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Is Orchardcore Theme Creator free to use?

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CrestApps (@crestapps) published this skill. Their other Agent Skills are listed on their SkillMD profile.

Orchardcore Theme Creator by crestapps

Name: Orchardcore Theme Creator
Rating: 4.2 (5 reviews)
Author: CrestApps

Orchardcore Theme Creator

Creates new Orchard Core themes with proper structure, manifest, layouts, and assets. Use when the user needs to create a new theme, customize layouts, or set up frontend assets. Use this skill when requests mention Orchard Core Theme Creator, Prerequisites, Theme Creation Workflow, Step 1 Create Theme Directory, Step 2 Create Required Files, Step 3 Create Manifest.cs, or closely related Orchard Core implementation, setup, extension, or troubleshooting work. Strong matches include work with OrchardCore.Themes, OrchardCore.DisplayManagement.Manifest, OrchardCore.Modules.Manifest, OrchardCore.Theme.Targets, OrchardCore.Theme.Targets.csproj, OrchardCore.Cms.Web, TheBlogTheme, TheAdmin, TheAgencyTheme, YourThemeName, site.css, site.js. It also helps with assets, theme structure, Step 2 Create Required Files, Step 3 Create Manifest.cs, plus the code patterns, admin flows, recipe steps, and referenced examples captured in this skill.

CrestApps Updated Sep 10, 2026

File contents

Orchard Core Theme Creator

This skill guides you through creating new Orchard Core themes following project conventions.

Prerequisites

OrchardCore repository (working directory)
.NET SDK 10.0+ installed
Node.js 22.x and Yarn 4.x only when the theme includes optional asset compilation

Theme Creation Workflow

Step 1: Create Theme Directory

mkdir src/OrchardCore.Themes/YourTheme
cd src/OrchardCore.Themes/YourTheme

Step 2: Create Required Files

Every theme needs these files:

Manifest.cs - Theme metadata
YourTheme.csproj - Project file
Views/Layout.cshtml - Main layout
Views/_ViewImports.cshtml - Razor imports

Step 3: Create Manifest.cs

using OrchardCore.DisplayManagement.Manifest;
using OrchardCore.Modules.Manifest;

[assembly: Theme(
    Name = "Your Theme",
    Author = ManifestConstants.OrchardCoreTeam,
    Website = ManifestConstants.OrchardCoreWebsite,
    Version = ManifestConstants.OrchardCoreVersion,
    Description = "Your theme description."
)]

Extending a base theme:

[assembly: Theme(
    Name = "Your Theme",
    BaseTheme = "TheBlogTheme",  // Inherit from base
    // ... other properties
)]

Step 4: Create Project File

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <AddRazorSupportForMvc>true</AddRazorSupportForMvc>
    <Title>Your Theme</Title>
    <Description>Your theme description.</Description>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <FrameworkReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.App" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="..\..\OrchardCore\OrchardCore.Theme.Targets\OrchardCore.Theme.Targets.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Step 5: Create Layout

Create Views/Layout.cshtml:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="@Orchard.CultureName()">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <title>@RenderTitleSegments(Site.SiteName, "before")</title>
    <resources type="StyleSheet" />
</head>
<body>
    <zone Name="Header" />
    <main>
        <zone Name="Messages" />
        <zone Name="Content" />
    </main>
    <zone Name="Footer" />
    <resources type="FootScript" />
</body>
</html>

Step 6: Add Assets (Optional)

Create asset structure:

Assets/
├── scss/site.scss
├── js/site.js
└── package.json
Assets.json

See references/assets.md for configuration details.

Step 7: Build and Activate

# Build theme
cd /path/to/orchardcore

dotnet build src/OrchardCore.Themes/YourTheme

# Build assets (if added)
yarn && yarn build

# Run application
cd src/OrchardCore.Cms.Web
dotnet run -f net10.0

# Activate theme in Admin → Design → Themes

Quick Reference

Available Zones

Zone	Purpose
`Header`	Site header
`Navigation`	Main menu
`Messages`	Alerts/notifications
`Content`	Main content
`Sidebar`	Side widgets
`Footer`	Site footer

Base Themes

Theme	Description
`TheBlogTheme`	Blog template
`TheAdmin`	Admin UI
`TheAgencyTheme`	Business template

Naming Conventions

Item	Convention
Theme folder	`YourThemeName` (PascalCase)
Namespace	`YourThemeName`
CSS file	`site.css`
JS file	`site.js`

References

references/theme-structure.md - Directory layout and templates
references/assets.md - SCSS, JS, and asset pipeline
AGENTS.md (repo root) - Build commands

---name: orchardcore-theme-creatordescription: Creates new Orchard Core themes with proper structure, manifest, layouts, and assets. Use when the user needs to create a new theme, customize layouts, or set up frontend assets. Use this skill when requests mention Orchard Core Theme Creator, Prerequisites, Theme Creation Workflow, Step 1 Create Theme Directory, Step 2 Create Required Files, Step 3 Create Manifest.cs, or closely related Orchard Core implementation, setup, extension, or troubleshooting work. Strong matches include work with OrchardCore.Themes, OrchardCore.DisplayManagement.Manifest, OrchardCore.Modules.Manifest, OrchardCore.Theme.Targets, OrchardCore.Theme.Targets.csproj, OrchardCore.Cms.Web, TheBlogTheme, TheAdmin, TheAgencyTheme, YourThemeName, site.css, site.js. It also helps with assets, theme structure, Step 2 Create Required Files, Step 3 Create Manifest.cs, plus the code patterns, admin flows, recipe steps, and referenced examples captured in this skill.license: Apache-2.0---# Orchard Core Theme CreatorThis skill guides you through creating new Orchard Core themes following project conventions.## Prerequisites- OrchardCore repository (working directory)- .NET SDK 10.0+ installed- Node.js 22.x and Yarn 4.x only when the theme includes optional asset compilation## Theme Creation Workflow### Step 1: Create Theme Directory```bashmkdir src/OrchardCore.Themes/YourThemecd src/OrchardCore.Themes/YourTheme```### Step 2: Create Required FilesEvery theme needs these files:1. **Manifest.cs** - Theme metadata2. **YourTheme.csproj** - Project file3. **Views/Layout.cshtml** - Main layout4. **Views/_ViewImports.cshtml** - Razor imports### Step 3: Create Manifest.cs```csharpusing OrchardCore.DisplayManagement.Manifest;using OrchardCore.Modules.Manifest;[assembly: Theme( Name = "Your Theme", Author = ManifestConstants.OrchardCoreTeam, Website = ManifestConstants.OrchardCoreWebsite, Version = ManifestConstants.OrchardCoreVersion, Description = "Your theme description.")]```**Extending a base theme:**```csharp[assembly: Theme( Name = "Your Theme", BaseTheme = "TheBlogTheme", // Inherit from base // ... other properties)]```### Step 4: Create Project File```xml<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk.Razor"> <PropertyGroup> <AddRazorSupportForMvc>true</AddRazorSupportForMvc> <Title>Your Theme</Title> <Description>Your theme description.</Description> </PropertyGroup> <ItemGroup> <FrameworkReference Include="Microsoft.AspNetCore.App" /> </ItemGroup> <ItemGroup> <ProjectReference Include="..\..\OrchardCore\OrchardCore.Theme.Targets\OrchardCore.Theme.Targets.csproj" /> </ItemGroup></Project>```### Step 5: Create LayoutCreate `Views/Layout.cshtml`:```html<!DOCTYPE html><html lang="@Orchard.CultureName()"><head> <meta charset="utf-8" /> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /> <title>@RenderTitleSegments(Site.SiteName, "before")</title> <resources type="StyleSheet" /></head><body> <zone Name="Header" /> <main> <zone Name="Messages" /> <zone Name="Content" /> </main> <zone Name="Footer" /> <resources type="FootScript" /></body></html>```### Step 6: Add Assets (Optional)Create asset structure:```Assets/├── scss/site.scss├── js/site.js└── package.jsonAssets.json```See `references/assets.md` for configuration details.### Step 7: Build and Activate```bash# Build themecd /path/to/orchardcoredotnet build src/OrchardCore.Themes/YourTheme# Build assets (if added)yarn && yarn build# Run applicationcd src/OrchardCore.Cms.Webdotnet run -f net10.0# Activate theme in Admin → Design → Themes```## Quick Reference### Available Zones| Zone | Purpose ||------|---------|| `Header` | Site header || `Navigation` | Main menu || `Messages` | Alerts/notifications || `Content` | Main content || `Sidebar` | Side widgets || `Footer` | Site footer |### Base Themes| Theme | Description ||-------|-------------|| `TheBlogTheme` | Blog template || `TheAdmin` | Admin UI || `TheAgencyTheme` | Business template |### Naming Conventions| Item | Convention ||------|------------|| Theme folder | `YourThemeName` (PascalCase) || Namespace | `YourThemeName` || CSS file | `site.css` || JS file | `site.js` |## References- `references/theme-structure.md` - Directory layout and templates- `references/assets.md` - SCSS, JS, and asset pipeline- `AGENTS.md` (repo root) - Build commands

Frequently asked questions