title: how to work with multiple coincident panel controls in VS 2008 windows forms
body: <p>in VS 2008, I am attempting to design a windows form that is similar to a set of property pages but uses a TreeView to select the page rather than a TabControl.  An example of this design is the Options dialog in VS 2008 itself.  There are two reasons I want to do this:  1. I prefer the look and feel;  2. I want to give users the ability to add child nodes to the TreeView.</p>
  
  <p>I am using multiple Panel controls to contain the controls for each "property page".  These panels will all be coincident on the form, i.e. overlapping each other.  I am finding that the VS UI designer is not very user-friendly when I do this; I can select each panel easily enough, but all the controls inside the panel are visible at the same time, leading to a jumbled mess.  Working with a TabControl is much easier, as you can select a tab and only see the controls that you've placed onto that tab.</p>
  
  <p>Is there a different approach that will make this easier for me, or do I have to make do with a TabControl?  TIA</p>