This is at at least one removed...
... since I'm not and have never been a .NET programmer. However I've worked closely with several over the years with different projects and got an insight into how a typical .NET programmer needs to think.
It sounds a bit like you're approaching the problem with a PHP+HTML mindset when you need a Microsoft mindset. .NET has a reputation for doing it's best to turn a web-site into an application and doing a lot of shenanigans with the HTTP+HTML to make that work. Whoever wrote your framework was probably deeply in Microsoft mode.
Wade.
