---
title: "Base Elements"
ms.date: "03/30/2017"
f1_keywords: 
  - "AutoGeneratedOrientationPage"
helpviewer_keywords: 
  - "base elements [WPF]"
ms.assetid: 55034aa5-3c1d-442a-8293-f4692d8ea6ae
---
# Base Elements
Four key classes--<xref:System.Windows.UIElement>, <xref:System.Windows.ContentElement>, <xref:System.Windows.FrameworkElement>, and <xref:System.Windows.FrameworkContentElement>--implement a substantial percentage of the common element functionality available in WPF programming. These four classes are referred to in this SDK as the base element classes.  
  
## In This Section  
 [Base Elements Overview](base-elements-overview.md)  
 [Freezable Objects Overview](freezable-objects-overview.md)  
 [Alignment, Margins, and Padding Overview](alignment-margins-and-padding-overview.md)  
 [How-to Topics](base-elements-how-to-topics.md)  
  
## Reference  
 <xref:System.Windows.UIElement>  
  
 <xref:System.Windows.ContentElement>  
  
 <xref:System.Windows.FrameworkElement>  
  
 <xref:System.Windows.FrameworkContentElement>  
  
## Related Sections  
 [WPF Architecture](wpf-architecture.md)  
  [XAML in WPF](xaml-in-wpf.md)  
  [Element Tree and Serialization](element-tree-and-serialization.md)  
  [Properties](properties-wpf.md)  
  [Events](events-wpf.md)  
  [Input](input-wpf.md)  
  [Resources](resources-wpf.md)  
  [Styling and Templating](/dotnet/desktop-wpf/fundamentals/styles-templates-overview)  
  [Threading Model](threading-model.md)