In this article I explain how to use layouts in ASP.Net MVC3 using Razor view, for this use the following steps.
Step 1 : First open Visual Studio and then select File->New->Project.
Step 2 : A window is appear from this Select ASP.NET MVC 3 Web application inside the Web template, give the name of the project that you want to give and then click on ok button.
Step 3 : In the new window select Empty and view as a Razor view and click ok.
![razor1.jpg]()
Step 4 : Now add a controller by right-clicking on the controller in the Solution Explorer.
![razor2.jpg]()
Step 5 : Give the name of the controller and click ok.
![razor3.jpg]()
Step 6 : The controller contains the code:
namespace MvcApplication9.Controllers
{
    public class HomeController : Controller
    {        
        public ActionResult Index()
        {
            return View();
        }
    }
}
 
Step 7 : Click on _Layouts.cshtml:
![razor4.jpg]()
In this write the code as:
 
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title>@ViewBag.Title</title>
    <link href="@Url.Content("~/Content/Site.css")" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" />
    <script src="@Url.Content("~/Scripts/jquery-1.5.1.min.js")" type="text/javascript"></script>
</head>
<body>
    <div id="header">
        <h1>
            Welcome to the DOT NET world</h1>
        <div class="topLink">
            <div class="autoCenter">
                <ul class="link">
                    <li class="first"><a href="#">Home</a></li>
                    <li><a href="#">Technologies</a></li>
                    <li><a href="#">Article </a></li>
                    <li><a href="#">Blog</a></li>
                    <li><a href="#">Interview questions</a></li>
                </ul>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <div id="sidebar">
        <p>
            Must Read</p>
        <ul>
            <li><a href="#">ASP.NET</a></li>
            <li><a href="#">C#</a></li>
            <li><a href="#">Window Phone</a></li></ul>
    </div>
    <div id="content">
        @RenderBody()
    </div>
    <div id="footer">
        <div class="autoCenter">
            <ul class="link">
                <li class="first"><a href="#">Contact Us</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Privacy & Policy</a></li>
                <li><a href="#">Conditions </a></li>
            </ul>
        </div>
    </div>
</body>
</html>
 
Step 8 : Now add some style in Content/site.css as:
 
#header
{
    background-color:Blue;
    color:White;
    padding:1px;
}
#content
{
    float:left;
    margin:10px;
}
#sidebar
{
    float:right;
    margin:10px;
    padding:10px;
    border:dotted 5px red;
    width:180px;
}
#footer
{
    text-align:center;
    clear:both;
}
.topLink
{
    width: 100%;
    overflow: hidden;
    background: #db4c2c;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #d3330f;
}
.autoCenter
{
    width: 1024px;
    margin: 0px auto;
    overflow: hidden;
}
ul.link
{
    list-style: none;
    margin: 0px;
    padding: 0px;
}
 
Step 9 : Now add a view by right-clicking on the action method and write the code in it as:
 
@{
    ViewBag.Title = "Index";
}
<h2>Latest Topic</h2>
<p>Working with ASP.NET</p>
<p>Working with CSS and JavaScript</p>
<p>jQuery</p>
 
Step 10 : Run the application by pressing F5. The output is shown as:
![razor5.jpg]()
Summary : In this article I explained how to use layouts in MVC3 Razor view.