ASP.NET Core 2 default route having areas

Question

cI went through various posts regarding the Areas routing but still I am not able to resolve my issue.

I would like to split my application in the way that there are two routes.

• /Areas/Panel
• /Areas/Website

Inside each area there is HomeController and appropriate methods that correspond to actions.

I would like that whenever user lands to any level 1 route i.e.:

• /home
• /contact
• /about/company
• etc.

is directed to /Areas/Website/{controller}/{action}

and alternatively for

• /panel
• /panel/home
• /panel/users/2
• etc

to /Areas/Panel/{controller}/{action}

My current MVC route is:

   app.UseMvc(routes =>
        {
            routes.MapRoute(
                name: "default",
                template: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");

            routes.MapRoute(
                name: "area",
                template: "{area:exists}/{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
        });

but it isn't working, probably because I don't fully understand how tell the router to use Website area as default. I tried various directives right before the controller itself but it did not work.

Could I ask for your advice?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

One reason it doesn't work because you have the routes registered in the wrong order. The routes are evaluated from the top to the bottom of the route table and the first match wins.

Another issue is that you need to make the "default" route into an area route (using the MapAreaRoute extension method) if you want it to direct requests to the Website area.

app.UseMvc(routes =>
{
    routes.MapRoute(
        name: "area",
        template: "{area:exists}/{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");

    routes.MapAreaRoute(
        name: "default",
        areaName: "Website",
        template: "{controller=Home}/{action=Index}/{id?}");
});

Reference: Why map special routes first before common routes in asp.net mvc?