I just noticed that when you add a linking Module in your VS 2010 for your custom Feature project, and when you add a file into the module, VS 2010 automatically marks it as a ElementFile.
When I tried to develop custom content types and fields, I needed to add 2 XML files into the module (eg. ContentTypes.xml and Fields.xml) and they have to be marked as ElementManifest instead of ElementFile. If I don’t do this, the custom content types and fields won’t be loaded in Sharepoint at all.
To do that, edit your Module .spdata file and modify the content manually:
<ProjectItem Type=”Microsoft.VisualStudio.SharePoint.Module” SupportedTrustLevels=”All” SupportedDeploymentScopes=”Web, Site” xmlns=”http://schemas.microsoft.com/VisualStudio/2010/SharePointTools/SharePointProjectItemModel”>
<Files>
<ProjectItemFile Source=”Fields.xml” Target=”FeatureSP2010TestContentTypes” Type=”ElementManifest” />
<ProjectItemFile Source=”ContentTypes.xml” Target=”FeatureSP2010TestContentTypes” Type=”ElementFile” />
</Files>
</ProjectItem>
Hope this helps,
Tommy
