Earlier I mentioned updating a number of my Orchard Core Themes with the new features in Orchard Core. In addition, I also have a stock of themes I use in Orchard Core development for which I always tweak and add new features, like e-commerce, FAQ's, portfolios, etc. Yesterday, I finished a new portfolio widget for one of those themes, and today I'm looking forward to bundling it as a custom recipe.
The portfolio widget was fun to develop in Orchard Core, because it uses a lot of features in both Orchard Core and the liquid template language. I really enjoy using the liquid template language instead of Razor for many reasons. I love that a developer can extend liquid in Orchard Core, which I mentioned briefly in a tutorial: Developing Liquid Template Language Filters in Orchard Core CMS. And, probably one of the coolest benefits of using the liquid template language in Orchard Core CMS is the ability for a developer to create, modify and override templates in the Orchard Dashboard using the Templates Module. Per the Templates Module description, "the Templates module provides a way to write custom shape templates from the admin."
I've been an Orchard CMS Developer since it was first released, and I have always enjoyed developing themes, modules, and websites using Orchard CMS. However, I have to say, I enjoy development even more with Orchard Core. There is a bit of a learning curve when moving from Orchard CMS to Orchard Core, but it's worth it. I'm also a Mac guy, so developing with Orchard Core CMS on my Mac without the need for developing in Windows in a VM is crazy awesome!
Today I'll be bundling the portfolio widget as part of a custom recipe for my Orchard Core CMS Theme. I briefly mentioned this idea of having separate custom recipes in your Orchard Core CMS Themes for each feature: Custom Admin Menus in Orchard Core Themes and Setup Recipes. I don't think I mentioned it in a tutorial, but indeed you can have many custom recipes bundled with a theme with the ability to run them on demand from the Orchard Core Admin Dashboard. I might do a quick tutorial on that this week if you're an Orchard Core Developer and you haven't noticed or played with that feature.
I'll be sharing a bunch of tips and tricks with Orchard Core and the liquid template language as I continue to update my custom themes and modules.