Break that down

When you add an entity datasource control and you try to configure it you might get the following error: The metadata specified in the connection string could not be loaded. Consider rebuilding the web project to build assemblies that may contain metadata.The following error(s) occurred. The provider did not return a Provider Manifest instance. Error trying to configure Entity Datasource control In order to fix this you have to open your edmx file with notepad, locate ProviderManifestToken and change it's value from 2012 to 2008 as shown in the picture below. Save, rebuild in Visual Studio and you are done.

The default color of matching braces in Microsoft Visual Studio doesn't help spotting the braces because it's a light grey. You can change that from Tools --> Options --> Environment --> Fonts and Colors --> Text Editor and from the Display Items list select Brace matching (Rectangle). Pick a color you like and you are good to go.

Well I have been looking for this for quite some time! No more wondering which color is #808080 or going outside VS to find/convert a color. devColor is a Visual Studio extension that " underlines hex/rgb/named colors in stylesheets and XAML files with the correct color. It also includes a color picker. " Download it from here .