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Frontend DevelopmentCrestApps

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.

Stars
13
Source
CrestApps/CrestApps.AgentSkills
Updated
2026-05-29
Slug
CrestApps--CrestApps.AgentSkills--orchardcore-theme-creator
View on GitHubRaw SKILL.md

// install — copy + paste into any project

mkdir -p .claude/skills && curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/CrestApps/CrestApps.AgentSkills/HEAD/plugins/orchardcore/skills/orchardcore-theme-creator/SKILL.md -o .claude/skills/orchardcore-theme-creator.md

Drops the SKILL.md into .claude/skills/orchardcore-theme-creator.md. Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any agent that loads SKILL.md files from .claude/skills/.

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 (for 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:

  1. Manifest.cs - Theme metadata
  2. YourTheme.csproj - Project file
  3. Views/Layout.cshtml - Main layout
  4. 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