Mastering Lucene Query Syntax in Orchard Core, How to quickly spin off your Orchard Core site? - This week in Orchard (12/06/2026)
Have you heard that we rebuilt DotNest.com using reusable landing page sections, Tailwind 4 without Node.js, and AI-assisted workflows?
Nick Jackson demos an Electron desktop app that lets you spin up Orchard sites fast! Choose your modules and themes, manage recipes, all without touching an IDE.
Sébastien Ros introduced support for async JS evaluation using Jint's new async method, enabling workflows and other JS-dependent features to run without blocking.
We're excited to open registration for Orchard Harvest 2026! Secure your spot today for the early bird pricing and get ready to level up your skills!
Orchard Core updates
Mastering Lucene Query Syntax in Orchard Core
Lost in your content? Lucene's got the map. From fuzzy searches to regex wizardry, Orchard Core's query syntax lets you hunt down any document with pinpoint precision, wildcards, ranges, booleans, and all. Whether you're searching for "everything" (*:*) or something that almost matches, Lucene speaks your language.
Thanks to Manuel Tamayo Montero, you can now find a new guide in the Orchard Core documentation with several examples of operators, expressions, fuzzy searches, and wildcard searches.
Use Jint async scripting APIs
Jint 4.8 can now await promises and .NET task interop asynchronously. Orchard's JavaScript scripting paths were still executing through synchronous evaluation, which meant script-exposed async services had to block with GetAwaiter().GetResult().
This change by Sébastien Ros is about supporting async JavaScript scripts, but more importantly, supporting the asynchronous execution of any JavaScript script. Previously, the Evaluate method was not async; now there is an EvaluateAsync method in Jint. This way we don't have to call GetAwaiter().GetResult() on scripting, and we can just await the result. It allows workflows and other features relying on JavaScript to run asynchronously without blocking.
Demos
How to quickly spin off your Orchard Core site?
The idea is to have an Electron app for people who are not really technical, or for those who just want to experiment with Orchard Core and quickly spin off a site. Nick Jackson demos an application that lets you do that without going to an IDE.
If you hit the New button, you can choose between two different creation modes to set up your site:
- Express: Quick setup with sensible default. Here you just need to pick a name, email, and recipe.
- Custom: Full control over database port, directory, and more.
In both cases, you can select which modules and themes you want to install. For a custom installation, you can select which Orchard Core version to install, choose the recipe, the database provider, and so on.
So, it's just a quick experiment using a desktop app to see how it can run with Orchard. And as always, if you want to see how you can use this application, head to YouTube for a quick demo!
News from the community
Rebuilding DotNest.com: Orchard Core, Tailwind 4, and a more maintainable workflow
As you may know, we recently rebuilt DotNest.com (our managed Orchard Core hosting platform), treating it as more than a visual refresh. The project had three main focuses:
- Better Landing Page structure.
- Modernized Front-End Workflow.
- Practical AI-Assisted development.
Our post concludes that all three areas yielded real benefits: cleaner content management, faster UI development, and clearer insights into where AI assistance genuinely helps versus where human oversight is essential. That experience ultimately led to the Tailwind Agent Skills and Orchard Core Agent Skills repositories.
If you're planning an Orchard Core website, a redesign, or a modernization project, reach out to us. We're always happy to help teams build Orchard Core solutions that remain easy to evolve as requirements grow over time.
Orchard Harvest 2026 Early Bird tickets!
We're excited to open registration for Orchard Harvest 2026!
This year, we've also created a short "convince your boss" one-pager to help you make the case for attending. It highlights the practical takeaways, business value, and networking opportunities waiting at the event.
If you want to learn from real-world Orchard Core use cases, get a better sense of where the platform is heading, and connect with experts and active community members, this is for you. We'll be sharing this year's speakers and topics over time, so stay tuned!
Secure your spot today for the early bird pricing and get ready to level up your skills at Orchard Harvest!
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