
	RadButton1.Controls.Add(radButtonContent)
End Sub

• Set the ContentTemplate property to an instance of a class that implements the ITemplate interface (Example 3).Example 3: Adding controls to the RadButton by using the ITemplate class.

ASP.NET

<telerik:RadButton RenderMode="Lightweight" runat="server" ID="RadButton1" Width="160px" Height="70px">
</telerik:RadButton>

C#

protected void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
	RadButton1.ContentTemplate = new ButtonContentTemplate();
}

public class ButtonContentTemplate : ITemplate
{
	void ITemplate.InstantiateIn(Control container)
	{
		System.Web.UI.WebControls.Image contentImage = new System.Web.UI.WebControls.Image();
		contentImage.ID = "contentImage";
		contentImage.ImageUrl = "https://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/button/examples/contenttemplate/Img/envelope.png";
		contentImage.AlternateText = "envelope";
		container.Controls.Add(contentImage);

		Label contentLabel = new Label();
		contentLabel.ID = "contentLabel";
		contentLabel.Text = "E-Mail";
		container.Controls.Add(contentLabel);
	}
}

VB

Protected Sub Page_Init(sender As Object, e As EventArgs)
	RadButton1.ContentTemplate = New ButtonContentTemplate()
End Sub

Public Class ButtonContentTemplate
	Implements ITemplate
	Private Sub ITemplate_InstantiateIn(container As Control) Implements ITemplate.InstantiateIn
		Dim contentImage As New System.Web.UI.WebControls.Image()
		contentImage.ID = "contentImage"
		contentImage.ImageUrl = "https://demos.telerik.com/aspnet-ajax/button/examples/contenttemplate/Img/envelope.png"
		contentImage.AlternateText = "envelope"
		container.Controls.Add(contentImage)

		Dim contentLabel As New Label()
		contentLabel.ID = "contentLabel"
		contentLabel.Text = "E-Mail"
		container.Controls.Add(contentLabel)
	End Sub
End Class

See Also

• Button Types Overview

• Split Button

• Icons Overview

• Image Button

• Toggle button