---
title: Working in Visual Studio
layout: documentation
after: /overview/
---

# Working in Visual Studio

The Visual Studio WiX toolset allows you to easily create WiX projects, edit WiX files using IntelliSense, and compile/link your project within the Visual Studio IDE. 
The WiX Visual Studio plug-in supports VS2005, VS2008, and VS2010.

For WiX project types, see
[WiX Project Types](votive_project_templates.html).

For WiX item templates, see [WiX Item templates](votive_item_templates.html).

For the WiX property pages, see [WiX Project property pages](votive_property_pages.html).

For hints on how to read the default WiX project template, see [WiX Project Template](votive_project_template_default.html).

You can create and build Windows Installer packages using WiX within the Visual 
Studio IDE. In this section, we will cover the basics of creating a simple setup 
using Visual Studio and WiX.

* [Creating a simple setup](authoring_first_votive_project.html)
* [Using project references and variables](votive_project_references.html)

Alternatively, you may also use WiX on the command line by calling the tools 
directly or [using MSBuild](~/msbuild/index.html).
