As others already said, there seems to be no good solution to do that easily.
But to keep your code clean I suggest creating a seperate class that hides the ugly XAML.
How to use after we created the ButtonEx-class:
<Window x:Class="MyApp.MainWindow"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:wpfEx="clr-namespace:WpfExtensions"
mc:Ignorable="d"
Title="MainWindow" Height="450" Width="800">
<Grid>
<wpfEx:ButtonEx HoverBackground="Red"></wpfEx:ButtonEx>
</Grid>
</Window>
ButtonEx.xaml.cs
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Controls;
using System.Windows.Media;
namespace WpfExtensions
{
/// <summary>
/// Standard button with extensions
/// </summary>
public partial class ButtonEx : Button
{
readonly static Brush DefaultHoverBackgroundValue = new BrushConverter().ConvertFromString("#FFBEE6FD") as Brush;
public ButtonEx()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
public Brush HoverBackground
{
get { return (Brush)GetValue(HoverBackgroundProperty); }
set { SetValue(HoverBackgroundProperty, value); }
}
public static readonly DependencyProperty HoverBackgroundProperty = DependencyProperty.Register(
"HoverBackground", typeof(Brush), typeof(ButtonEx), new PropertyMetadata(DefaultHoverBackgroundValue));
}
}
ButtonEx.xaml
Note: This contains all the original XAML from System.Windows.Controls.Button
<Button x:Class="WpfExtensions.ButtonEx"
xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
xmlns:d="http://schemas.microsoft.com/expression/blend/2008"
mc:Ignorable="d"
d:DesignHeight="450" d:DesignWidth="800"
x:Name="buttonExtension">
<Button.Resources>
<Style x:Key="FocusVisual">
<Setter Property="Control.Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate>
<Rectangle Margin="2" SnapsToDevicePixels="true" Stroke="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}" StrokeThickness="10" StrokeDashArray="1 2"/>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Static.Background" Color="#FFDDDDDD"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Static.Border" Color="#FF707070"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.MouseOver.Background" Color="#FFBEE6FD"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.MouseOver.Border" Color="#FF3C7FB1"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Pressed.Background" Color="#FFC4E5F6"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Pressed.Border" Color="#FF2C628B"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Disabled.Background" Color="#FFF4F4F4"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Disabled.Border" Color="#FFADB2B5"/>
<SolidColorBrush x:Key="Button.Disabled.Foreground" Color="#FF838383"/>
</Button.Resources>
<Button.Style>
<Style TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Setter Property="FocusVisualStyle" Value="{StaticResource FocusVisual}"/>
<Setter Property="Background" Value="{StaticResource Button.Static.Background}"/>
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" Value="{StaticResource Button.Static.Border}"/>
<Setter Property="Foreground" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.ControlTextBrushKey}}"/>
<Setter Property="BorderThickness" Value="1"/>
<Setter Property="HorizontalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="VerticalContentAlignment" Value="Center"/>
<Setter Property="Padding" Value="1"/>
<Setter Property="Template">
<Setter.Value>
<ControlTemplate TargetType="{x:Type Button}">
<Border x:Name="border" BorderBrush="{TemplateBinding BorderBrush}" BorderThickness="{TemplateBinding BorderThickness}" Background="{TemplateBinding Background}" SnapsToDevicePixels="true">
<ContentPresenter x:Name="contentPresenter" Focusable="False" HorizontalAlignment="{TemplateBinding HorizontalContentAlignment}" Margin="{TemplateBinding Padding}" RecognizesAccessKey="True" SnapsToDevicePixels="{TemplateBinding SnapsToDevicePixels}" VerticalAlignment="{TemplateBinding VerticalContentAlignment}"/>
</Border>
<ControlTemplate.Triggers>
<Trigger Property="IsDefaulted" Value="true">
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{DynamicResource {x:Static SystemColors.HighlightBrushKey}}"/>
</Trigger>
<Trigger Property="IsMouseOver" Value="true">
<Setter Property="Background" TargetName="border" Value="{Binding Path=HoverBackground, ElementName=buttonExtension}"/>
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.MouseOver.Border}"/>
</Trigger>
<Trigger Property="IsPressed" Value="true">
<Setter Property="Background" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Pressed.Background}"/>
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Pressed.Border}"/>
</Trigger>
<Trigger Property="IsEnabled" Value="false">
<Setter Property="Background" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Background}"/>
<Setter Property="BorderBrush" TargetName="border" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Border}"/>
<Setter Property="TextElement.Foreground" TargetName="contentPresenter" Value="{StaticResource Button.Disabled.Foreground}"/>
</Trigger>
</ControlTemplate.Triggers>
</ControlTemplate>
</Setter.Value>
</Setter>
</Style>
</Button.Style>
</Button>
Tip:
You can add an UserControl with name "ButtonEx" to your project in VS Studio and then copy paste the stuff above in.