When you write a lot code in ASP.NET, it is tedious to always change some files to the format you like them to be, e.g. my default web.config (to start with) always looks like this:

<?xml version=“1.0“?>

<configuration>

  <system.web>

    <trust level=“Medium“ />

    <compilation debug=“false“ />

    <authentication mode=“Windows“ />

  </system.web>

</configuration>

Luckily you can extend the item and project templates in Visual Studio 2005. Just customize a file and use “File->Export Template” to add this file as a new item. Excellent!

If the “Export Template” menu item doesn’t show up – read here.

ScottGu wrote more extensively about templates here.